Confusion.
That was the only word that clung to Yuri's mind, looping endlessly like a broken record. His thoughts staggered just as much as his steps—slow, unfocused, dragging through the dirt as though the ground itself might whisper an answer if he stared long enough.
His bag hung loosely over one shoulder, bouncing slightly with each reluctant step. He replayed the night in his head—over and over—each memory twisting into the next until he couldn't tell where fear ended and shock began.
That night.
His breath hitched every time the thought dared to surface.He couldn't make sense of it.He couldn't.
And that impossibility crawled beneath his skin, scratching at his sanity.
Before that dreadful night, not a soul besides Hiro had ever been able to detect Yuri's presence—not truly. His existence slipped between the cracks of perception like he was a ghost wearing skin. People's eyes passed through him. Their senses slipped over him like he wasn't fully there.
But Yuta… Yuta saw him.Not only saw him—touched him.Cracked his mask—his literal armor and the metaphorical wall he'd built around himself.That fracture sent a shock through Yuri's body deeper than pain. It was a violation of the impossible.
And the worst part—the part that churned in the pit of his stomach—was the truth he couldn't deny:
Yuta hadn't even tried.
He wasn't aiming to kill.He wasn't fighting seriously.Every blow, every taunt, every laugh had been delivered with the ease of a man dusting off crumbs.
If Yuta had wanted to kill him… he could've done it right there.Without effort.Without hesitation.
The thought hollowed Yuri out.
Cling—cling—cling!
The bell screamed through the classroom, snapping every drifting mind back to the present.
As the teacher stepped out, conversation erupted instantly.Clusters formed.Whispers rose.Excited voices bounced off walls.
Hot topic:The vigilante's highway brawl.
Specifically—his brawl.
Every hiss, every murmur, every half-gasped rumor felt like another blow to Yuri's chest. He didn't need to listen closely. He didn't have the strength to. But the words still reached him in fragments, slicing at him from every direction.
"Did you see—""—insane, bro—""—like he flew—""The other guy—""—mask cracked—""—who ARE these people—"
He swallowed hard, staring blankly at his desk. His pulse thundered in his ears.
Then—
"Pssst."
A sharp whisper cut through the noise and tugged him back into the living world.
He lifted his head.
Sarah stood by the door. Her expression was firm—almost unnervingly controlled—but her eyes were tight, worried. She jerked her head, signaling him to follow.
Yuri hesitated.He didn't want attention.Not today.Not after everything.
But Sarah didn't look away. Her insistence was quiet… but unyielding.
He exhaled slowly and finally stood, slipping out of the class and trailing behind her. They walked down the hall, turning into an empty room bathed in the pale afternoon light. The moment Yuri stepped inside, Sarah shut the door behind them.
Her hands trembled.Her eyes flickered away from his.
"Sarah… is everything okay?" Yuri asked softly.
She hesitated.Her lips parted, then closed again.She took a single step toward him, head lowered.
"Yuri…" she whispered.
And then something in her broke.She reached out, gripping him, pressing her body into his as though he was the last warm thing in a freezing world. Her hand slid along his back—slow, hesitant, trembling.
Her warmth…Her closeness…Her scent…
It all struck him at once, and his heart jolted violently.His body reacted before his mind could understand any of it.
"S-Sarah… what are you—what's—" he stammered, breath unsteady.
She buried her face against his chest, her arms winding around him with desperate intent.
"Yuri… I'm sorry," she said.
The words fell like a confession from trembling lips.
"You've always suffered… haven't you?" she whispered.
His heart dropped.His throat tightened.Heat flooded through him—guilt, fear, confusion, all tangled.
"All this time," she continued, voice wavering, "I watched you. I wanted to hold you… be there for you… stand beside you. But I was too scared. And I hated myself for that."
"Sarah… what are you saying…?" Yuri whispered, breath catching.
Slowly, her hand trailed down his arm until her fingers found his. She intertwined them gently, as though afraid he'd pull away.
She lifted her eyes to his—soft, trembling, shining.
"I love you, Yuri…" she breathed.
She pulled him toward her by his face, closing the distance in one swift, trembling motion. Her lips captured his—deep, bold, desperate. Her fingers threaded through his hair as she kissed him harder, letting herself fall into the moment, into him, into everything she had held back for so long.
And then—
Yuri jerked away.
His chest rose and fell sharply.His hands trembled.His face burned.
Sarah froze, eyes widening. The hurt hit her instantly—raw, exposed, betrayed. Tears welled up as she reached toward him with shaking fingers.
"Yuri…" she whispered, voice breaking.
He pressed a hand against his chest, as though something inside him hurt—truly hurt—ripping open a wound he didn't understand.
"S-Sarah… I'm— I'm sorry," he stuttered, backing away a step. "This… this isn't—"
He couldn't finish.He couldn't breathe.Something inside him twisted—tight, agonizing, familiar in the worst possible way.
then suddenly...
A beat stretched thin.
Something shifted—subtle, sharp, predatory.Yuri felt the change in his bones before the world even reacted. The atmosphere tightened, as if the air itself were holding its breath, bracing for something it already knew was coming.
And then—
BOOM!
A violent blast ripped through the corridor. Shards of glass exploded across the school floors, raining down like a storm of jagged diamonds.
The doors burst open.
Five masked figures stormed into the classroom, their faces carved into eternal, twisted grins. Black tactical suits clung to them like a second skin, each strapped with rows of gleaming daggers clattering against their ribs.
They didn't speak.They didn't hesitate.They moved with killing intent.
Straight at Sarah.Straight at Yuri.
Blades unsheathed.
Yuri reacted before his mind caught up. Instinct took the wheel; memory guided the blade. He slipped into the first attacker's guard—disarmed him—and in the same breath slit his throat.
It happened in a blink.Too fast for Sarah to understand.Too fast for the intruders to process.
The remaining four skidded back, stunned, their bodies tensing as they reassessed the prey that suddenly wasn't prey at all.
Then they lunged.
A barrage of steel filled the air.
Yuri shoved Sarah behind him, intercepting a blade that skimmed past his cheek. He parried another, then another—each metallic clash ringing through the empty classroom like gunshots ricocheting off hollow walls.
He inhaled once—deep, controlled.
"Maximum Output…"
His voice dropped, low and lethal.
"MAXIMUM OUTPUT!!!"
The air snapped.
FWISH!!!
Four bodies hit the floor.Four clean cuts.Four lives ended in a single impossible heartbeat.
Sarah's horrified gasp trembled behind him.She didn't recognize the boy in front of her.Yuri wasn't sure he recognized himself either.
And this was only the beginning.
Maximum Output.A forbidden state whispered to him by his mentor—origins unknown, side effects catastrophic. To unleash the full potential of the human body… without restraint… was to invite destruction.
Muscles tearing.Tendons snapping.Nerves burning alive.
Impossible to sustain.Deadly to misuse.
But Yuri had learned the art of surviving it—barely—by slipping in and out of the state in microscopic bursts. A fraction of a heartbeat. Just before something gave way.
PAW!—PAW!—PAW!
More glass shattered down the hall.
Screams erupted.Doors slammed.Chaos flooded the entire building.
Masked figures were everywhere—descending like wolves into a nest of helpless lambs.
Yuri knew exactly what he had to do.
He turned to Sarah. Her eyes were wide with terror, tears streaking down her cheeks. She looked as fragile as a whisper.
"I'm sorry, Sarah," he murmured. His voice was steady, painfully sincere. "Thank you… for everything. You've given me more than you know."
Her lip trembled. "Yuri—please—"
"Stay here," he whispered. "Don't worry. I'll take care of everything."
No time for arguments.No time for fear.
He bolted.
He sprinted through the hall and slammed into his own classroom. Students huddled in corners, sobbing, shaking, shielding each other from the unknown.
Yuri rushed to his desk.
His hand hovered.Hesitation flickered.A reminder that he was still human.
Then he reached inside—
And pulled out the mask.
It stared back at him with hollow, merciless eyes. A reflection of everything he feared he could become… and everything he needed to become right now.
He set it aside for a breath—and ran back into the hallway.
Masked intruders crowded every corner, kicking open doors, dragging terrified students out.
They saw Yuri.They charged.
He didn't spare them a glance.He broke into a dead sprint—
—and hurled himself through a window, shattering it as he fell three stories toward the ground.
"EVERYONE LISTEN!" he roared mid-fall."ON MY MARK—BURST OUT OF THE CLASSROOMS IMMEDIATELY!!!"
He hit the concrete hard, rolled, and sprang to his feet with inhuman speed.
"I SWEAR—NO HARM WILL TOUCH YOU!"
Some students froze.Some cried.Some recognized the voice and obeyed without hesitation.
Dozens of masked intruders leapt out after him—closing in like a black tide.
Yuri lifted the mask.
His hands trembled—not from fear…but from resolve.
He whispered:
"I swear on my mother's soul… not a single innocent dies today."
He inhaled.
His pupils shrank.His heartbeat slowed.
"ONE…!"
The intruders lunged.
"TWO…!"
The mask locked into place.
And then—
Yuri broke the laws of his own biology.
Not one Maximum Output.Not two.But dozens—stacked, layered, firing on and off within the span of a single heartbeat.
His muscles screamed.His tendons frayed.His bones trembled like cracking glass.
His world narrowed—pure instinct, pure violence.
FWOOOOOM—
The world blurred.
Every classroom door burst open as students ran—and all they saw was a streak of motion slicing through the hallways.
A phantom.A specter.A human blade.
Blood sprayed across walls and lockers.Bodies collapsed mid-step.The intruders died before they even understood what had killed them.
Silence settled like dust after a massacre.
One by one, trembling students poured into the courtyard—stepping around dismembered bodies, choking on fear and disbelief.
When they finally gathered outside, every gaze lifted—
—and froze.
A lone figure stood on the school roof.
A dark angel.The vigilante.
Yuri.
Blood soaked his uniform—some dried, some dripping fresh.Blades slipped from his fingers and rattled down the building.
Then—
CRACK.
His mask split cleanly down the center.
Something inside him broke with it.Something deep.
Below, Eithen… Sarah… Gemma… Xalani…all stared up, horrified, heartbroken.
Yuri stared back.His eyes distant.Empty.Shattered.
Another mask fell away—one far beneath the porcelain.
His knees buckled.His vision swam.
And then he fell.
He plummeted from the rooftop—a silent, dying star cutting through the air.
Students watched in paralyzed terror.
FWUP—!
At the last second, a masked figure dropped from above—white mask, emotionless, a single blade strapped to his back.
He caught Yuri effortlessly mid-fall.
He stared down at the crowd with chilling, unreadable stillness.
And without a word—
He vanished.
As though he had been nothing more than a ghost passing through the world.