It wasn't a quiet arrival. Not a gentle drift through time. Not a soft cry beneath the stars.
It was a cataclysm.
In the heart of an uncharted forest, reality ripped open—a glowing tear in the fabric of space, followed by a blinding flash. From that rift poured an overwhelming surge of pure, untamed Yin and Yang energy, shaking the skies and burning the air. Trees twisted. Rocks cracked. The very earth trembled.
Birds dropped from the sky. Deer ran, only to stumble and collapse. Even insects lay still. All of nature recoiled from the presence that had arrived.
And then... he arrived.
A black-and-gold basket descended through the rift like a forgotten relic of the gods. It landed softly—but the moment it touched the ground, the seals surrounding it flickered weakly… and everything exploded.
⚫⚪ Yin and Yang collided. ⚫⚪ An unseen shockwave blasted through the forest like thunder given form—erasing all sound, all motion.
And standing closest to the impact…
Were Hana and Kaito.
The young couple had been hiking nearby, enjoying a quiet afternoon—until the wave hit them like a divine fist.
> "Wha—!" Kaito gasped, knees buckling.
Hana screamed and dropped to her hands and knees, blood pouring from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Her breath caught, vision swimming. Her unborn child kicked violently in her belly as her body convulsed from the pressure of the energy.
Kaito clutched his head as blood streamed from his nose, ears, and mouth. His body trembled like it was about to collapse into dust.
> "K-Kaito!" she whimpered. "What's happening?!"
Every breath felt like drowning. Their minds screamed to run. But something greater than fear… pulled them forward.
As if fate itself was dragging their barely-conscious bodies toward the source.
Step by step. Crawling through burning earth. Until they saw it.
A crater, still glowing. In the center, surrounded by steaming soil and scorched trees, sat a basket—inscribed with glowing seals, faint and flickering.
And inside it…
A baby.
His eyes were wide open, glowing crimson like pools of blood. His hair, as white as untouched snow, fluttered without wind. His presence alone bent the world around him—cracks in the earth forming naturally, grass turning to ash beneath his body.
Kaito's breath caught.
> "No... It can't be. That clan was wiped out millions of years ago."
He stared at the child, and something stirred deep in his memory. A legend told as myth. A bedtime story passed down for generations. A clan so powerful, so balanced, they threatened the entire world order.
> "They always told it like it was a story," he whispered. "A myth. But it was real... The Shirogami Clan."
> "The Shirogami Clan…" Hana echoed.
The only clan in history born with both Yin and Yang energy. The only beings strong enough to threaten the balance of the world. Said to be the descendants of gods. Said to have vanished in a single night of betrayal.
> "He shouldn't exist," Kaito muttered.
Suddenly, the seals inside the basket activated. Ancient script flared violently—like it had been asleep for eons and was forced to awaken. Light wrapped around the child—his white hair darkening to black. The violent energy faded, masked beneath the ancient magic. His crimson eyes, however, remained unchanged.
Still watching. Still ancient. Still dangerous.
There, lying beside him, was a silk cloth stitched with a single name:
Ethan.
Kaito stumbled back.
> "We can't take him home. You saw what he did. We barely survived just standing near him!"
> "And yet… we're still alive," Hana whispered, wiping the blood from her face. "Our bodies nearly shut down… but something let us stay conscious. Like we were chosen."
> "Or cursed."
> "Either way… he's still a child."
She stepped forward—barely steady—and gently lifted the baby into her arms. His body was warm. His gaze calm. The destruction around him—impossible.
> "He's alone," Hana said softly. "And I'm going to be a mother soon. I won't leave him."
Kaito stood there for a long moment. Then sighed.
> "We raise him like he's ours. But no one can know where he came from."
As they made their way back toward town, Hana held Ethan close to her chest. The further they walked, the more they noticed something wrong.
When they reached the outskirts of the town… they stopped dead in their tracks.
Everyone was unconscious.
Men, women, children… collapsed in the streets, slumped over market stalls, lying motionless in gardens. Not a soul stirred.
Not dead. But absolutely, unmistakably unconscious.
A cold wind passed through.
Kaito's voice shook.
> "This… this was from him?"
Hana looked down at the boy in her arms.
He was sleeping.
Peacefully.
The storm had passed… But its center had only just begun to breathe.
And the world, still and silent, held its breath… as if it remembered him.