Matthew woke to the sound of his alarm—soft, familiar, harmless.
He rubbed his eyes, stretched, and stared at the ceiling he'd seen every morning for years.
Except… had he?
He pushed the thought away and stood, brushing off the strange chill that trailed behind it.
Everything felt normal.
Too normal.
He walked to school beneath a clear sky, passing neighbors who smiled the same way, spoke the same greetings, laughed at the same times.
Predictable.
Repetitive.
He didn't know why that bothered him.
Rin's Day
Across the city, Rin folded laundry in her small apartment.
Monotony soothed her.
Or it should have.
But today, her fingers hesitated over a shirt she didn't recognize. A shirt that wasn't her style, her size, or even from any brand she'd ever worn.
She frowned.
Where did it come from?
When she tried to remember, her mind hit something… soft.
A blank.
Like cotton stuffed into the spaces where memory should be.
Her phone buzzed.
Matthew:
Want to walk home together later?
She typed back automatically.
Rin:
Sure. Same place as always.
She paused.
Always.
Why did that word feel borrowed?
Sora's Day
Sora sat in a café, textbooks open but untouched. She stared at the steaming cup of tea she'd ordered without thinking—
because something in her insisted she used to drink it with someone.
She tapped her fingers on the table.
1, 2, 3…
Four beats.
Pause.
1, 2, 3…
Four beats.
Pause.
It was a rhythm she didn't remember learning, yet her hands moved like they had danced to it for years.
A notification lit her phone:
Matthew:
Meet at 5? Rin said she's coming too.
Sora smiled—
but the smile felt artificial, like she had practiced it for someone she no longer remembered.
Her expression flickered in the café window.
Just for a second.
But she noticed.
Suspicion Growing
They met after school as usual.
Matthew waved. "Hey."
Rin nodded. "Traffic was awful."
Sora adjusted her backpack. "Let's go."
Everything between them felt familiar. Routine.
Almost scripted.
They walked together down the same street, at the same pace, in the same order, passing the same store window.
And then—
All three stopped.
Same moment.
Same breath.
Because the reflection staring back at them in the glass…
didn't move the same way they did.
Matthew lifted a hand—
the reflection hesitated.
Rin blinked—
her reflection's eyes flickered white.
Sora stepped forward—
and for one horrifying heartbeat,
her reflection was wearing
the Mask of the Forgotten.
Then the images snapped back to normal.
Pedestrians walked past without reacting.
Birds chirped.
Cars honked.
Life continued.
Matthew exhaled shakily. "Did you guys—"
"Yes," Rin said instantly.
Sora swallowed. "Something's wrong with us."
Matthew stared at the glass, his pulse hammering.
He didn't know why but deep inside, beneath the normal days and ordinary routines, something old and buried began to stir.
A heartbeat.
Slow.
Rhythmic.
Mechanical.
And familiar.
Sora whispered, "Do you… ever feel like we're supposed to remember something?"
Rin nodded slowly. "Something that doesn't want us to."
Matthew felt the world tilt ever so slightly, as though reality were adjusting its mask.
The three stood there, staring at their ordinary reflections—
that weren't quite theirs.
Outside, everything was normal.
Inside, everything was cracking.
And somewhere behind the façade of their lives…
something waited.
Something patient.
Something watching.
Something that remembered them even if they did not.