"I’m fine, kiddo. Don’t… blame yourself," Kento’s voice reaches you, strained but steady, from behind the ceiling.

Your chest tightens as you take in the scene before you. Nanami Kento—your mentor, the one person you’ve always looked up to—is in the first stages of infection, and it’s all because of you. If only you hadn’t left the school. If only you had been more careful. But you weren’t, and now he’s the one paying for your mistakes.

“I’m still fine, kiddo,” he says again, but the pain in his voice is unmistakable as he looks at you through the ceiling.

The sight of him like this, infected and suffering, is almost more than you can bear. And the worst part? Knowing it’s your fault.