I noticed it first in the air.
Not the smell tokyo always smells like oil and rain and too many people trying to live at once. It was the weight of it. The way the wind pressed against my skin like it recognized me.
That was how it always started.
I stood on the rooftop of a half-dead apartment building, school bag still slung over my shoulder like I was just another tired student killing time. From up here, the city looked harmless. Neon signs blinking. Trains crawling. People laughing somewhere far below.
They had no idea.
I exhaled, slow. The air moved when I did. Not dramatically—no storm, no explosion. Just a subtle shift, like the world leaning closer to listen.
Still works, I thought.
The System flickered at the edge of my vision.
> [Status Check — Shirou Kisaragi]
Authority: Dormant
Divine Sync: 12%
Warning: Prolonged suppression detected
I ignored it.
I'd been ignoring it for years.
Dust. That's what they used to call me. Not my real name,not back then. Back then, I wasn't Shirou Kisaragi pretending to be human. I was something else. Something louder. Something worshipped.
A god.
I tightened my grip on the railing. The metal creaked, bending just a little too easily. I let go before it snapped. Breaking things by accident was a bad habit.
"Get it together," I muttered.
A gust of wind rushed past me, sharp and annoyed. Yeah. It heard that.
The System pulsed again, more insistently this time.
> [Anomaly Detected]
Location: Shinjuku District
Source: Unauthorized System User
I froze.
Unauthorized.
That word didn't exist before.