Silence returned when Yuki collapsed.
It wasn't a sound or a misplaced word that pushed him to the edge, but the invisible weight of the inevitable. Rei didn't move right away. He watched him, breathing as if he still remembered how. As if human gestures were echoes he could mimic, but not feel.
"Don't fight," he had said. But what he really meant was: don't leave me alone.
He walked slowly to him. Knelt, carefully, as if touching him too soon might break him. The warmth of his body was still there. Life.
One Rei had forgotten how to hold without shattering it.
His fingers reached toward Yuki's face but didn't touch. He couldn't. He shouldn't. The house was watching. Ershem was listening.
"You're not mine yet," Rei whispered, more to himself than to him. "But the house has chosen you. And I… I don't know if I want you to stay. Or run."
He stood. Every step away from Yuki hurt as if he was leaving behind a piece of himself. But he couldn't stay. Not with him. Not while still unsure whether his longing was his own or a curse's command.
The gallery closed behind him with a whisper of stone. The candles lit themselves. The house breathed. And Rei felt a part of it stir.
Not Ershem. Not the entity. But something older. Something awakening because of Yuki.
"He saw me," he murmured, touching the ring on his finger. "Without fear. Without hate. Just… curiosity. How long has it been since someone last saw me like that?"
He climbed the stairs slowly, as if each step weighed heavier with memories. That house had seen many guests. Many trials. None remained.
But Yuki… Yuki had let the house pull him in without screaming. Without fleeing.
And that scared him more than any exorcism.
When he reached the upper floor, he saw his reflection in one of the hallway mirrors. He wasn't alone. Beside him… Yuki's image. Asleep. Vulnerable. Alive.
Rei lifted a hand, as if to caress the glass. But he didn't touch. He just smiled
—"Don't remember me yet, Yuki. Not fully. If you do too soon… you might hate me before you understand."
And for an instant, the mirror reflected not one, but two versions of Rei. One with shadow. And one… with light.