"Kei! How are you here? I thought I would never meet you again!"
Inaya's voice broke the silence as she ran forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Kei before I could even take a single step toward her. My feet felt rooted to the ground, heart stiff in my chest.
"Right? I thought the same," Kei said, her voice softening only slightly as she returned the embrace. "But thanks to you—and all of us—we're under the same rooftop again."
Inaya smiled, looking around. "Well, I don't know the whole story yet, but seeing this place now... it's different. Bigger. This mansion really has changed. Wow..." Her eyes sparkled with quiet wonder. Then she glanced back at me.
"We'll talk more later," she said, as if reading the tension in the air. "But for now, I think you two have something to catch up on." She motioned between us, taking a step back.
But before she could move away, Kei's hand shot out and caught her wrist. Her eyes—those same, piercing eyes I once knew—locked with mine.
"I don't think we have anything to catch up on," she said coldly. "Do we?"
I met her gaze, calm but cracking inside. "No," I said simply.
And that was all. No more words. No softening. No trace of the bond we once shared. She looked at me like I was a stranger—like I had always been.
It broke something in me, but I held it. Quietly. Strongly. Even though it hurt like hell.
Without another word, Kei let go of Inaya and the two of them walked toward the drawing room where the others waited. Their footsteps faded slowly, leaving me standing alone in the kitchen.
Uncle Zeno gave me a small look of concern but said nothing. I just picked up a crate of supplies and followed him to the shelves.
Some silences speak louder than words.
I stepped into the drawing room, heart still heavy from the kitchen silence. But before I could process anything, someone jumped up from the couch with a grin so wide it could split his face in half.
"Shin! Is that really you or just a better-looking clone?"
Enji Inoue.
He strode up and pulled me into a half-hug, half–shoulder-punch the way only he could. His energy practically filled the room.
"You've changed, man," he said, stepping back to look me up and down. "You actually look... stable. Did the world end while I was gone ? "
I laughed—more out of habit than joy—but Enji's presence was comforting, familiar. Like the sudden arrival of sunlight after a grey sky.
"It's good to see you, Enji," I said.
He winked. "Yeah, well, Kei might be glaring daggers at your soul, but me? I'm still your number one hype-man."
"Still Kei's most trusted, huh?" I asked.
He gave a mock bow. "Chief emotional translator, disaster-handler, and snack supplier. My résumé is stacked."
I smiled, more genuinely this time. Then turned to greet the others.
Kenzo greeted me with a big grin and a slap on the back. "It's been ages, Shin. Good to have you here again."
"I didn't think I'd see you back so soon," he added. His tone was friendly, steady—the kind of person who stayed the same no matter how much the world changed.
I nodded. "It's good to be back... kind of."
Then came the classmates—familiar faces, even if not close.
'Yoko' gave a soft smile and a polite nod. "Welcome back."
'Mio' waved slightly, her quiet presence unchanged.
'Ema' gave a short, "Hey Shin," without much emotion—but not cold either.
'Takahashi', who was scrolling something on his device, looked up, blinked, then gave a small, surprised, "Oh—Shin. Didn't expect you back. Cool."
And then...
A new face stepped forward with calm confidence.
"Brother Cheng Hao," he introduced himself again, bowing slightly in the old style. "We may have met briefly before, but allow me to reintroduce myself properly. I look forward to serving beside you."
There was a kind of respectful grace to the way he spoke—measured, polite, but unmistakably strong.
The room felt full. Familiar and unfamiliar. Past and future. And somewhere in the center of it all—was Kei. Sitting quietly. Watching.
But for now, I focused on the faces in front of me.
And the strange warmth of being back in a place I didn't think I'd return to.
After the greetings settled and the room had quieted, I found myself dropping into the couch beside Enji and Satoru. The air still buzzed faintly with all the voices and movement, but my mind was already turning, full of questions.
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. "So... where were you all? And how come you're here now?"
Enji shrugged with his usual half-grin, but before he could open his mouth, it was Kei who answered.
"We were in Danish," she said flatly, "just like you. But not the same part."
Her tone made me glance at her. She was seated across from me, back straight, eyes unreadable.
"A different mansion," she continued. "Celestina's assistant handled everything there. We weren't given much—no cooks, no cleaners. We had to manage everything ourselves."
Her words were careful, clipped. But something about the way she spoke told me it wasn't just about chores or discomfort.
"It wasn't like here," she added. "You were in Danish's light. We were on the other side. The part no one talks about."
A beat of silence fell over the room.
"The unspoken part," she finished.
I stared at her. My chest felt tight, but I didn't say anything. She wasn't one to exaggerate or dramatize. If anything, her calmness made the truth hit harder.
"I didn't know there was another side," I said quietly.
"No one does," Kei replied, not looking at me. "That's the point."
I looked at Enji, who gave a small nod, confirming everything. His usual playfulness was dimmed, like even he couldn't joke his way around whatever they'd experienced.
For a moment, I felt... guilty. The silence in our mansion, the calm mornings, the warm meals. I had complained, yes—but I didn't suffer. Not like them.
And yet, Kei's voice hadn't wavered once.
She was always good at that—carrying weight without showing it.
I sat there in silence, the weight of Kei's words pressing down on me. The unspoken side of Danish—a shadow I had never seen until now. My mind raced with questions I wasn't ready to ask, and emotions I barely understood.
The room around me felt suddenly colder, the laughter and chatter from before fading into the background. For the first time in a long while, I realized how little I truly knew.
And somehow, I knew this was only the beginning.