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Chapter 7: Five Minutes of Light
The next morning, Kuro was already in Room 3-C, decorating.
He'd brought old string lights, the soft yellow kind that made everything feel safe. He looped them around the ceiling, careful not to disturb the cobwebs in the corners. There were a few faded posters now—aliens, tarot cards, one of a ghost giving a thumbs-up. On the back wall, a whiteboard had been wiped clean, and now held one word in messy handwriting:
"Welcome, Weirdos."
Riku added a fake raven statue to the bookshelf. Sera hung a black curtain across the window. Jason dragged in a beanbag chair that smelled faintly of smoke. Eve… just sat. Watching.
And Kuro smiled the whole time. His bandaged hands carefully arranging little figurines along the windowsill, humming a quiet tune.
Everything seemed okay.
Until the lights flickered.
Once.
Then again.
Then again.
The string lights buzzed. The overhead fluorescents blinked in and out like a dying signal. Jason paused. Sera stepped back toward the door.
"Kuro?" Riku asked quietly.
Kuro's head slowly turned—eyes drifting past them all—to the window.
The woods.
Outside, the trees were still.
But he wasn't.
Kuro dropped the tape in his hand.
Turned away from the window.
Walked toward Eve.
She didn't move.
Didn't blink.
And gently—almost carefully—he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her in a quiet, motionless hug.
Not one of affection.
Not warmth.
A ritual.
Five full minutes passed in silence.
The lights continued to flicker, struggling—straining—against something unseen.
Then Kuro let go.
Walked over to Jason.
No words. Just a hug from behind.
Then Sera.
Then Riku.
Each one, five minutes exactly.
None of them fought it.
None of them said a word.
But every one of them felt it.
Cold hands.
Shaking breath.
A pulse, like distant drums in the soil beneath them.
And then—suddenly—
The lights stopped flickering.
Everything was still.
Normal. Again.
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Kuro clapped his hands together.
"Okay! So who wants snacks? I brought cheap cookies and off-brand soda. We're officially a group now—hope none of you are allergic to weird."
He smiled. Bright. Wide. Cheerful.
Like he hadn't just performed something that felt more like protection than a hug.
Like something hadn't just been kept away.
Sera looked at him too long.
Jason rubbed his arms.
Riku sat down and stared at the lights, saying nothing.
And Eve…
She looked at her hands.
Like they weren't entirely hers anymore.
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That night, Kuro didn't sleep.
Instead, he sat on his bed with the light off, phone face down, hands trembling against his knees.
In the silence, he whispered, just once:
"…Please stay away from them."
Outside, in the woods—
Something whispered back.
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To be continued…