The insignia sat in Kael's palm all night.
Black. Cold. Too familiar.
He turned it over again and again, the shape burned into his memory. The last time he saw that emblem, it was clutched in his grandfather's dying hand.
The Fang.
A secret order. Assassins, spies, ghosts hidden in plain sight. Once, Kael's family was part of it until they tried to leave.
The Fang didn't forgive betrayal.
...
The next morning, Kael moved on autopilot. Uniform. Shoes. Bag. Door.
He didn't stop at the corner bakery. Didn't greet the old neighbor watering her plants. The world blurred past, unimportant.
But when he reached school, something unfamiliar waited.
A transfer student.
Tall. Pale. Quiet.
He introduced himself as Jun Sera, with a clipped tone and perfect posture. His eyes lingered a moment too long on Kael before he bowed like a blade sheathed in silk.
Kael said nothing but he felt it.
Another watcher.
...
Classes dragged by, heavy with tension. Even Rin seemed distant, as if the air itself whispered warnings she couldn't quite hear.
By the time the final bell rang, Kael didn't head home.
He went to the gym storage room.
And waited.
...
"Did you know your grandfather spared me?"
The voice slid out of the shadows like oil.
Kael didn't turn.
"You're late."
Jun stepped forward, unwrapping his scarf. The silence between them pressed in like thick fog.
"I was given an order," Jun said calmly. "But I want to know something first."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you still here?" Jun's eyes narrowed. "Everyone else in your bloodline ran, or died. You could vanish. Start over. So why stay?"
Kael paused.
Then quietly answered, "Because I remember all their names."
...
The fight started without warning.
Jun moved like lightning fast, silent, precise. Every strike designed to disable. Kael blocked, twisted, countered. Their feet scuffed dust from the hardwood floor, their shadows dancing like knives.
Form I: Ghost Breath.
Form II: Falling Leaf.
Form III: Broken Moon.
Blow after blow, they clashed, until finally Kael forced Jun back, a thin line of blood tracing the edge of his cheek.
Jun smiled.
"I see now. You're not running because you want revenge."
He stepped back into the shadows.
"You're staying to make them fear your name."
...
Kael stood in the silence that followed.
And for the first time in a long time…
He didn't feel alone.