No one moved for several seconds.
The students were still whispering. The air was still thick with what had happened. The atmosphere in the corridor was like a closed room, despite its width and high ceiling. Ryan could feel the weight of their gazes—some fearful, some curious, some already calculating how to use this incident for their own benefit. That was the way of the academy. A jungle of eyes.
Ryan and Ari stood facing each other. She was still trembling slightly. He was still breathing slowly, as if trying to extinguish a fire only he could see.
He lowered his right hand. It was still trembling a little. He raised it and rubbed his face, trying to regain his focus. The scars beneath his shirt still burned—not much, but enough to remind him that his body had not forgotten. Perhaps it never would.
Ryan whispered in a voice only Ari could hear:
"Ari… I…"
But Ari raised her small hand slightly in the air, as if asking him to stop.
She didn't take her eyes off his face. But she didn't step back.
He didn't step back either.
The shift came from another source.
Behind Ryan, the girl who had fallen to the ground began to move. With difficulty. She was holding her neck with one hand and leaning against the wall with the other. Her breathing was still labored, but she rose slowly, heavily, like someone waking from a deep sleep. Her robe was dusty, her hair tangled, her face pale.
She raised her head and looked at Ryan.
Her eyes were green, still red from tears, but there was something else in them. Not fear. Gratitude. She stepped closer—one step, then another—and stood before him.
Ari was watching the girl. She recognized her immediately. The face was familiar.
Ari whispered.
"She… she's in my class."
The girl wore the ordinary blue robe, slightly dirty, with faded silver embroidery. Her hair was matted, her face pale, her eyes swollen. Ari saw her almost every day. She sat in the second row, quiet, never speaking much, always eating alone.
For a moment, Ari looked into her eyes. Then she stopped.
She didn't move. She didn't say anything. She didn't help her.
She didn't know what to do. Everything was happening too fast. She was trapped between two images: her brother choking a child, and her classmate who could have been her. Ari was the same age as this girl. She could have been any weak girl.
Yet at this moment, she could do nothing. She just stood, watching, helpless.
The girl completed her path toward Ryan. She stood before him. Then she bowed.
It was a deep bow. Her head low. Her dirty hair nearly touched the ground.
she said in a weak but clear voice.
"Thank you."
She didn't raise her head.
Ryan felt confused. His eyes were still wandering, his hands still trembling. He turned to look at the girl bowing before him, then to Ari standing behind her.
Then his eyes returned to the girl.
He looked at her face.
It was different.
This face was not the one he had seen moments ago. In that moment, when the two images merged—the girl against the wall and the girl he seen—he had seen another face. Not this girl's face. He had seen Blue eyes screaming in the darkness.
Now, he was looking at green eyes. Calm. Tearful. Smiling with gratitude.
The vision had changed. The details had changed. But he couldn't move.
Time stopped for him for a few moments. Three breaths. Five.
'What on earth is this? This is the second time this has happened.'
Edan saw him. Edan grabbed Ryan's shoulder from behind, trying to bring him back to his senses.
Edan whispered sharply.
"Ryan… Ryan!"
But Ryan didn't respond. He kept looking at the girl, at her real face, trying to reconcile what he had seen with what he was seeing now. His mind was a mess of fragmented memories and now this—a girl bowing before him, thanking him for something he didn't fully understand.
A sharp whistle sounded at the end of the corridor. A teacher was approaching, perhaps having heard the commotion or wanting to disperse the crowd.
The students scattered quickly. Some ran, some walked away casually, some slipped into nearby classrooms. Only Ryan, Edan, Ari, and the still-bowed girl remained in the corridor.
Edan whispered firmly.
"A teacher is coming! We need to move."
Then, Ryan's senses returned. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. His face regained some of its true color.
He looked at the small girl still standing a short distance before him. She had said thank you? When? He couldn't recall clearly.
He looked at Edan and he asked
"how much time until the lecture?"
"About thirty minutes. We have time, but we should go soon."
Ryan nodded. Then he looked at Ari.
Ari was still silent. Her mouth moved as if she wanted to speak, but she didn't know how.
Ryan said, his voice less rough than before.
"You go ahead,I'll catch up."
Edan looked at Ryan, then at Ari. He nodded, stepped back a few paces, and walked to the end of the corridor.
The dirty girl remained standing where she was. Then she bowed slightly to Ryan again, and quickly moved to the side of the corridor, almost hiding, before disappearing around a corner.
Finally, Ari and Ryan were alone.
The tension between them was thick as fog in a dark forest. Neither spoke for a long moment. The echoes of the dispersing crowd faded, leaving only the distant hum of the academy.
Ari raised her eyes to him. Her tears had almost dried, but her eyes were still red.
she asked, pointing her chin toward where the girl had vanished.
"Who was that girl?"
Ari already knew who the girl was, but she wanted to understand the nature of her brother's relationship with her; for—despite knowing that her brother was not a cold person—he typically did not meddle in the affairs of others.
"I don't know."
Ari was surprised by his answer.
'He does not know?.'
Her voice was a mixture of curiosity and accusation.
"Why… why did you save her?"
Ryan paused. He didn't know. He hadn't planned to intervene. He hadn't thought. His hand had just… moved.
he answered in a hoarse voice.
"I don't know."
Ari raised her small hands and patted her cheeks, trying to hide their redness. She smiled a small, trembling smile.
I felt embarrassed by her questions.
'Is it... No, impossible. Did he just change?'
The two were silent for a short while, until Ari asked him.
"And… are you okay now?,you was distracted a moment ago."
Ryan took a deep breath. The air smelled of dust and old stone.
"Ari… I'm not sure what just happened. I need to understand it first. But…" He paused, choosing his words carefully. "But I am glad I saw you."
Ari raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure whether to believe him.
"Really?"
"Yes."
Ari laughed. A small, fragile laugh, like the first crack in a frozen pond.
"Alright... we'll talk more later. When we're alone."
Ryan nodded.
Ari took a step back.
"I have to go, my class starts soon."
She looked at him one last time. His face was still pale, his eyes still clouded with some kind of confusion.
she said before leaving.
"Brother…I am happy to see you, too."
Then she left, leaving Ryan alone in the corridor.
Still trying to tell the difference between dream and reality. Between the girl on the wall and the girl in his memory.
He stood there for a long moment, listening to the silence. Then he turned and walked toward the lecture hall. His footsteps echoed against the stone floor, steady, unhurried.
Somewhere behind him, the whispers would begin anew. And the stories would spread. But that was a problem for later.
For now, he had a lecture to attend.
Either way, the academy had just gotten a little more complicated.