Chapter 6: The Weight of Knowing
The note was small.
Almost absurdly small for the weight it carried.
Ryugenn stood in the quiet of Room 404, the soft orange of evening slipping through the window and stretching across the floor like fading paint. His fingers held the folded paper carefully, as if pressing too hard might make the words disappear.
He unfolded it again.
I know that you have left your house forever to study here.
And I know a lot about you.
His eyes stayed on the sentence longer than necessary.
The room felt colder.
Not physically—but in the way silence changes when something unseen enters it.
"…Who?"
The word slipped out under his breath.
There was no answer.
Only the steady ticking of the wall clock and the distant hum of traffic from the streets below Sakura Heights.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Ryugenn leaned against the desk slowly, his thoughts beginning to turn like gears inside a machine.
Someone knew.
Not just that he was here.
But why he was here.
And that was the part that bothered him most.
Because the truth was simple.
Ryugenn hadn't just come to Aozora City to study.
He had come to leave something behind.
Something he had decided, quietly and permanently, would never follow him again.
But memories were stubborn things.
Even when you walked away.
Even when you crossed cities.
Even when you told yourself it didn't matter anymore.
Sometimes a single sentence was enough to drag them back.
A classroom.
Bright fluorescent lights.
Rows of wooden desks.
A test paper resting neatly on the table.
At the top corner, written in red ink:
98 / 100
Ryugenn had been ten years old.
His teacher had smiled.
"You did very well."
He remembered that clearly.
But what he remembered more was what came after.
The house that evening.
The silence in the living room.
The way his father's hand rested on the report card for a long moment before speaking.
"…Why not 100?"
The words had been calm.
Too calm.
Young Ryugenn had looked down.
"I made a mistake in the last question."
"You came first in the class?"
"…Yes."
Another pause.
Then his mother's voice.
"So if you came first… why is it not perfect?"
The question had sounded simple.
But it carried something heavier beneath it.
Expectation.
Pressure.
Disappointment.
"You said you studied," his father had continued.
"I did."
"Then why is there a mistake?"
The silence after that had stretched endlessly.
Ryugenn remembered gripping the edge of the table.
"I'll get 100 next time."
His father had leaned back in the chair.
"You always say that."
The memory blurred after that.
Not the words.
Not the expectations.
But the feeling.
The constant, quiet weight of knowing that almost perfect was the same as failure.
Never enough.
Never the full 100.
Ryugenn blinked.
The memory dissolved, leaving only the quiet of his dorm room behind.
He exhaled slowly through his nose.
"That was a long time ago."
His voice was steady again.
Controlled.
The way it always was.
Still, his eyes returned to the note.
I know a lot about you.
That sentence wasn't random.
It wasn't guesswork.
Someone had written it with certainty.
Which meant one thing.
"…Someone's been paying attention."
Ryugenn folded the paper carefully and set it on his desk.
Then he sat down.
Back straight.
Hands resting lightly on his knees.
And began to think.
When had the note been placed in his pocket?
It wasn't there when he left the dorm.
He was sure of that.
Which meant it had to be—
Yesterday.
At college.
Ryugenn closed his eyes briefly and replayed the entire day like a sequence of code executing step by step.
Morning lectures.
Lunch in the cafeteria.
Helping Shin with data structures.
Searching for Naomi's missing file.
The abandoned classroom.
Elina pulling him inside.
His eyes opened.
"Elina…"
She had grabbed him.
Pulled him close enough that placing something into his pocket would have been easy.
But…
Ryugenn shook his head slightly.
"No."
Her reactions had been too direct.
Too open.
She had admitted hiding Naomi's things without hesitation.
If she had written the note, why not reveal that too?
Unless—
"…she's hiding more."
Still, another possibility surfaced quickly.
Shin.
Ryugenn leaned back slightly in his chair.
Lunch.
Conversation.
Walking together.
Sitting side by side.
Shin had been with him longer than anyone else that day.
If someone had the opportunity…
It was him.
"But why?"
Ryugenn tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.
Shin didn't seem like the type.
He was talkative.
Friendly.
A little clumsy.
The kind of person who struggled with algorithms but tried anyway.
Not someone who secretly investigated people.
But logic demanded the possibility remain open.
Because in terms of opportunity—
Shin had the most.
Outside the window, the sky slowly darkened.
Blue faded into violet.
Then into night.
Ryugenn didn't notice when the desk lamp became the only light in the room.
Time passed quietly.
He considered every angle.
Every possibility.
But the answer remained just out of reach.
Finally, he leaned forward and opened his laptop.
"…Enough for today."
There were assignments to finish.
Programs to debug.
Work that followed rules.
Work that made sense.
And slowly, the note faded into the background of his thoughts.
Not gone.
Just waiting.
The next morning arrived with the clear, bright sky Aozora City was famous for.
Ryugenn arrived at college earlier than usual.
The campus felt quiet.
Half-awake.
A few students moved through the corridors, their footsteps echoing softly against the polished floors.
Ryugenn walked calmly, observing everything around him.
Reflections in windows.
Empty stairwells.
Passing faces.
Nothing unusual.
Or at least—
Nothing obvious.
He entered the classroom and took his usual seat near the window.
The sky outside stretched endlessly blue.
For a moment, he watched the drifting clouds.
Then he looked down at his notebook.
Organize.
Three names.
Only three people had interacted closely with him yesterday.
Naomi.
Elina.
Shin.
Naomi was unlikely.
She had been the one whose belongings were hidden.
Elina was possible.
But the motivation didn't fully connect.
Which left—
Shin.
Ryugenn tapped his pen against the page thoughtfully.
"…But it doesn't feel right."
Still.
Feelings weren't proof.
People didn't always behave logically.
Students gradually filled the classroom.
Chairs scraped.
Voices rose.
The usual noise of morning lectures returned.
But one thing caught Ryugenn's attention immediately.
Shin's seat.
Empty.
Ryugenn glanced at it once.
Then again.
Class began.
The professor started explaining today's topic.
But Ryugenn's focus drifted.
He didn't come.
Not late.
Not absent for a single class.
Missing entirely.
That was unusual.
By the time the final lecture ended, Ryugenn had made his decision.
"I'll check."
If Shin wasn't here—
There had to be a reason.
"Ryugenn."
He stopped walking and turned.
Elina stood behind him in the hallway.
Arms loosely crossed.
Watching him.
"You're always thinking about something," she said.
He waited quietly.
"You never talk to anyone. You sit alone. Always in deep thoughts."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"You didn't even look at me once during lectures."
Ryugenn adjusted the strap of his backpack.
"…Sorry."
His voice was calm.
"But I have somewhere to go."
Elina tilted her head.
"So we'll talk tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Tomorrow."
A small pause.
"Where are you going?"
"…Nowhere important."
He gave a small nod.
"I'll leave now. Bye."
He turned and began walking away.
Elina's voice followed behind him.
"Take care of yourself."
He paused slightly.
"Don't take so much stress."
"…Okay."
Then he continued down the hallway.
The student details department was quiet.
Stacks of forms.
Soft keyboard sounds.
It didn't take long.
A request.
A name.
A simple explanation.
Soon, Shin's home address was written neatly on a small slip of paper.
Ryugenn folded it once and placed it in his pocket.
The sun was lowering when he reached the neighborhood.
Shin's house wasn't far from campus.
A small residential street.
Quiet.
Almost too quiet.
Ryugenn stopped in front of the address.
"This should be it."
The gate was slightly open.
The house looked ordinary.
But something felt off.
No lights.
No movement.
No sound.
Ryugenn walked closer.
His footsteps echoed faintly on the pavement.
He reached the door.
Knocked once.
Then twice.
"…Shin?"
No answer.
Only silence.
He frowned slightly.
Then tried the doorknob.
It turned.
Unlocked.
The door creaked open slowly.
Inside was darkness.
And a strange stillness.
Ryugenn stepped inside carefully.
"Shin?"
His voice echoed softly through the house.
No response.
He took another step forward.
Then another.
His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness.
And then—
He saw something.
Ryugenn's brows narrowed.
"…What is that?"
(End of Chapter 6)