The orphanage never felt like a home, not to Lee.

If only he hadn't seen the kitty stuck in a tree and just left the situation to some firefighter and their handy firetruck. But instead, all he had to do was raise his hands and feel the familiar tingle beneath his skin as the wind complied with his mind's commands.

Other children stared, stunned into silence, as they watched the kitten lift off from the branch and float into Lee's arms.

The wind kneeled at Lee's hand.

It didn't take long for word to spread until the story reached a caretaker's ears. Since then, little Lee was avoided like the plague, watched, confined, until finally, the higher-ups decided that this orphanage wasn't fit for an oddity like him.

He was sent to the "Abilities Training Sanctuary Orphanage"—a facility designed especially for children like him.

The moment he stepped inside, he already hated it there. Caretakers barked orders, demanding chores be finished in minutes as if it were even possible. Others hurled insults and so-called "discipline" at the younglings for any failure, even if failure meant just falling short of perfection.

Rage unfurled with every day, every year that passed. The caretakers' punishing fists only heightened his hatred for their "higher authority"—for their belief that they could control beings like him. Every child in this damn orphanage harboured the strength, the power to obliterate these oppressors. But what they lacked was the will—the confidence.

They were pathetic. Weak. Lee wasn't like that. He wouldn't be.

So at fifteen, when Lee was finally sent to Soromi Highschool—a space just like this orphanage, made for oddities like himself—his only goal was to escape. He'd overheard from his previous caretakers that this seemingly innocent high school was, in fact, a training ground, an arsenal for human weapons.

No other student seemed aware of this fact, that they were being trained to be sent to the military after graduation, like armaments. They believed the walls surrounding the campus were for protection rather than a cage keeping them inside. But Lee remained silent. He preferred the shadows over gaining attention by spreading the word, keeping relationships minimal and useful—discarding them when they were no longer needed. Crow was the name he gave others to keep them at a distance. To stay unknown.

He remained unknown, cultivating an escape route for the next 3 years of his life in this hell.

On the night when he felt that his planning could finally lead him to success, Lee began the operation. His feet pressed lightly against the grass, careful with every step to avoid making any sound. It was well past curfew. He couldn't risk being caught.

As Lee carefully approached the wall, the sudden sound of heavy footsteps broke the silence. His body froze, eyes darting to where the noise came from. Was it a guard? How was that even possible? He had taken every minute of every day just observing every guard's agenda; there was no way their schedule could have suddenly changed.

But Lee didn't have time to come up with theories.

Lee spun around as fast as he could, abandoning his escape in favour of slipping back to his dorm unnoticed. But just as he rounded the corner, a body slammed into his, nearly knocking them both straight into the guard's line of sight.

Reflex overrode thought. Before he could stumble back, Lee grabbed the stranger's wrist.

His grip was iron, fingers digging into the stranger's wrist as he yanked them behind the maintenance shed tucked between the larger buildings of the campus. Lee pressed his back against the wall, breath held as the footsteps neared, pausing for a moment before continuing forward.

Only then did Lee let go roughly, a snarl already on his lips as his eyes darted to the heaving stranger before him. Lee didn't recognize them.

"What the hell were you doing out there?" Lee hissed, shoulders tense.