The warmth from Shinya's palm on her head made Nicole feel an incredible sense of comfort.

"Shinya... I..."

But Shinya interrupted her, "Let's not worry about that for now. First, we need to figure out why we're trapped in these past illusions."

His words reminded Nicole of their current situation. She looked around and noticed it was already dark.

"It's night? So soon?"

Shinya walked ahead, motioning for her to follow.

"No, time here might not be synchronized with the outside world."

The two walked down the deserted street, under the night sky. Apart from them, there were no other pedestrians.

"That day, before I saw you at the cave entrance, I came to these ruins alone. It was raining heavily. Aside from being eerie, there was nothing unusual. But this time..." As he spoke, Shinya unconsciously held Nicole's hand. "It's strange, too strange. What kind of magic is this? Or is it something else...?"

Before he could figure it out, Nicole had already stopped walking.

"What's wrong?" Shinya noticed Nicole's unusual behavior.

She was staring at a slightly ajar wooden door on the side of the street, her gaze seeming to pierce through it and see inside.

"I know this place," she said.

Shinya saw the sign above the door. "Leslie's Classroom. This was the school in Acorn Town."

Nicole couldn't help but push the door open and walk inside. Shinya didn't stop her; he quietly followed.

Inside, there wasn't a single light, but Nicole could see rows of neatly arranged desks by the bright moonlight. She touched the rough wooden desks and slowly walked to the podium.

Nicole's memories overlapped with Irene's. She remembered that Irene had studied here and, after graduation, taught here. Shinya had also attended classes here for a while. As Nicole, however, she didn't have any fond memories of the school.

Now, even if it was just an illusion, she wished she could return to the classroom, to study with everyone. She wanted to learn more about this world and to know about the customs and cultures beyond the human realm.

An idea flashed through her mind, and a smile spread across her face. Standing at the podium, she pointed at Shinya, who was leaning against the doorway.

"Mr. Shinya, please come up and solve the next problem."

Shinya didn't move, only furrowing his brow. "What game are you playing now?"

"Come on, can't you just play along?" Nicole urged.

After a moment, Shinya walked over. "Instead of playing this pretend game, aren't you worried about how long we might be stuck in this illusion?"

"Not worried, we'll find a way out," Nicole replied, optimism seemingly etched into her very being.

She handed him a piece of chalk. "Besides, isn't that what you're here for?"

The girl's trusting smile filled his heart with warmth.

Feeling a bit shy, he avoided looking at her face and asked briefly, "What problem should I solve?"

"Please write your name," Nicole pointed to the blackboard.

Shinya looked puzzled but complied, writing down his name.

On the blackboard appeared six wobbly letters: Shinya.

"Your full name," the girl seemed dissatisfied with his answer.

Patiently, Shinya continued writing. In front of the six letters spelling "Shinya," he added five more letters: Akane.

The girl shook her head, still unsatisfied. "No, write your name in your native language."

Shinya was a bit surprised and glanced at her. "Are you sure?"

"Write it." Nicole tapped the blackboard with her finger, adopting a surprisingly teacher-like sternness.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Shinya sighed. He began writing but continued speaking. "I only taught you some pronunciations in the werewolf language, not the script. So even if I write it, you won't understand."

Nicole didn't respond, watching his strokes intently.

It was a mystical and ancient script, said to have evolved from hieroglyphs. To Nicole, the language used by the werewolves resembled patterns more than human script.

Shinya wrote four "patterns" on the blackboard, then turned to look at the girl. As expected, she looked impressed. Her expression perfectly captured the phrase "not understanding but feeling it's awesome."

The four "patterns" were square, with complex and intricate strokes. Each "pattern" had a similar rhythm yet a distinct style. From an artistic perspective, they embodied both masculine strength and feminine grace; they were wild and untamed yet also restrained and subtle.

"Wow, that's amazing." Nicole grabbed a spare piece of chalk and began to imitate Shinya's handwriting beside his, "I guess 'Shinya' corresponds to the last two characters. Werewolves place the surname first, right? You told me a long time ago."

"That's right, surname first, given name second. But," Shinya corrected, "those aren't patterns, they're 'characters'."

"What does 'Akane' mean?" Nicole asked as she wrote.

"Akane means 'crimson melody.' My full name is Akane Shinya." Shinya didn't mind explaining these things to her. He was just puzzled about why Nicole was suddenly interested in the school. For both Irene and Nicole, the school shouldn't have held any special significance.

"Akane Shinya," Nicole repeated, looking at Shinya's handwriting over and over again, but she still couldn't mimic those square characters. There seemed to be some special rules within the complex strokes that couldn't be fully grasped by just watching once.

Frustrated, she took the chalk that Shinya had set down and handed it back to him. "Write it again for me, slowly this time."

This time, Shinya didn't comply. Instead, he asked, "Nicole, have you not been attending classes much?"

Seeing his reluctance to write again, Nicole felt a bit dejected. She quickly descended from the podium and sat at one of the desks.

"I did go, but then I stopped," she said, resting her chin in her hand, staring at the familiar and unfamiliar characters on the blackboard.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"When I was younger, strange things would always happen wherever I was."

"Like what?"

Nicole started counting on her fingers. "For example, a classmate would suddenly fall, and I happened to be behind them; or, when I climbed up a shelf to get something, sharp objects would just happen to fall from the shelf and hurt the people around me. These 'coincidences' happened so many times that people stopped believing they were accidents. Some thought I was being deliberately mischievous and wouldn't admit to my pranks, while others believed I was a walking disaster. Most of the students at school started isolating me because of it. The more they targeted me, the more misfortune seemed to befall them, and some even came close to losing their lives because of it. But I swear, I didn't do anything."

Nicole let out a long sigh. "After that, Father Ron wouldn't let me go to school anymore. He and Rivern taught me to read and write at the church. It seemed that as long as I stayed in the church with the priest for long periods, nothing happened. Later, when I left Echowater Town and started training as a beast tamer in Northsail, those strange events stopped happening. I almost forgot about it."

She paused, then smiled as if trying to dispel those bad memories, half-jokingly saying, "Maybe back then, I was haunted by an evil spirit or something, hahaha."

Shinya walked over to the desk next to her, finding the chairs a bit short for him. So, he sat directly on the desk, facing the classroom door.

"So, during the time I was away, you went through so much."

"It wasn't that bad. Maybe, as Irene, I went to school too much, so fate didn't allow me to study anymore later on."

Shinya looked at her, as if time had rewound to twenty years ago. Irene had also been particularly optimistic and strong. Although Irene's memories and personality didn't seem to have fully awakened within Nicole, they still shared many similarities.

"Nicole, if you had the chance, would you want to go back to school?" Shinya asked.

"Yes, I would," Nicole nodded eagerly. "Since meeting you, I've realized how vast the world is. While Irene learned the knowledge from the school, she didn't have the martial skills I have now. She didn't get the chance to leave the town, but I do."

Shinya gazed into her bright, sparkling eyes, a smile appearing on his lips.

"You really haven't changed a bit."

"Really? My past self—Irene—had the same personality as I do now?"

"...Sometimes it feels like you're the same person, and sometimes it feels like you're not," Shinya's answer was ambiguous.

"Why?"

"Do you really want to know?" Shinya asked in return.

"Yes, it seems that I can't recall everything on my own," Nicole said, lowering her head. "And I feel that if I can understand more about my past, I can understand more about you."

After speaking, she suddenly raised her head, her determined expression meeting Shinya's gaze.

Nicole's words took Shinya by surprise. He avoided her gaze, not wanting her to notice the faint smile on his lips.

He cleared his throat. "Ahem. There's no rush. Because you'll find that I'm no longer the Shinya of the past."

"The past you..." Nicole suddenly recalled the intimate interactions between Irene and Shinya in her dreams and illusions. Those sweet and tender moments felt like they were from another lifetime, yet they were vividly clear.

The scene of "Cat petting technique number one" suddenly popped into her mind, making her burst into laughter uncontrollably.

"What are you laughing at?" Shinya asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, nothing," Nicole replied, trying to regain her composure.

Shinya still looked at her with suspicion. "You can't possibly remember all the good things but remember clearly the times you teased me as a child, can you?"

At that moment, his face was bathed in the moonlight, his tanned skin taking on a silvery sheen. His purple eyes, clear and deep, reflected a crystalline light under the moon, devoid of the werewolf's usual majesty and sharpness, instead exuding the mystery and elegance of a moonlit cat.

Nicole was momentarily entranced. She recalled the scene of Irene hitting Shinya.

Shinya was heartbroken, and Irene was too. That pain seemed to transcend time and space, etching itself into Nicole's heart.

"Shinya, tell me," Nicole changed the topic, "after you and Irene parted that day, where did you go?"

"I remember..." Shinya lowered his head, as if lost in thought. "That day, I ran all the way, leaving Acorn Town..."

He lifted his head, bathed in the moonlight, seemingly deep in his memories.

"The moonlight that night was just like it is now."