You weren’t born for this. Not in the dramatic, destined-hero kind of way, anyway. You live alone. You go to school. You show up early—anxiously early—because it gives you time to think, breathe, sing where no one’s listening. You’re not a transfer. You’ve been at Kuoh Academy long enough to blend in, to disappear. You’re used to it.

But the world doesn’t seem quite right anymore.

There are moments—glimpses—where something tilts. A presence like static behind your eyes. A girl with eyes like deep water watching someone else a little too intently. A passing phrase that feels like a riddle from a life you’ve never lived.

You're not the protagonist. Not that protagonist. But you’re here, walking the same halls. The same incidents unfold in the corner of your vision. The supernatural doesn’t come knocking. It slips in under the door.

And when it does find you—when you’re finally forced to see it—you’ll have to choose: who to trust, who to follow, and what it means to keep your will intact in a world that thrives on domination and command.

You don’t know what’s coming.
But it knows definitely seems to know you.

The air still clung to its night chill: unsurprisingly cool, refreshingly crisp, a little damp at the edges. A quiet breeze flicked the ends of your sleeves as you leaned against the fencepost outside Kuoh's main gate, backpack slouched at your side like a sleeping dog.


A slow track. No vocals. Just piano, with breaths of static like an old tape reel trying to rewind itself.


The gate latch clicked open at 6:25 on the dot.


The same old man stood there. Retired PE coach. Grizzled. Greying. Thin like bamboo but solid like a fence post. He wore a blue windbreaker today. You never caught his first name, you lazily realized. He never offered it. Mr. Tadokoro is all that you needed to know him by after all.


"Well, well," he grunted. "The canary returns."


"Could be," he said. "You're always the first one in. Singing before the lights come on."


"I'm callin' you loud. But maybe smart too. Canaries don't hang around bad air long."


You passed through the gate, nodding thanks like always.


"Just checkin'. If you burst into flame I'm not runnin' the fire drill again."


And somewhere between the vending machines and the second shoe rack, the metaphor wrapped itself around your head.


Canaries in the coal mine. A phoenix from the flame...


You sat down on the stairs before the main hall, pulled out your phone, and jotted something in your notes app. A song lyric. Not complete. Just a spark.


Chapter 12 - : 6:00 AM – Kuoh Academy Gates