The rooftop was just as they remembered it.
Rusty railing. A half-broken bench. The skyline stretching endlessly beyond the school. Except now, it felt *different.* Not smaller — just… *quieter.* Like the world had taken a breath and was finally listening.
Ayame stood at the edge, the breeze lifting her hair. She could hear the distant chatter of students, the low rumble of cars, the hum of vending machines — all the mundane things she had once taken for granted. It felt like being handed a favorite book after forgetting how the story ended.
Kael lay flat on the ground behind her, hands folded under his head. "Okay, so I know we just returned from a symphonic soul-forest, saved a sentient melody, and jumped through a sky that looked like a Lisa Frank fever dream…"
Ayame turned slightly, smiling. "But?"
"I *still* hate school stairs."
Liora laughed as she stretched, looking utterly content. "Gravity really does hit differently in this realm."
Kael groaned. "Ugh, we're back to calling it a 'realm.' We're never going to be normal again, are we?"
"Did we ever try?" Ayame teased.
"No," Kael admitted. "But I thought maybe we'd *fake* it better."
She walked over to sit beside him. "We don't have to fake anything. Not anymore."
There was a moment of peace — not heavy with nostalgia, but full of presence. The kind that wraps around you and says *you're exactly where you're supposed to be.*
Ayame reached into her coat pocket and paused.
Her hand brushed against something.
Warm. Light. *Buzzing.*
She pulled it out slowly — a small fragment of glowing stardust, flickering gently like a firefly caught in a dream. It pulsed with a quiet rhythm… *her rhythm.*
Liora noticed. "You kept it."
"I didn't mean to," Ayame said. "It just… came with me."
Kael checked his own pocket. "Oh. Oh. Yeah. I've got… what is this? A tiny musical instrument?"
It was a reed — or maybe a pipe — or maybe just something pretending to be both. When he blew into it, a faint whistle sounded, and a flower on the rooftop *bloomed.*
He stared.
"Okay, I love it here again."
Liora gently opened her hand to reveal a smooth stone that shimmered like moonlight on water. "We brought pieces of the story back with us. We *are* part of it now."
Ayame looked at them both. "So what now?"
Kael sat up. "We graduate, probably."
Liora nodded solemnly. "We do laundry."
Ayame laughed. "I mean it."
She stood again, eyes catching the fading sky. "We've changed. But the world hasn't — not yet. There's still so much broken. So many stories half-finished."
Liora approached, voice low. "Then maybe that's why we're here."
"To be the bridge," Kael said.
Ayame nodded. "To sing the notes others forgot."
The school bell rang again, and for the first time, it sounded beautiful.
As they descended the stairs, something shifted in the air. People moved a little slower. Smiled a little easier. A kid who usually ate alone had someone sit beside him. A teacher laughed mid-lecture. Someone looked up at the sky instead of their phone.
Tiny things.
But real.
Because some wounds heal loud, and others…
Just need someone to carry stardust in their pockets.
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