It should have ended there.
A restored memory. A final goodbye.But guilt doesn't vanish with permission.
It lingers.
Quiet. Patient.
Until you answer for it.
Shi Mu sat alone on the rooftop the next morning.
The city stretched before her—misty, grey, blurred at the edges like an unfinished painting.
She held Lin Xue's notebook in her lap. The one she'd left on the desk. It had returned to her dorm overnight.
Untouched.
But somehow heavier.
Like a closing letter never sent.
Fu Yunshen joined her without speaking.
He simply sat beside her, hands in his pockets, shoulders close but not touching.
"You did what you could," he said eventually.
"That's the problem," Shi Mu whispered. "I didn't."
He turned to her.
"You remembered her. You gave her peace."
"But only after she had to haunt a classroom to be seen."
Her voice didn't crack.
But it wanted to.
He didn't argue.
Didn't deflect.
He let her feel it.
Let her own it.
Because that, too, was care.
Finally, she asked, "Do you ever wonder if we're doing the right thing?"
Fu Yunshen looked at the horizon.
"All the time."
"And?"
"I keep doing it anyway."
"Why?"
"Because the alternative is pretending none of it matters."
She nodded slowly.
"That's not something I could ever do."
A soft chime echoed from her system.
[Protocol Breach: Emotional Boundary Exceeded]
User has engaged in unsanctioned spiritual retention.
System Review Pending.
She exhaled.
"They're going to flag me."
Fu Yunshen didn't flinch.
"I'll take the report with you."
"You weren't even assigned to her case."
"I'm assigned to you."
[System Notification]
Emotional Loyalty Confirmed – Dual Violation Recorded
Override Path Initiated: Shield Activated
Brotherhood Value +130 (Rule Broken Together – Voluntary Responsibility Sharing)
Current Total: 3,970 / 1,000,000
For a moment, the rooftop was silent again.
Then Shi Mu said quietly, "I don't want to keep forgetting people."
"You won't."
"And I don't want to lose myself doing this."
"You won't," he said again—firmer this time.
Then, after a beat:
"But if you ever feel like you are… I'll remind you who you are."
Shi Mu looked at him.
Not surprised.
Just seen.
"Thank you," she whispered.