As Ren slept, he usually didn't dream the way most people did. No memories, no dreams—just an endless sensation of falling. Drifting between cracks in reality, in silence so absolute it could make one forget what noise ever was. That was his "sleep."
But this time... it was different.
It wasn't a dream, but something sharper. More vivid. A flashback—as if his mind had chosen to replay a page from his past that he had tried so hard to bury.
The year was 20XX. Ren had just turned fifteen. It was graduation day—one of those milestone moments in every Japanese student's life. The school was dressed in red and white ribbons, the auditorium packed with family and classmates ready to usher in the next chapter.
"Yeah… I'll help look," said Kiriya, flipping his phone closed after speaking with the staff. He stood with Ren's parents, who looked around anxiously.
"Sorry to trouble you, Asano-san," Ren's father said politely.
