At Naraya School, the atmosphere had returned to the rhythm of ordinary days. Everything was normal. No chaos, only the sound of students' footsteps and light conversations slipping between class hours.
Inside the club room, Kris, Riko, Arya, Liam, and Eliza sat together on the long bench they often used. Yet even though the school seemed normal, there was a certain emptiness.
Rio wasn't there.
Riko looked gloomy. He leaned against the table and slowly dropped his head until his face rested against the cold wooden surface.
"Even today, Rio didn't come to school," he said quietly. His voice sounded heavy, as if carrying a burden.
Kris glanced at Riko while still focusing on his laptop. His fingers moved quickly across the keyboard, opening documents and arranging lines of text.
"You're right," he replied casually.
"The exams are coming soon too. I checked his classroom earlier. Rio wasn't there… and Rivaldo wasn't either." His tone was flat, since his attention was mostly on his work.
Arya crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. His eyes stared blankly forward, clearly lost in his own thoughts. To him, that absence wasn't a coincidence.
There was something unfinished.
And he understood well that the wound on Rio's head was not the kind that healed with time alone.
Meanwhile, Kris smiled faintly as he looked at his laptop screen. An article about the incident between Rivaldo and Rio was nearly finished.
The title was provocative. The content was neatly written. Notifications kept popping up.
"At least the newspaper club is getting a big profit from this," he said lightly, half joking.
"Rio is practically a walking headline."
The smile was genuine, yet behind it lingered a bitterness he didn't say out loud.
Eliza and Liam only exchanged glances. No one laughed at Kris's joke, no one interrupted him. In the club room that was usually filled with noise, the air now felt unusually quiet.
When the school day was almost over, Eliza finally broke the silence in the club room. Her voice was soft, but there was determination in it.
"After school… let's go see him."
It wasn't a question, but a clear invitation. She looked at each member of the newspaper club, as if making sure no one would turn away.
Arya nodded slowly. His gaze lifted toward the ceiling, empty yet serious.
"Yes, I agree," he said briefly.
There were many things he hadn't had the chance to say to Rio, and leaving him alone now felt like a mistake.
Liam nodded as well, his shoulders lifting slightly.
"Me too. I don't have any reason not to go."
No one objected. The decision settled among them, heavy but necessary.
Meanwhile, at home, Rio wasn't really sleeping.
His body lay still, but his mind kept running without direction. Dark circles formed beneath his eyes, his face pale, his hair messy. He stared at the ceiling of his room with a faint smile that felt strangely out of place.
"Why am I laughing…?" he murmured quietly.
"Why…?"
The question wasn't searching for an answer. It simply slipped from his mouth.
A fragile laugh escaped him.
"Am I going crazy…?" he said, before laughing again, longer this time.
He closed his eyes. The smile remained on his face, strangely sincere despite the sadness pressing against his chest.
"So I really have gone crazy…" he whispered.
Suddenly, a heavy voice interrupted his thoughts.
It didn't come from outside the room.
It echoed directly inside his head.
"Why are you so weak?"
Rio's eyes snapped open. His breath caught, his heart beating unevenly.
"Who are you?!" he shouted, his body tensing. His eyes darted around the room, but it was empty as before.
A realization struck his mind.
"I remember…" he said shakily.
"You're the voice that appeared when I obtained King's Sense. You were the one who said it… the one who gave it to me." His voice trembled between anger and panic.
"Who are you really?!"
The voice spoke again, calmer yet cold.
"You will find out soon enough… that is, if you stop being so weak."
Then, like smoke carried away by the wind, the voice vanished, leaving Rio alone with an even deeper confusion.
Rio held his head. His expression hardened with cold bewilderment.
"Who is he really…?" he murmured softly, almost afraid the answer would appear if he spoke too loudly.
Only then did he realize something.
His chest no longer burned. There was no urge for revenge, no boiling anger.
Everything felt calm.
Too calm.
"I'm back to normal," he whispered. He looked at his own hands, slowly opening and clenching them.
"Why did that feeling of being lost disappear just because of that voice?"
He took a deep breath.
"Even King's Sense isn't activating… which means this is because of my own mentality, not King's Sense."
Rio stood up from the bed. He checked his body from his arms, shoulders, to his chest, as if searching for cracks or invisible wounds.
"Nothing has changed," he said.
"Everything feels… normal."
The word itself sounded strange in his ears.
Suddenly, a ringing sound shattered the silence in his room.
Kringg! Kringg!?
Rio turned his head, walked over, and picked up his phone. His eyebrows furrowed when he looked at the screen.
"Unknown number…?"
He hesitated for a moment, then answered.
"Hello."
"It's me."
That voice. Just two words, but enough to make Rio's eyes widen. His jaw tightened. His teeth clenched.
"You…!" His breathing grew heavy.
"Rivaldo, right?"
His voice was filled with pressure, like something ready to explode.
On the other side, Rivaldo's voice sounded calm. Almost irritatingly calm.
"No need to be that angry," he said flatly.
"I want to talk seriously."
There was a brief pause, long enough to make Rio's chest feel tight.
"Let's meet at a café."
Rio hesitated. The phone stayed pressed against his ear, but his mind drifted elsewhere. The purpose that had been guiding him all this time had disappeared, like a compass that lost its direction.
He stayed silent for quite a while, until the silence filled the entire room.
Rio took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then slowly exhaled. His shoulders lowered, his expression softening.
"Yeah… alright," he finally said, his voice lighter than he expected.
"Forgiving you doesn't sound too bad."
The sentence came out naturally, without calculation, without weight.
On the other side, Rivaldo fell silent.
That brief silence felt louder than shouting.
"Are you serious… about forgiving me?" he asked, clearly doubtful, as if afraid the words were just another trap.
Rio smiled.
A genuine smile. Not forced, not bitter, not cynical.
He closed his eyes.
"If I keep holding onto hatred, I'll just stay trapped in the same chapter forever."
Those words weren't only for Rivaldo.
They were also for himself.
Before the call ended, Rio added,
"I'll come."
Then the line disconnected.
On the other side, Rivaldo stared at his dark phone screen. His lips moved slowly.
"Thank you…" he said, even though he knew no one was listening anymore.
Rio stood up and prepared to leave.
He put on a simple black shirt and white pants without thinking much about it. No symbols, no statements. Just himself as he was.
"I wonder what he's going to say," he murmured while walking toward the door.
"But it sounds serious."
He stepped out of the house calmly. Slip-on sandals replaced the shoes he usually wore.
"No need to dress too neatly," he thought.
This wasn't a battle.