Lunch should have been loud.
Metal trays clattered. Chairs scraped. Voices overlapped in careless waves. The cafeteria was its usual storm of sound.
Except at one table.
Kai sat across from Mizuki, and for him, the world had gone strangely quiet.
He could hear everyone else's thoughts — hunger, boredom, jealousy, tiny worries — but hers was missing. Where her mind should have been, there was only a soft blue stillness.
Mizuki poked at her food. "So… is this school always this noisy?"
Kai smiled faintly. "You'll get used to it."
"I don't think I ever will," she said.
Ayko stood a few tables away, watching them. The way Kai leaned forward when Mizuki spoke. The way his eyes softened without him noticing.
Mira leaned beside her. "They look like they've known each other forever."
"That's what hurts," Ayko whispered.
Eloine slid into the seat beside Kai without asking, her shoulder brushing lightly against his.
"So," she said calmly to Mizuki, "you're the quiet one."
Mizuki blinked. "I guess."
"He's not usually this relaxed with new people," Eloine added, eyes on Kai.
Kai didn't deny it.
Mizuki glanced at him. "You talk to a lot of people. Everyone keeps staring at you."
"I didn't used to," Kai replied. "I decided not to hide anymore."
"I like that," Mizuki said softly.
Those three words hit him harder than anything else that day.
Sora walked up, eyes sharp. "Kai."
He looked up. "Yeah?"
"You left for a month," she said. "And now you're here like nothing happened."
"I couldn't breathe," Kai said.
"That's not an answer," Ayko whispered.
Mizuki froze. "A month?"
"It's not your fault," Kai said immediately.
Everyone felt that shift — how fast he protected her without thinking.
The bell rang, ending lunch.
Kai leaned toward Joro. "Let's go somewhere after class."
Joro nodded. "Yeah. Let's."
They didn't notice the eyes following them.
After the final bell, Kai and Joro headed for the stairwell.
Eloine followed.
So did Ayko.
Mira.
Rin.
And finally, Mizuki — drawn by a feeling she couldn't explain.
They reached the rooftop.
Kai stepped into the wind, Joro beside him.
Behind the door, everyone froze, listening.
Mizuki was about to speak when Sora gently covered her mouth. "Shh."
Kai stared at the city.
"…It's her," he said quietly.
Joro didn't ask who.
"The blue one," Joro murmured.
"The girl from my dream."
He didn't need to say more.
Kai sighed. "…If you're going to eavesdrop, at least try not to breathe so loud."
The door creaked open.
Everyone stepped out.
Mizuki's eyes were wide. "Dream…?"
"That's enough," Kai said calmly. "This isn't the place."
He didn't deny it.
He didn't explain it.
He just stopped it.
Mizuki looked shaken. "I don't understand what's happening."
"That's okay," Kai said gently.
The tension didn't disappear.
It just went quiet.
Kai turned away. "Come on."
Joro followed him.
They walked down the stairs together, leaving everyone else behind on the rooftop.
That night, Kai couldn't sleep.
The noise was back.
But so was the blue.
Across the city, Mizuki lay awake, holding her pillow, feeling like someone was thinking about her.
Rin felt the psychic field shift.
Ayko stared at her phone, unsent messages glowing in the dark.
Eloine watched the moon.
And the next morning—
Kai walked into school.
Mizuki did too.
Their eyes met across the hallway.
And everything that had been quiet…
started to move again.