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Chapter 3: Bandaged Smiles
The next day felt… different.
The air had a bite to it, sharp and sudden, like something in the wind had shifted overnight. It wasn't colder, just heavier. Even the sky looked tired, hanging low over Grimvale Academy with bloated clouds that didn't seem to move.
Kuro showed up, same time as always.
But something was off.
He still smiled. Still greeted the security guard with a polite nod and still waved awkwardly at the janitor who always looked confused when someone acknowledged him.
But his hands were wrapped in bandages.
Both of them.
Fingers to wrist.
Neat but clearly hand-done. Cloth slightly fraying, edges darkened with the slightest hint of… something. Dried. Brown-red.
His hoodie was his usual—earth-toned and plain, pulled low over his eyes—but it couldn't hide the scar that peeked out along the back of his hand. A fresh one. Not a scrape. A line. Too clean. Too deliberate.
But he said nothing.
Not a word.
---
"Dude… what happened to your hands?" Riku finally asked when they sat in their usual spot behind the school.
Kuro blinked like he hadn't realized they were still bandaged.
"Oh, this?" he said, chuckling. "Paper cut. Got a little carried away with my science homework. You know how it is."
Sera narrowed her eyes. "No one wraps both hands for a paper cut."
Jason looked up from his hoodie sleeve, studying Kuro's fingers without a word.
Eve just stared. She always did. But this time, her stare seemed sharper.
Kuro didn't flinch. Just smiled. "Maybe I'm dramatic."
---
They let it go.
Sort of.
No one brought it up again, but the silence around it grew thicker. Jason started glancing at him more often. Sera sat closer, like she didn't trust him not to fall over. Eve watched the trees behind him instead of him, as if expecting something to come through them.
And Riku… Riku just got quieter.
"Have you guys ever heard of the Whisper Tree?" Kuro asked during lunch two days later, eyes fixed on the distant woods just beyond the school's fences. His voice was light, but his gaze was heavy. "They say if you stare into it long enough, something stares back."
Jason paused his music.
Sera lowered her phone.
"No," she said slowly, "but I'm guessing you have."
Kuro shrugged. "Maybe."
He smiled again.
But his eyes lingered in the woods too long.
---
Later that week, a teacher disappeared.
Mrs. Gellar. The history teacher with the harsh voice and perfect eyeliner. No one saw her after Wednesday. By Friday, her classroom was locked and her name was gone from the board.
No announcement. No emails. No substitute.
It was like she'd never been there.
Kuro didn't say anything. But he looked out the window more during class. Always toward the trees.
---
On Friday, the five of them sat together in their usual spot, silence thicker than ever.
"You keep looking at the forest," Jason finally said. "Why?"
Kuro tilted his head. Then smiled.
"Because sometimes… I think it looks back."
No one laughed.
Even Riku didn't smirk.
The wind shifted, brushing through the grass. In the distance, just past the fence, something moved behind the trees. Just for a second.
Kuro watched it.
Said nothing.
Smiled.
---
To be continued…