BANG!
The principal stopped mid-sentence as something hit his shoulder.
A shoe.
The crowd erupted into murmurs. The principal staggered, hand flying to his shoulder. "Whose—?"
"It's mine… sorry!" a voice called.
Heads turned. Where did that voice come from?
"I'm here… on top of the wall."
All eyes snapped to the edge of the courtyard wall. There stood Hiyose Ken, balancing precariously. One shoe was intact, while the other hung limply from his foot, sole flapping comically. He waved without thinking. "Tough morning," he muttered.
Whispers and stifled laughs moved through the students. Some shook their heads while others looked genuinely confused.
The principal rubbed his shoulder and stared at Ken. "What do you think you're doing, Ken? On the wall, late, and now hitting me with a shoe?!"
Ken climbed down carefully, mumbling under his breath. " I'm sorry, sir. The sole came off my shoe… I didn't mean to—"
Someone called from the back, "Aren't you the guy who got slammed by the bus door this morning?"
Ken gave a half-smile and shrugged. "Every morning."
The principal pinched the bridge of his nose. "Explain yourself properly in my office later!"
Ken nodded, shoulders slumping slightly. This was… life. Ordinary, chaotic, relentless.
Ken's life was complicated. He hadn't decided on his own. It felt like the universe was always against him.
Since middle school, whenever he needed to decide something, he flipped a coin. Heads or tails, yes or no. Friends called it superstition. Ken called it survival. Letting fate decide meant he didn't have to. But of course, he never won.
Today, fate had chosen to humiliate him further. He sighed and started the long walk to college. His house lay on the far edge of town, the road cutting close to the forest before curving back toward the city. Most people avoided the forest path due to stories of disappearances and strange whispers. Birds fell silent whenever someone passed.
Ken didn't like it either. But he liked being late even less… only to be late anyway.
He sat through lectures alone, ate lunch alone, and counted the minutes until freedom. College had been a year of repeated observations: life happened to other people. He was always on the edge, never really a part of it.
Sometimes he wondered if anyone would notice if he vanished. He didn't really care about the answer.
By the time the day ended, the sun hung low in the sky, orange and lazy, just like him. Ken threw his backpack over one shoulder. His stomach grumbled. Thoughts drifted. He chose to walk home.
The coin in his pocket pressed against his thigh.
Heads or tails. Go or stay.
He tossed it. Time slowed. Heads.
Ken froze. He had never won a flip before. Not once. And now, it was telling him to step into the forest.
For the first time in years, he wasn't leaving it to chance.
"Of course," he muttered bitterly. "Even the universe can't keep me from making my own mistakes."
He stepped off the road and into the shadows of the forest.
The trees closed around him, familiar yet alien. The air smelled of wet earth. Somewhere deep inside, a memory tugged at him: stone. A drop of blood. A voice that sounded familiar.
Ken stopped, heart racing. He had been here before, hadn't he? Or maybe it was just a dream. But it didn't feel like a dream. Coincidence… or my life incident? He asked himself. The forest felt intentional. The shadows twisted unnaturally, and the silence waited.
He expected nothing. Just a walk. Nothing more. That was his life: unremarkable, lonely, uneventful.
Yet, as he moved closer to the clearing, a cave stood gaping before him. Dark stone, jagged edges.
"Something feels odd," he muttered.
He crouched to inspect the entrance. A chill ran down his spine. Smooth stone, rough patches, and a faint red stain. Blood?
Jagged letters carved into the stone read: One life, One choice, One moment.
Ken laughed nervously. "Of course. Cryptic nonsense. That's my life."
But a pulse ran through his arm. The forest leaned closer. A whisper of anticipation stirred in his mind.
Whatever happens next, he thought, it starts here.
And as he stepped fully into the cave, he didn't realize the coin that had always chosen for him had chosen him this time.