The wind howled.
Dark clouds loomed overhead like bruises on the sky, swirling above the ruins of the forbidden wing. The world itself seemed to hold its breath, caught in a fragile silence before the storm broke loose. Kaito stood at the edge of the cracked school grounds, eyes fixed on the last remaining path.
There was no symbol above this one. No guiding riddle. No whispering voice.
Just a feeling — heavy, cold, absolute.
Something was waiting.
Not a friend.
Not a ghost.
Something older. Something that had worn Kaito's face and bled into his dreams long before this nightmare ever began.
It had Airi now.
And it wanted him next.
"Kaito," Sora said quietly from behind him. She was bruised, but unyielding. "We don't know what's behind there."
"I do," Kaito replied without turning. "It's the truth. Everything this school tried to hide. Everything I was made to forget."
He turned toward her, eyes soft.
"You've done more than enough. You saved me when I was ready to lose myself. Now… I have to go alone."
She reached for his hand, squeezed it.
"I'll wait here," she said. "But if you don't come back in ten minutes, I'm blowing the place up."
Kaito smirked.
"Fair deal."
He stepped through the final gate.
There was no corridor, no hallway.
Only void.
Endless white light stretched in all directions — neither warm nor cold, but sterile. Empty.
At the center stood Airi.
She wore a simple white dress, her long hair loose, her eyes vacant like a porcelain doll's.
Kaito's heart twisted.
"Airi," he whispered.
She looked up at him, and smiled.
But something was wrong with the smile.
It was too perfect.
"You finally came back," she said sweetly. "I missed you."
Kaito hesitated.
"What is this place?"
Her expression didn't change.
"Our sanctuary. Where you and I belong. Where they can't hurt us."
"They?"
"The others. Your friends. The ones who lied. Who feared you. Who left you in the dark. I never left you, Kaito."
He stepped closer.
"You're not her."
Her smile flickered.
"What?"
"You're not Airi."
The figure's smile slowly stretched wider — too wide. The edges of her mouth began to tear as darkness leaked from her eyes.
"You're smarter than you look," she hissed, voice layered with dozens of tones — some deep, some childlike, some inhuman.
The illusion shattered.
In Airi's place stood a perfect replica of Kaito, cloaked in shadow, eyes void of color.
"I am you," it said. "The part they locked away. The part they feared. The part they used."
The doppelgänger lifted its hand. From the ground, seven thrones rose — each marked with the symbol of one of his friends.
Each throne showed a frozen memory: Haru laughing. Sota playing piano. Sora sketching in her notebook. Takashi punching a wall. Yui burning a test. Megumi staring at the moon.
And Airi.
Smiling.
"I know who they are," Kaito growled.
The shadow smirked.
"But do they know what you are? That you're the key to everything? That the only reason they're alive is because they were used to bind me within you?"
Kaito shook his head.
"They care about me. Not because of what I am. But because of who I've become."
The shadow scoffed.
"You're broken. We're broken. You saw the mirrors. You know what you're capable of."
Kaito stepped forward, defiant.
"I saw what I might become. That doesn't mean I will."
"Don't you get it?" the shadow shouted, voice cracking the space around them. "You don't get to choose! You were created for one reason — to hold me. And when they sealed me in you, they made you a bomb waiting to go off!"
The white void turned black.
Lightning cracked above.
The shadow lunged.
Kaito summoned his blade — but this time, it was different. Not the pure sword of light from before.
It was a fusion — half shadow, half flame, shaped by both truth and pain. The Blade of Duality.
Steel clashed.
The two Kaitos battled across the empty space, each strike a memory, each parry a fragment of soul.
The shadow conjured visions — Airi's corpse. Sora's betrayal. Megumi screaming his name as she vanished into thorns.
Kaito fought back with memories of laughter, warmth, hope — the way Sota's music made him feel invincible, how Haru made even fear feel funny.
But it wasn't enough.
The shadow drove him to his knees.
"You're weak," it spat. "Still clinging to lies."
Kaito's body trembled.
But then — a whisper.
Kaito.
He looked up.
In the darkness, he saw them.
All seven of his friends — standing behind the shadow, their faces solemn.
We're with you, their voices echoed. We've always been with you.
Airi stepped forward last.
Kaito… no matter what you are… I still love you.
Something ignited in his chest.
His blade burned brighter — not just with light, but with every choice he had made.
Not fate.
Not programming.
But his own soul.
He stood tall.
"You were right," he told the shadow. "I was a vessel. A prison. A weapon. But now I'm something else."
He raised his sword.
"I'm the one who chooses."
With a scream, he charged.
The final clash shook the realm.
The shadow roared, trying to envelop him in darkness, but Kaito's blade cut through memory, through pain, through despair.
The doppelgänger screamed one last time.
And shattered.
The void collapsed.
Color rushed back into the world.
Kaito fell to his knees, gasping for air.
The thrones were gone.
The light was real.
And in front of him, Airi knelt — the real Airi — her eyes wide, tears streaming.
"You came back," she whispered.
Kaito reached for her, and they embraced.
"I never left," he said. "Not really."
Behind them, the others began to appear — one by one — as if drawn by fate, or perhaps something deeper.
Sora. Haru. Megumi. Takashi. Sota. Yui.
No words were needed.
They just held each other.
Whole.
Real.
Alive.
Far above, the last mirror cracked.
The last chain broke.
And for the first time since the project began, the curse over Seika High ended.