Chapter 4: — “Silent Resolve"

The morning sunlight hit my face like a warning. I blinked awake, stomach twisting with the memory of yesterday. Kaito. The weapons. The drones. I’d seen everything, and my mind refused to let it go. I didn’t even notice when my alarm had gone off, I’d been replaying the image of him. Kaito

I hugged my pillow tight, trying to will the panic down, but it wasn’t working. My chest felt heavy, my heart drumming in a rhythm I couldn’t control. How could he have all those weapons? And why? Why would he need them? The questions kept spinning, making it impossible to think straight.

By the time I dragged myself out of bed, my hands were shaking. I dressed quickly, grabbing my bag as if holding onto it would somehow make everything real again, or maybe make it less terrifying. I avoided the mirror, didn’t want to see the reflection of someone who felt this powerless.

The streets to school felt different. Normal cars passed by, normal kids walked by, but I couldn’t see normal anymore. Every drone overhead, every camera on the corner, I imagined it scanning for him, for something, for anything. My pulse picked up at every shadow.

By the time I reached school, I was practically shaking. I slipped into the classroom, hoping nobody would notice. The usual chatter felt distant, muffled, like I was underwater. Everyone’s faces blurred except one. Kaito’s desk was empty. Suspended or not, I couldn’t stop scanning for him, hoping somehow he wasn’t in trouble... or worse.

And then I felt a presence beside me.

“You look like you’re about to explode.”

I jumped. Heart in my throat, I turned to see her, Rin. Short blonde hair, eyes that missed nothing, and a smirk that made me nervous without her even trying. She tilted her head, hands in her pockets.

“I… uh…” I tried to speak, but nothing came out.

“You’re thinking about him.” Rin said it like it was a fact, not a guess. “Kaito. Don’t lie. I can tell.”

I froze, my mouth opening and closing like a fish. How did she know? Did everyone already notice? Did Kaito notice too?

“I… it’s nothing,” I muttered finally, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

Rin didn’t move. She leaned against the wall, smirk never leaving her face. “Uh-huh. Sure. Look, I’m not here to gossip. But… things are moving. AI stuff. Weird stuff. People disappearing. Buildings shutting down for hours. You probably haven’t noticed because, well… normal life, right?”

My stomach clenched. She didn’t need to say more... I could feel it. Something was happening. Something big.

“And… if you want to know more, I can show you. But it’s not for free. You’re either in, or you’re out.”

Her gaze locked on mine, unwavering. I felt my chest tighten. This was it. Something I couldn’t ignore, whether I wanted to or not.

Rin waited until the bell rang, then tapped my shoulder. “Come on. I don’t have all day.”

I hesitated. My heart was still hammering from yesterday, the images of Kaito, the weapons, the drones. And now Rin, someone I barely knew, wanted me to follow her into… who knew what.

“I… I don’t know if I should—” I started.

She rolled her eyes, already turning down a side hallway. “No thinking. Just follow. If you chicken out now, you’ll regret it.”

I took a deep breath, clutching my bag tighter, and followed. My legs felt like they had their own plan, dragging me after her faster than I wanted. Every step echoed in the empty corridor. I couldn’t stop thinking about Kaito. Was he doing all this to fight the AI? Or something else?

Rin led me out the back exit, past the parking lot, and into a narrow alley. The city outside felt strangely silent here. Not the normal hum of traffic, not the chatter of students—just silence. Rin stopped in front of a door tucked between two brick walls.

“This is… safe?” I asked, glancing around nervously.

“For now. Inside, it’s safer than you think,” Rin replied, frowning. “Unless you freak out and run screaming.”

I swallowed hard, then followed her inside. The room was small, dimly lit, but organized. Screens covered one wall, showing live feeds of city streets, construction sites, and industrial zones. On another wall, holographic maps pulsed with red dots, some moving, some stationary.

“What is all this?” I whispered.

Rin tapped the map. “Those are AI clusters. Some of these drones are recon. Some are hunting. People don’t know about it yet, but things are happening fast. You probably didn’t see most of it yesterday because you were too busy staring at Kaito’s… whatever that was.”

My chest tightened. “And… who’s behind all of this? Who’s controlling them?”

Rin’s smirk faltered. She leaned closer, her voice low. “That… we don’t know. At least, no one outside knows. The company, whatever it’s called, is classified. No name, no location, no public record. Nobody knows who’s running it or why. It’s all… shadows.”

I swallowed hard. “So… we can’t even see where it comes from?”

“Exactly.” Rin shrugged. “We only see the results. The attacks. The patterns. That’s it. Trying to track them directly is… dangerous.”

I moved closer to a screen, studying the dots. My mind was spinning. “So… people are disappearing? And the AI is—”

“Destroying the city, slowly,” Rin finished for me. “Step by step. You think your life is normal? Not for long. That’s why people like Kaito exist… people like him, and now… maybe people like you.”

I froze. “Me? What do you mean?”

Rin’s gaze softened, almost unexpectedly. “You notice things. You see patterns. You… might be useful. But first, you need to know the truth. The world isn’t what you think it is.”

My pulse jumped. The weight of yesterday, of Kaito, of all the things I hadn’t understood, pressed down on me harder than ever. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, or if I even wanted to, but I couldn’t look away.

Somewhere deep down, I realized that the normal life I’d thought I had… was gone.

I stayed behind for a moment after Rin left, staring at the screens. The red dots blinked and shifted like some kind of living map of chaos. My stomach twisted. My hands trembled, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Kaito.

He’s out there, doing… what exactly? Fighting them? Preparing for them? Or something worse?

I sank into the chair, burying my face in my hands. Everything I’d thought I knew about my life, the normal school days, the stupid crushes, the mundane homework, I could throw it all away. Kaito wasn’t just a “classmate” and a"crush." He was something else. Something I couldn’t even begin to understand.

I pressed my palms against the screens, hoping, somehow, that if I focused hard enough, I could see more. I wanted to see his face, to see what he was doing, to know he was safe. But all I saw were dots and patterns, and a weight settled in my chest that made it hard to breathe.

Why am I even thinking about him like this? I scolded myself. He doesn’t even know. He doesn’t have to care.

And yet… my heart wouldn’t listen.

I leaned back, my eyes catching the edge of a blinking cluster on the map. One dot, isolated, far from the others. Something about it felt… different. My skin prickled. My gut twisted. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew it meant something.

The bell upstairs probably rang by now. Everyone would be moving through the hallways, laughing, talking, living like nothing was wrong. And here I was, knowing something they didn’t.

I shivered.

I had to see him. I had to know what Kaito was doing, why he had all those weapons, why the AI were multiplying like… like they wanted to swallow the world.

I pressed my hands against the table, willing myself to think, to plan. But nothing came. My mind kept snapping back to him... Kaito, calm, precise, unreachable.

A single thought echoed in my head:

I can’t just sit here. I can’t.

I was still trying to wrap my head around everything Rin had shown me, the drones, the AI clusters, the invisible hand controlling it all. My heart wouldn’t stop racing. My thoughts kept drifting back to Kaito, his hands on those weapons, the way he’d ignored everything else.

“Before we head to class,” Rin said, stepping to the side of the hallway, “I want you to do something.”

I frowned. “Do… what?”

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she held out her hand, like she was expecting me to do something. My stomach twisted.

“I want you to… summon it. Your sphere.”

My breath caught. I froze. “W-what?”

Rin’s eyes didn’t waver. “Your sphere, Yuzuki. The one you use to see the future.”

I shook my head violently. “No… that’s impossible. Nobody… nobody knows about that. Just my father… and…and...” My throat tightened. I could feel my hands trembling. How could Rin know?

“I know,” she said simply, her voice calm, almost too calm. “I’ve been looking for people like you. People who can actually change things before they happen.”

My mind spun. My father had always told me to keep my power secret. And now… this girl, this strange, bold girl who might as well be from another world, was asking me to show it. Right here, in the hallway.

I clenched my fists. My sphere was… unpredictable. Sometimes I could see glimpses clearly. Sometimes it was like staring into smoke. And if Rin could see it… she could see me. All of me.

“I… I don’t know if I—”

“Just do it,” Rin said. “I won’t tell anyone else. But you need to trust me. If you want to understand what’s happening… and maybe even protect the people you care about… you need to use it.”

The words hit me harder than anything else. Protect the people I care about. My thoughts instantly went to Kaito. My heart skipped. Could I… see the future involving him? Could I… see if he was safe?

I swallowed, shaking, and focused. I let the sphere form, letting the edges of reality blur as the air around me thickened. The light inside my mind flared like a tiny sun, and suddenly… visions flickered.

Distant streets, blinking drones, shadows moving too fast for the human eye. And in the middle of it all… Kaito. His eyes, sharp, focused, looking at something I couldn’t quite see. I wanted to run to him, to yell at him, to touch him, but I couldn’t move.

Rin watched me carefully, her gaze steady. “Good. Keep looking. Notice patterns. Don’t try to control it, just… watch.”

I nodded, though my hands were shaking too much to even breathe evenly. Images swirled faster, faster, my head spinning, and through the chaos, a single thought screamed louder than all the rest: He’s in danger. He’s always in danger. And nobody knows except me.

When I finally blinked and let the sphere fade, my knees felt weak. My heart was pounding, not just from the vision, but from the thought of Kaito, alone, fighting whatever this classified company had unleashed.

“I… I can’t… I didn’t know you—” I stopped, staring at Rin. My voice barely came out. “How… how did you know about this?”

Rin just smirked, as if she’d expected my reaction. “Don’t worry about that. Just… remember what you saw. And remember why you’re alive, Yuzuki. There’s a reason you can see the future.”

I nodded, still trembling, my mind racing, my heart twisting with worry… and something else. Something I wasn’t ready to admit yet, even to myself.

Rin didn’t wait for an answer. “Alright,” she said, glancing at the hallway clock. “We’ve wasted enough time. Go to class. Don’t screw this up.” Without another word, she turned and walked away, her footsteps echoing sharply against the tile.

I stayed frozen for a moment, watching her leave. My chest felt heavy, and my mind spun with everything I had just seen, the sphere, the visions, Kaito… the truth Rin had hinted at.

Alone now, the hallway felt impossibly quiet. I hugged my bag closer to my chest, leaning against the wall. My fingers trembled as I tried to slow my racing heart.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Kaito. Suspended, hidden, building weapons, facing dangers I didn’t even fully understand. And I hadn’t even tried to do anything to help.

No. I couldn’t just… wait. I couldn’t.

My hands clenched into fists. “I… I can’t let him do this alone,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “I… I have to… I have to figure out a way. A way to help him… to keep him safe…”

I closed my eyes for a second, taking a shaky breath. The visions from my sphere flickered in my mind, fragments of streets, drones, shadows… Kaito’s sharp, calculating gaze. My stomach twisted, a mix of fear and determination burning through me.

“I won’t… I won’t let him fight this alone,” I muttered again, louder this time. “Not… not him. Not Kaito.”

I opened my eyes, straightened my shoulders, and pressed a hand against the wall for support. My heart was still hammering, but now it was fueled by something sharper, resolve.

Slowly, I turned toward the classroom, my steps hesitant at first, then gaining purpose. Every step echoed with the thought that I wasn’t just Yuzuki anymore, the quiet girl in class who watched the world happen. I had a choice now. I had to act.

And maybe, just maybe… I could do it without Rin knowing everything I was thinking.

Whispering under my breath as I walked, I said, “I’ll figure this out… Kaito… I’ll keep you safe.”

The hallway seemed longer than usual, but with every step, my fear mixed with determination. I was ready to follow my own path, no matter how dangerous it might be, and no matter what Rin might be hiding.