By the next morning, Kairo had already checked the tree twice.
Nothing had changed.
At least—not in any way he could point to.
It stood the same. Same shape. Same bark. Same leaves.
If anything, it looked… normal.
Too normal.
Kairo stood there longer than he needed to, eyes narrowing slightly.
He didn't like it.
Not the tree.
The feeling.
It was like trying to remember something you hadn't forgotten.
"You're doing it again."
Kairo didn't turn.
Malik walked up beside him, holding two plastic cups.
"One day you're going to stare at something so hard it changes just to make you stop."
Kairo took the drink without looking.
"Maybe it already did."
Malik snorted.
"Yeah, sure. The tree woke up this morning and said, 'Let me behave myself before this guy shows up.'"
Kairo ignored him.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
The morning air felt… heavier.
Not by much.
Just enough to notice if you were paying attention.
Malik took a sip, then paused.
"…you feel that?"
Kairo glanced at him.
"Feel what?"
Malik frowned slightly, looking around.
"I don't know. It's like…" he shifted his shoulders, uncomfortable, "…like the air's thick."
Kairo didn't answer.
Because he felt it too.
A sharp sound cut through the moment.
A shout.
Both of them turned.
Near the edge of the road, a small group of students had gathered.
One of them was on the ground.
"Move, move—give him space!"
Kairo and Malik pushed closer.
A boy lay on his side, breathing hard, fingers digging into the dirt.
His whole body trembled.
"Hey—hey, can you hear me?" someone said.
"I—I didn't do anything," the boy gasped. "I just—"
He stopped.
His hand clenched.
For a brief moment—
The ground beneath his fingers shifted.
Not cracked.
Not broken.
Just—
Softened.
Like it forgot what it was supposed to be.
Kairo's eyes sharpened.
There it was again.
That same wrongness.
"Did you see that?" Malik muttered.
Kairo didn't respond.
He stepped closer.
The boy's breathing grew erratic.
"Get a teacher!" someone shouted.
"No—call someone—this isn't normal—"
The crowd grew louder.
Panic, still small—but spreading.
The boy suddenly jerked.
His hand slammed into the ground.
This time—
It reacted.
The surface rippled outward in a faint wave, like water disturbed by a stone.
A few people stumbled back.
"What the hell—?"
"That's not—"
"Did you see that?!"
The boy froze.
For a second, everything went quiet.
Then—
The ground stilled.
The air felt lighter.
The pressure vanished.
He collapsed.
Unconscious.
Silence held for half a breath.
Then the noise came rushing back.
Kairo didn't move.
His gaze stayed fixed on the ground.
It looked normal again.
No marks. No cracks.
Nothing to prove what just happened.
"…that wasn't fake," Malik said quietly.
Kairo nodded once.
"No."
Around them, voices overlapped.
"What was that?"
"Did he do that?"
"No way—no way—"
Phones were already out.
Recording.
Uploading.
Sharing.
Kairo finally stepped back.
His thoughts were moving faster now.
Not panicked.
Not confused.
Just—
connecting.
The tree.
The video.
Now this.
Not random.
Not isolated.
A pattern.
Malik looked at him.
"…you're thinking again."
Kairo exhaled slowly.
"Yes."
"What is it?"
Kairo didn't answer immediately.
His eyes drifted back to the spot where the boy had fallen.
To the ground that had moved when it shouldn't have.
"…it's getting stronger," he said.
Malik followed his gaze.
"…you mean whatever this is?"
Kairo shook his head slightly.
"Not just that."
He paused.
Then, more quietly—
"Whatever's causing it."
Somewhere in the distance, a siren began to rise.
By lunchtime, the video was everywhere.
Not just one.
Three.
Five.
Ten.
Different places.
Different people.
Same thing.
Something was happening.
And for the first time—
It wasn't subtle anymore.