When he opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was the coldness of the air. Not the warm whisper of a normal morning, but a spectral stillness that seeped into his bones.
The classroom was deserted.
Yoshi sat up slowly, his muscles heavy as lead. For a moment he just breathed, letting his mind take in the scenery. Looking down at his clothes, he noticed small specks of dust clinging to the fabric, as if he had been lying there for hours.
He sighed with relief.
-As I thought..." he murmured to himself, his voice breaking the silence. Every time I enter this dream world, it takes a while for my body to react. That's why Kyria always gets me first.
He stood up, shook off his uniform and took a couple of steps towards the classroom door.
The school was there. Every column, every picture, every bench in the corridor. All recreated in chilling detail. The floor reflected the fading light of a sun that never quite shone. The air smelled of old wood and chalk.
But there was not a soul.
No voices, no laughter, no hurried footsteps.
Just the whisper of the wind rustling through the half-open windows.
He advanced cautiously, each footstep echoing too loudly in the vastness of the building.
-Incredible..." he thought, running his hand along the banister of the main staircase. Even the tiniest details... even that crack in the corner of the wall... It's all there.
It was their world. But not his home.
Not here.
He descended to the first floor, the steps creaking softly under his weight. He peered into the library: thousands of books perfectly lined up, not a speck of dust out of place. Unreal perfection.
He passed the advanced magic classrooms. The pentagrams drawn on the floor glowed faintly, as if someone had activated them moments before.
Every room, every corner, was an exact copy.
And yet, the silence devoured him.
It was like walking into a frozen memory.
-This world doesn't breathe... It doesn't live...
A shivering sensation ran down his spine, as if something, somewhere, was watching him!
He quickened his pace. Not running, but with a marked tension in his movements.
He went up again, this time to the special wards wing. That was where the infirmary was located.
"If this world replicates everything... maybe..."
As he rounded the corner, he saw the door to the infirmary slightly ajar. The light inside was flickering, as if the electricity itself was hesitating to keep working.
He quickened his pace, feeling his heart beating faster and faster.
And then he saw her!
A female figure slowly emerging from the infirmary.
Long light brown hair, school uniform perfectly in place. The silhouette is instantly recognisable.
Haruka.
She also seemed to see it at the same time.
For a second, they both froze.
Haruka's eyes widened wildly, her face paled, and she took a trembling step backwards.
-T-tokugawa...! -His voice was barely a stifled whisper.
Yoshi felt a knot in his stomach.
She had recognised him!
But not like Tokura Yoshi.
He saw him as Tokugawa Hideyoshi!
The tension between them was so thick that it seemed to fill the entire corridor. A second stretched like an endless minute.
Haruka, completely terrified, stumbled backwards, her body trembling.
Yoshi, not knowing what to do, just raised his hands in an instinctive gesture of calm.
But it was too late.
She turned on her heel and ran down the corridor, her footsteps echoing like gunshots in the empty vastness of the dreamlike school.
-Wait...!" Yoshi wanted to say, but his voice died in his throat.
Guilt hit him like a wave.
It was not real.
None of this was real.
But Haruka had seen him as he was at his most corrupt!
In that dream world, his past was a shadow that no mask could hide.
And in that instant, Tokura Yoshi understood that no matter how much he hid himself, how much he changed his face, or his name.
Within the hearts of those who suffered for their former existence...
He would still be the villain.