I AM EXTRA IN A SHONEN MANGA

The next day, the air shifted. Clouds gathered over jagged peaks, their shadows spilling across the black-stone walls of the Nox Clan's stronghold. Lightning crackled faintly in the distance, and the low rumble of thunder seemed to echo the very heartbeat of this land.

Nox. Famous for their Storm Affinity, for their tactical brilliance on the battlefield, and for their ruthless discipline that broke even the proudest spirits into obedience.

And now, Ceyla stood before their gates.

Her boots crunched against the gravel path. The banners of the clan hung above her, marked with the sigil of the storm: a split circle struck through by jagged lightning. The weight of a thousand memories pressed against her chest.

"(I don't want that to happen again… I won't let it happen again.)"

Her fingers curled into fists. The last time she stood here, she was just a child. A wild, untamable thing, left adrift after her mother's death. Her father hadn't reached for her hand. Her brother hadn't called her name. They let her wander in the storm alone.

Her mother's warmth had vanished into the grave, and what was left was silence. Cold. The silence of relatives who saw her not as blood, but as a mistake.

"(He's still here… Father. High in the council, high in rank… but always looking past me. Always pretending I don't exist.)"

And her brother once the figure she admired most hadn't even spared her a word.

That silence had twisted her. Molded her into the "mad dog" of the clan, a storm without restraint, lashing out at anyone and everyone. Until she was cast out entirely.

But that was then.

Now, she wasn't the same girl who tore through halls and training fields with blind rage. She wasn't the abandoned daughter clawing for scraps of recognition. She had changed. Because she had met them because she had met him.

Her gaze rose to the storm-forged gates. They loomed, dark and unyielding, yet she did not falter.

The guards stationed there stiffened as she approached. Their eyes flickered with recognition, shock, even. Whispered voices carried between them like sparks.

"...Isn't that—?"

"—the abandoned one…"

"...she came back?"

Ceyla ignored them. Her steps never broke rhythm.

When she finally stood at the threshold, lightning flashed above, bathing her in silver light. Her jaw tightened, and her heart thundered in sync with the skies.

This was it. The place she once cursed. The place that defined her scars. The place she swore she would never kneel to again.

And yet here she was.

Not as the abandoned child.

Not as the uncontrollable mad dog.

But as someone who had chosen to walk back, to claim what strength the clan hoarded.

Ceyla inhaled, steadying herself.

"(This time… I won't beg. I won't break. If they won't acknowledge me—fine. I'll carve it out of them. With storm and steel, I'll make them see me.)"

The gates groaned as they opened, and the storm welcomed her home.

Inside, the courtyard stretched wide, training fields lined with black stone and etched with storm runes that pulsed faintly with lightning. Disciples moved in tight formations, every strike, every step, disciplined like a thunderclap in rhythm.

And then, he appeared.

Ean. Her father. His presence was like the storm itself: tall, sharp, commanding. His hair streaked with silver, his storm-forged armor gleaming faintly with crackling energy. The warriors near him straightened, their discipline tightening at just the sight of him.

His gaze fell on her. At first, blank. Then narrowing, cutting sharp as a blade.

"What are you doing here?"

The words were heavy, filled not with welcome, but suspicion. As if she had no right to stand where she stood.

Ceyla's breath caught for half a heartbeat but only that. She raised her chin, eyes locking onto his without flinching. Her voice was steady, unwavering.

"I'm here to become stronger than I was before."

The courtyard stilled. Warriors who had been mid-motion slowed, eyes flicking between father and daughter. Even the storm above seemed to hold its breath.

For the first time in years, she met his eyes directly. The same eyes that once looked past her. The same eyes she could never bear to face.

Ean's brows furrowed. For the briefest moment, the iron mask of the storm general cracked.

Ean thought, "(This girl… she couldn't even look at my face before. She couldn't even stare into my eyes. And now—now she does so without fear… She's changed.)"

Lightning flashed across the sky, thunder rolling in the silence that followed.

Ceyla's fists tightened at her sides. Her heart pounded, but her gaze never wavered.

"(You won't ignore me anymore. Not this time. Not ever again.)"

Ean's voice cut through the silence like a blade.

"Why?"

Ceyla blinked. "…What?"

His gaze hardened, stormlight flickering faintly in his irises.

"Why do you want to become stronger? Why come here, of all places? You know what you did in this clan."

The words struck her like lightning. The whispers of the onlookers sharpened.

"…The mad dog returns."

"…She nearly ruined her trials."

"How dare she ask something"

Their murmurs swirled around her, but she didn't flinch. Not this time.

She drew in a breath, steady. Deep. Her eyes locked with her father's, her voice clear, almost defiant.

"Yes. I know what I did. I know how I lost control. I know how I shamed this clan. I don't deny any of it."

Her fists clenched, nails biting into her palms, but her voice did not break.

"But I won't be that girl again. I won't run from what I did and I won't let it define me. That's why I came back. To face it. To face you. To become stronger than the storm that broke me."

Ean's eyes widened slightly just slightly at her words. For a man carved from steel, even that flicker of reaction was a crack in the armor.

He thought, "(She… admits it? The daughter who once lashed out at shadows… now speaks with resolve? This is not the same child I cast out.)"

Lightning split the sky again, as though the heavens themselves were listening.

Ceyla stood firm beneath it, breathing hard, her body trembling not with fear, but with conviction.

"(Even if you still reject me… even if this clan spits on me again… I'll keep walking. Because now, I need to become stronger…. In order for me to stand beside him)

To be continue