The rain came early that day.
Kagetsu High dismissed students in their usual chaotic waves, laughter echoing under gray clouds. Ren walked alone as always, hands in his pockets, headphones resting silently around his neck like a pair of wings he never used.
The girl from that morning hadn't spoken to him again.
But her words lingered.
"The world is about to need you."
Ren replayed them in his mind while he stood under the school's back staircase during lunch, trying to make sense of her expression — those eyes that looked at him like she already knew everything he tried to hide.
He hated how those words shook him.
Yet the feeling didn't disappear.
---
Classes ended. Students vanished into their own worlds.
Ren stayed behind, sitting in the empty classroom, waiting for the sky to darken before walking home.
He always did.
It spared his siblings from seeing him exhausted, worried, or lonely.
He didn't want them to think they were burdens.
> "They're all I have left… I need to be strong."
He whispered it to himself like a prayer, organizing the scattered worksheets on his desk.
His phone buzzed once — a message from Yume:
"Onii-chan, can we eat dinner together? We saved your spot <3"
Ren smiled faintly. A miracle, considering how rarely he did.
"They're waiting for me," he murmured.
And that small truth was enough to steady his heart.
He packed his bag and started walking home, unaware of the storm gathering behind him.
---
The streets were darker than usual.
Streetlights flickered.
Shadows stretched just a bit too long.
Ren noticed it.
He always noticed everything.
A car idling with no driver.
A stray cat hissing in the wrong direction.
A figure standing at the far end of the street for too long.
Something was wrong.
But he pushed the unease aside — Yume and Kaito were waiting.
He walked faster.
---
By the time he reached the apartment building, the rain had stopped...
yet the air felt colder than winter.
He climbed the stairs quietly, as he always did, avoiding waking the neighbors.
He expected to hear the usual:
Yume humming her favorite anime opening,
Kaito playing games on the old TV,
the warm glow of their small world waiting for him.
Instead…
Silence.
A heavy, unnatural silence.
Ren froze outside the door.
> "Yume? Kaito?"
No answer.
He turned the doorknob.
Unlocked.
The moment he stepped inside, the air felt wrong — still, empty, void of warmth.
His shoes echoed in the tiny hallway.
The lights were off.
"Hey… it's late, but you didn't have to sleep without eating."
He forced a calm tone.
No reply.
A dread he hadn't felt since the night of the accident years ago began crawling through his spine.
He walked toward the living room.
One step.
Another.
The apartment felt colder.
Colder.
As if someone had drained all the life from it.
And then—
He saw them.
Yume's small hand hanging off the couch.
Kaito lying beside her, clutching her sleeve.
Still.
Unmoving.
Silent.
Ren's breath broke.
He didn't scream.
He didn't collapse.
He simply stood there, eyes wide, their names stuck in his throat like thorns.
The world…
stopped.
His heartbeat slowed until it felt like it wasn't there.
The room felt like a grave.
The warmth he came home to every day… gone.
Completely gone.
Ren stepped forward, barely breathing.
"…No."
His voice cracked — the first time in years.
Yume's smile.
Kaito's timid laugh.
The messages they sent.
Their small hands tugging at his shirt.
Gone.
Ren's knees trembled.
"I'm home… so why…?"
Lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating their small bodies one last time.
Tears didn't fall.
They couldn't.
His soul was too shattered for tears.
He reached out a trembling hand toward them, as if touching them might undo reality