✦ CHAPTER 0 — BEFORE THE WATER BREAKS ✦
The pool always smelled like chlorine and ambition.
Not because people stopped talking—
but because sound stopped mattering.
Water wrapped around my body like a second skin as I cut forward, arms burning, lungs screaming. Every movement was instinct now. No thinking. No hesitation. Just rhythm.
Pull.
Kick.
Breathe.
The world narrowed to the pressure against my fingertips, to the resistance of water sliding past my shoulders. My heartbeat matched my strokes. Everything else dissolved into the dull roar inside my ears.
One last stroke.
I hit the wall.
Silence.
For half a second, nothing existed.
Then the digital board flickered.
00:18.23
A breath.
The silence shattered.
Chaos erupted.
"YO—KAIEN!"
Toma Ishikawa's voice tore through the pool hall. He was half-hanging over the railing, fists pumping like he'd personally won the race.
"That was insane! You broke the national record!"
Mika Aoyama clapped so hard her palms turned red.
"That was beautiful! Did you see how smooth that turn was? It was perfect!"
Ryo Kanzaki didn't speak at first. He just stared at the board, jaw tight, eyes locked on the numbers.
"…Tch," he muttered. "You're really going to do it, aren't you?"
I pushed wet hair back from my face, chest rising and falling hard.
My heart wasn't racing from fear.
It was racing from life.
From the stands, whispers spread.
"Oh my god, look at his shoulders—"
"He's so fast…"
"Isn't he the one competing tomorrow?"
A few girls near the railing leaned forward, eyes wide, cheeks flushed. One covered her mouth, giggling. Another nudged her friend and pointed at me openly, like subtlety had drowned in the pool.
I pretended not to notice.
The swimmer in the next lane—my rival stayed gripping the pool's edge, chest heaving.
He stared at the numbers like they had personally betrayed him.
"…Those turns are sloppy," he muttered.
His brows pulled together.
"…He's wasting motion."
He glanced at me again.
"…That doesn't make sense. He still beat us."
The coach beside him exhaled slowly.
"His stamina," he said.
A pause.
"Very interesting."
Around us, coaches leaned toward one another. Phones came out. Someone laughed nervously.
Coach Morita approached, arms crossed, eyes sharp and assessing. He looked from the board to me, then back again.
"You amazed everyone," he said at last.
Then his lips curved into a rare smile.
"Half a second," he said. "Tomorrow, you erase it."
I laughed, breathless.
"So… another lap?"
He shook his head.
"No. Nationals are tomorrow. You're done for today."
"But—"
"I said you're done," he cut in, then softened.
"Go enjoy being human today."
---
We spent the afternoon pretending tomorrow didn't exist.
Cheap convenience-store food. Carbonated drinks we definitely shouldn't have touched. Mika stole fries from everyone's tray like it was her life mission.
"You know what's going to happen tomorrow?" she said, pointing a fry at me.
"You're going to win, and suddenly you'll have like thousands of new girl followers."
Toma grinned instantly.
"Thousands? Nah. Millions. Bro's going to drown in attention."
He wiggled his eyebrows. "Man's going to have fun."
"Ew." Mika slapped his arm. "Pervert."
Ryo leaned back, arms crossed.
"Focus on your turns instead of girls," he said. "You're wasting energy on the push-off. Fix that, and you won't just win—you'll dominate."
I waved it off. "That's a flashy move, buddy."
I laughed more than I had in weeks.
Toma suddenly leaned across the table, phone in his hand.
"Oi, did you guys see that viral video on iTube?"
Mika frowned. "What video?"
"The one where a monster and some ghost thing are fighting in the street. People are saying ghosts actually exist now."
He shoved the screen toward us.
I barely glanced at it. "Fake."
Toma blinked. "Huh?"
"AI-generated," I said, taking a sip. "Edited footage. Lighting's wrong. Shadows don't match."
Ryo nodded immediately. "Yeah. Don't believe random internet scraps or panic bait."
Mika still stared at the screen, uneasy. "But… it looks real."
"That's the point," Ryo said. "That's why people fall for it."
For a few hours, life was simple.
Then my phone rang.
Jacklin.
"Hey," I answered.
"Can we meet at the park?" she asked.
"Near the river. Come."
---
Later, the city swallowed me whole.
Jacklin walked beside me beneath neon lights and passing trains, her hand slipping naturally into mine. Her fingers were warm. Steady.
"How was your day?" she asked.
"As usual—awesome," I said. "But one thing was missing."
She glanced at me. "What's that?"
I smiled. "You."
She blushed immediately and looked away, quickly changing the topic.
"You disappear when you swim," she said softly.
"Like the world loses its grip on you."
I smiled.
"That's the only place the world doesn't feel crowded."
We wandered through glowing streets, shared street food, lost coins in arcade machines. She laughed when I lost. I laughed when she shouted "Hooray!" like a kid.
We stood on a bridge, watching traffic flow below like rivers of light.
"Tomorrow," I said casually, "I'm going to rock it. Probably have girls hitting on me."
She hit me with her handbag—hard.
"If you cheat on me," she said sweetly, eyes blazing,
"I'll make sure you regret surviving."
I laughed. "That depends on you."
"How?" she asked.
I leaned closer. "Two days before… can we continue where we left that kiss?"
Her face turned bright red. She covered her face.
"No. No. No."
I grinned. "Just kidding. Look at your pink face."
I turned away—
She suddenly leaned in and kissed my cheek.
My face burned.
"Hey—!"
She stepped back, smiling.
"Bye. See you after your competition."
---
I reached home exhausted.
I fell asleep fully dressed.
The doorbell woke me.
Once.
I groaned, dragging myself upright.
"I'm coming…"
My hand brushed the knob—
SHKK—
Steel screamed past my face.
Pain tore across my cheek as blood sprayed warm and sharp. I twisted on instinct, the blade burying itself in the wall behind me.
The door exploded inward.
Masked figures rushed in.
Shadows clung to them like living things.
Killers.
Assassins.
My heart dropped.
"What the hell is this?!" Panic slammed into me.
I ran.
I slammed my bedroom door and locked it as something heavy crashed against the wood. The frame groaned.
My hands shook. My thoughts scattered.
This isn't real. This can't be real.
My palm hit the wall—
A click.
The panel slid open.
I froze.
Weapons. Pistols stacked neatly. Ammunition sealed in steel. Blades gleaming.
And at the center—
A sword.
Long. Lean. Pulsing with faint neon blue-violet veins, like lightning trapped inside steel.
"What… are you?" I whispered.
Its glow didn't belong in this world.
It felt like it was waiting.
In my room… all this time?
Something in my chest tightened — like this place had been waiting for me to notice it.
The door cracked.
I grabbed whatever I could—pistol, magazines, a knife—and the sword.
"I don't even know how to use this…!"
"No—damn it—just escape!"
My eyes caught something at the corner of the panel.
A button.
I pressed it.
The ceiling opened.
"Thank God."
I jumped, pulling myself into the shaft as the panel slammed shut beneath me.
Metal screamed below.
They broke the door.
Bullets tore through the ceiling. A blade stabbed upward, missing my leg by inches.
I crawled, trembling, heart pounding.
At the end, a hatch burst open.
Rain hit my face.
I stepped onto a narrow steel beam running along the skyscraper's side.
The city yawned below.
"H-holy shit…"
One step wrong—and I was gone.
A knife hissed through the rain.
It clipped my shoulder.
I stumbled.
My foot slipped.
And then—
I fell.
"You bastards—!"
The world tilted. City lights blurred into streaks.
White.
A blank stage.
No sound. No rain. Just me.
Slipping into water always felt like breathing for the first time,
my voice echoed.
Nothing special about me. Everything fades.
Tears tore free.
"Why is this happening to me?"
If this was my fate, it had terrible timing.
END OF CHAPTER 0 - Before the Water Breaks