A gray sky pressed low over the hillside when Tachibana Ren reached the iron gates of Crimson Veil Academy.
The gates were enormous tall enough to swallow a city bus whole and laced with curling sigils that shimmered faintly, as if they were breathing. Mist coiled through the bars and pooled along the cobblestone road behind him. Even the wind that sighed through the valley felt heavy, damp with an unseen weight.
Ren paused with his duffel slung over one shoulder. He'd crossed three prefectures that morning by train, then hiked the winding path up from the sleepy town below. The whole trip had felt wrong in a way he couldn't name. Birds had gone silent whenever he passed, and once, on a forest switchback, he could have sworn the shadows under the pines moved against the slope of the sun.
He shifted his bag and exhaled, fogging the chill air.
You made it. Just act normal.
The thought didn't help much. He'd spent most of his sixteen years avoiding attention foster homes, cramped apartments, nights slipping quietly out the window when arguments got too loud. Yet here he was, about to step into a school so prestigious even its brochure looked like a spellbook.
A black feather drifted down, landing on the toe of his shoe.
Ren crouched automatically, fingers brushing the feather's glossy spine. It was too perfect, as if carved from obsidian glass. He scanned the sky but saw no bird. Only mist, curling thicker.
"New kid, huh?"
The voice was bright, teasing. Ren straightened fast.
A girl stood on the other side of the gate, leaning against the wrought iron as though she'd been waiting. Her uniform skirt stirred in the breeze; strands of silver hair framed a sly smile. Her eyes were an amber-gold so sharp they made the world behind her fade.
"Uh… yeah," Ren said carefully. "Tachibana Ren. Transfer."
She tapped the bars with a finger. A ripple of crimson light ran along the metal and the gates groaned open. "Welcome to Crimson Veil Academy, Ren-kun. I'm Auri. Orientation committee, unofficial. Come on, before the mist decides you're lunch."
He hesitated only a moment before stepping through. The iron closed behind him with a soft click like teeth meeting.
Inside, the campus stretched across manicured lawns and ancient stone buildings. Spires stabbed at the sky, and ivy curled up weather-dark walls. A faint red glow clung to the edges of everything. the Veil, Auri explained breezily as they walked.
"Protects the academy from outsiders. And keeps the other outsiders from slipping in uninvited."
"Other… outsiders?"
"Monsters, spirits, wayward gods." She flashed him a grin. "Don't worry. We only lose, like, two students a semester."
Ren couldn't tell if she was joking.
Auri led him through an arched gate into a courtyard. Students milled about in uniforms charcoal jackets, white shirts, red ties or ribbons. Some wore gloves etched with sigils. Others carried books bound in leather or metal. Everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going.
Ren, meanwhile, felt every glance skimming his skin. A prickle ran up the back of his neck, sharper than simple nerves.
Auri stopped near a fountain shaped like a coiled dragon. "You're in Dorm East, Room 312. Your roommate's a quiet guy shouldn't bite. Oh, and the headmaster wants a word after lunch." She studied him for a beat, expression softening. "You'll be fine, Ren. Just… keep your head if anything weird happens."
Before he could ask what weird meant, she winked and drifted off toward a cluster of girls, silver hair flashing like moonlight.
Ren found his dorm without trouble. Room 312 was small but neat: two beds, two desks, a window overlooking the forest that ringed the academy. Only one side was claimed, neatly arranged with books and a sword stand.
The other bed was bare. Ren set his duffel down and opened the wardrobe. Inside hung the school's black-and-crimson uniform. The jacket's lining bore faint runes that pulsed once when he touched them.
He tried not to think about it.
After changing, he wandered back outside. The clouds had thinned, revealing slices of pale afternoon sun. Groups of students crossed the lawns, laughing or sparring with wooden staves. A few eyed him curiously, their gazes lingering longer than they should have.
Ren kept walking, aiming for the library Auri had mentioned. He was halfway across a stone bridge when pain lanced suddenly behind his eyes. His vision warped colors too bright, edges too sharp. For an instant the world split, revealing threads of silver coiling through the air, binding everything in a vast lattice.
Then it snapped shut.
Ren staggered, gripping the railing. His heart hammered. That… thing inside him whatever had slept for years had stirred.
A whisper brushed his thoughts, low and indistinct. He spun, but the bridge was empty.
"Easy there." A calm voice drifted from behind.
A girl stood at the far end of the bridge, framed by drifting petals from a cherry tree. She was tall, elegant, with dark hair pulled back and a wooden practice sword resting across her shoulders. Her crimson eyes regarded him steadily.
"You're the transfer," she said. "Tachibana Ren."
Ren nodded warily. "Yeah."
"I'm Seraphine Kurogane. Third-year, sword discipline." She started toward him, movements precise, like water sliding over stone. "You should be careful. The Veil reacts to unstable bloodlines."
"Unstable?"
She stopped close enough for Ren to catch a faint scent of steel and rain. "You don't know what you carry, do you?"
He opened his mouth, but a shout rang from the courtyard below: "Veil breach, west wall!"
Seraphine's head snapped around. Down by the perimeter, smoke curled against the sky.
Without hesitation she leapt from the bridge, landing lightly on the grass. She looked back once. "Stay put!"
Ren watched her sprint toward the commotion, sword flashing. Other students converged, some drawing sigil-lit weapons.
He should stay. That was the smart thing.
But something in the smoke tugged at him, deep in his chest. Heat flared under his ribs, wild and urgent.
Ren vaulted the railing.
The west wall was chaos. A fissure had torn through the mist, bleeding shadow into daylight. Shapes crawled from it slick, too many limbs, eyes like shards of ice. Their screeches scraped the air raw.
Seraphine fought at the breach's edge, blade a blur of silver arcs. Auri hovered above the fray, wings of black feathers unfurled, hurling lances of light.
Ren froze for half a heartbeat. Then one of the things broke free, skittering toward a pair of first-years cowering by the hedge.
He moved without thinking.
The creature lunged. Ren yanked a fallen staff from the grass and slammed it sideways. The impact jarred his arms, but the monster reeled. He followed up with a wild swing that cracked against its skull.
A rush of heat surged through him like fire laced with thunder. His vision sharpened; time stretched thin. The monster leapt again, but now he could see every twitch of muscle, every glint of its claws.
Ren ducked under its swipe and drove the staff into its chest. Black ichor hissed where it struck.
The thing shrieked and collapsed into mist.
For a moment Ren just stood there, breathing hard. The world felt alive around him, humming with unseen rhythm. His skin tingled, as though etched with faint lines of light.
"Ren!" Auri's voice cut through the haze. She landed beside him, wings folding away. "You're not supposed to wow. Nice hit, rookie."
Before he could reply, Seraphine approached, blade dripping shadow-stuff. Her gaze swept over him, cool but assessing.
"You moved like someone who's fought before," she said. "Instinct… or something waking up?"
"I don't—" Ren began, but a deeper roar rolled from the fissure.
The remaining creatures were retreating, dragged back into darkness as the tear stitched itself closed. Only silence and faint smoke remained.
Teachers rushed in, cloaks billowing, shouting orders. Someone herded the younger students away. Auri and Seraphine exchanged a look Ren couldn't read.
Finally Seraphine spoke, voice low. "You should report to the headmaster now. There are answers you need and questions only you can answer."
Ren stared at the spot where the fissure had been. The hum inside him hadn't faded. It pulsed, faint but insistent, as if waiting.
By the time they escorted him across the courtyard, the sun was setting, casting long red bars across the academy stones. Ren walked between Auri and Seraphine, aware of their sidelong glances.
He didn't know what the headmaster would say. He didn't know why shadows had recognized him, or why his body had moved faster than thought.
But one thing was clear: Crimson Veil Academy wasn't just a school.
And whatever slept inside Tachibana Ren had just opened its eyes.