The morning sunlight filtered lazily into Class 2-B, casting golden streaks across the rows of desks. The chatter of students mixed with the squeak of chalk as the teacher scribbled equations on the board. To most, it was just another ordinary day at Shinsei Academy.
But for Hayato, the classroom was anything but ordinary.
He sat at his desk, notebook tucked firmly into his bag, still keenly aware of the poem Aiko had discovered. She hadn't mentioned it again since that day, but the weight of it lingered like a secret pressed between pages.
"Hey, did you hear?" a girl whispered loudly two rows over."They say someone saw a figure at the west stairwell again."
"Seriously? At night?" another boy leaned in, his eyes glinting with excitement. "That place is supposed to be off-limits. Creepy…"
Hayato's hand froze mid-note. The stairwell again?
The west stairwell had been part of Shinsei Academy for as long as anyone remembered, but no one ever really used it. It was dim, quiet, and rumored to be where strange things happened—students confessed their love, got rejected, or whispered secrets no one was meant to hear.
"Whispers in the stairwell…" one of the boys muttered dramatically. "Sounds like a ghost story, huh?"
A soft laugh drifted beside Hayato."People sure like making up stories," Aiko said, leaning toward him with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "Don't tell me you're scared, Hayato?"
He shook his head quickly. "Not scared. Just… curious."
Aiko tilted her head, her long hair falling over her shoulder. "Curious enough to check it out?"
The question was casual, but her tone carried a challenge. For a moment, Hayato couldn't find the words. The thought of standing with her at that quiet, rumored stairwell made his heart stumble in his chest.
"…Maybe," he said finally, his voice lower than intended.
Aiko smiled, satisfied. "Then let's go together. After school."
Hayato blinked. "You're serious?"
She leaned back in her chair, her laughter soft but sure. "Half-serious. Unless you're too scared."
Her words lingered long after the bell rang, echoing in his chest louder than the gossip surrounding the stairwell.
For the first time, Hayato wondered if the whispers in the west stairwell were less about ghosts and more about the secrets people were too afraid to say out loud.