"Yes, Akimatsu-san. I… I came to check on him since he didn't come to school."
Her expression flickered—hope, relief, fear—all in one heartbeat.
And she stepped aside like she was grateful for any sign that her son might be normal.
They passed the family portraits.
Nene didn't look at them.
She kept her eyes straight ahead—too straight. Her lashes trembled.
Riku slowed. Something about the portraits tugged at him: the cold half–smile of the father, the empty calm in Yozora's painted eyes, the twins' mirrored stares. But it was Nene's reaction that chilled him.
She walked faster.
"Nene-san…?" he tried softly.
"I'll take you to Yozora's room," she said quickly.
But then—
she stopped.
Her fingers curled.
Her shoulders twitched.
She stared at a hallway as if it was a mouth waiting to swallow her.
"Um… this way," she murmured, stepping left.
She took three steps.
Stopped again.
Turned around.
"Ah. No… maybe—maybe it's this direction…"
She walked right.
Stopped again.
Riku frowned. "Are you... okay?"
Her breath hitched.
She nodded too fast.
"I just… sometimes… forget things. Haha… silly me."
"...Forget where your own son's room is?" Riku asked gently.
Nene flinched like he'd struck her.
Her head bowed. Her brown hair hid her face.
"I—I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Her voice broke on the words.
"Nene-san?"
When he moved toward her—
a hand slammed onto his forearm.
Riku startled, turning—
Jin.
Smiling. Too cheerful. Too bright.
Like he'd been waiting.
"Found you!" Jin chirped. "Mama's busy. Come with me!"
Riku blinked. "Ah—hey, hold on—"
"She forgets things," Jin said, like it was a joke, like it was cute. "Her head's always everywhere. She gets scared easily too. Isn't that funny?"
Nene's shoulders curled inward at his words.
Riku reached toward her—instinctively, protectively.
"Akimatsu-san—"
Jin's grip tightened.
Pain shot up Riku's arm.
"Come on," Jin said, voice still sweet, still sing-song. "Mama's not feeling well."
He tugged Riku away from her.
Nene lifted her head for the first time.
Her eyes—wet, wide, terrified—met Riku's.
She didn't say a word.
But she mouthed something.
A small, broken shape of lips:
don't go
Riku's heart dropped.
"Nene-san—!"
He tried again to reach her.
Jin yanked him harder, small fingers like iron bands digging into his skin.
"I said come," Jin insisted, smile stretched thin. "Yozora's room is this way."
Riku turned back, desperate—
but Nene had taken a step back.
Then another.
Like she wanted to disappear before someone saw her trembling.
Jin pulled.
Pulled hard.
For a thirteen-year-old, his strength didn't make sense.
Riku stumbled forward.
"Momo shouldn't come in," Jin hummed to himself, as if chatting about the weather. "Her smell doesn't match the house yet. My intuition's always right."
Riku swallowed.
"Smell?"
Jin blinked at him, brightly, innocently.
"Yep!"
Then he leaned in closer, grip still firm enough to bruise.
"And yours is strange."
His smile sharpened.
"You shouldn't touch Mama."
Riku's blood went cold.
The hallway darkened ahead of them.
Jin led him deeper in.
Leaving Nene standing alone, trembling, eyes down, hands clasped like she was praying—for him, or for herself, Riku didn't know.