Nothing was different.
That was what Atris tried to convince himself of as he walked down the long corridor toward his classroom.
Same white light. Same overly clean floor. Same silence broken only by students' footsteps.
Everything... in its place.
With disturbing precision.
He stopped for a moment in front of the classroom door.
He didn't know why.
Just... a faint feeling.
As if something inside wasn't waiting for him...
but had already been there before him.
He opened the door.
He stepped in.
He didn't look forward immediately.
He placed his bag down first.
Sat.
Took out his notebook.
Tried to act normal... deliberately.
He opened the page.
Held his pen.
Then stopped.
That same feeling.
Light.
Unclear.
But impossible to ignore.
He slowly raised his head.
The chair in front of him.
Occupied.
He froze.
Someone was sitting there.
Dark brown hair.
Straight posture.
A hand moving calmly across the notebook.
Writing.
Atris blinked.
There was no one.
Empty.
Or... was there?
His fingers tightened around the pen without him noticing.
He looked around.
Students in their places.
Normal sounds.
No one seemed surprised.
He looked forward again.
The person was still there.
Writing.
A low, uncertain voice escaped him:
"Are you... new here?"
The hand stopped.
A second.
Then the person raised his head.
An ordinary face.
Calm.
Nothing the mind could hold onto.
He looked directly at Atris.
"No."
Then he went back to writing.
Atris swallowed.
"Have we... been in the same class before?"
This time, he didn't stop.
"Yes."
Simply.
Atris tightened his grip on the pen.
He tried to remember.
Anything.
A face. A voice. A moment.
Nothing.
"Your name?"
The hand paused.
Slowly... he raised his head.
"Leo."
The name... landed easily.
As if it wasn't new at all.
And yet...
it wasn't familiar.
Leo.
He repeated it in his mind.
No connection.
But it didn't feel strange either.
And that... was worse.
He lowered his eyes to his notebook.
He tried to write.
He stopped.
At the top of the page...
a word.
In his handwriting.
He froze.
He leaned closer.
Read it.
Leo
He slowly pulled back.
He didn't remember writing it.
But he recognized his handwriting.
And he knew...
it was his.
He quickly closed the notebook.
Took a slow breath.
Unsteady.
He lifted his eyes.
Leo.
Still writing.
Calmly.
As if nothing had happened.
A tight feeling began creeping into Atris's chest.
He leaned slightly toward the student beside him and whispered:
"Leo... has he always been here?"
The student looked at him, slightly confused.
"Of course."
A pause.
Then added:
"You sit behind him every day."
Everything inside Atris froze.
Slowly... he looked forward again.
Leo.
Same place.
Same movement.
Same calmness.
But now...
The entire world confirmed he had always been there.
And he...
remembered nothing.
"Are you okay?"
The student's voice beside him.
He didn't answer.
He only looked at the pen in his hand.
The same pen.
He gripped it tighter.
Slowly... he raised his head.
Leo wasn't looking.
But the silence between them stretched.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Leo stopped writing.
Slowly... without fully turning, he said:
"You just weren't paying attention."
Silence.
Then he added:
"That's all."
He went back to writing.
As if the world...
hadn't just cracked open.