*Chapter 1: Homeroom with a Ghost*

The first thing Ren noticed about his new homeroom was the smell.

Chalk dust. Old wood. And something underneath it, faint but wrong. Like rust. Like old blood that had been scrubbed away but never really left.

He slid into the seat by the window. Third row. Same seat he’d had in his last life, different school.

Coincidence. Had to be.

“Yo, Ren! You good?”

That was Takumi, his best friend since middle school. Loud. Perpetually late. Currently eating bread while running.

“Hospital food must’ve made you weird. You’ve been staring at nothing for three days.”

Ren forced a smile. “Just tired.”

The truth was worse. For three days he’d been seeing things that weren’t there. The scarred reflection. The voice. And now, this morning, the feeling that someone was sitting behind him even when the seat was empty.

The bell rang.

“Alright, settle down,” Ms. Akiyama said, walking in with a stack of papers. She was 40, tired, and the kind of teacher who knew when you were lying. “We have a transfer student today. Be nice.”

The door slid open.

Cold hit the room.

Not air conditioner cold. Graveyard cold.

Standing in the doorway was the guy from the alley.

Same school uniform. Same infuriating half-smile. Hair black as ink, eyes the color of snow that had seen too much blood.

“Name’s Kaito Shirogane,” he said, voice smooth. “Pleased to meet you all.”

Half the girls in class immediately whispered. He looked like that anime protagonist who kills people and then cries about it.

Ren’s hands clenched under the desk.

Kaito’s gaze swept the room and stopped on him.

For a second, 800 years collapsed. Battlefield. Snow. The sword.

Then Kaito grinned. Wide.

“Wow. We meet again.”

Ms. Akiyama pointed to the only empty seat.

Right behind Ren.

“Shirogane-kun, you can sit there.”

Of course he could.

Kaito walked down the aisle slowly. Every step was deliberate. When he passed Ren’s desk, he leaned down. Just loud enough for Ren to hear.

“General. You look terrible in modern clothes.”

Then he sat.

The entire period was hell.

Kaito didn’t take notes. He didn’t look at the board. He just stared at the back of Ren’s head like he was memorizing the exact spot to put a blade.

Every time Ren turned around, Kaito was already looking away, innocent.

But in the corner of Ren’s vision, Kaito’s shadow moved wrong. It had armor. It had a sword.

At lunch, Takumi dragged Ren to the roof. “Okay spill. Who’s the hot emo transfer? He’s been staring daggers at you.”

“Nobody,” Ren lied. “Just... we met yesterday.”

Takumi squinted. “Since when do you have secrets, man?”

Before Ren could answer, the roof door opened.

Kaito.

Alone.

Takumi got the hint and made an excuse to leave. Coward.

Now it was just them. Wind. The city below. And 800 years of unfinished business.

“You shouldn’t have come back,” Kaito said. No smile now.

“I didn’t choose this,” Ren shot back. “I woke up and you were already haunting me.”

“You chose to die that day. You chose to end the war by betraying me.”

Kaito took a step forward. “Do you even remember why, Ren? Or did this new life wipe you clean?”

Ren didn’t answer. Because he did remember.

And it was the worst memory he had.

Kaito’s eyes flickered. For a moment, something ancient and tired showed through.

“The others are waking up too,” he said quietly. “The generals. The ones who died with us. They remember. And they blame you.”

“So what do you want?” Ren asked.

“To see if you’re still a coward. Or if this rebirth actually changed you.”

The bell rang, cutting the moment.

Kaito turned to leave, then paused.

“Oh, and Ren? Sit by the window tomorrow too. I like knowing where to find you.”

He was gone.

Ren stayed on the roof long after.

His hands were shaking again. But this time, it wasn’t fear.

It was anger.

Because the voice in his head was back.

_“Don’t fail again.”_

And for the first time since waking up, Ren agreed with it.

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