The alarm shattered the fragile silence at 6 a.m.
Rika's eyes snapped open, but her body refused to move. She lay still in the stiff dorm bed, listening to the muffled sounds of the dormitory waking up, slippers shuffling across tile, someone's kettle whistling, the hiss of a hair straightener. Ordinary morning sounds. Normal.
Except nothing inside her felt normal.
Her chest still carried the weight of last night, the heat of Daika's stare, the edge in Kana's voice, the dance master's words slicing through the air. It all replayed behind her eyelids like broken film, jagged and raw.
She turned her head.
Kana's bed was already empty, neatly made. No blanket tossed aside, no pillow dented, like she'd never even slept there. The absence stung sharper than any glare.
"Morning, kitten."
The voice slithered across the room.
