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The narrow room was quiet, except for Sakurajima Mai's tired voice.
"If you keep saying stupid things, you'll actually turn into an idiot."
Jack didn't take offense. Between them, there was this strange unspoken understanding — they bickered, teased, and threw jabs at each other constantly, but both knew none of it was ever meant seriously.
They were lying on the same single bed. The space was so tight they couldn't move without bumping into each other.
"Jack."
"Yeah?"
"It's cramped."
Her tone was calm, almost blank.
"...Sorry for squishing you."
He stared up at the ceiling, answering without moving an inch.
"Don't you have anything you want to say?" she suddenly asked, out of nowhere.
Jack turned his head toward her. They were so close he could make out every detail of her pale profile — even the tiny curve of her lashes.
"There's been so much happening… feels like I've got a ton to say, but now that it's quiet, I don't even know where to start," he murmured.
"Then say something that'll make me happy."
So she was in a bad mood — that much he understood immediately.
"Given your mood right now, that might be a little too tall an order."
Mai rolled onto her side, facing him now, her eyes just a breath away.
"Don't you enjoy it when I mess with you?"
"And you, knowing that and still teasing me, really are the queen of the world, huh?"
He turned a little toward her too, and suddenly they were eye to eye.
The air between them went still.
Under the same blanket, they just… looked at each other.Their breaths mingled in the tiny space, warm and steady.Neither looked away. Neither said a word.
Seconds stretched. The silence grew thick enough to press down on them — until Mai's lips moved unexpectedly.
"Hey… let's kiss."
Her tone was plain, like she was talking about the weather.
Jack blinked, a little surprised. But he could feel the shift in her emotions — the quiet tremble underneath.
"Is this… you giving up and letting yourself go?" he asked softly.
Right on target.
Mai fell silent. She didn't seem angry at his bluntness. She didn't blush either. She just gave a tiny, self-mocking smile.
"Go to sleep. Night."
With that, she closed her eyes — maybe because she didn't want him to read her so easily.If anyone could see straight through her, it was him. Whenever she was with Jack, her emotions were like open pages.
He knew she was fragile right now.He just didn't know how to help her.The only comfort he could cling to was that she was still here — still visible, still real.
Then her voice came again, soft, trembling.
"If I started crying right now and said, 'I don't want to disappear'... what would you do?"
That had to be what she really wanted to say — the thing she was holding back this whole time.
Jack sighed quietly.He didn't answer.He just reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Mai's eyes fluttered open in surprise.What she saw was his calm, steady gaze.
"I'll remember you," he said gently. His voice was soft, but the conviction in it was absolute."Always."
Her eyes wavered for a moment, then she collected herself again.
"Even so, I don't remember giving you permission to hold me."
"I figured you wanted me to, so I did."
"That's just you assuming things."
She brushed it off in that typical casual tone of hers — but didn't move away. She stayed in his arms.
Another long silence.
Then, almost like she was talking to herself:
"...I still don't want to disappear."
"I know."
"There are still radio dramas I want to do… movies I want to film… I still want to feel what it's like to act on stage. So I don't want to go."
"Yeah."
"I finally met some reckless guy who actually dared to get close to me. I was even starting to think about going back to school. This really isn't the time to vanish…"
She spoke in a low, trembling voice — like she was pouring out everything she'd been holding inside.
She'd been scared all along.Of course she had. How could she not be?
Jack couldn't find words anymore.He just held her a little tighter.
When had he started to care about her this much?When had he started to feel this ache whenever she looked like this?
They'd only known each other a couple of days.
Maybe… it was just because she was beautiful?
That was definitely part of it.He couldn't deny that.
But it wasn't only that.It was her loneliness, too. That quiet, familiar kind of isolation he saw in her — the same kind he carried himself.
He still remembered the look on her face that first day, when he handed her that flyer. The way she'd looked so startled — like she'd just stepped out of a painting and into the real world.
Just a moment earlier she'd seemed untouchable, distant from everything. Then suddenly she was right here, grounded in reality.
She was just like him — someone pretending to be invisible.
He'd known it from the first time he saw her.What he hadn't expected was that, to her, his own disguise had been just as transparent.
That was how it all began — with the so-called "demon summoning ritual."A coincidence, maybe. Or fate.
"I won't let you disappear," he said quietly.
"...Thank you, for not giving up on me."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard it.And then — something clicked in his head.
Wait—
Did she just say what he thought she said?
Jack's eyes widened slightly.
"Did you just say… you've been thinking about going back to school?"
He sat up before he even realized it.
Mai blinked at him, confused.
"Wait. You mean… you haven't been going to school this whole time?"
"...I went a few times," she admitted, biting her lip. "But I never talked to anyone. It wasn't much different from when no one could see me…"
"Right. You're a high schooler too. How did I forget that..."
He rubbed his forehead, laughing helplessly.
"If we're talking about the source of your condition, then your school's got to be the most suspicious place. How did I only realize this now...?"
It made sense. Because of her celebrity status, he'd unconsciously thought of her as an adult — someone already out in the world. He'd completely overlooked the fact that she was still just a senior in high school.
And if her condition's origin was tied to school… then maybe they finally had a clue.
He looked at her again — this girl who'd just moments ago been so fragile, yet so determined — and a plan began to take shape in his mind.
The same plan he'd thought of before, the very first time.
If the source really was the school, then there was no need to hesitate anymore.
It was time to face it — and finally free her from this.
"..."
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