(POV: Nagi / Ren)
Later that night, Ren couldn't shake the echo of Airi's melody. He wandered under the main stage, following a faint vibration through the floorboards. Nagi had already slipped through a hidden door and waited.
"This way," Nagi whispered, voice barely audible. He led Ren into a narrow staircase spiraling downward. Damp stone walls closed around them, the air thick with the scent of old wood and ink.
At the bottom, a hidden music room stretched before them. Dusty sheets of music littered the floor, each score bearing a name—students who had disappeared decades ago.
Ren's eyes fell on one: Airi Murasame.
Nagi's violet aura shimmered faintly. "Some melodies… never end. The academy keeps them alive, even when the body is gone."
Ren picked up her sheet, trembling. The final measure was missing. A note in faded ink read: "To finish it is to vanish."
A chill ran down his spine. The realization struck him harder than any chord: completing Scarlet Strings could cost a life. Perhaps more than one.
And the choice would be his.
The two boys stared at the scattered sheets, the echoes of past performances thrumming faintly in the walls. Somewhere above, the faint sound of a piano began to play by itself—a sorrowful, haunting refrain.
Ren knew it: Kanezono Academy was alive, and it was listening.