Scene: Ren's Room – 1:02 AM
"…It just went black," Ren muttered, tapping his laptop. "That's not a connection issue. Someone disabled it."
Kaito leaned in, frowning. "That means he saw the camera. Or—someone else watching him did."
Aika sat back, heart racing. "Project ALICE? Why does that sound like a code name?"
Kaito pulled out a flash drive. "I mirrored the camera feed locally. We can replay up until it went dark."
They scrubbed through the footage. Frame by frame.
Suda entering.
Suda opening the drawer.
Then—pause.
Just as he opened the folder, a corner of a photo slipped into frame.
Kaito zoomed in.
It was Aika. At school. In her first year.
But something was off. She wasn't smiling. Her eyes were wide, mid-motion.
It was clearly a surveillance photo.
Taken without her knowledge.
"I was in that uniform for only one semester," she whispered.
Ren's eyes darkened. "He's been watching you that long?"
Aika shook her head. "No. That's not from this school."
Kaito clicked on a hidden file folder in the mirrored backup.
Inside were timestamps.
"Room 2C – 03:41 PM"
"Stairwell – 01:10 PM"
"Lab Prep Room – 04:29 PM"
"Girl's Locker Room – 06:18 PM"
Aika's breath hitched.
"Wait. That last one—"
Kaito didn't open it. "Don't. It could be… bad."
Ren stood abruptly. "We're ending this."
But as he turned away—
A ding echoed from Kaito's laptop.
A new file had just appeared.
Title: "You're too late :)"
Kaito clicked it.
It was a voice.
Distorted. Robotic. But undeniably human underneath.
> "Kaito. Ren. You're always watching her.
But I watched first.
I saw her smile before either of you.
I gave her the name ALICE.
Because she fell down the rabbit hole and forgot who opened the door."
The audio crackled.
> "This isn't obsession. This is a memory you all erased.
You protected her.
She never even knew what she did."
Silence.
Aika's hands trembled. "What I… did?"
Kaito whispered, "He's not just watching. He thinks he owns your past."
Then—Ren's phone buzzed.
A new photo message.
It was from an unknown number.
The image?
Ren's jacket. Hanging in his locker.
The camera that should've been hidden.
Now in someone else's hand.
And behind it—
A single phrase scrawled on paper.
> "The end starts tomorrow."
Scene: The Next Morning – School Roof
The morning air was heavy, despite the clear sky. Aika stood at the fence, gripping the bars as the wind tugged at her hair. Below, the courtyard buzzed with students who had no idea what had unraveled overnight.
Ren leaned on the railing beside her. "You okay?"
Aika's voice was distant. "He called me Alice. Said I 'fell down the rabbit hole.' I don't even remember doing anything that would ruin someone's life…"
Ren glanced at her, quietly furious. "That's the point. You don't remember. But he does. Twistedly."
Footsteps behind them.
Kaito arrived, face pale.
"I found something."
Scene: Abandoned AV Storage Room
Kaito led them through the old wing, down the hallway where the lights flickered like broken stars. He unlocked a narrow door—where broken chairs and AV carts were shoved to die.
He pointed to a box left by the door.
"A cleaning staff guy said it was found… in Suda's office closet. Shoved behind old files."
Aika stared. "Wait… this was his?"
Ren crouched and pulled it open.
Inside:
Broken audio equipment.
Dozens of polaroid photos—all of Aika, taken from school corridors, windows, rooftops.
A small, cheap digital camera.
And taped inside the lid?
A student ID tag.
Slightly cracked.
Name: Kazuo Suda.
Aika's eyes widened. "That's not the vice principal's first name…"
Kaito's voice was a whisper. "No. That's his son."
Beat.
Then Ren muttered, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
Flashback Montage – Kaito's narration:
> "Three years ago, when that girl went missing… Suda's son was also at that school. They both disappeared at the same time.
The girl was written off as a runaway. But the son?
He never officially vanished. No obituary. No news. It's like the record was buried.
Because the father pulled strings."
Aika sat down hard on a desk.
"He's… been here this whole time?"
Kaito nodded slowly. "I think he's been using the school's surveillance systems. Suda must've known—or helped hide him."
Ren stood, fists clenched. "And he's the one behind the messages. The one who planted the polaroids. The one who's been watching Aika since before we even met her."
Kaito handed over the final folder from the box.
Inside was a photo—a class photo. Aika, age 12, standing beside a pale, quiet-looking boy.
In the corner, scribbled in pen:
> "She forgot me. But I never forgot her."
Aika stared.
"I knew him?"
Kaito whispered, "His name was takao Suda. You went to the same cram school before high school. There was a… rumor. That he confessed to you."
Aika's breath caught.
"No. Not just a rumor. He did."
She looked up.
"I turned him down. Gently. But he got… weird. Said something about fate."
Ren muttered, "Fate my ass."
Aika whispered, "I told the teacher… because he kept showing up outside my apartment. He stopped coming to school after that."
Silence.
Then Ren spoke. "He blamed you. Said you ruined his life."
Kaito looked grim. "And now, he's trying to ruin yours. Or… own it."
Scene: Later – Teacher's Office
Suda, the vice principal, stood frozen as the trio entered with the evidence.
The box. The files. The camera.
His mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Then Ren stepped forward, voice low and sharp.
"You knew. You helped him stay hidden."
Suda finally spoke. "He was… sick. Obsessed. I thought if I kept him away from others—"
"You let him stalk her," Aika cut in. Her voice didn't shake. "You let him hurt people. Manipulate students."
Kaito added quietly, "We called the police."
Suda collapsed into his chair.
Suda collapsed into his chair like the strings holding him up had finally snapped.
His eyes weren't defiant or angry anymore. Just tired. Haunted.
"I thought if I kept him close, I could… contain it," he mumbled, more to himself than them. "He was bright. Brilliant, even. But twisted."
Ren stepped forward, fists clenched. "That's not 'containing.' That's protecting a ticking bomb."
Suda didn't deny it.
The silence that followed was heavy. The kind that filled your ears like water, drowning any thoughts that tried to rise.
Aika stood stiff, arms crossed so tight they hurt. Her fingernails dug into her sleeves, but it was the only thing keeping her grounded.
A knock pounded on the door.
Then a voice: "Vice Principal Suda? Police are here."
Kaito opened the door. Two officers stepped in.
Ren didn't move. Just stared at Suda like he was memorizing the cowardice.
The vice principal stood slowly. "I'll cooperate," he said. "Everything I know—I'll tell them."
As they led him out, the room went still again.
Ren let out a breath that sounded like a curse. "So that's it? We stop the stalker by… exposing his enabler?"
Kaito shook his head. "We're not done."
He opened the file Suda had left behind—Project ALICE—and skimmed the pages. His eyes widened.
Aika stepped over and read the first paragraph. Her stomach dropped.
There were notes. Detailed. Psychological profiles. Time logs. Behavior patterns.
All focused on one subject:
> AIKA.
Her routines. Her friendships. Her grades. Even her reactions to Ren and Kaito.
"Is this some kind of… study?" she whispered.
Ren muttered, "No. It's obsession. Dressed up as science."
They stared at the last page.
One line, typed.
> "She doesn't even realize she was chosen."
Aika stepped back like it burned her.
Kaito closed the file. "This wasn't just stalking. He was building something around you."
"Planning," Ren said darkly. "Maybe for years."
The camera. The photos. The strange quotes.
Aika's heart thudded. "So he's still out there."
Kaito nodded. "And now he knows we're looking."
Scene: School Rooftop – Twilight
The sky was painted in bruised purples and soft gold. Everything looked peaceful… except the rooftop door, now hanging crooked on one hinge.
Kaito was already there, scanning the ground below with narrowed eyes. He turned when Aika and Ren burst through the door.
"He's here," Kaito said. "I traced the signal from the camera. He came back to destroy evidence—and left a message."
He handed Aika a printout.
It was a photo.
A recent photo.
Of Aika sleeping in her room.
The angle? From inside her closet.
She froze. "That… That's impossible—only one person ever—"
Ren snatched the photo. "You recognize it?"
Aika's voice shook with anger. "That closet was only opened once. Back when Tatsuki helped me pack for the summer trip. I didn't even—"
Her breath caught.
Kaito finished for her, his voice grim. "Only someone who had access then could've planted something. Like a micro-camera."
A rustle behind them.
A footstep.
They turned sharply.
And out stepped—
Tatsuki.
No longer nervous. No longer scared.
Calm. Smiling. Dressed in his school uniform like any other day.
But his eyes—completely different.
Empty.
Dangerous.
Aika stiffened. "You lied."
Tatsuki shrugged. "Not really. I never said it wasn't me."
Ren stepped in front of her instinctively, jaw tight. "You've been behind this the whole time?"
Tatsuki tilted his head. "I didn't hurt anyone. I only… watched."
"That's worse," Kaito said sharply. "You manipulated her. You pretended to be a victim."
Tatsuki's face twisted. "I was a victim. You all took her away from me. Back then—she was mine. She smiled at me. She said yes to me."
Aika's fists clenched. "I said yes because I was scared. Pressured."
"And I waited," Tatsuki said, voice suddenly rising. "Waited for you to see I was better than them. But instead—"
He glanced at Ren.
"You flirted with him."
Then at Kaito.
"You let him walk you home."
Aika's voice was low. "You really believed I belonged to you?"
Tatsuki's smile returned, sharp as broken glass. "You don't get it. You're the kind of girl stories get written about. Everyone wants to be your main character."
He pulled something from his pocket—
A Polaroid.
Black marker scribbled on the back:
> "The knight thinks he's the hero. But even pawns get attached."
Kaito blinked. "That's… about me."
He pulled another Polaroid—this one already shown in Chapter 6.
> "The prince doesn't know he was never chosen."
Ren muttered, "That's me."
Aika's eyes were blazing now. "You were playing us. All along."
Tatsuki took a step forward.
And that was the last straw.
Ren lunged.
Tackled him to the ground with a fury no one had ever seen. Kaito rushed in to pull Ren back as teachers began shouting from below.
Sirens.
Someone had called the police.
Tatsuki didn't fight. Just lay there, laughing softly.
"Doesn't matter," he whispered. "She'll always be the girl who ruined me."
---
Scene Cut: Police Office – Night
Tatsuki was taken away. Suda was officially suspended pending full investigation.
Most students would never know what happened.
The incident would be swept under generic words: breach of trust, disciplinary leave, safety concern.
But Aika, Ren, and Kaito knew.
---
Scene: Quiet Walk Home – Later That Night
Aika walked alone for a bit, before a shadow joined her.
Ren.
"You okay?" he asked, hands in his jacket pockets.
She didn't answer right away.
Then, "I'm… tired. But yeah."
He glanced over. "You really did ruin him, huh?"
She cracked the tiniest smile. "Guess I'm more powerful than I thought."
A pause.
Then Ren smirked. "If anyone ever tries to stalk you again, can I punch them first next time?"
She rolled her eyes. "Next time?"
"You attract weirdos," he said casually. "It's basically a side effect of being you."
"And you attract trouble," she shot back. "So what does that make us?"
He looked thoughtful.
"Disaster duo?"
She elbowed him. "Tch. Baka."
He grinned, hands behind his head. "Nah, you love it."
She looked at him, eyes steady.
And for once… didn't deny it.