Daigo sat in silence for a long time after Yona's words, his mind spinning with pieces that didn't fit together… yet somehow felt like they once had. The photo still glowed faintly between them. Finally, he exhaled sharply and stood up.
"…Come on," he said, eyes serious.
Yona blinked. "Where?"
"We're going to talk to my mom. If I'm leaving tonight, I'll need an excuse." He paused, then added, "You're staying over. That's the story."
Yona hesitated, then slowly nodded. "Okay."
They left the room together, footsteps soft on the creaking hallway floor. The living room was quiet except for the sound of the television murmuring in the background. Daigo's mother glanced up from her seat on the couch, folding laundry.
"Everything alright, boys?" she asked casually.
Daigo nodded. "Yeah. Yona's just… it's a long story, Mom. But he needs a place to stay tonight. It's kind of important."
She raised a brow but saw the seriousness in his face. Her expression softened.
"Of course, sweetheart," she said after a beat. "We've got space. He can stay in your room if it's that important."
Daigo managed a quick smile. "Thanks."
She turned back to her laundry, humming quietly to herself. Once outside, the air was cooler, the storm having faded into a soft drizzle. The streets glistened, empty and silver in the streetlights.
They didn't have to go far. At the edge of the street, where the wet pavement met the forest's fringe, two figures stood in the mist..locked in a silent, desperate hug.
Yona slowed, his eyes widening. "Ayumi…"
The girl pulled back, startled at the voice. "Yona?" Her voice trembled with something like relief. But then her eyes slid past him to Daigo. Her breath hitched.
"…Dai…ki?"
Daigo froze.
And then he saw him. Standing beside Ayumi was a boy..taller than Yona, sharper around the eyes, dressed in darker clothes, but unmistakably familiar. The air around him was still. His expression unreadable. He stepped back, the confusion and disbelief thick in his voice.
Daigo's heart dropped. His voice cracked.
"Noah?!!…"
Ayumi looked between them.
"Daiki?" she whispered again, like the name itself was fragile.
But Daigo didn't answer. He was staring at Noir like he'd seen a ghost.
His voice was low, disbelieving. "But how…? You… she killed you." His breath caught. "She killed you…"
Yona turned sharply. "What do you mean?"
Ayumi's face darkened. Her voice was quiet, like a secret she hadn't wanted to say. "The copy of me in this world… she killed him."
Yona's eyes widened, flicking to Noir.
"What?"
And then something clicked. His gaze locked on the bou beaide Ayumi the one who hadn't spoken, who hadn't moved, just stared quietly back. There was something in his eyes. Something deeper. Older. Yona took a step forward, his mind reeling.
"You're the real Noir. From my world."
He didn't answer directly. He just looked at Yona, and then at Daigo, and the weight of his silence was the confirmation they need
Daigo looked from Ayumi to Noah to Yona, his mind trying to keep up with the impossible connections forming before him.
"So… he's not from here. Just like you," he said, glancing at Yona.
Yona nodded.
Daigo's gaze lingered on Ayumi next. His voice softened. "I guess… you're also not Yuima."
Ayumi met his eyes but said nothing. Her silence was all the answer he needed. Daigo exhaled, the realization weighing heavier than he expected.
"And that means the barrier between worlds… it's still breaking," Yona said, more to himself than to anyone else.
Noir turned his eyes toward Daigo. There was no anger in them..just a quiet, grounded understanding.
"You're not him," Noir said quietly. "But you could be. Part of him is still inside you."
Daigo didn't know what to say to that. The words settled into his chest like a truth he wasn't ready to accept, but couldn't deny.
He looked back at the others, at the rain beginning to fall again..light, cold, and strangely calming.
"So what do we do now?" he asked.
Yona looked up, the determination returning to his eyes.
"Now… we find Mia. And we figure out why this world keeps taking pieces of us."
Ayumi took Noir's hand. Daigo took a breath. The four of them stood there on the edge of two realities, bound by memories only some of them could feel, but ready to walk forward, even if they didn't understand the road yet.
They walked through the mist-soaked streets, quiet except for the soft splash of footsteps and the occasional drip from overhanging trees. The school lay ahead, dark against the pale streetlights, but no one spoke of it yet. The weight of their shared silence was filled with something heavier than fear..memory.
Ayumi walked close to Daigo now, casting glances his way. After a while, she finally spoke.
"I think Yona told you things… about us?"
Daigo looked up. The question wasn't a surprise.
He nodded. "Yeah. He did."
Ayumi's eyes searched his face. "And? What do you think?"
Daigo hesitated, his hands deep in his jacket pockets, eyes on the rain-slick pavement. "I think you don't belong here. Not in a bad way..I mean, this world isn't your home. It's like… it made copies of you. Of all of you. But they're wrong. Off, somehow."
Yona turned slightly, walking backward a few steps so he could see Daigo's face.
"And us? The real us..do you believe we're telling the truth?"
Daigo nodded slowly. "I do. You're different. Not just how you talk or act, but in the way you remember things. In how you look at this world like it doesn't quite fit around you."
Ayumi gave a small smile. "Because it doesn't. We remember the real one. The one before it shattered and took pieces of us with it."
Noir added quietly, "And now it's trying to use those pieces to patch itself up. Even if it breaks us in the process."
Yona glanced at Ayumi, his tone gentler. "Back in our world… you were different too, weren't you?"
Ayumi nodded. "I didn't have to pretend. I wasn't this… curated version of someone called Yuima. I didn't have to smile when I didn't want to. I was real." She looked at Noir, then added, "And I was with people who knew me. Who remembered me."
Noir's voice was steady. "In the real world, I mattered. People saw me..not just the shape of me."
Daigo was quiet for a moment. Then he said,
"Here… I'm the guy everyone likes. I'm loud, funny, confident. But I feel like I'm acting half the time....Like someone built this version of me from a checklist and forgot the part that makes it real."
He looked at them.
"When I saw that photo Yona gave me… you weren't just familiar. You felt real. Like the version of me in that picture knew you. Deeply."
Yona nodded, stepping closer.
"He did. You were with us. You mattered to us. You still do." Ayumi looked at him gently.
"What about Lena?"
Daigo's steps faltered. He didn't speak. His shoulders rose slightly, like bracing against something invisible.
Yona slowed his pace and looked at him carefully.
"What's wrong?"
Daigo pulled the photo from his jacket pocket. The edges were damp, but it still glowed faintly with that strange soft-blue light. He unfolded it slowly, staring at the faces. His brow tightened, eyes scanning the photo, unsure. After a pause, he looked over at Yona. His voice was quiet, uncertain.
"Can you show me?" he asked. "Which one is Lena… between us?"
Yona stepped beside him, gently taking in the image. He didn't speak right away..just scanned the faces with care. Then he pointed to the girl near the center. She wasn't facing the camera fully..her smile was turned slightly toward Daigo, like she'd been saying something when the photo was taken. Like she was alive in the moment.
"That's her," Yona said softly. "That's Lena."
Daigo stared at her face. Something in his chest shifted. Broke. Daigo's steps faltered. He didn't speak. His shoulders rose slightly, like bracing against something invisible.
Yona slowed his pace and looked at him carefully. "What's wrong?"
Daigo stared at her face, frozen. A flicker of something old and buried passed across his expression.
He whispered, almost to himself, "Lira…"
Ayumi looked at him gently. "Lira?"
Daigo's voice was barely above a breath.
"She disappeared… years ago. No one knew what happened. People said she ran away, but…" His voice caught. "I always thought I'd see her again. But I forgot what she looked like. I couldn't even remember her name, not really. Until now."
Ayumi stepped closer, her voice soft and steady.
"She meant something to you?"
Daigo didn't speak right away. His eyes stayed fixed on the photo. Then, slowly, he gave a small nod. "She was… the love of my life."
Yona and Ayumi exchanged a glance..something unspoken, sharp with memory. Then Ayumi turned her gaze back to Daigo, voice quiet.
"You and Lena were...…"
Daigo looked up, his voice catching as the realization flickered behind his eyes.
"Together?"
Ayumi nodded gently.
Yona's expression shifted. He looked at Ayumi. She looked back, something tense and knowing between them. Then Yona turned his eyes to Daigo.
"In the real world…" Yona said carefully, "Lena is the girl I love."
He hesitated, then added, "And you… I mean, Daiki … was with Aria."
Daigo's eyes widened. The name hit something in him like an echo in a deep chamber.
"…Aria?" he repeated. "Who's Aria?"
The question lingered in the mist around them..soft, uncertain, and full of weight. The photo in Daigo's pocket seemed to glow a little warmer, as if the memories inside it were stirring awake. Ayumi's gaze dropped, and Yona's jaw tightened. Neither answered right.
Ayumi pulled out her phone without a word, her fingers moving quickly as she unlocked it. She scrolled through a few images before stopping on one. Turning the screen toward Daigo, she held it up.
"This is Aria," she said quietly, pointing to the girl in the photo.
Daigo's breath caught. His eyes widened as he stared at the image..something breaking open in him, something sharp and sudden. He whispered the name like it had been hidden under his skin all this time.
"…Aleria …"
The moment the name left his lips, something shifted in the air. Ayumi, Yona, and even Noir stilled...because they all knew. Aleria was the name this world had given to Aria's copy.
Then his gaze slowly turned..landing on Noir. A spark of recognition flickered in his eyes, half horror, half realization.
Yona stepped forward, placing a steady hand on Daigo's shoulder.
"Diago…?"
Daigo's body was trembling slightly, as if the truth had found its way into his bones. Ayumi's eyes flicked between the two of them. Then she looked directly at Noir, uneasy.
"Tell us," she said slowly, her voice wavering. "It's about Alera, isn't it? Maybe… maybe you know where she is?"
Daigo met her eyes at last. His voice was low. Fragile. "Alera… She…" He stopped, turning to Noir again. "She was with you."
Ayumi's eyes flew wide. "What?" She turned to Noir sharply. "What's going on?"
Noir's hand instinctively tightened around hers. She felt the tension..something unspoken pressing through his silence. Something heavy.
"You know something?" she asked, stepping closer. "Noir, talk to me."
But Noir looked away, jaw clenched, saying nothing. Daigo continued, filling the space left by Noir's silence. "Alera was with Noah…"
Yona turned toward Noir slowly, realization dawning across his face.
"Noah…" he whispered. "Noir is Noah…"
Daigo nodded faintly. "But something happened."
Ayumi's voice trembled now. "What happened? Please...just talk. I need to know…"
She was scared..scared of what it meant for Alera, for the past, for the fragile balance they were all standing on now.
Daigo looked down, his voice cracking with memory.
"I don't know exactly what happened… but after Yuima killed Noah… Alera broke. She was admitted to a mental hospital."
Ayumi's hand flew to her mouth. Yona's eyes widened in stunned silence.
"She loved Noah so much," Daigo went on. "Too much. When he died, something in her couldn't take it. She wasn't stable anymore."
There was a pause, just the sound of rain tapping quietly around them
"Yuima loved Noah too," Daigo added. "But she hated him for choosing Alera over her. That's why she killed him."
Yona's voice came out hoarse.
"But no one knew that. No one ever said Yuima killed him?…"
Daigo looked up, his eyes distant but sure.
"Because no one saw it happen."
There was a beat of silence. Ayumi and Yona asked in unison,
"Then who did?"
Daigo looked at them. His voice was barely a whisper.
"Only one person."
Their eyes locked onto his. Ayumi's heart was pounding.
"Who?" she asked again, more urgently. "Who saw?"
Daigo's eyes flicked again to Noir. And everything… suddenly felt like it was about to fall apart.
" Him"
To be continue...