(POV: Ren / Ema)
Rain had ceased, leaving the academy drenched in a thin mist. Ren wandered the stone corridors toward the recital hall, violin case in hand. Every step echoed unnaturally, as if the building itself were listening.
He stopped abruptly. There she was—Ema Tsukishiro—sitting at the grand piano in the abandoned practice room, her fingers hovering above the keys.
"Again?" Ren's voice trembled. "You… you know that melody?"
Ema glanced up, her silver eyes distant. "I don't know why I do. I just… dream it. Every night."
Ren's chest tightened. "This is Scarlet Strings. My sister's song. No one else should know it."
Ema's lips quivered. "Maybe… because she isn't gone. Maybe because she's still here."
The room fell silent. Outside, mist curled along the edges of the windows. Ren gripped his violin. The crimson aura around him pulsed like a heartbeat.
She's tied to this music… tied to me, he realized.
Then Ema began to play. Each note carved into the air, fragile yet piercing. Ren felt memories that weren't his—Airi's laughter, the night she performed her final piece—pressing against his mind.
He understood: Ema had become a vessel for his sister's soul, whether she knew it or not. And if she faltered, it wouldn't just be her memory that faded—it could be Airi herself.