"The dead don't stay quiet if they've been silenced. They scream in puzzles."
— Ren Kisaragi
[1] — When Silence Wakes You
Ren had nightmares that night.
But not the kind you can scream your way out of.
They were cold, calculated. Made of whispers. Made of clocks ticking inside walls that didn't have clocks. Made of someone — Aika? — sitting in the corner of his room, face obscured by her hair, repeating a phrase over and over:
"Find the second shard. Before it finds you."
When Ren woke up, it was still dark.
But his mirror was different.
The crack from his punch was… gone.
In its place was a new one — thinner, longer, sharper.
Exactly like the fracture in Aika's pendant.
[2] — An Envelope That Shouldn't Exist
When he opened his school locker that morning, there was an envelope inside.
No name. Just a black wax seal.
The Kurozawa crest.
Inside: a folded piece of paper.
"You weren't the only one she left clues for."
"Room 405. Old East Wing. Lunch break."
Ren stared at it.
Old East Wing had been closed for renovation since last year. No one went there. Security didn't even patrol it.
He knew this could be a trap.
But he also knew something else:
Aika wanted him to go.
[3] — Room 405
The East Wing hallway was long and empty.
Paint peeled off the walls in strips. Dust covered the windows. Fluorescent lights flickered like dying stars.
Room 405 was at the end.
When Ren opened the door, the first thing he noticed wasn't the cold.
It was the piano.
Covered in a white sheet. But unmistakably the one from the Kurozawa mansion.
The second thing he noticed was the boy sitting beside it.
Slim. Polished. Black tie. Expensive watch.
He looked up as Ren entered, lips curling into a smile far too precise.
"You're late."
"Who are you?"
"I'm the one she called 'Bishop.' You must be the 'Knight.'"
"…What?"
The boy stood and extended his hand.
"Seiji Arakawa. First son of the Arakawa tech empire. Your family's rival, ironically."
"And Aika?"
Seiji's smile dropped for the first time.
"She chose us both. For different reasons."
[4] — The First Move
Seiji handed Ren a small black device — like a pager, but older.
"Aika built this. Custom encryption. Only runs when connected to the pendant."
Ren attached the cracked pendant.
The device blinked. Then spoke.
Aika's voice. Pre-recorded.
"Welcome to my glass garden."
"If you're hearing this, I'm dead. And if I'm dead, it wasn't suicide."
"What follows is a game. One I couldn't play while alive. But if you play it right… you'll learn the truth."
"Each of you has a role. One will search. One will protect. One will betray."
"Your first task: The place where I was never allowed to cry. There, behind the ivory teeth, lies Shard #2."
The recording ended.
Ren's hand clenched the device.
"…Ivory teeth?"
Seiji nodded. "Piano keys."
[5] — Aika's Mother
Ren returned to the Kurozawa estate that evening.
Under the pretense of delivering a condolence letter from his family.
The guards let him in.
Inside, nothing had changed.
Silk rugs. Chandelier light. Smells of cinnamon and iron.
Aika's mother, Lady Hanae, sat in the garden lounge, trimming bonsai. Her smile was as practiced as ever.
"Ren. I didn't expect visitors. Especially not from your house."
"I wanted to offer respects."
"So sweet of you." She sipped tea. "Did you love her?"
That stopped him.
"…Yes."
"Then why didn't you save her?"
She said it casually. No accusation. Just cold curiosity.
Like she was watching ants drown in a bowl.
Ren forced a bow.
"May I use the music room? Just to sit. She liked it there."
"Of course."
As he turned, she added:
"Some songs are better when unfinished. Don't try to finish hers."
[6] — The Second Shard
The music room was unchanged.
Grand piano. Thick carpets. Portraits on the wall.
Ren approached the piano.
Lifted the lid.
Played the first three notes of the song Aika always practiced.
Nothing.
Then he remembered something she once whispered.
"My pain lives in E flat."
He pressed the E♭ key.
Click.
A section of the keys popped open.
Inside: a folded slip of paper and a second pendant shard — this one uncut, perfectly smooth.
He picked it up. Cold as death.
The paper read:
"My mother doesn't bleed. She paints blood and calls it art. She watched him beat me and said it built character. Shard 3 lies where the mirrors forget your name."
Behind him, a floorboard creaked.
He turned.
No one.
Just a mirror on the wall.
And for a second…
His reflection didn't move.
[7] — Memory Trap
That night, Ren used both shards on the device.
Another recording played.
"Knight. If you've found this, I'm proud of you. But be careful. The Bishop plays for himself."
"The third shard is in the place where identity dies. Where names are scrubbed. Where reflections warp. If you can't find it… look in the water."
"And if you're being watched right now… smile. Make them think you're still weak."
Ren turned off the device.
And smiled at the mirror.
Just in case.
[8] — The Bloodline Game
At school the next day, Seiji was waiting.
"So. She gave you a shard too?"
"I found one."
"And the clue?"
"Mirrors."
Seiji nodded, pulling out a map of the campus.
"There's only one place that fits: the underground pool under the gym. Closed since last semester due to 'plumbing issues.' But Kurozawa owned the construction firm that built it."
Ren narrowed his eyes.
"You've been preparing this, haven't you?"
Seiji smiled.
"We all loved Aika. But only one of us was willing to play dirty for her."
"And which one are you?"
"The one who'll do anything to win."
[9] — Underwater Truths
That night, Ren snuck into the school's underground pool.
The air was wet. Moldy. Quiet.
He walked to the water's edge.
Still.
He dropped a coin.
It didn't ripple.
He leaned closer.
Then saw it:
A handprint.
Pressed on the underside of the glass wall that separated the lower filtration chamber.
A handprint… and a name scratched below it in reverse.
Ren Kisaragi.
He stumbled back.
Why would Aika carve his name there?
Unless—
She knew he'd been there.
Or that someone pretending to be him had.
🩸 END OF CHAPTER 2