(Theme: A New Beginning in Flames)
"This is life. It gives you hope… and then it rips it away before you can even hold it tight."
The thought echoed bitter and hollow. Is this what they mean—your life flashing before your eyes?Everything that mattered, slipping through my fingers...
Sunlight dripped through ancient leaves, warm and dappled like scattered gold. Deep Forest Village breathed in gentle rhythm—the murmur of the stream, the hum of weavers, the quiet pride of farmers tending soil.
By the stream's edge, we sat. My family. Father. Mother. Me—five years old. Small. Safe.
We laughed. Berries burst sweet on my tongue. Mother's smile felt like endless summer. Father's rough hand ruffled my hair, as if I were his greatest treasure.
We were happy. Or so I thought.
But happiness is fragile.
A shadow crossed the sun. Their voices lowered. Worry crept into their eyes.
"...they're getting closer." Mother's words trembled, like wind in dry leaves.
Father's jaw set, hard as stone. "We'll protect him. No matter what."
Protect me? From what? I didn't ask. I just clung to the moment, afraid it would slip away.
That was the year everything ended—2975, the last time I saw them alive.
And then—
Fire.
It came fast, brutal. The world burned orange and black. Flames devoured timber, hunger without mercy.
Shadowed figures stormed in—merciless hands dragging my parents into the inferno. Their screams shredded the night. CRACKLE-SCREAM!
I hid beneath splintered wood, small, shaking, breath caught in my throat. Terror pinned me down.
Not darkness after. Something worse.
White. Endless, sterile white. No door. No window. Just emptiness that pressed until I could hardly breathe.
I curled tight, waiting. No one came.
Days? Weeks? Time dissolved. Loneliness clawed at me.
But the void didn't last forever.
Glass cells. Cold, unfeeling. Children behind them—eyes hollow, lost.
Scientists glided past, masked, faceless. Their voices low, clinical.
I watched as they prepared the next injection.
A dark, viscous liquid drawn into a vial. Diluted carefully, drop by drop, with clear solution.
"Batch 42. Begin injection," one murmured.
The boy on the stretcher, bound tight, trembled as they pushed the needle in.
The serum entered his veins.
At first, nothing. Then swelling. Veins bulged. His skin stretched, too tight. His mouth opened in a silent scream.
BOOM.
Blood shattered the room. Red mist. Bone shards. The walls painted in him.
"Another failure. Only 0.065% viability," a scientist noted, as if it meant nothing.
I was next.
Strapped to a stretcher, cold leather biting my skin. The needle hovered.
The serum burned through me—fire in my veins.
And then… something awoke.
An unknown strength. My mind sharpened. My body felt alive.
My fingers found the scalpel I'd hidden.
The steel felt like salvation.
SHNK.
The first throat opened. Blood sprayed.
I moved. Fast. Too fast. Another. Another. The scientists' horror came too late.
When it was done, I stood over their bodies, breath ragged. Blood warm on my skin.
I ran. Into the world beyond.
Homeless. Trash became treasure. Rotten fruit. Stale crusts.
Then—Rusty. A mangy dog, ribs showing, eyes kind despite it all.
Together, we shared scraps, warmth. His whimper at night kept me sane.
Until one day, he was gone.
"Rusty!" My voice cracked, echoed back at me.
I found him in the gutter. Mud on his fur. Still.
My knees hit the ground. The world blurred. My heart broke again.
Nothing lasts.
That night, I let the cold take me.
But life had other plans.
"Papa, look! He's cold!"
A small voice. Mary. Concern, not fear, in her eyes.
Her father's hand reached down. "Come on, son. Let's get you warm."
Stew. A table. Laughter. Mary's grin as she pushed the bowl toward me."Eat!"
A book placed in my hands. Gray's Anatomy."Study hard, Kaito Nejimi."
I did. I had to.
By 2990, at twenty, I stood in Kasisen University's grand hall. Top honors. Prodigy. Mary's cheer louder than the applause.
And from there—Silica Company Labs. A place of promise, of hope.
We worked side by side.
The Amazon excavation. The fossil's stone surface hinted at impossible forms—secrets of a lost age.
Mary's eyes lit with wonder."This changes everything, Kaito!"
And then—the fossil's eye opened. Gold. Blinding.
The light swallowed us.
In 3000, at thirty, I thought maybe we'd found something good. Instead, the explosion tore it all apart.
Mary threw herself over me. The blast hit.
When the dust cleared, she lay on me, still.
Her hand found my cheek. Her smile trembled, fading."Kaito… don't cry. None of this was your fault…"
Her fingers slipped away. Her eyes closed.
Gone.
I laughed. Bitter. Broken."Why does it always end like this?"
Strength left me. I let the void take me.
So this is it. Dream well, Kaito.
Commentator's Note: "Well..that was something. Dramatic, inn it? Dear Readers you can Call me Orion ;)"