[Deep beneath Aetherion Academy]
The air was heavy, stale with steel and silence. Far beneath the polished floors and glowing halls of Aetherion Academy, there existed a place no student ever spoke of. A place few even knew existed.
Chains hummed faintly. A pulse echoed off the walls—slow, rhythmic, like a second heart beating in the dark.
Derrick sat in the center of a sealed chamber, his back pressed to the cold stone. The glow of Kaiju blood pulsed faintly beneath his skin—crimson threads racing beneath the surface like lightning trapped in glass.
His eyes were shut, jaw clenched.
"I didn't mean to shift…"
"Leo could've died. I almost—"
"I almost let it happen again."
He slammed his fist into the ground, cracking the cement floor beneath him. Dust drifted up. A warning flare of monstrous energy sparked behind his eyes, but he forced it down. Again. Like always.
[Flashback – The First Time He Changed]
He was thirteen. Just a kid. A patrol team had stumbled on him in the ruins of Sector 9. Alone, starving, dazed—and then the screaming started.
He didn't remember much—just the heat, the burn under his skin, and the way his vision went red when the fear got too strong.
The soldiers didn't see a scared boy.
They saw a Kaiju.
When he came to his senses, five of them were injured. One nearly died. He'd begged them to kill him. Instead, Kurenai stepped forward. Calm. Unafraid.
"You are not a monster," the headmaster had said.
"You are proof that something monstrous can still choose not to be."
Derrick never forgot that moment.
[Present – Monitoring Chamber Above]
Professor Kael Durnas watched the boy through a one-way screen. His fingers were steepled beneath his chin, expression unreadable.
Behind him, Headmaster Kurenai stood like a shadow against the glowing monitors.
"He's getting worse," Kael muttered. "His control is slipping."
Kurenai didn't look away from the screen.
"Then we test him. Quietly. No public exposure. No threats of failure."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "You want him to bond with the others? He barely even speaks."
"If we isolate him forever, we teach him he is a monster. I won't make that mistake again."
[Meanwhile – East Dorm Lounge]
Kai sat at the edge of the lounge balcony, the stars above glittering faintly through the Academy dome. Airi stood beside him, arms crossed, eyes narrowed in thought.
Renji was pacing. Rika leaned against a pillar, unusually quiet. Kaito sat cross-legged on the floor, cleaning a dagger with almost meditative calm.
"There were six of us," Kai said slowly. "S-Ranks. That's what Kurenai meant."
Airi nodded. "And the sixth… wasn't one of us in the trial. He came in at the end. Fast. Violent. But controlled."
"Barely controlled," Rika added. "He was fighting himself more than the Kaiju."
Renji frowned. "Who the hell is he? Why hasn't he shown his face since?"
A voice answered from the shadows of the hall behind them.
"Because he doesn't think he deserves to."
They turned—Derrick stood there. Quiet. Tall. His silver-streaked hair fell into his glowing eyes, dimmed and cautious. His uniform jacket hung loosely over his frame, the Aetherion crest stitched over his heart.
The room went silent.
Kai stood first. His electric-blue aura buzzed faintly, but he made no move to fight.
"You're the one who saved Leo."
Derrick nodded once. "It wasn't supposed to be seen. I wasn't supposed to… shift."
Airi stepped forward, voice calm. "Your Kaiju side?"
He flinched, just slightly.
"I lose myself when it surfaces. It's not me anymore. It's hunger. Rage. And if I stay near people long enough, eventually… I snap."
"You didn't snap," Kai said. "You saved him."
Rika's gaze sharpened. "You're scared of yourself."
"I should be."
Renji finally spoke, arms folded. "Then prove to us you can fight it. Train with us. Stay close. That's what we all do—face our demons head-on."
Derrick blinked, stunned by the unexpected support. Kaito stood, sheathing his blade.
"A Kaiju who's afraid of becoming one… sounds human to me."
For the first time in a long time, Derrick breathed without shaking.
*Back in the control chamber*,
Kael glanced at Kurenai.
"If he loses it again… even once… what then?"
Kurenai turned. His eyes glowed faintly crimson.
"Then we end it before he can hurt the others. But until that day… we give him every reason not to fall."
TO BE CONTINUED…