The instructor had gone.
The classroom fell silent for a few seconds.
Soone shoved their chair back and stood up, head lowered, hurrying out as if afraid that slowing down for even a second would result in soone calling them back.
Then a second person followed, then a third.
No one left in pairs.
Two boys in the front left had been huddling together, whispering, only half an hour prior. Now, one headed for the front door while the other took the back. With an entire classroom separating them, their eyes never once t.
No one knew who they would be paired with in tomorrow's lottery.
The person you spoke with today might be standing across from you with a Kunai in their hand in a dozen hours.
The classroom emptied fast.
Kitahara Kaede glanced toward the window. Terumi i was already gone. He waited for the last few students to leave before standing up and exiting through the back door.
***
Back at his residence.
Door closed.
He stood still at the entrance, his gaze sweeping across the room. Before leaving the house, he always made a habit of noting the exact position of a few specific items.
Kaede's eyes landed on the cabinet. The gap in the cabinet door was slightly wider than it had been this morning. He walked over and pulled it open.
The clothes were folded exactly as they had been; nothing had been rifled through.
This wasn't a search—it was a signal.
Kaede closed the cabinet door, knelt, and lifted the bed slat. A folded slip of paper was adhered to the underside.
Another contact.
In five years, his superiors had contacted him fewer than ten tis. It was always through this thod: a secret sign left on the cabinet, with a note hidden at a predetermined dead drop.
He peeled off the paper and unfolded it.
Two lines of numbers and symbols—an encrypted instruction. Based on a fixed substitution rule, it wasn't complex; he decoded it in less than a minute.
"Tomorrow's assessnt: simply pass. Do not draw attention. Do not form deep ties with anyone. Wait for assignnt after passing."
There was no signature and no channel for a reply.
The phrasing was concise, devoid of threats or superfluous words. It didn't feel like an order; it felt more like a warning.
'Don't stand out. Just stay alive.'
Kaede folded the paper and struck a match. He waited for the ashes to cool, crushed them, stirred them into a glass of water, and poured the mixture out the window.
***
Night had fallen completely.
Kaede lay in bed, tossing and turning.
Thirty-seven students, twelve slots. Random pairing.
What bothered him most was the possibility of being paired with Terumi i. If he killed her, the simulation was a waste. If he didn't, showing rcy during the Bloody Mist graduation exam was no different from committing suicide.
He couldn't think of a solution that satisfied both conditions.
'Forget it.'
It was a matter of probability; overthinking it now was pointless.
Kaede opened his eyes. After lying there for another half hour, sleep still wouldn't co. He sat up, put on his coat, and stepped outside.
***
The night in the Hidden Mist was grayer than the day.
There were no streetlights in the alleys; one had to rely on the ager moonlight to find the way. Kaede had no specific destination. He left the alley of his residence and walked along the river canal on the outskirts of the village.
The sound of the water was faint, and the mist clung to the surface.
After walking for a while, he ca upon a crooked tree by the riverbank. A cat was curled up in a hollow between the roots. It was so thin it was little more than a skeleton, its fur matted into clumps. A few bleached fish bones were scattered nearby. Its breathing was shallow, its belly rising and falling weakly.
Kaede knelt. He pulled half a piece of ergency rations from his pocket, broke it into crumbs, and placed them in front of the cat's nose. He then walked to the river, scooped up a handful of water, and poured it into a depression in a nearby rock crevice.
The cat twitched its nose, and after a long mont, it extended its tongue to take a lick.
Kaede stood up and brushed the crumbs from his hands. Without waiting for the animal to finish eating, he continued downstream for about twenty paces.
He sat down on a flat stone, facing the water. The river surface was a hazy gray, and the trees on the opposite bank were nothing more than silhouettes. He sat with his arms resting on his knees, his mind drifting.
Footsteps sounded from behind him.
They were light, stopping near that crooked tree. Kaede tilted his head slightly.
Long brown hair, a slender fra. She was carrying a paper wrap.
Terumi i.
She stood by the tree, looking down at the cat in the hollow of the roots. Then, her gaze shifted, landing on the crumbs of biscuit by the cat's mouth.
She started to lift the paper wrap in her hand, but her movent paused mid-air.
After a mont of hesitation, Kaede looked back toward the river.
'Did she see the cat earlier and go back to get sothing?'
The rustle of paper opening sounded behind him. She had placed the items down regardless.
Silence fell for a couple of seconds. Kaede felt a gaze sweep over him, linger for a mont, and then move away.
There were no footsteps leaving. She remained under the tree.
The two of them were separated by about twenty paces. One sat facing the river; the other leaned against the tree. Neither spoke.
The river flowed before them, an occasional leaf drifting down from upstream.
Two people who couldn't sleep had happened to walk along the sa river, and happened to feed the sa cat.
About ten minutes later, there was movent behind him. Footsteps rang out, heading back the way she had co. After five or six steps, she paused briefly, then continued walking until the sound faded into nothing.
Only then did Kaede glance back.
The space beneath the tree was empty.
He stood up and retraced his steps. As he passed the tree, he looked down.
The biscuit crumbs were gone.
New scraps of food had appeared in front of the cat, slling faintly of fish—likely dried fish or sothing similar. Most of that had been eaten as well. The water in the rock crevice was nearly gone.
The cat's breathing was steadier than before, its belly no longer spasming. It had fallen fast asleep in the hollow.
Kaede didn't stop; he continued walking forward.
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