I wasn't planning on getting emotionally attacked by a library book.
But there I was—sitting on the floor of my dorm, watching Rikuya flip through yellowed pages like they held his life story. Spoiler: they actually did.
"This was written by one of the royal scribes," he mumbled. "I thought it was lost."
He stopped at a page. There was a rough drawing of a girl. Long hair, sharp eyes, wearing some kind of royal gown. She looked… familiar.
Too familiar.
Rikuya turned the book towards me.
"Tell me that doesn't look like you."
I stared. "Okay, yes, but girls in fantasy books always look like that. Long hair, mysterious stare, tragic backstory…"
"She cursed me."
I blinked. "Huh?"
"The girl in this book," he said, pointing again, "was the one who cast the curse on me centuries ago."
"…So you're saying I look like your ancient ex?"
"She wasn't my ex!" he snapped quickly. "We were allies. Maybe."
I tilted my head. "So like…a cursed coworker?"
He sighed and sat back. "You're not her. I know that. But this—" he tapped the page "—can't be a coincidence. Your face. Your name. Your presence."
"My presence?"
He waved his hand in the air like that explained everything.
I leaned forward and studied the drawing. "Okay, let's say this girl is some past version of me." What did she do, exactly?"
Rikuya's face went still. "She betrayed me."
"Oh."
"She was the last one I trusted. She said she could protect me from the darkness inside me. But instead… she sealed it."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
He looked away. "She didn't seal just the curse. She sealed me, too."
Oh.
So maybe not a good thing.
I closed the book gently and placed it on the floor.
"I don't remember anything about a past life," I said. "Unless I was a potato in it. Because that's what I feel like most days."
Rikuya gave me a half-smile. "You're far from a potato."
"Thanks," I mumbled. "I think."
We sat there in silence for a while. No glowing magic. No sudden visions. Just a cursed guy and a very confused girl in a dorm full of snack wrappers and mild existential dread.
I didn't know who that girl in the book was.
But I knew one thing:
Whoever she had been…
I wasn't going to repeat her mistake.