Kira's alarm buzzed quietly at 6:00 AM, its sound barely a whisper. He switched it off in a single smooth motion, rising to his feet with a practiced ease that matched his routine. He liked mornings quiet, serene, and orderly, a pleasant balance to the chaos later on.
He wore simple jeans and a black hoodie, grabbed his backpack, and headed downstairs. There was a whiff of fresh coffee in the air, though the pot wasn't full. His mom, Hana, had already left on for her night shift. A sticky note on the fridge read:
"Good luck at school, sweetheart. Dinner's in the fridge. Love you. - Mom."
Kira grabbed an apple from the counter, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and stepped out into the cool morning air. His life was ordinary on the surface: a high school senior at 17, quiet, a bit of a loner. But 'ordinary' didn't quite fit Kira. He was good at too many things, understood too much, and sometimes he felt like he was waiting for something... bigger.
By 8:00 AM, Kira was already standing out again, though he didn't want to."Let's see who can solve this," their physics teacher challenged, writing a complicated formula on the board. The class collectively groaned.
Roxy, sitting next to him, nudged him in the side. "Bet you've got it already."
"I'm waiting," Kira said, keeping his voice low.
"For what? A chance to look humble?"
Kira sighed, raised his hand, and outlined the answer easily, throwing in an added derivation that made the teacher nod in thanks.
"Show-off," Roxy mocked, and the other students grumbled. "You could at least act like it's difficult."
"I'm not showing off," he whispered. "I just… get it."
"Yeah, I know. Mr. Perfect."
Roxy leaned back in her chair, her blue hoodie messy and her notebook covered in diagrams. She was a tomboy when it came down to it, but when it came to biology and technology, she was every bit as clever as Kira was. Today, she was sketching something that looked like a DNA strand suspiciously enough.
"What's this?" he said.
"New project," she said with a shrug. "Genetic modifications in deep-sea species. It's for my bio class. You'd probably ace it without trying."
"I'm sure you'll ace it too," he said, and for a second, her smirk softened.
By lunch, Kira had made it through two more classes and an impromptu demonstration in chemistry, where the teacher dragged him to the front to participate in an experiment. He didn't mind being helpful, but it did nothing other than add to the quiet stares that followed him everywhere.
Gym class rounded out the day. They were playing basketball, and while Kira wasn't the loudest person on the court, his movements were economical and precise. He wasn't thinking he was just doing, scoring the points with ease.
"Dude, you've got eyes in the back of your head," someone muttered as Kira passed the ball to an open teammate without looking.
Roxy, sitting on the sidelines and playing with her phone, called out "Show-off!" again, this time with a grin.
By the time school finished, Kira was prepared to leave. He liked the routine but not the supervision.The house was empty when Kira got home. His mother was working the night shift at the hospital and would be gone all through the night, and his sister Aira would probably be at her boyfriend's place.
The quiet did not bother him. He heated up leftovers in the microwave, ate them quickly, and headed out onto the porch. The night air was chilly, blended with the distant buzzing of crickets. The stars twinkled brightly overhead against the black sky.
Kira looked at them, the previous restlessness still there. It was an inescapable sensation he couldn't put his finger on like something was lurking about or waiting for him.
Then it happened.
There was a deafening roar that shattered the air, low and savage. The crickets froze. Kira's gaze shot up as a blaze of light tore through the sky. It moved too fast to be an airplane, too controlled to be a meteor.
The object burned with intense light as it hurtled towards the ground, racing directly for the forest behind his home. Several seconds later, it landed with a ground-shaking thud, causing a shockwave through the trees.
Kira froze for a second, looking at the column of smoke high in the distance. Then his body twitched involuntarily, fueled by adrenaline, into the woods.
The forest was darker than it usually was, the acrid smell of smoke and burned wood hanging over the air. Kira's flashlight showed the shadows revealing burned branches and leaves on the ground.
When he reached the crash site, his breath caught.
There was a crater in the earth, its edge aglow with a soft light. At the center was a bizarre, organic-appearing thing,dark and rippling, like metal that wasn't quite solid. It glowed softly, emitting a low vibration.
It wasn't human.
Kira crept forward, his heart racing. The wreckage appeared to be alive, as if it were breathing. And then, out of the corner of his vision, he noticed movement.
Someone… or something, was there.
She lay near the wreckage, half-hidden in smoke. Her silver-blue iridescent skin shone softly under the moonlight, with glowing patterns tracing over her body. Her hair appeared to be threads of light, and her eyes were large, shining, and piercing looked up to meet him.
Kira froze. She was… beautiful, but not human. All his instincts yelled at him to flee, but he couldn't.
She stirred, her movements slow and pained. Then she began to speak, her voice low but persistent.
"Help… injured."
As soon as she uttered those words, she collapsed in Kira's arms.
To Be Continued...