---
Chapter 10: Missing Pieces
By morning, the news had already spread through the halls like wildfire:
The bullies were gone.
All three. Missing.
No one had seen them since the day before. They never made it home. Their phones went dead. Their lockers remained untouched. By noon, the police were officially involved.
The school tightened its grip—teachers barking orders, security walking the halls like prison guards. But no one could explain it.
Except maybe Kuro.
Because he was staring again.
Right out the window.
Toward the woods.
Just like he had before the teachers vanished.
Jason noticed first. Then Sera.
Riku said nothing.
Eve sat beside him, her body still, her eyes flicking between Kuro's face and the trees beyond the glass.
---
At lunch, no one ate. The table was quiet.
"They're missing," Sera finally said, her voice low.
Kuro didn't respond.
"Same as Mr. Halbrook. Same as Mrs. Gellar."
Still nothing.
"You know something," Jason said, watching Kuro closely. "Every time, it's like you're already waiting for it."
Kuro blinked slowly.
Then smiled.
"I don't know anything," he said softly. "I just… feel when things are about to go wrong."
He looked toward Eve. His voice barely a whisper.
"And lately, everything feels wrong."
---
That afternoon, the parents of the missing students came to the school.
Yelling. Accusing. Crying.
Security tried to keep them calm, but their words echoed through the halls:
"It's him! That Kuro kid! My son said he threatened him!"
"He attacked them! He's violent—where are the police?"
"Why hasn't anyone arrested that freak?"
The principal tried to speak gently, to explain that they had no evidence, that the police were handling it, that no formal charges could be made…
But then came the meeting.
They called Kuro's parents in.
But no one came.
Not his mother. Not a father.
No guardian.
No explanation.
Except—twenty minutes later—the front doors creaked open, and in walked a man.
Tall. Thin.
Tattooed hands and dark sleeves, scars running along his arms like ink. He wore a smirk like armor. Chewed gum as he walked like he owned the place.
He didn't give a name. Just said:
"I'm here for the boy."
They let him in.
No one knew why.
No one asked questions.
---
Inside the principal's office, behind closed doors, voices were hushed. The only one who seemed calm was the man—legs crossed, leaning back in his chair like it was his living room.
Kuro sat quietly beside him.
Hands in his lap.
Smile gone.
When asked where his parents were, the man laughed.
"Kuro doesn't need them," he said, voice rough like smoke. "He's got me."
"But who are you?"
He grinned wider.
"Someone who keeps the woods from eating too much."
And then he winked.
At no one.
---
By the end of the day, the man was gone.
So were the parents.
Kuro came back to class.
Sat beside Eve.
And started humming a strange tune.
Soft. Hollow. Like wind through teeth.
Exactly five minutes later—
The classroom lights flickered.
Only once.
But everyone felt it.
---
To be continued…