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Chapter 4: The Walk Home
Classes ended, the final bell slicing the school day in half like a blade across dead air.
Most students poured out of Grimvale Academy like water down a drain—fast, loud, chaotic. But not Kuro. Not the others. They moved like they always did: quiet, unnoticed, strange.
That afternoon, however, something was different.
Kuro didn't take the bus.
He walked.
And they followed.
Not because they were nosy. Not exactly. But because they all felt it—something pulsing beneath his smile, something wrong. Even if they didn't say it out loud, they moved together like a silent pact had been made.
Kuro didn't seem to mind. He glanced back once, hands still wrapped in bandages, and gave them his usual smile.
"I don't usually walk with people," he said softly.
Jason shoved his hands deeper into his hoodie. "You're not walking alone today."
---
They didn't talk much.
Not at first.
Only the crunch of gravel under their feet filled the quiet spaces between them. The town around Grimvale was distant and still, and Kuro's neighborhood wasn't far—but the walk still stretched like the road itself didn't want them to arrive.
Then Kuro's phone buzzed.
Once.
Then again.
Then again.
Vibrations stacked on top of each other in rapid succession—
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. BZZT.
He pulled it out briefly. The screen was bright with texts, missed calls, all from the same number. No name. Just numbers. Unknown.
He stared at it, expression unreadable.
Then, with one flick of his thumb, he muted it and slipped it into his pocket.
Didn't say a word.
"Your phone's going crazy," Riku noted, his voice soft and hesitant.
"Spam," Kuro said. "People always want something."
The bandages on his fingers tightened as he clenched his hands into light fists.
Sera glanced at Eve.
Even Jason raised an eyebrow.
But Eve—Eve stayed close.
Kuro walked beside her now, closer than he had ever walked with anyone. His shoulder brushed hers every now and then, and he talked. Low, rambling things—about how the leaves looked like ashes today, or how the clouds were moving too fast, or how his neighbor once said her dog barked at the trees for no reason at night.
Eve didn't respond. But she listened.
And Kuro… calmed.
A little.
---
Then they reached it.
His house.
Smaller than they expected. Old but cared for. Curtains drawn, porch light already on despite the fading sun. The mailbox leaned slightly. One of the windows was boarded shut.
Kuro stopped walking.
For a second—just a second—his entire body shook.
Barely. A tremble. A crack in his perfectly practiced posture. His breath hitched, caught in the space between thought and fear.
Then he smiled again. That same too-bright, too-easy smile.
"Well… home sweet haunted," he joked, voice light but thin.
He turned to them, gave a short wave with his bandaged fingers. "Thanks for walking with me. You didn't have to, but… I'm glad you did."
No one moved.
Eve watched him a second longer than the rest, eyes narrowed just slightly. But she said nothing. Just gave the faintest of nods.
Kuro nodded back.
Then he stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
It clicked shut.
And the porch light flickered once, then went out.
---
From the sidewalk, Jason stared at the house.
"I don't like it," he said plainly.
"Me either," Sera muttered. "He smiled… but he looked scared."
Riku bit his lip. "Do you think someone's hurting him?"
Eve didn't answer.
Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on the second floor window—where for the briefest moment, a shadow moved across the glass.
Not Kuro.
Something taller.
Something watching.
---
To be continued…