Maru to Batsu

One day, without warning, strange symbols materialized above the heads of every person on earth. A simple circle or a stark cross now hovered over each individual, an inexplicable mark that defied all scientific reasoning. Official investigations concluded there was no measurable connection between the symbol and a person's character, intelligence, or future—yet logic proved powerless against human nature. The cross, inevitably, became a stain of suspicion, an invisible mark of otherness that invited quiet judgment and open hostility. In the classroom of our protagonist, Kaito, this social fracture plays out in miniature. Among a sea of circles, only one student bears the cross. Kaito watches as his classmate endures the casual cruelty of peers and the subtle wariness of teachers, all without understanding what crime—if any—the symbol implies. The atmosphere is suffused with unease, an unspoken tension that turns every interaction into a potential accusation. As Kaito grapples with his own conflicted feelings, he finds himself drawn toward the isolated student, questioning the foundation of a society that condemns based on a meaningless sign. What begins as a quiet curiosity soon becomes an urgent need to uncover the truth behind the symbols, even as the world around him insists that some questions are safer left unanswered.