Rain tapped against the windows like nails on glass.
Rei sat stiffly at his desk, the now-familiar sense of being watched curling in his chest like smoke.
Today, the teacher smiled too much. Her tone too cheerful.
"Let's begin roll call."
Rei glanced up. The class felt full. More full than usual.
---
She started reading names.
"Akiro."
"Here."
"Haruna."
"Present."
It continued — ordinary voices, lifeless responses. Until...
"Rei."
"Here," he muttered.
Then—
"Yume K—"
The teacher paused.
The room shifted. Students didn't flinch. Not even Kaito.
"Present," a soft voice whispered.
From the back row.
From the invisible desk.
Rei's skin crawled.
He turned to look — but the desk was empty.
Or… was it?
---
Later, in the hallway
Rei yanked the attendance sheet off the teacher's desk while she was distracted.
25 names.
The last one blurred — smudged as if erased with wet fingers. Only the letter "Y" remained.
He flipped the paper. Scribbled faintly in red:
"Don't try to count what was meant to be forgotten."
---
That Night
In his notebook, something new had appeared on the page between his history notes.
Written in his own handwriting:
Yume K. - Seated behind Rei."
He hadn't written it.
But when he tore out the page and looked again — it was blank.
End of Chapter 4