Ren’s footsteps echoed on the marble floor of the lobby, a reverberation that seemed to amplify the growing emptiness within him. His parents accompanied him to the boundary of the area where families were allowed. With each step, the weight of reality became more tangible. They were pulling away, the invisible line of separation growing sharper with every meter.

Kenji stopped at the boundary line. With a forced smile, he turned to Ren, a futile attempt to be comforting, but Ren could see the flaw in his eyes, the fatigue that couldn’t be disguised. Miko, standing beside him, gave him a quick and distant hug, followed by a kiss on his forehead that felt more like a formality than genuine affection.

"Remember, Yuki," Miko said, her voice attempting to sound firm but failing to hide its coldness. "Be strong. Don’t do anything that might bring us trouble."

Kenji, with a tense smile, placed his hand on Ren’s shoulder but quickly withdrew it, as if the contact was uncomfortable for both of them.

"Study hard, stay focused, and… make friends. You have to fit in, understand? Everything will work out."

Ren couldn’t muster another smile. He knew those words were empty, an echo of who he was supposed to be... not who he truly was. Looking at them, the sense of detachment grew stronger, as if an expanding distance was forming with every unspoken word. They were there, yet not truly with him.

Ren nodded, an automatic gesture. He couldn’t bring himself to speak. He already knew that his words would be in vain, that nothing could change this. It felt as though he had already lost the right to be who he truly was.

And then his parents slowly walked away, giving him one last wave with smiles that Ren saw as hypocritical. He felt a tightness in his chest but forced himself not to show any weakness. They were leaving him there, in the hands of people he barely knew, while they returned to their lives. It was as if, from that moment on, he was just a turned page, a chapter no longer worthy of attention. He was Yuki, and that was the only truth that remained.

As Ren turned his back on his parents and headed toward the main entrance of the academy, his eyes fell on a group of girls saying their goodbyes to their families. Some of them were smiling, chatting animatedly, giving kisses to their mothers and hugs to their fathers with an enthusiasm Ren had never felt. For them, this was just the start of a new chapter, a promising beginning full of possibilities.

But for Ren, this was the end. The end of a part of himself that would never return. As he looked at the girls, a wave of nausea swept over him. Their bright, carefree smiles felt like sharp knives. They didn’t know what he carried. They didn’t know that while they were stepping into a future filled with light and promise, he was being buried in a place where he didn’t belong. The emptiness inside him deepened as the laughter and conversations around him felt distant, like a parallel reality to his own.

Ren looked away, feeling a growing tightness in his throat. He didn’t want to look at those girls anymore. He didn’t want to hear their voices, their laughter filled with a happiness he could never have. The pain of being there, of being forced to live this lie, made everything around him feel unreal.

He glanced at the card still in his pocket, and the feeling of disgust only grew stronger. Yuki Amagiri wasn’t him. And he no longer knew if he would ever be anyone.

"..."

Ren kept walking, but with every step, the sense of discomfort grew stronger. The clothes he wore, carefully chosen by his mother to conceal his true identity, were a cruel reminder of the lie his life had become. The long-sleeved shirt and pleated skirt felt like they were made for someone else not for him. The soft fabric, meant to feel comfortable, now seemed heavy, like a prison. Each movement, each step, intensified the feeling of living a farce. The clash between the body he had and the forced appearance he was made to carry was unbearable.

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As he walked down the academy’s corridor, the voices and laughter of the girls around him became mere background noise, as if an invisible barrier had risen between him and the world. The sounds were there, but he couldn’t connect with them. His thoughts dragged on, heavy and muffled, until suddenly, a memory from long ago overwhelmed him.

•●¤●•

The scene shifted, and he found himself in a distant past, a time when he was still a child. It was a hot afternoon, the sun shining high in the sky, and Ren was in a grassy field, playing soccer with his friends. His white hair was still short, like a boy’s, and the sleeveless shirt he wore left his arms free to run and play. He didn’t care about being a boy with strange hair, hair that others found unusual. In that moment, he just wanted to play.

But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something... a kitten, meowing softly as it clumsily walked down the street, exploring the world around it. Ren smiled to himself, drawn to the sight of the tiny creature. It was something so simple, so pure, that he almost forgot where he was. He stopped running, instinctively crouching to approach the kitten.

But then he saw the car speeding toward it, and panic set in. The vehicle was terrifyingly close, and the kitten, oblivious to the danger, continued to walk leisurely across the street, unaware of the imminent end awaiting it. Ren tried to shout, but the words didn’t come in time.

In an almost primal instinct, something stirred inside him. Nexis, a powerful energy he didn’t yet fully understand, surged through his veins like an uncontrollable river. His body trembled, his muscles pulsating with a strength he never imagined he possessed. He didn’t think, didn’t rationalize. It was as if his body had been overtaken by a wave of power, and all he could do was leap.

With supernatural speed and strength for a child his age, he sprinted toward the kitten, diving to save the small creature just before the car could hit it.

When he finally landed on the ground, the kitten safe in his arms, Ren looked around, expecting to see faces filled with admiration. He expected to hear shouts of "hero" or applause from his friends. But what he saw was entirely different.

The silence was heavy. People’s eyes were fixed on him, but not warmly or gratefully. His friends were frozen in place, and the adults nearby stared at him with looks of suspicion—even fear. There was no relief or gratitude in their expressions. Only terror.

Ren felt the heat rise to his face as reality set in. He had done something good, something heroic, something any child would love to be praised for doing. But instead, people saw him as a threat. He wasn’t just a child anymore. He was a man.

"What is this...?" a voice whispered from afar.

"That boy... what did he do?" another voice said, with a tone of fear.

Ren looked at the kitten in his arms, still alive and safe, but the weight of the stares surrounding him made his stomach churn. He didn’t understand what was happening. He couldn’t grasp why his simple act of saving a defenseless creature, something so natural, was treated with such hostility. He only wanted to be like other children, to live a normal life!

But at that moment, he realized: to the world, he wasn’t normal. He wouldn’t be seen as a child. He would always be treated as a threat, as something different. And in that instant, Ren understood, for the first time, the weight of what it meant to be a man with Nexis.

•●¤●•

Back to reality, Ren gripped the handle of his bag tightly, feeling his fingers dig into the rigid material. The pressure in his hands seemed to be the only thing keeping him grounded in the present. He bit his lower lip, trying to suppress the urge to vomit. The nausea intensified with every step he took through the corridors of Reijō Academy, the sound of his footsteps echoing off the marble walls as if the corridors themselves were swallowing him whole.

He glanced weakly at the window beside him, the view of the city sprawling outside, but his mind was elsewhere, lost in bitter reflection. The reality surrounding him now was far crueler than he had imagined. There was no turning back. He knew he had to retrieve his uniform and then find his room... in the girls' dormitory.

He knew what that meant. The thought of living in such a feminine environment, surrounded by girls who would likely see him as an oddity, filled him with visceral discomfort. And worst of all: he couldn’t even rebel. He couldn’t let his true identity be revealed, or he’d be cast aside, rejected by everyone. It was as if he were a ghost in his own life, condemned to live a role that wasn’t his.

With every step in the corridors, Ren felt an increasing pressure, as if the school walls were closing in on him. He tightened his grip on the bag again, and this time, he couldn’t stop it. The urge to vomit was overwhelming. He tried biting the inside of his cheek to maintain control, but the sensation of everything being revolting grew stronger with every passing moment.

"I’m going to have to live like this," he thought, and the idea sank deeper and deeper into his chest. He knew none of it made sense, but as much as he wanted to scream, to oppose everything, he felt paralyzed. His mother’s face flashed briefly in his mind, with her cold, demanding eyes. She always said this was what was best for him, that he needed to “fit in” and “make friends.” But deep down, Ren knew she wasn’t talking about a real future. She was talking about a future where he became someone he wasn’t, someone shaped by a society that feared him.

When he turned the corner, other students passed by him, some girls laughing and chatting while Ren felt the weight of their gazes. He had no idea what they were thinking, but he knew things would never be the same. He wasn’t a child anymore; he wasn’t just a boy. Now, he carried something more, Nexis, and it made him a threat to the world around him, particularly to the current society... the female empire.

He bit his lips again, trying to stay focused. Reality was becoming unbearable, but he had no choice. Ren was already there, trapped in his own body, trapped in his false identity, while the world around him kept turning, indifferent to the torment he felt.