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Chapter 19: Breathing Room
The house felt haunted behind them.
Jason carried Kuro on his back while Riku held the journal like it was something sacred — or cursed.
Sera kept glancing back at the streetlight-flickered home, at the shadow that lingered in the top window just a second too long before fading.
No one spoke as they walked.
When they arrived at Eve's house, her parents weren't home. The lights were off, curtains drawn — perfect silence.
They laid Kuro gently on the bed in Eve's room, a warm blanket pulled over him.
The others waited outside, giving them space. But Eve stayed.
She pulled the chair closer. Then… sat on the edge of the bed.
Not touching him, just watching. Listening to the slow inhale and shaky exhale from his lips.
He looked so peaceful. But broken, too. Still pale. Still cold.
His smile… completely gone.
Then his fingers moved.
And his eyes opened.
Eve sat up quickly. "Kuro…"
His gaze darted around the dim room, breathing faster until his eyes locked onto hers.
No words.
Just… her.
Like she was the only anchor left to hold onto.
He reached out with trembling hands. She gently took them.
Kuro pulled himself closer, resting his head on her shoulder, chest rising and falling like he was holding back everything he couldn't say.
Then he whispered, barely audible:
"...I thought I was gone."
Eve didn't reply. She didn't need to.
She held him tighter.
Jason quietly peeked in, nodding to see him awake. "Good. He's alive."
"Don't push him yet," Riku said behind him. "Let him breathe."
They closed the door again.
Kuro drank the water Eve brought him — three glasses straight — before finally laying his head in her lap.
"I didn't want you to see that…" he muttered. "Any of it."
"You needed help," she whispered.
His voice cracked. "You… held my hand. That helped."
A pause. Then softly:
"I'm scared, Eve."
Her hand brushed through his hair slowly.
"You're not alone now," she said. "We saw the tree. We saw the pictures. The journal."
His eyes widened, then dimmed. "It's all real. The woods… the things I see. They take people. Teachers. Students. Even the bullies. I keep smiling… so it doesn't come for me."
He looked up at her. "But now I'm not enough."
The room fell into silence again.
Until Kuro asked, with a voice barely above a whisper:
"Do you… still want to be near me? After all this?"
Eve looked down at him, brushing her thumb over the scar that peeked from his bandage.
She answered by squeezing his hand and whispering:
"I'm staying."
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To be continued...