CThe silence was suffocating as Kujo stood before the Academy, his clothes stained with blood, his eyes empty. Students and teachers shifted uncomfortably, murmurs spreading through the crowd as they took in the sight of him, their shock mingling with fear. Sensei Jiro held Kujo's gaze, a storm of emotions flickering across his usually calm face—disappointment, worry, and a quiet, profound sadness.
"Come with me, Kujo," Jiro finally said, his voice heavy. Without another word, he turned, leading Kujo through the crowd and back into the Academy. The whispers grew louder as they walked, a low hum of questions and accusations, but Kujo blocked them out. His mind was a haze, numb to everything but the fading rush of vengeance that now felt hollow, like a ghost of a purpose he'd once clung to.
Jiro led him to his office, shutting the door behind them, the silence between them thick and tense. He gestured for Kujo to sit, but Kujo remained standing, his gaze distant.
Jiro sighed, folding his arms as he studied Kujo. "I need you to tell me what happened. All of it."
Kujo looked up, his voice flat, emotionless. "I took him to his family. Made them see him for what he really was. Then I killed him. Slowly."
Jiro's face tightened, his jaw clenching as he absorbed the words. "And what did that accomplish, Kujo? Did it bring Niko back? Did it ease your pain?"
"No," Kujo replied without hesitation, his gaze unwavering. "But it gave me what little justice I could find. He didn't deserve anything less."
Jiro shook his head, disappointment etched in every line of his face. "You took justice into your own hands, Kujo. You crossed a line that can't be uncrossed. The Academy teaches us to use our power with restraint, to protect, not to harm. But you let vengeance consume you, and now... now I fear you've become something darker."
Kujo felt a spark of anger rise within him, a resentment at Jiro's words. "Don't talk to me about restraint," he said, his voice colder than he'd intended. "You didn't know Niko. You didn't see what he did. You didn't feel the emptiness he left behind."
Jiro's expression softened, a flicker of understanding mingling with his disappointment. "You're right—I didn't know him as you did. And I understand the pain of losing someone you love. But revenge doesn't fill the emptiness, Kujo. It only creates more."
The words hit Kujo, but they felt distant, as though they were meant for someone else. In his heart, he knew Jiro was right—nothing could change what had happened, and no amount of vengeance would bring Niko back. But the anger, the cold sense of purpose he'd clung to, had been the only thing keeping him moving forward. Without it, he felt adrift, lost.
"So what now?" Kujo asked, his voice bitter. "What happens to me?"
Jiro's eyes held a mixture of sadness and resolve. "You've left me with no choice, Kujo. For what you've done, I must recommend your suspension from the Academy. You'll have time to reflect, to understand the weight of your actions."
The words felt like a blow, a final severing of the ties he'd come to rely on. "You're... sending me away?"
Jiro nodded, his expression unyielding. "Yes. I can't allow you to stay here, not after this. The others... they're afraid of you now, Kujo. They don't see you as a friend or a protector anymore. They see the blood on your hands."
Kujo's jaw clenched, a flicker of pain flashing through him. He'd known that vengeance would come with consequences, but he hadn't realized how fully it would strip away the life he'd built here, the sense of belonging he'd started to believe in.
Jiro stood, placing a hand on Kujo's shoulder, his voice softening. "I'm not abandoning you, Kujo. I'm giving you a chance to find your way back to yourself, to remember the man you are beneath the anger. You're stronger than this darkness, and one day, I hope you'll see that."
Kujo looked away, unable to meet Jiro's gaze. He wanted to feel something, anything, but all that remained was the numbness that had settled over him, an emptiness that felt colder than any rage. He nodded, accepting the decision with a quiet resignation, and turned to leave.
As he stepped out of Jiro's office, he found Mira waiting in the hallway, her face pale, her eyes wide with worry. She took one look at him, her gaze flicking to the blood that still stained his clothes, and he saw the mix of fear and hurt in her expression.
"Kujo..." she whispered, her voice breaking. "What did you do?"
He met her gaze, the pain he saw there twisting in his chest. But he couldn't find the words, couldn't explain the depth of the emptiness that had driven him this far. Without a word, he walked past her, leaving her standing alone in the hallway, his heart a hollow echo of the life he'd once believed in.
As he left the Academy, the weight of his actions settled over him, a reminder that he'd crossed a line he could never return from. And as he stepped into the shadows, he knew that the path ahead was one he would have to walk alone.
YOU ARE READING
Phantom Awakening
Fantasy[ALL CHAPTERS PRE-WRITTEN] a world where those with powerful abilities shape the fate of nations, fourteen-year-old Kujo enters the legendary Academy, a place known to forge heroes-or break them. Gifted with the rare power to control metal, Kujo hop...
