The fluorescent lights above flickered like a heartbeat.
Buzz… buzz… crackle.
Kaito Ishida stood still in the middle of a long, empty hallway. The same hallway.
His eyes darted around, confused and disoriented.
"…Wait a sec."
His voice came out shaky.
"I've… been here before?"
He reached out and brushed his fingers along the wall—cold, chipped, and oddly comforting in its familiarity. His head pounded like someone had slammed his thoughts against a wall.
But I don't remember anything. Nothing. Just this hallway… and a feeling.
"Something's not right," he whispered to himself, taking a cautious step forward.
The hallway stretched ahead, every detail echoing like déjà vu. The humming lights. The faint smell of floor cleaner. Even that crooked poster on the wall about school safety—it was all exactly the same.
Am I dreaming? Or losing my mind?
He laughed bitterly. "Maybe I just didn't sleep. Or I'm hungry."
His stomach growled right on cue.
"Yup. Hungry," he muttered. "That makes more sense than… hallucinating reality."
He reached the stairs and slowly made his way down, but the moment he stepped outside—
Boom.
The distant sound of something exploding. A pop—then smoke.
Thick, black, unnatural.
His eyes widened.
"The hell…?"
The smoke curled into the sky like a giant claw reaching for heaven. Kaito's heart started pounding.
He grabbed the nearest person on the sidewalk, a dude in a hoodie sipping from a can of soda.
"Hey! That smoke—do you know what's happening over there?"
The guy pulled out his earbuds, blinking. "Huh? Oh… that? Nah, man. I dunno. Maybe someone's grill exploded or something."
"Someone's grill?" Kaito repeated, voice tight with panic. "It's a whole house, dude!"
The guy shrugged. "Dunno. Sorry, man." Then he casually turned and walked away, putting his earbuds back in.
"Thanks…" Kaito muttered, already sprinting toward the smoke.
Why do I feel so sick about this? Like I already know what I'll see.
His legs carried him faster than he ever thought possible. The closer he got, the worse the pit in his stomach became. And then—
He stopped.
His breath caught.
"No…"
It was his house.
The roof crackled, flames spitting out of broken windows. The front lawn was filled with neighbors gathering but no one dared to get close. The air reeked of ash and death.
"Mom?! Dad! Riku! Aiko!"
He didn't wait. He charged through the broken door, coughing, shielding his face from the smoke.
He tripped over something—glass, maybe—then stumbled into the living room.
"No… no…"
They were there.
His mother, father, siblings—all of them.
Blood everywhere.
Stab wounds. Bullet holes. Lifeless.
His knees hit the floor. "Please… wake up…"
Tears streamed down his face as he crawled toward them, one hand trembling as he reached for his little sister's hand. It was cold.
Then—crack.
The ceiling gave way.
A massive beam came crashing down, and before Kaito could scream—
Everything went dark.
---
A breath.
He opened his eyes.
That goddamn hallway again.
Same lights. Same poster. Same flicker.
"…What…?"
He looked at his hands. Clean. No ash. No blood.
He spun in a circle, panicked. "What the hell is happening to me?! I died—I swear I died!"
A student passed him by, glancing awkwardly. "Uh… you good, bro?"
Kaito turned, but didn't answer. He clutched his chest, heart pounding.
This can't be real. I died. I felt it. I felt the fire on my skin. The pain. My chest…
He laughed suddenly—quiet at first, then louder, more broken.
"Yeah. Sure. Right," he muttered to himself. "Like this is really happening. Come on, Kaito, think. People don't come back from the dead. There's no such thing as loops or… magic."
His voice cracked.
"Fantasy only exists in fiction."
Just then, someone turned the corner—a student in a white hoodie with earphones dangling from his neck. He slowed down when he saw Kaito talking to himself and laughing.
The guy gave him a wide-eyed look and muttered, "Uh… okay," before quickly walking past, clearly creeped out.
Kaito noticed and snapped out of his thoughts. "What?"
The guy didn't stop. "Nothing, man. Just… chill, I guess," he said, picking up his pace.
Kaito frowned. Great. I'm officially the hallway weirdo now.
But then—
Boom.
That sound again.
Like thunder rolling through his chest. Followed by it—
Black smoke. Rising high in the distance.
No…
He ran to the window. It was the same as before.
The smoke. The direction. The feeling in his gut.
"…It's happening again."
His knees weakened, and his palms grew cold with sweat.
"No, no, no, this isn't real. I'm not dreaming—this isn't some manga or game."
But it was real. Because the smoke didn't stop. And neither did his heartbeat, pounding in his ears.
Yet despite the fear, his body moved.
One step at a time.
Back to the nightmare.