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Season 2 — Chapter 3: The Tree Whispers
The next day at school felt... off.
Clouds hung lower than usual, gray and heavy like they were pressing down on the town itself. Kuro sat by the window in class, chin rested on his palm, watching the woods beyond the fence line sway gently in the breeze.
He didn't blink much anymore.
Eve sat beside him, quiet as always, though now more alert. She didn't just watch him — she watched what he watched. The others noticed too, especially Jason, who had begun walking home with them more often, always trailing behind like a silent guard.
During lunch, Kuro spoke with the group like normal, cracking dry jokes and bringing up anime references only Riku understood — but every now and then, he'd freeze mid-sentence. Just for a second. His eyes would lock onto the woods.
And then he'd smile again. Like it was nothing.
But it wasn't.
Later, at the hangout room — the one Kuro had claimed and decorated for them all — he stood alone at the window while the others talked in the background. The sky outside dimmed unnaturally early. He opened the window just slightly, letting the breeze in.
That's when he heard it.
A voice.
"Kuro…"
It wasn't loud. It wasn't angry.
It was... familiar. Gentle. Too familiar.
Kuro's breath hitched. He leaned closer to the window.
The trees swayed harder. The wind carried the voice again.
"Kuro... come back."
He shut the window quickly.
Eve looked over — she saw the look on his face, the one that didn't match his usual smile. He turned, noticed her staring, and softened. His smile returned. He walked over and sat beside her.
But this time… he didn't hold her hand.
Instead, he took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and slid it to her under the table.
When she opened it, her fingers trembled slightly.
In jagged, rushed handwriting, it said:
> "If I go back, I won't come out again. Please… keep me here."
Eve looked up at him, but Kuro just leaned back in his chair, talking with the others, laughing like always.
But something inside him was pulling.
And the woods were calling again.
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