The news played softly in the living room, the voice of the anchor carrying over the clatter of dishes and the faint scent of miso soup.
"Today's mutant incident took place at Shibuya Minami High School," the anchor reported gravely. "Witnesses say that during the lunch period, one of the students suddenly caused an explosion of water, injuring five fellow classmates. The suspect fled the scene and is currently on the run."
"Police are conducting a citywide search, while the injured students have been admitted to the hospital for treatment. Experts believe this was a case of a sudden awakening of mutant powers, most likely triggered by stress. Bullying is being considered as one possible cause, but investigators are still gathering details."
At the dining table, Takeshi exhaled through his nose, shaking his head as he set down his chopsticks.
"Another mutant awakening, huh…"
Beside him, Misaki let out a soft sigh as well, glancing at the television with tired eyes before turning back to her husband.
"How was your day at the university?"
Takeshi offered her a reassuring smile, nodding lightly. "Everything was fine." His gaze then shifted to Ryu, who sat quietly at the table, chewing slowly, his eyes locked on the TV.
"Hey, champ," Takeshi called, his tone softening. "Feeling good now?"
Ryu blinked, then turned toward his father. After swallowing his mouthful of rice, he gave a small nod.
"Mm. I don't feel any pain or discomfort anymore."
"That's good," Takeshi said warmly, his expression easing. "How about you stay home until next Monday before going back to school, huh?"
Ryu thought for a moment, lips pursed as if weighing the idea, then nodded again. "Okay. I'm fine with that."
"Good boy," Takeshi said with a smile, reaching for his chopsticks again.
The conversation dwindled into smaller exchanges after that, the quiet comfort of family life settling in.
Mutants.
They were, at their core, human—born no different from anyone else. Yet, somewhere along the course of their lives, something inside them shifted.
A mutation, often dormant for years, suddenly awakened and changed them forever. From that moment on, they were no longer ordinary humans, but something… more.
Their awakening granted them powers—abilities that, once upon a time, could only be found in myths and fiction. Now they were real. A single mutant could topple a building, devastate a city, or change the course of a storm with nothing more than will and power.
But mutation was not always a gift. For every individual who gained a dazzling ability, there were those who awakened only suffering.
Some found their bodies twisted beyond recognition, their appearances warped until they looked alien among their own kind. Others lost their humanity altogether—becoming unthinking creatures, nothing more than a slime, a rock, or some grotesque form of life stripped of its mind.
And even for those who managed to awaken without such curses, society itself posed a cruel burden. Mutants were rarely accepted as equals.
They were feared, distrusted—seen as unpredictable beings with the power to alter reality itself.
In some corners of the world, people went so far as to worship them as gods or goddesses. In others, they were persecuted, hunted, and forced into hiding.
How a mutant used their powers depended not on their mutation, but on who they were inside. Some became protectors—police officers or agents trained to hunt down criminals who abused their gifts. Some turned to teaching, guiding others like them.
And some, inevitably, fell into darker paths—villains whose powers magnified their malice, heroes whose strength carried the weight of hope, and countless others who lived somewhere in between.
The world, once rigid and ordered, had become a blend of chaos and fragile balance, shaped by both humans and mutants alike.
History bore its scars. There were times when governments tried to seize control, to round up mutants and confine them to isolated camps. Those attempts always ended in failure—and tragedy.
Because no matter how much fear or hatred divided them, mutants were still human. Their families, their pain, their lives could not be separated so easily.
In time, the world shifted. Normalization took root. Mutants became a part of society—not fully embraced, but no longer hidden. Communities of their own flourished in many countries, half-integration, half-isolation.
But Japan was different. Here, the laws were open, the restrictions minimal. Mutants lived alongside ordinary people in the same streets, in the same schools, in the same cities.
Accepted, at least on the surface. Coexisting, even if beneath that coexistence lay the tension of what they truly were.
Now Ryu knew that he had also become a part of that society.
Though on the surface he felt no change after merging with the memories of Dave, the truth was different.
His mind and body had already adapted, silently reshaping themselves until the distinction between "Ryu" and "Dave" blurred. Outwardly, he was still the same boy his parents knew. Inwardly, however, something fundamental had shifted.
The playful spark of a young child was still there, but it had been overlaid by a new composure—a calm, deliberate clarity. It wasn't Dave's maturity that shaped him, not entirely. It was something deeper, something born from his own awakening.
His biology had changed, tuning itself into a constant equilibrium, as though every system in his body now moved in perfect harmony.
He could still feel joy, sorrow, fear, even anger—but none of it consumed him. His emotions never overflowed, never distorted his thoughts or clouded his judgment with the turbulence of hormones or wild impulses.
Instead, they flowed into him and passed through, like ripples on the surface of a still lake. He could see them, understand them, but remain steady.
And in that steadiness, he could see the world differently. Clearer. Sharper. The way things truly were, without the haze of panic, excitement, or illusion.
Ryu realized that this was not just a change in his personality, but in his very being. His awakened biology had forged a foundation where his mind and body were always in balance, grounding him in a calmness that was unshakable.
For some, awakening meant fire, storms, or strength. For him, it meant clarity.
***
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