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Chapter 5 - Episode 5: “Echoes in the Hall”

[Scene: Early morning, classroom. The atmosphere is unusually tense. Students whisper, glancing around nervously.]

Student A: "Did you hear? Kaito from Class 3 fainted yesterday."

Student B: "Same symptoms. Blank eyes. Like he saw something that broke him…"

Student C: "People are saying the school is cursed."

[Naizaka enters, his usual cold stare scanning the room. He stops mid-step—Mio is already at her desk, eyes closed, fingers tapping rhythmically on the table.]

Naizaka (thinking): She's thinking again. Planning.

Yuki (cheerful): "Morning!"

Naizaka: "You look unusually energetic for someone who saw a guy collapse yesterday."

Yuki: "Fake it till you make it!"

Naizaka: "Make it where?"

Yuki: "Your heart, duh."

Naizaka: [ignores her blush] "Right."

[Scene: Hallway – Class ends. Riko walks with Yuki and Toma.]

Riko: "I've requested the principal to investigate the hallway cameras. Too many weird things."

Toma: "What if we're in a horror anime?"

Yuki: "Don't. I already have enough to worry about."

Riko: "Like what?"

Yuki (quietly): "...Like losing someone before I've had the chance to matter to them."

[Scene: Rooftop. Naizaka sits alone, sipping juice. The second one stays unopened beside him. Footsteps—Mio appears.]

Naizaka: "You knew about the student today, didn't you?"

Mio: "I felt it before it happened. Like static in the air."

Naizaka: "Same. Only louder now."

Mio: "You're awakening, Naizaka. The more you deny it, the more it spills out."

Naizaka: [tense] "I don't want it."

Mio: "That doesn't matter. It wants you."

[Suddenly, wind picks up. The sky dims slightly—eerie.]

Naizaka (thinking): The air is heavy. Like something's watching.

Mio: "You sense it too?"

Naizaka: "Yeah. Like something crawling through the walls."

[Scene: After school. Yuki waits by the shoe lockers. She spots Naizaka and runs up.]

Yuki: "Hey! Want to walk together today?"

Naizaka: "...You don't live my way."

Yuki: "Today I do."

[He sighs but walks. They pass by the old library. The window is open slightly.]

Yuki: "Didn't they shut this place last year?"

Naizaka: [pauses] "Something's… off."

[Inside, an old lamp flickers. They hear soft crying. Naizaka steps closer.]

Yuki: "Wait, don't—!"

[Suddenly, the crying stops. Silence. Then—a blur moves past the window.]

Yuki: "DID YOU SEE THAT?!"

Naizaka (thinking): It didn't feel human.

[Scene: Mio confronts a teacher after school, alone.]

Mio: "You've seen the signs. This school is under a veil."

Teacher: [nervous] "Don't speak like that here."

Mio: "I'll protect them. Even if it means breaking the silence you all keep."

[Night: Naizaka sits in his room, unable to sleep. He sketches in a notebook—symbols he doesn't remember learning.]

Naizaka (thinking): Why does my hand draw these?

*[His phone buzzes. A text from an unknown number: "You're not alone anymore."]

Naizaka (thinking): ...Who's watching me?

[Scene: Next morning, Naizaka arrives early. Mio is waiting outside the classroom.]

Mio: "You drew them, didn't you?"

Naizaka: "You're in my phone too?"

Mio: "Not me. Something else. It's awakening. And it's watching both of us."

Naizaka: [tight voice] "Tell me what you know."

Mio: [softly] "After school. Come alone."

[Scene: Yuki watches them from the stairs. Her smile falters. She clenches her fists.]

Yuki (thinking): Why do I feel like she knows a version of him I'll never get to meet?

[Scene: After school – old library. Naizaka sneaks in. The room is dusty, quiet. Mio stands at the center, holding an old photo.]

Mio: "This school… is layered. Like paper over paper. The real one lies beneath."

Naizaka: "And the people collapsing?"

Mio: "They're touching something hidden. And someone—something—wants to keep it buried."

[Suddenly, loud thud. A window slams shut. Shadows stretch unnaturally across the wall.]

Naizaka: [stepping forward] "It's here again."

Mio: [calmly] "Then it's time we stop running."

To Be Continued...

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