Ren didn't go to school.
He didn't even pretend like he was going to.
The second he got inside his house, he shut the front door, locked it, and stood there in the hallway like he'd forgotten how to breathe. The whole world felt louder now. Not because the city was screaming, but because Ren could feel everything.
The Doors were still in the sky.
He could feel them even through the walls.
It wasn't a normal ki presence. It didn't feel like a fighter standing on a mountain, or a beast hiding in a cave. It felt like the world had holes in it, and those holes were staring back.
Aiko Sato grabbed Ren's shoulders.
Aiko was a woman in her late 30s with short brown hair and tired eyes, wearing her work coat even though she clearly hadn't left yet. Her hands shook a little, but she tried to hide it.
"Ren," she said, "tell me you didn't go near it."
Ren swallowed. "I didn't."
Aiko let out a breath like she'd been holding it for a long time. "Good. Don't. People are losing their minds out there."
Ren nodded, but he didn't speak. His brain was moving too fast.
Aiko stared at his face, like she was trying to read him. "You're… calm."
Ren forced a small shrug. "I'm just tired."
Aiko didn't look convinced. She wasn't stupid. She didn't know about ki, but she knew when Ren was hiding something.
She pointed toward the living room. "Sit down. Just sit. I'm gonna put the news on."
Ren walked into the living room and dropped onto the couch. The fabric was cool. His hands were still cold too, like his body was waiting for the next shock.
Aiko turned the TV on.
Every channel was the same thing.
A shaky helicopter camera view of the nearest Door. A reporter yelling over the noise. Crowds gathering below. Police lines failing. People screaming questions that nobody could answer.
"Ten mysterious structures have appeared across the world," the reporter said. "They resemble doors, and the government has not yet confirmed what they are."
Ren stared at the screen.
The Door looked worse on camera. Not because it looked bigger, but because it looked wrong. It didn't cast a normal shadow. It made the clouds around it look darker, like light was scared to touch it.
Aiko sat beside Ren, still holding her phone. "They're saying it's global. Not just here."
Ren nodded. "I know."
Aiko looked at him. "How do you know?"
Ren's stomach tightened.
He said, "Everyone's texting."
That was true. His phone was buzzing nonstop. Messages from classmates, teachers, random group chats. People were sharing videos from other countries. Ten Doors. Ten locations. Ten new scars in the sky.
Aiko's phone rang.
She answered fast. "Hello?"
Her face changed immediately. She stood up and walked toward the kitchen, lowering her voice.
Ren didn't need to hear the words to know what kind of call it was.
Work was cancelled. Or work was demanding she come in. Or someone was panicking.
Ren kept watching the TV.
A new clip started playing. It was a recording from somewhere else in Japan. A different Door.
A group of people were standing at the base of a Door's shadow, yelling up at it, throwing rocks, waving their arms, like they could insult the sky into moving.
Then someone shouted, "Open it!"
A few people cheered.
Ren's eyes narrowed.
The camera zoomed in.
There was a man in the crowd, stepping forward like he owned the place. He was tall and wide, wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed thick arms. His head was shaved. His face was confident in a stupid way.
Ren could tell instantly.
That man had ki.
Not just a little. A lot.
The man lifted his hand and fired an energy blast at the Door.
The blast hit the surface and vanished like it got swallowed.
The Door didn't even shake.
The crowd went quiet.
The man laughed like it didn't matter.
Then he put his palm against the Door's surface.
Nothing happened.
He pressed harder. Still nothing.
The crowd started yelling again.
Ren leaned forward slightly, watching closely.
The man took a step back, then slammed both hands against the Door.
A ripple spread across the dark surface, like water reacting to a rock.
Ren's jaw tightened.
The Door responded.
The man grinned and slammed his hands again.
The ripple became a thin line of light.
Aiko returned from the kitchen, eyes wide. "Ren, they're telling people to stay away from them."
Ren didn't answer.
Because on the TV, the Door's surface brightened.
A thin glowing outline formed, like a door frame appearing out of nothing.
The crowd screamed. Some people cheered. Some ran away.
The man stepped back with a proud look.
And then the glow faded.
The Door went back to dark.
The outline vanished.
Ren blinked.
It didn't open.
It just acknowledged him.
Aiko covered her mouth. "Oh my god."
Ren said quietly, "It's not going to open for just anyone."
Aiko looked at him. "What do you mean?"
Ren froze.
He'd spoken without thinking.
He forced a shrug. "I don't know. Just… it didn't open."
Aiko stared at him again, suspicious, but fear was stronger than suspicion right now.
She sat back down.
Ren's phone buzzed on the table.
A message from Kaito.
Kaito: where r u
Ren typed fast.
Ren: home. u?
Kaito: same. my dads freaking out.
Ren stared at that.
Kaito's dad didn't know about ki either. Nobody did. That was the whole point. If regular people knew there were fighters strong enough to wipe out cities, the world would go insane.
Now the world was already going insane, and the secret was about to get harder to keep.
Ren typed again.
Ren: u feel it right?
Kaito replied instantly.
Kaito: yeah. those doors feel like death.
Ren set the phone down.
The TV switched to a government press conference.
A man in a suit stood behind a podium, sweating badly. He tried to look calm, but his hands trembled when he held his notes.
"We are investigating," he said. "We urge the public to remain calm and avoid approaching the structures."
Ren almost laughed.
Remain calm.
Avoid approaching.
As if people listened when they were scared.
Aiko shook her head. "They don't know what to do."
Ren didn't say it out loud, but he agreed.
The government wasn't built for this.
This wasn't a natural disaster. It wasn't a war with another country. This was something bigger, and it didn't care about politics.
Aiko's phone buzzed again.
This time, it was a text.
She read it, and her face drained.
Ren sat up. "What?"
Aiko hesitated, then showed him the screen.
It was a group message from the neighborhood.
Someone tried to touch the Door at the park. Police couldn't stop them.
Ren's stomach dropped.
Aiko said, "It's close. It's near us, Ren."
Ren stood up fast and walked to the window.
From their street, he could see the top edge of the nearest Door in the distance. It hovered above the park like it was watching the city.
Ren focused his senses.
He felt movement.
Not from the Door.
From people.
A crowd.
And something else.
A familiar ki signature.
Ren's eyes widened slightly.
He knew that signature.
He hadn't felt it in years.
Someone like that shouldn't be in this city.
Aiko spoke behind him. "Ren? What's wrong?"
Ren turned, forcing his face to look normal. "Nothing. I'm just… worried."
Aiko nodded slowly. "Me too."
She walked toward the window, but Ren blocked her without making it obvious.
"I'm gonna go to my room," Ren said quickly. "I'll message Kaito. We'll… stay inside."
Aiko grabbed his arm. "Don't go out."
Ren nodded. "I won't."
He went upstairs.
The second he shut his bedroom door, his whole posture changed. His eyes sharpened. His breathing steadied.
He wasn't a normal kid in a scary situation.
He was a fighter.
And something was happening at the park.
Ren sat on his bed and placed two fingers on his forehead, focusing his ki like he'd trained.
He pushed his senses outward.
The crowd was large. Hundreds of normal people. Lots of shouting.
Then he felt the ki again.
Strong. Controlled. Heavy.
Not Kaito.
Not Mika.
Someone older.
Someone who felt like a mountain that learned how to move.
Ren opened his closet and reached behind a stack of clothes. He pulled out a folded outfit. It looked like normal dark training clothes, but the fabric was reinforced, built to survive high-speed movement and energy shockwaves.
Ren stared at it for a second.
Then he shook his head.
Not yet.
He promised his mom.
And this wasn't Chapter 3.
Ren forced himself to breathe slowly.
He sat back down and grabbed his phone again.
He messaged Kaito.
Ren: dont go near the park. ppl r doing something.
Kaito replied.
Kaito: i was about to. why?
Ren typed.
Ren: i felt a ki user there. not us. someone strong.
There was a pause.
Then Kaito replied.
Kaito: who
Ren stared at the screen.
He didn't know the name for sure.
But he had a memory.
A man standing on a cliff during a storm, training alone. A man with scars on his arms and calm eyes. A man who once told Ren something that stuck in his head.
When the sky changes, the real monsters come.
Ren typed.
Ren: idk. but hes not random. hes like… old school.
Kaito replied.
Kaito: im coming to u
Ren hesitated.
Then he typed.
Ren: come. but stay low.
Ren set the phone down again.
Outside, the city noise grew louder, like the whole world was moving at once.
Ren walked back to the window.
He could still see the Door in the distance.
It didn't glow.
It didn't move.
But Ren could feel something from it now.
Not power.
Expectation.
Like the Door wanted someone to touch it. Like it wanted someone to decide.
Ren clenched his fist.
The biggest problem wasn't the rulers inside the Doors.
It was humans.
Because humans were impatient. Humans were scared. Humans wanted answers fast.
And the Doors didn't open by themselves.
So humans would open them.
Even if they weren't ready.
Ren whispered to himself, "Not yet."
He didn't know who made the Doors.
He didn't know what a ruler was.
He didn't even know why Earth was chosen.
But he knew one thing for sure.
The moment the first Door opened, the world would split forever.
There would be no pretending.
No hiding.
No normal life.
Ren stayed at the window, watching the sky like it might blink.
Down in the distance, toward the park, something flashed.
Not the Door.
A burst of ki.
Ren's eyes narrowed.
Someone had fired a blast.
A warning shot, maybe.
Or a challenge.
Ren's heart beat once, heavy and slow.
Kaito would be here soon.
Mika might show up too, if she was watching like she said.
And whoever that old ki signature belonged to…
Ren had a feeling he wasn't there to save people.
He was there because the Doors had finally given him an excuse.
Ren backed away from the window.
He sat at his desk, hands clenched, and forced himself to wait.
Because opening a Door was a choice.
And choices were the most dangerous things humans had.