𝑸𝑶𝑻𝑪:

𝑳𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.

***

White clouds sailed in the saffron-brushed sky. The blaring of crows broke the unending silence in the air. Tiny dust particles shone in the angular light ray that entered when the door clicked open to a huge but old-fashioned Japanese house, distributed into two storeys. A black Toyota rested under a large shed, still heated by the little light that swept inside.

The grey-eyed man stepped inside and removed his shoes.

"Welcome home, Kiyoshi. Your mother called earlier. Seems you haven't talked to her in a little while, eh?" a man with a beard said smiling as he switched on the lights. Kiyoshi managed a nervous smile on his face. Sweat broke off around his forehead from the unbearable heat.

"I'm home, dad."

"So, you were going through my documents again?" the man glanced at his son from the corner of his eye.

Kiyoshi stuck his tongue out and winked. It was rare seeing him smiling like that. He was a different self in front of his father.

"Oops! I had to."

The man waited a moment before saying anything.

"Listen Kiyoshi, you are special. You have the gift nobody else has. Your sensory skills and instincts are far beyond human comprehension. And that is the reason I let you in on all the information I have, even if that means leaking critical data. I want you to learn all you can and use your training at Kyoto to become powerful. So you can one day use it to protect the people you cherish. Understood?"

The man pulled him into a hug, resting his hand on the back of his son's head. Kiyoshi seemed a little surprised, but smiled and let himself loose.

𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘩𝘶𝘩?

The picture of a woman with long white hairs appeared in his mind. Her calm hazel eye looking at him with utmost love. The picture slowly faded away, and he felt something sharp in his mind.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦-

He pulled back from his father. 

𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘰. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘐- 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵.

He wore the shoes he just removed and dashed towards the door.

"I'll be back, dad."

He left without looking back.

***

A sapphire orb like a crystal shone under the setting sun. A black hoodie hung over her long white hairs. Asami walked silently in a deserted lane. It's been around a month since she changed her mind. She didn't intend to die anymore. To avenge her mother, that has been her goal since she saw that lifeless body covered in blood. Her guts spilled out and torn like a rag. Her green eyes, lifeless. It was far more important than her being turned into a monster. But it still scared her. The monster that loomed inside her, waiting to lash out.

She came up with several deductions during this period when it seemed like she did nothing. Along with one white eye, she only had one sharp canine. So, whoever she would bite was also ought to become a one-eyed POWAN. And she couldn't let it happen. About her powers, having only a male powarta, there could only be three outcomes.

Either she has none of the powers.

Or she has all the powers.

Or she had any of the random powers. However, none of the conclusions changed anything.

Her sensory skills got stronger day by day. So, she suspected she was an illusion type. But the next day, she tried to jump off of her terrace to put it to test. She slowed down the fall when she imagined the surrounding air getting thicker. Although it was not perfect, and she still got hurt, she understood that she was an agility type too. And now she was off to put to test some other powers, and to find nutrition. She mentally trained herself, so she doesn't chicken out when she absorbs the blood. But somehow, she still suspected that it would not go the way she imagined it.

It got dark. The time and place was perfect for a POWAN to go berserk. The dark and heavy atmosphere along with the creepy alley covered in dust, with no streetlights. The road lined on both sides, with stuck up sewers whose stench choked her lungs.

Suddenly, she sensed it. And she closed her eyes. A blurry X-ray type of vision came up in her mind.

𝘈 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘵... 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘦... 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳... 𝘰𝘯𝘦... 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘗𝘖𝘞𝘈𝘕𝘴... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴...

She still didn't seem fit enough to sense what type they were, but it didn't matter as long as she killed them. She climbed up onto the terrace of a nearby house and waited. She prepared herself to run if it didn't go well. Concentrating on the two figures who closed in on her from two different directions, unaware of two other presence around them, she pictured their bodies, their particles and stretched out her hands.

𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵.

In the past month, she sneaked in into the study every night. She had set her fingerprint as a password so there were no worries of being find out. She finished reading all the documents, important or not. And the conclusions she drew out were the ways to put these powers to use.

She imagined their bodies shrinking, their cells pressed against each other, compressing more and more and more.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘴.

She shoved her fingers into her fist, picturing bursting something. She looked down to find two blown-off bodies. Pieces of their flesh flew in all directions. Their blood splattered around the road and walls, coming together to form a little rivulet that fell into the sewer. Their blood-soaked clothes, heavy against the ground. She looked at what she did and it scared her. Not the mesh of meat she made, but that it was unexpectedly exciting her. Her revenge should not have to come at the expense of her humanity. She could avenge her mother without becoming a monster. So why?

Why was she scared and excited at the same time?

She jumped down with sweat wetting her body like their blood wetted the ground. The sewer water started turning red. The stench of blood mixed in with the stench of the sewer water was making her head heavy.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦?

She quickly rested her trembling hands on the rivulet that started from the blood splashed against the wall. She tried to act emotionless, as if nothing of it horrified her. But her heart shattered. Lately, things that scared her were increasing expeditiously. But the scariest among them was her inner self. The Asami who was slowly turning herself into a monster without a bit of hesitation. What kind of paradox was this?

Her hands absorbed the blood until the little rivulet dried. Except for the stains of the dried blood, she absorbed all other blood without a pause. It was like, instead of her absorbing the blood, the blood was absorbing her. She was lost in the red bottomless sea. She noticed the pain in her body slowly vanishing. Now there was nothing else, except her in the red room of hell.

"Asami, what are you doing?" A voice of a boy woke her up. Her terrified eyes widened as she sat with her legs folded beside two bloodstained clothes, between pieces of little torn up flesh.

***

Kiyoshi's phone rang as he wheezed after running for more than an hour. The feeling in his gut grew stronger by each second.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴; 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯.

He picked up the phone, with the contact name 'Mom' popping up on its screen.

"Hey, Mom." He said taking deep breaths.

"𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗹𝘆. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲. 𝗔 𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗔𝗡. 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁."

"I... was just considering a possibility. Maybe like kind of half-POWAN. I want to know that what powers it will have if it exists."

Her mother took an interminable pause that annoyed him.

"𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗲? 𝗔 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳-𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗔𝗡. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿?

Kiyoshi startled and narrowed his sharp eyes. With one hand, he swiped back his sweaty jet-black bangs.

"No, I was just considering a possibility of being one. Like what if one creates them artificially or breeds them? Like Gre-"

"𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗹𝘆. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲. 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱. 𝗕𝘆𝗲."

"Thanks Mom, bye. Love you."

Kiyoshi slipped the phone into his pocket.

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱.

He ran off in a random direction.

***

"Asami, what are you doing?"

Asami was silent. Without words coming to her throat, she looked around herself. She looked like a dog feeding on a bird whose feathers scattered all around it. With those horrified blue eyes, this time both as her bangs fell back, she looked at the boy with dirty hair, standing and staring.

Finally, a word escaped her mouth.

"Ma-tsuha... "