The cramped room was quiet except for the faint rustling of bedsheets.
Sakurajima Mai let out a small sigh, her voice flat yet tinged with exasperation.
"You know, if you keep spouting nonsense, you really will turn into an idiot."
Ryuichi didn't seem bothered by the girl's mockery. Between the two of them existed a strange kind of harmony — one built on bickering. On the surface, it looked like constant teasing, but both understood that none of it ever truly hurt.
The two were sharing a single bed. The space was so narrow that even breathing too deeply felt like it would disturb the other.
"Ryuichi," Mai suddenly called out.
"Yeah?"
"It's cramped."
She said it in an utterly calm tone, as though simply commenting on the weather.
"...Sorry for taking up your space," Ryuichi replied, staring at the ceiling, completely still.
"Don't you have anything you want to say?" she asked, her words sounding almost aimless.
Turning his head toward her, Ryuichi found that she was close — too close. From this distance, he could see every delicate detail of her pale profile: the curve of her nose, her lashes so long he could count them one by one.
"A lot's happened lately," he said softly. "Feels like there's a lot I should say... but somehow, I don't know where to start."
"Then say something to make me happy," she murmured.
He caught the meaning behind it immediately — she wasn't in a good mood.
"Given how you're feeling right now, that might be a little too tall an order," he said with a faint smile.
Mai shifted slightly, turning on her side to face him.
"You enjoy it when I tease you, don't you, Ryuichi?"
"And you, knowing that and doing it anyway, are the very picture of a queen," he shot back.
As he spoke, he rolled onto his side as well. Their eyes met, and suddenly, silence filled the room.
Sharing one blanket, they lay facing each other, neither looking away. The air felt still — warm with each other's breath. Seconds stretched into tens of seconds, and the silence grew so heavy it almost pressed down on them.
Then, out of nowhere, Mai's lips moved.
"Hey... let's kiss."
Her voice was quiet, her tone flat — as if she were suggesting something as mundane as turning off the light.
Ryuichi blinked in mild surprise, but he could feel the tremor in her emotions.
"So this is... a kind of surrender?" he asked gently.
He had read her perfectly.
Mai fell silent. She didn't deny it, didn't get angry, didn't even blush. Instead, she let out a small self-mocking smile.
"Go to sleep. Good night."
With that, she closed her eyes — perhaps because she didn't want him to see the look in them. Whenever she was with him, he had this uncanny ability to read her heart like an open book.
Ryuichi knew. Right now, she was fragile.
He didn't have the words to comfort her. The only thing he could do was be thankful — that he could still see her, remember her.
"If I started crying right now and said, 'I don't want to disappear'... what would you do?"
Her voice trembled faintly in the dark. It was probably what she most wanted to say all along, though she'd been holding herself back.
Ryuichi exhaled quietly, saying nothing. Instead, he simply reached out and pulled her gently into his arms.
Mai's eyes fluttered open in surprise.
What she saw was his calm, clear gaze — steady, reassuring.
"I'll always remember you," he said softly. His voice was calm but filled with unshakable resolve. "Always."
Her eyes wavered, then steadied again.
"Even so... I didn't tell you to hold me."
"I figured you wanted me to. So I did."
"That's just your imagination," she replied with feigned indifference.
She brushed the topic off with a casual tone — but made no move to pull away.
A long silence passed again.
"...I still don't want to disappear," she murmured.
"I know."
"There are still so many dramas and movies I want to do... I still want to feel what it's like to be on stage again. That's why I don't want to disappear."
"Yeah."
"I finally met someone bold enough to walk right up to me. I even started thinking maybe... maybe I'd go back to school. So disappearing now... it just doesn't feel right."
The girl in his arms whispered these words as if confessing everything buried deep inside her heart.
She'd been afraid all along. Terrified, really. How could she not be?
Ryuichi didn't know what to say. All he could do was hold her tighter.
When had he started caring about this girl so much?
They'd only met a day or two ago...
Was it just because she was beautiful? Maybe that was part of it. He wouldn't deny that.
But that wasn't all. There was something about her loneliness that struck him deeply.
He could still remember that moment he handed her a flyer — the look of surprise on her face. It had felt like watching someone step out of a painting and into reality.
Just seconds earlier, she had seemed like someone drifting apart from the world — and in that instant, she'd suddenly become real.
Like him, she'd been playing the role of an invisible person — someone choosing to fade into the background.
From the first moment he saw her, Ryuichi had known.
What he hadn't expected was that she could see right through his own act just as easily. Maybe that's why she left such a strong impression on him.
Their strange connection — that accidental summoning during the devil's ritual — was probably where it all began.
"I won't let you disappear," Ryuichi said suddenly.
"...Thank you," Mai whispered. "For not giving up on me."
Then, something she said replayed in his mind.
Wait—
Did she just say something about school?
Ryuichi's eyes widened.
"Hold on... Did you just say you've been thinking about going back to school?" he blurted, sitting up.
Mai opened her eyes again, blinking in confusion.
"You mean... you haven't been going this whole time?"
"...I did go back," she said quietly, biting her lip. "But I didn't talk to anyone. It was almost the same as when no one could see me."
"Right... you're still a high school student," Ryuichi muttered, rubbing his forehead with a wry laugh. "I can't believe I forgot something so obvious."
"When it comes to the origin of your ability, school actually makes perfect sense. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner..."
He'd been so used to thinking of her as a famous actress that he subconsciously forgot she was still in her third year of high school.
If her ability had an origin point, then her school was the most likely place.
Looking at Mai — remembering her fragile yet determined expression from moments ago — an idea began forming in Ryuichi's mind.
The same idea he'd had right from the beginning.
If the source really was her school... then maybe, finally, he could do something about it.
Maybe it was time to put an end to her invisible pain.