Juson didn't call Yokina.
Didn't explain.
Didn't even breathe properly.
He grabbed a broom, a dustbin, and walked straight toward the car parked outside.
No breakfast.
No hesitation.
Just action.
He began cleaning slowly at first, brushing the dust away from the surface with stiff movements.
Then faster.
Scrubbing every corner.
Inside.
Outside.
As if removing it would undo what happened.
As if dust itself could forget.
The particles gathered quietly near the edges of the car roof
Light.
Harmless-looking.
Completely wrong.
Juson emptied everything into a fresh dustbin and stood there staring at it for a long moment.
Then he picked it up and slipped inside the house quietly, making sure Yokina wouldn't notice him.
The basement door stood there.
Like it had been waiting for him the entire time.
Juson opened it slowly.
Darkness greeted him immediately.
Silence.
Too clean.
Too still.
He stepped inside carefully, placed the dustbin near the table, and immediately felt it—
Something off.
Not visible.
Not audible.
But present in the air around him.
"Juson!" Yokina called from upstairs.
He flinched instantly.
"Bathroom," he replied quickly before walking out again, much faster than he had entered.
He didn't stay there even for another second.
In the kitchen, life continued pretending to be normal.
Yokina fed Herik patiently, spoon by spoon, while morning light entered faintly through the windows.
Routine.
Safe.
Predictable.
Then the wind came in through the open window.
Cool.
Uninvited.
She stood up to close it, walked slowly toward the window, and pulled it shut.
That was when she noticed something lying near the floor.
A knife.
She frowned.
Did she leave it there?
Did the maid?
No.
That didn't feel right.
She picked it up carefully.
Her fingers brushed against the blade.
Something coated it.
Fine.
Dust-like.
Rust, she assumed.
Because the truth would be insane.
"Mamma… food," Herik called softly.
Yokina placed the knife back on the counter and returned to him, picking up the spoon again without washing her hands.
Back in the bathroom, Juson turned the tap and paused.
His fingers had touched something rough again.
Dust.
He stared at it silently before dismissing the thought completely.
Because acknowledging patterns meant accepting consequences.
And he wasn't ready for that yet.
He washed his face and stepped outside.
"Breakfast is on the table," Yokina said.
Juson nodded quietly and sat down.
Herik sat nearby.
Watching him silently.
"He brushed his teeth himself today," Yokina said casually.
Juson stopped eating for a moment.
He looked at Herik.
Then at his hands.
Then back at his face.
Something had changed.
Not visibly.
Not loudly.
But completely.
Juson resumed eating slowly, like a man pretending not to notice the crack forming beneath his own feet.
"I have to go to school," he said.
"It's early," Yokina replied.
"Event," he lied instantly. "I'm in charge."
Of course he was.
He was also apparently in charge of covering up reality now.
Wonderful promotion.
Outside, he opened the trunk again and checked the clothes he had collected from the kitchen the previous night.
The bat still rested there.
Good.
Violence always felt comforting when logic failed.
Juson got into the car, paused for a second, and looked back at the house.
Too normal.
Too calm.
Then he drove away.