Pushed to the edge

Sirens wailed somewhere far beyond the courtyard, muffled by brick and distance in the rainy morning, but Rei barely heard them over the thunder inside his own skull.

He burst through the double doors of the school entrance, arms thrown up in front of his face. The metal slammed against his forearms and ricocheted back open as he stumbled down the stairs. His foot missed the last step.

“Crap—!”

He fell forward, instincts taking over before thought could catch up. Rei tucked his shoulder and rolled across the wet stone landing. His clothes scraped harshly, fabric catching rough ground, but somehow—again—he was fine.

He lay there for a heartbeat, blinking rain from his eyelashes. Why did i follow Ichi out of class in the first place. Why do i keep rushing out after him. And why does he always run toward danger instead of away from it—especially when it involved Freaks. Rei thoughts about his friend.

He wasn’t a hero.

He wasn’t anything.

He is just a kid who keep up ending in the wrong places and of course that is whom i chose as a friend. Rei gave a quick smile as he thought of Ichi as he took a little time to exhale before the air behind him pulsed—

WHUMP.

The shock wave hit.

The double doors he’d come through ripped from their hinges and exploded outward, two slabs of metal slicing the air towards him.

Rei yelped and threw his hands over his head, bracing for impact that never came.

When he dared to look up, both doors lay beside him—one embedded halfway into a hedge, the other skidding across the pavement until it clanged to a stop. Rain hissed on the hot metal.

“…I’m still alive.”

Relief washed through him, sudden and shaky.

But it didn’t last.

A figure stepped through the doorway—

Breathing hard.

Hair wild.

Glasses cracked across his face like lightning.

Seiko.

Rei scrambled to his feet so fast he nearly slipped again.

Seiko leapt from the top of the stairs after him. His shoes hit the stone with a gunshot crack. The landing fractured under him, spiderwebs of broken concrete spreading from his feet. Pieces of stone jumped from the ground as if recoiling from him.

Despite the boy’s narrow shoulders and scrawny frame, the ground reacted as if a wrecking ball had dropped onto it.

Seiko looked up at Rei, eyes wide, pupils blown huge with adrenaline and something darker.

“You should’ve helped me,” he hissed.

Then he ran.

Rei didn’t wait—he turned and sprinted, heart on fire.

“Why did I follow Ichi?” he muttered between gasps as he tore across the courtyard. “Why am I still doing that?! Why?!”

His legs moved faster than the thoughts.

He shot through the school gates, sneakers slipping on wet pavement. His lungs burned with cold morning air.

He prayed—please let this be enough distance—but Seiko was already pounding down the steps behind him.

Rei darted behind a tree along the perimeter wall, chest heaving. He peeked out—

Headlights.

Multiple pairs.

Police cruisers screeched to a halt just outside the gates, tires spitting water. Doors swung open and officers stepped out with casual arrogance, hands already resting on weapons, grins too eager for the situation.

“Oh great,” Rei whispered.

Seiko sprinted right into their line of sight, slowing as he reached the gate. Rain ran down his face, mixing with the streak of blood from his broken glasses.

The nearest officer barked a laugh.

“Well, well. Look at this one, I’ve never seen one look so pathetic before.”

Another twirled his baton lazily.

“Freak kid thinks he can hide on school grounds. Cute.”

A third hooked his thumb toward Seiko.

“Hey, after this, drinks at my place? We can joke about this about for a good while i bet.”

They all laughed.

Seiko froze.

His shoulders hunched.

His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked.

Rain trembled around him—no, the air trembled around him.

“Tch—look at him,” one officer sneered. “He’s gonna cry.”

The officers stepped forward, guns and cruelty drawn in equal measure.

“Don’t—” Seiko’s voice cracked.

“Don’t call me that.”

One officer leaned in to his megaphone, lips curling.

“Freak.”

Something snapped.

Rei saw it.

A split second—Seiko’s pupils contracting, breath hitching, veins bulging up his arms like black wires ready to burst. His hair began to lift in the wind that wasn’t there.

“Shit,” Rei whispered from behind the tree.

But the police, arrogant and bored with their own malice, didn’t notice until too late.

“Whoa, whoa—he’s doing something. Step back—”

Another officer swore. “He’s charging up, shoot him!”

Gunfire tore through the air.

Bullets hit Seiko’s shoulder, his abdomen—tiny impacts compared to the storm swelling inside him. His body jerked with each hit. His cry was raw, animal, wounded.

And then—

He broke.

“STOP—!!”

The shock wave exploded outward.

A perfect, violent ring of pressure.

The walls of the school perimeter cracked and caved. Glass from the police cruisers erupted outward in glittering shards. The cars dented inward as if crushed by invisible fists before flipping onto their sides and skidding across the asphalt.

The officers were flung like rag dolls—slamming into fences, trees, pavement. Some hit the ground hard and didn’t move. Others crawled, panic overtaking cruelty.

Rei shielded his head as the shock wave ripped past him, shaking the leaves overhead like a hurricane.

When the sound faded, the courtyard was unrecognizable.

And Seiko stood in the center of it, bleeding heavily, chest rising with shallow, desperate breaths.

Rain washed red down his arms.

Rei stepped from behind the tree without realizing he had moved, eyes wide, throat tight.

“Seiko…”

He didn’t know if he said it aloud or only thought it.

The boy in the ruined courtyard swayed, almost falling to his knees. He looked small suddenly. Young. Terrified.

But his eyes—those cracked, furious eyes—searched the devastation as if looking for only one person.

Rei froze.

Seiko spottted him.

His expression flickered—hurt, betrayal, desperation.

“You…” Seiko rasped, barely standing.

“You looked at me earlier.”

Rei swallowed. “Seiko, just stop—please—”

“This is all your fault” The boy cried as he spoke desperate for someone to blame for his current state.

The wind around the boy began to rise again, threads of invisible force tugging at loose leaves, at gravel, at the edges of his own soaking uniform.

“No more running!” Seiko screamed.

And the world convulsed.

Rei didn’t think. He ducked down behind the tree.

BOOM.

Another shock wave it caused Rei to fall despite his cover,

he rolled, mud splashing across his face, then scrambled up again. Rei started running down the road,

Seiko was right behind him—despite the blood, the wounds, the tears streaking his cheeks. His feet cracked pavement with every step.

“You left me,” Seiko cried, voice shaking. “You looked at me—and then you DID NOTHING!”

Rei felt guilt stab through his chest even as fear dragged him forward.

“I didn’t know—i am sorry!” Rei shouted.

“LIAR!”

The street lamps shattered as Seiko ran past them, bulbs bursting from pressure alone.

Rei forced his legs to keep moving—toward anyone, toward something, toward safety—but he could hear Seiko gaining.

“Come on, come on—move” Rei gasped.

“I knew i should have done more training, but legs do not give up on me now!”