Alvaro was tidying up her room, making sure everything was ready for tomorrow — her first day at Yehon High.
While cleaning her closet, a piece of paper slipped out and landed on the bed. She bent down to grab it, but it had fallen deep between the sheets, making it a little tricky to reach. After a few tries, she finally pulled it out and unfolded it curiously.
On the paper, written in childish handwriting, were the words:
"hellooo! Thank you for helping me, big brother Alvaro! Here's a doll for you!"
Reading that made her pause. Memories surfaced — of a little girl crying after a fall, and how she had helped her back then. They were the same age, but Alvaro had always acted too mature for her age, which made her seem older than she really was.
At the bottom of the note was a name: "Kaori Ruzaela."
Alvaro smiled faintly and slipped the paper back into the drawer before closing the closet door.
"It's been a long time," she murmured. "She's probably forgotten by now."
Her bag was already packed neatly beside her desk. With everything ready, she stepped out of her room and glanced toward her grandmother, who was resting on the couch.
"Grandma? Are we buying dinner today?" she asked.
"Yes," her grandmother sighed. "I'm too tired to cook tonight."
"Aw, really? But today's my last day eating your cooking." Alvaro pouted, making a grumpy face.
"Don't be dramatic. You can always visit anytime," her grandmother replied, shaking her head with a faint smile.
"Really?" Alvaro's eyes lit up.
"Of course. Besides, your new school is only about two or three kilometers away."
"Hm... okay then," she muttered, still a little disappointed. She sank into the sofa, leaning back comfortably.
A knock echoed from the door — dinner had arrived. Alvaro took the food and locked the door carefully afterward. Rumors said there had been a lot of thefts in the area lately, and she didn't want to take any chances.
They ate quietly together. The silence wasn't awkward, just calm — the kind of silence that came from years of living together.
After dinner, they sat facing each other.
"Make sure you're ready for tomorrow," her grandmother said. "I won't be helping you in the morning, except for breakfast."
"Hah... alright, Grandma."
"And remember," she added, her tone turning serious, "you'll be staying in the dorm until graduation."
"Got it, got it," Alvaro replied, nodding lazily.
"One more thing." Her grandmother's gaze sharpened. "Don't tell anyone you're actually a boy. If you do, the curse will last forever. It's not something I created — that's simply how the spell works."
"Eh... okay…" Alvaro murmured, looking away with an uneasy expression.
A few minutes passed, and Alvaro found herself daydreaming alone in her room. Her gaze drifted toward the small doll Kaori had given her when they were seven.
"I mean, it doesn't look that childish," she murmured, picking it up. "Should I bring it with me?"
She turned the doll around in her hands, studying its soft expression. "Hm, maybe… it's kinda cute, to be honest," she admitted quietly. The truth was, she still found it adorable — and somewhere deep inside, she wanted to meet the older Kaori again someday.
With a small sigh, Alvaro opened her bag once more and carefully placed the doll inside before zipping it up.
She turned off the lamp, lay down on her bed, and slowly drifted into sleep as the night faded into morning.
At 11:00 p.m., Kaori was still awake in her dorm, stretching her arms after finishing her last piece of homework.
"Ahh… finally done. It'd be nice if I had a roommate to talk to at night," she muttered, leaning back on her chair. "But well… I guess it's just me again."
She let out a quiet sigh, her gaze drifting to the empty bed beside hers. The silence was heavy, yet oddly comforting. Just as she was about to turn off her desk lamp, the light flickered twice—then everything went dark.
"Seriously? Power outage again?" she complained softly. "This building's electricity is hopeless."
Grabbing her phone, she turned on the flashlight. The pale light illuminated her desk—books, pens, and a small empty spot she didn't remember clearing. "Weird… I thought something used to be there," she murmured, frowning for a moment before shaking it off.
Kaori tidied her desk, placing her pens neatly into the pencil box and slipping her notebooks into her bag. She then laid down, facing the ceiling, the faint hum of rain tapping against the window. Slowly, her eyes grew heavy.
Just before sleep took her, a fleeting image flashed in her mind—a porcelain doll with red ribbons and glassy eyes.
Her heartbeat quickened.
"What… was that?" she whispered, half-dreaming.
But by morning, the memory was gone.
Kaori woke up at the same time as Alvaro, stretching with a small yawn, feeling as if she had forgotten something important. She brushed it off and got ready for the day, unaware that the very person connected to that forgotten memory—the boy she once met, the one she gave the doll to—was now living just a few doors away.