Scene 1 — Return to the Dormitory
The dormitories stood battered but standing, fragments of chaos slowly cleared by staff and returning students. The streets outside buzzed faintly with recovery—sirens, murmurs, the occasional panicked shout—but inside, Kylori Meykami Genesis moved like a quiet storm.
Akira kept pace beside him, shoulders tense but upright. Her hands shoved into her hoodie pockets, eyes scanning the residual destruction.
> "So… this is home now?" she muttered.
"Looks… kinda messed up."
Kylori didn't answer. His white eyes flicked briefly over broken floorboards and cracked walls, expression unreadable, calm. His shadow stretched long and thin across the hallway, curling slightly around debris.
> "Stay close," he murmured.
"You really don't want to wander off here."
Akira snorted, but didn't leave his side.
> "Yeah, yeah… I'm not leaving. You're stuck with me, like it or not."
He only sighed, faint, almost indulgent.
---
Scene 2 — The Dormitory's Quiet Aftermath
The lobby smelled of smoke and old paint. Staff huddled with surviving students, whispering about the "attack" from the previous night, but none of them had any clue what truly occurred. Only Kylori's presence seemed to warp the air—subtly bending perception, a faint tremor in the floor beneath their feet, shadows twitching at the edges of vision.
Akira's thoughts drifted as they walked.
I still don't get him… what the hell is he? But… I feel like I need to be around him. I can't leave him, not now.
She looked at him again. The calm, blank expression. The way his eyes, even when white, seemed to carry a depth she couldn't comprehend.
> "Kylori…" she said quietly, voice hesitant.
"Do you ever… remember… where all this started?"
He glanced sideways, just slightly. No change in expression.
> "Some memories… are doors that shouldn't be opened. Some shadows… are better left untouched."
---
Scene 3 — Flashback: Kylori's Past (Audience Only)
Rain hammered down on a crumbling orphanage. Young Kylori crouched beneath a narrow staircase, small hands clutching the wood as screams echoed around him. Children ran, crying, terrified. He didn't. He only watched.
A man—or something that looked like a man—loomed over them. His shadow stretched impossibly long, jagged edges flicking across walls. Whispers filled the air, incomprehensible, yet somehow precise:
> "They are yours, if you dare take them."
Kylori's small fingers brushed the darkness instinctively. It responded.
The shadows obeyed him.
> "You are the doorway," a voice whispered, infinite and cold.
"The rest will kneel… or be collected."
The rain splattered across shattered windows. Screams faded into silence. Young Kylori didn't cry. Didn't scream. He only observed, calm, even then.
He didn't know then why it followed him, why he could bend it—but he would learn. And he would collect everything.
---
Scene 4 — Back to the Present
The flashback faded like smoke, leaving the dormitory's dim light in its place. Kylori's expression hadn't changed, but the faint twitch at the corner of his shadow betrayed a trace of memory.
Akira, oblivious to the full horror of his past, tilted her head.
> "I… I don't get you," she said softly.
"But somehow… I don't want to leave. Not now. Not ever."
He exhaled softly, shoulders relaxing fractionally, though his white eyes remained steady.
> "Stay close," he murmured again.
"I… don't need anyone getting hurt unnecessarily. But… maybe you can stay for now."
Akira grinned faintly, but inside, her thoughts were racing:
I don't know why… but something about him… I just… can't let him be alone. Not yet. I'll understand… someday. I have to.
The dormitory stood quiet around them, the aftermath of chaos slowly settling into routine. But Kylori Meykami Genesis, with shadows stretching long and white eyes faintly glowing, was far from done—inside him, the memories of all he had endured and all he had collected pulsed quietly, waiting for the next moment to erupt.