A Gift that should never see the light of day. A smile that's too perfect to be real. And a classmate who's about to find out the truth.
Kazama Shinji hates Mistrea Island—the isolated academy where the Gifted are caged until eighteen, and where his ability to manipulate corpses makes him a freak among the "talented." He keeps his head down, counts the days, and tries not to think about why his childhood friend Yuuka's smile sometimes looks hollow.
Then Hiiragi Nana transfers in. Sweet, popula
Talentless Nana: The Shadow Observer - The Detective Without a Sense of Smell — The Accomplice Exposed
The afternoon light slanting through the classroom windows stretched long across the hallway floor.
Kazama Shinji walked close to the wall, careful not to step on the bands of light.
(I want to get back to my room. Fast.)
His head was full of last night. The trembling of Yuuka's fingertips. That voice—"I'll be the one to break you." And then the order to investigate Nana.
(What am I supposed to do?)
No matter how he turned it over, no answer came.
The after-school hallway was crowded with students heading to club activities and others returning to the dorms. Laughter, footsteps, someone calling a name. All of it reached him like sound from a distant world.
Shinji avoided the crowd and drifted toward the windows.
That was when it happened.
"Kazama."
A low voice, from directly behind him.
Before he could turn, a strong hand seized his right shoulder.
"We need to talk."
The one gripping his shoulder was Onodera Kyouya.
His carelessly grown black hair hid one eye. Beneath it, a sharp gray gaze fixed steadily on Shinji. A faint old scar traced across his neck. Kyouya was tall, and he looked down at the small-framed Shinji from above.
"K-Kyouya..."
Shinji's voice cracked.
Kyouya didn't answer.
He just kept his grip on Shinji's shoulder, silent, leaning his face closer as if probing the rhythm of Shinji's breathing.
"Your breathing's wrong."
Kyouya spoke quietly.
"Huh...?"
"There's an unnatural irregularity—like someone else is moving your body. Haven't you noticed it yourself?"
Deep in Shinji's chest, his heart gave a violent leap.
(This guy—he's noticed after all.)
Kyouya had no sense of smell. In its place, he could detect the faintest vibrations in the air. Tactile hearing. The rhythm of Shinji's breathing, the beat of his heart, the tension in his muscles—all of it reached Kyouya as vibrations in the air.
"W-what are you talking about? I'm fine."
Shinji tried to force a smile.
But the muscles in his face wouldn't cooperate.
"You're too scared to write this off as my imagination."
Kyouya's voice was cold.
"Your shoulder's shaking. Your fingertips are cold. Your heart rate's been climbing this whole time. This isn't a normal state."
Shinji couldn't say anything.
Kyouya was right.
Even he could feel his own body trembling.
(No. That's not it. It's not that.)
He searched inside himself for words of denial.
But he couldn't find any.
"Kazama. I'm investigating what's happening at this academy."
Kyouya lowered his voice.
"Nakajima Nanao's disappearance. Habata Tsunekichi's disappearance. And my sister, too."
"Your sister...?"
"She's the reason I came to this island. She was recruited to this academy as a powered individual before me, and then she vanished. We still don't know what happened."
For the first time, something like emotion bled into Kyouya's voice.
"This academy has a public face and a hidden one. You know something about the hidden side, don't you."
Kyouya looked straight into Shinji's eyes.
Those gray eyes seemed to pierce down to the very bottom of him.
"I... I don't know anything..."
Shinji squeezed the words out.
But Kyouya didn't look away.
"You need help, don't you."
Kyouya said it quietly.
"I'm not your enemy. Talk to me. Tell me what's happening."
Shinji bit his lip.
(I want to tell him.)
A voice rose from somewhere deep inside.
(I want to tell him everything.)
About Yuuka. About Nana. About that night on the cliff. About being nothing but a puppet.
(I want him to save me.)
The words climbed up to the back of his throat.
"...Kyouya. I—"
Shinji opened his mouth.
And in that instant—
The strength drained from his body.
His vision blurred, softly, out of focus.
(Ah...)
Independent of his own will, his mouth moved.
"I don't know anything. This has nothing to do with me."
The voice came out.
It was Shinji's voice—but not Shinji's words.
"...Kazama?"
Kyouya's brow furrowed.
"I really don't know anything. Just leave me alone."
Shinji's mouth spun lies on its own.
(No. That's not it. These aren't my words.)
He screamed it inside his head.
But it wouldn't become sound.
His body had been completely taken over.
Kyouya stared hard at Shinji's face.
"...Just now, your eyes went blank for a second."
Kyouya's voice dropped lower.
"And your heartbeat changed all at once. The fear from before vanished like it was never there. It's like you became a different person."
Kyouya released Shinji's shoulder.
"Someone's gagged you."
Shinji's mouth moved again.
"No. I really don't—"
"...If you're going to lie, do it better."
Kyouya sighed.
"Fine. You don't have to say anything now. But someday, when you truly ask for help—that's when I'll listen."
Kyouya pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket.
"My contact info. Reach out when you need it."
He shoved the paper into Shinji's pocket.
"You need help, don't you."
That was all he said before turning his back.
His long black hair swayed, lit by the setting sun.
Kyouya's footsteps receded down the hallway.
Shinji stood rooted to the spot.
(Save me.)
He screamed it inside his head one more time.
(Save me, Kyouya.)
But it would no longer become sound.
Control of his body returned little by little.
His fingertips trembled.
In his pocket, the slip of paper rustled.
With shaking hands, Shinji clutched it.
The paper crumpled.
(This is my only—)
Shinji bit his lip.
(My only lifeline.)
The setting sun poured through the hallway windows.
Red light stretched long across the floor at his feet.
Night fell.
In his dorm room, Shinji sat on the bed.
He hadn't turned on the lights.
Only the moonlight through the window faintly illuminated the floor.
In his hand, the crumpled slip of paper.
Kyouya's contact info.
(Should I reach out?)
(But what would I even say?)
(Yuuka would find out everything.)
Shinji stared at the paper, unable to move.
Then his phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
It was from Yuuka.
"Come to the rooftop."
A short message.
Shinji exhaled deeply.
(I have to go.)
His body felt heavy as lead.
The wind was strong on the rooftop.
The damp wind off the sea whipped violently at Shinji's bangs.
The moon emerged white from a gap in the clouds.
Yuuka stood before the rooftop fence.
Her short black hair danced in the wind.
Her large, bright brown eyes caught the moonlight and shone.
But that light was far weaker than before.
"You came."
Yuuka turned around.
"Thank you, Shinji."
Her smile was thin, like something pasted on.
"What were you talking about with Kyouya today?"
Shinji's heart jumped.
"...You knew?"
"Mm. Because I'm always feeling your body, Shinji."
Yuuka tilted her head.
"That time too—I was the one moving your mouth. Kyouya's sharp. If you'd kept talking, everything would've come out."
"...Should I say thank you?"
Shinji's voice was trembling.
"You should be grateful. That you didn't say anything unnecessary."
Yuuka's voice turned cold.
"But you took that paper, didn't you. Kyouya's contact info."
Shinji couldn't answer.
"Throw it away. Right now."
Yuuka stepped closer to him.
"...Yuuka, wait. Please, just listen to me."
Shinji forced the words out desperately.
"Listen to what?"
"About your feelings. If you keep going like this, you're going to—"
"What happens to my feelings is none of your business, Shinji."
Yuuka cut him off.
"More importantly—tomorrow, bring Nana to Throne Cliff."
"...What?"
"I want to talk to her. Just the two of us—properly, alone."
Yuuka's eyes glowed emptily in the moonlight.
"If I talk to Nana, I feel like I might still be able to feel something. Shinji, please."
Yuuka took both of Shinji's hands.
Her fingertips were cold as ice.
"I can't feel you properly anymore, Shinji. But with Nana—maybe."
"...Am I just used up now?"
Shinji asked.
He knew he shouldn't ask.
But he couldn't help it.
Yuuka didn't answer.
She just squeezed his hands tight.
"...I'm sorry."
It was a small voice.
Those few words said everything.
(Ah.)
Shinji understood.
(This is the final notice. I'm being cut loose.)
Yuuka's hands let go.
"Tomorrow, after school. I'll be waiting at Throne Cliff."
That was all she said before walking toward the rooftop door.
The wind whipped violently through Shinji's bangs once more.
The door clicked shut.
Shinji was left alone on the rooftop.
(I'm finished now.)
The moon slipped behind the clouds.
Back in his dorm room, Shinji sat on the bed in the dark.
In his hand, still, the crumpled slip of paper.
Kyouya's contact info.
(She told me to throw it away.)
(But.)
Shinji unfolded the paper.
It was too dark to read the writing.
But he traced the texture of the paper with his fingertips.
(Yuuka's ability has a blind spot.)
Shinji thought.
(That instant, just before her ability activates.)
(Only in that moment does Yuuka's emotion thin out the most.)
(In that instant, I might be able to escape her control.)
It was a gamble.
But there was no other way.
(I'll use that instant to tell Nana everything.)
(I'll beg her to save Yuuka.)
Shinji picked up his phone.
The screen's light floated white in the dark room.
With trembling fingers, he typed Kyouya's number.
"There's something I want to talk about tomorrow. But don't tell Yuuka, no matter what."
Send.
(This is right.)
(This is the first time I've moved on my own.)
Shinji held the phone to his chest.
His heart was pounding.
But that beat wasn't made of fear alone.
(This is the first time.)
(I decided for myself.)
It was a small step—but a certain one.
Late at night.
His phone buzzed.
Shinji bolted upright.
He looked at the screen.
It was from Kyouya.
"Understood. But tell me one thing."
"Where did your sister disappear?"
Shinji stared at the screen.
(Sister?)
(I don't have a sister.)
His fingers trembled.
"What do you mean?"
Send.
A reply came almost immediately.
"I found traces of my sister's ability near Zenova Hollow."
"One of your accomplices—Hiiragi Nana—should know that place."
Shinji's breath stopped.
(Nana is connected to Kyouya's sister's disappearance?)
(Zenova Hollow—that lava cave?)
His mind went blank.
"Tomorrow I'll tell you everything. After school, behind the library, so Yuuka doesn't notice."
Shinji typed the reply with shaking fingers.
(Tomorrow's decision won't just be about saving Yuuka.)
(It means stepping into the secret of the entire academy.)
The phone screen went dark.
Moonlight poured quietly into the room.
Shinji looked out the window.
The black silhouette of Mt. Zenova loomed against the night sky.
At its base spread the darkness of the Sylvan primeval forest.
(Tomorrow, everything might end.)
(Or maybe everything will begin.)
Shinji gripped his wristband.
The worn wristband, matching Yuuka's.
(Yuuka.)
He called out to her in his heart.
(I want to save you.)
(Even if you cut me loose.)
The moon emerged again from the gap in the clouds.
White light quietly illuminated Shinji's room.
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.