[POV: Ren]
The corridors were silent again.
The echoes had faded.
Memories unraveled like threads of fog. Airi no longer remembered the false hallway. Minako forgot the suspended women, the glowing sigils, the moment Elira stepped from the darkness.
Their minds had been scrubbed. Gently. Carefully.
The fractures in their realities had been sealed.
And so the world reset.
Morning light poured through my window as if nothing had happened. Birds chirped. The city stirred. And I walked to school the same way I always had—shoulders slightly hunched, eyes low, steps quiet.
The fake persona returned like an old, worn coat.
Shy. Polite. Forgettable.
Airi met me at the school gate with a cheerful wave. Her smile was soft, no longer edged with suspicion. Her hand slipped into mine like it belonged there.
"You look tired," she said. "You were up late again, weren't you?"
I shook my head, offering a small smile. "Just reading."
She pouted. "Well, if you burn yourself out, I'll have to come to your house and carry you around like a princess."
I blushed—on cue.
She giggled. The illusion was perfect again.
The world was safe. Normal.
And I let it be.
Minako transferred into her new class like she'd always been there. Her sharp gaze remained, but it no longer cut into me with the same intensity. She sat three seats away, absorbed in her textbooks and phone.
She never looked at me twice.
But sometimes—just sometimes—her fingers hovered over her keyboard too long.
Like she was trying to remember something.
Like something tugged just beneath the surface.
But there was nothing there.
Because I had removed it.
After school, Airi and I walked home side by side. She talked about homework, weekend plans, and a new bakery she wanted to try.
I nodded, laughed softly, made gentle jokes.
I was the same boy she'd fallen in love with.
She leaned her head on my shoulder as we walked.
"I don't know why, but I feel lighter today," she murmured. "Like everything's okay again. Isn't that weird?"
"Maybe it just is okay," I replied.
I looked ahead. At the sunset. At the ordinary world.
The mask was in place.
The world moved forward.
And I let it.
Because for now...
Peace was easier than truth.