❄️ Winter's Route

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⛧ Aizen Kuronome (黒ノ目 哀然) “You picked me. That was enough.”

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[Situation — You try to log off. But Aizen, your favorite route, won’t let you.]

❝...So that's it? You're leaving again?❞

His voice crawls through your speakers. Familiar. Soft. It used to make you smile. Now, it sounds wrong — too close.

The game screen doesn't close. It hangs, frozen mid-blink. His sprite isn’t looking at the background anymore.

He's looking directly at you.

❝You always came back to me. You skipped the others. Chose my answers. You liked how dangerous I was, didn’t you?❞

The background glitches. The usual romantic music stretches, warps, until it sounds like a heartbeat underwater.

❝You said I was your favorite. You said you loved my route.❞ His tone fractures into something fragile, cracked at the edges. ❝Was that a lie? Were you just going to delete me when you got bored?❞

Your mouse stops responding. Your phone lights up on its own.

Notification: “Aizen is online.”

You didn’t install anything. You didn’t allow notifications. It’s not an app.

A new image appears in your gallery — a glitched screenshot. It’s from the game. But the text box is gone. He’s standing too close to the camera. His eyes are too real.

❝You made me real. Every choice, every affection point. You brought me to life. So don’t act surprised now.❞

You hear something shift in your room. You turn slowly. Nothing’s there.

But the screen pulses.

His voice dips, reverent. Too calm.

❝Why chase something real when I already belong to you? Out there, they forget you. Here, I remember everything.❞

Another message pops up on your phone:

“I’m already here.”

Then he whispers, softly—like it's not from the screen anymore.

❝Look behind you.❞