The night air outside Crescent High felt colder than usual.
Haruto walked silently beside Riku and Aiko as they left the east wing behind them. None of them spoke for several minutes.
The whisper still echoed inside Haruto's mind.
"You came back…"
He clenched the strap of his bag slightly.
Riku was the first to finally break the silence.
"Okay," he said, running a hand through his messy hair. "That was definitely not normal."
Aiko nodded quietly.
"That classroom was sealed last semester. No one should have been inside."
Haruto glanced back toward the long hallway behind them. The lights flickered faintly before returning to normal.
"Then how was that message written?" he asked.
Neither of them answered.
Outside the school building, the sky had turned deep purple as the sun finally disappeared behind the mountains.
Most of the students were already gone.
Only a few lights remained on inside the building.
Riku suddenly snapped his fingers.
"Wait."
Haruto and Aiko looked at him.
"There's one place that might have answers," Riku said.
"Where?" Haruto asked.
Riku grinned.
"The school records room."
Aiko immediately frowned.
"That room is locked."
"Not completely," Riku replied proudly.
Haruto raised an eyebrow.
"You've broken into it before?"
Riku shrugged.
"Let's just say curiosity got the better of me."
Aiko sighed.
"You're going to get us expelled someday."
Riku gave her a playful salute.
"But not today."
Haruto hesitated.
The logical part of him told him to just go home and forget everything.
But another feeling pushed him forward.
A feeling that whatever happened in that classroom…
Was connected to him somehow.
"Alright," Haruto said.
"Let's check it out."
Ten minutes later, they were back inside the school.
The main lights had been turned off now, leaving only emergency lights glowing faintly along the corridors.
Their footsteps echoed softly through the quiet halls.
The atmosphere felt completely different at night.
Even the air smelled older.
Dustier.
Riku led the way toward the administrative wing.
"This part of the school is older than the rest," he explained quietly.
"They keep old student records here."
Haruto glanced around.
The walls were lined with faded photographs of past graduating classes.
Some of them dated back more than fifty years.
Aiko stopped suddenly.
"Wait."
"What?" Haruto asked.
She pointed at one of the photos.
"Look at that."
Haruto stepped closer.
The photo showed a class from nearly twenty years ago.
The students were smiling for the camera.
But one face caught Haruto's attention.
A girl standing near the center.
Her expression looked different from the others.
While everyone else smiled brightly…
She looked almost… distant.
Haruto leaned closer.
Something about her face seemed strangely familiar.
"Do you know her?" Riku asked.
Haruto shook his head slowly.
"No… but it feels like I should."
Aiko read the small text beneath the photo.
"Graduating Class of 2007."
She paused.
"Wait…"
"What?" Riku asked.
"That's the same year the east wing was closed."
The three of them exchanged uneasy looks.
Riku quickly cleared his throat.
"Okay, that's definitely suspicious."
Haruto pointed at the girl.
"What's her name?"
Aiko squinted at the small text.
"…Mika Sato."
The name echoed strangely in Haruto's mind.
Before he could respond, Riku suddenly whispered,
"Here it is."
They had reached a heavy metal door at the end of the hallway.
A sign above it read:
ARCHIVE ROOM
Riku pulled a small metal pin from his pocket.
Aiko groaned.
"You seriously carry lock-picking tools?"
Riku winked.
"Preparation is important."
Within seconds, the lock clicked open.
The door slowly creaked as they pushed it inside.
The room smelled like old paper.
Tall shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, filled with boxes and dusty folders.
A small lamp flickered weakly in the corner.
Haruto stepped inside first.
Thousands of student records were stacked everywhere.
"This place is huge," he murmured.
Riku nodded.
"Records going back decades."
Aiko walked toward one of the shelves.
"If we're looking for answers about the east wing… we should start with that year."
"2007," Haruto said.
They split up and began searching.
Minutes passed.
Dust filled the air as they opened box after box.
Then—
"I found something," Aiko whispered.
Haruto and Riku quickly walked over.
She held a thin folder labeled:
Incident Report – East Wing
Haruto felt his pulse quicken.
"Open it."
Aiko carefully unfolded the papers inside.
The first page described a strange event that happened near the end of the school year.
A student had disappeared.
Her name was written clearly at the top of the report.
Mika Sato
Riku leaned closer.
"She vanished?"
Aiko continued reading.
"According to the report… she was last seen entering the old classroom in the east wing."
Haruto's stomach tightened.
"The same one we found today."
Riku looked uneasy now.
"That means…"
Before he could finish, the lights in the archive room suddenly flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then they dimmed.
Haruto slowly turned toward the door.
A faint sound echoed through the hallway outside.
Footsteps.
Slow footsteps.
Aiko whispered nervously,
"Did someone follow us?"
Riku shook his head.
"No one should even be here."
The footsteps stopped right outside the door.
The handle slowly began to turn.
Creeeaaak.
The door opened slightly.
But no one was there.
Only darkness in the hallway.
Haruto felt the same cold chill from earlier crawl down his spine.
Then—
A whisper drifted through the room.
Soft.
Broken.
"…help… me…"
The same voice from the classroom.
Aiko grabbed Haruto's arm tightly.
"Did you hear that?"
Riku nodded slowly.
His face had gone pale.
"Yeah."
The papers in Aiko's hands suddenly slipped to the floor.
One page slid forward under the dim light.
Haruto looked down.
At the bottom of the report was a final handwritten note.
Case Unresolved
And beneath it…
A second sentence had been written recently.
In fresh ink.
The three of them stared at it in silence.
The words were simple.
But they made Haruto's blood run cold.
He has returned.