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.
I froze.
Unauthorized.
That word sat wrong in my head, like a cracked tooth I couldn't stop touching with my tongue.
The System didn't exist for anyone. It never did.
It was mine.
There were no users. No borrowed divinity. No fragments passed around like cheap power-ups. There was only me and the thing that answered when I breathed.
The wind around the rooftop stalled, confused by my hesitation.
I frowned. "No," I whispered. "That's not possible."
The System pulsed again, slower this time, almost cautious.
[Disturbance Detected]
Source: Unknown
Classification: Non-Human / Non-System
That was worse.
I picked up my bag and slung it back over my shoulder, suddenly very aware of how quiet the city felt. Like it was holding its breath.
If something was moving without the System. my System then it wasn't a god and it wasn't human.
It was a mistake.
Or a threat.
The air shifted at my feet, waiting. Not eager this time. Alert.
"Yeah," I muttered. "I feel it too."
I hadn't planned on going anywhere tonight. I told myself I was done interfering. Done answering every ripple in the world like it was my responsibility.
But this wasn't interference.
This was my problem.
I stepped onto the ledge. The city lights below blurred as the wind wrapped around me, familiar and careful, like hands that remembered their shape.
Just a look, I told myself again.
Still a lie.
When I let myself fall, the air caught me instantly, lifting me away from the rooftop without spectacle, without sound.
And somewhere deep inside, something old stirred—
Not smiling.
Watching.