(POV: Ren / Nagi)
Ren couldn't sleep. The dormitory walls vibrated faintly with whispers of strings and chords. He placed the violin on his lap, fingers brushing the worn wood. The bow trembled in his grip.
It's just nerves, he told himself. Tomorrow's composition. That's all.
He drew a deep breath, plucking a single string. The note resonated softly—and then, impossibly, another violin answered.
Ren froze. The sound was distant, hollow, yet achingly familiar. Someone is here… or someone isn't.
Nagi's POV
In the shadows of the practice hall, Nagi had been watching. His violet-colored aura flickered with every note. He had seen many students come here, many disappear. And now, Ren… he was different.
Nagi whispered to the darkness, "Crimson… you play with fire. But the flames may consume you before you understand their warmth."
He stepped forward as Ren tried to trace the second violin. The notes twisted through the hall, echoing memories that weren't Ren's, memories older than Kanezono itself.
Someone is bound to that sound, Nagi thought. And that someone isn't alive.
Ren's eyes widened. The faint outline of a girl appeared among the shadows—a ghostly figure, her hair like silver silk. She played the responding notes perfectly.
Ren's breath caught. "Airi…?"
The figure didn't answer. Only the music spoke: a melody of longing, of unfinished promises, and crimson threads that threatened to pull him in.
The violin duel lasted until dawn. When the first light touched the dormitory windows, the figure vanished. Only the faintest echo remained—a whispering string across Ren's soul.
And beneath the floorboards, hidden among the beams of the stage, a new melody began to form itself—one that would demand more than Ren or Ema could possibly pay.
The academy was listening.
And it was responding.