High school teacher Soya Aoyama (26) receives a sudden message one night from his former student, Suzumi Mizubane (20). "Sensei, I'm chasing the 'Kuchisake-onna' urban legend—help me out?" Suzumi, a popular cosplay YouTuber, has started a project to verify "dark rumors" submitted by her viewers. Soya reluctantly agrees, but as they investigate, he realizes that what seemed like simple urban legends are connected to actual disappearances and conspiracies.
In the archives of Suzumi's streams, the
Urban Legend Truth Record - Classroom at Dawn — The Two Who Reset the Trap, and the Full Picture of the Vanishing Memories
The night air sank cold and heavy, seeping into the room.
Souya sat on the floor, staring fixedly at his laptop screen. The only light in the room came from a desk lamp, its pale glow casting his face in blue-white. The room was still a mess. The claw marks from that day—when someone had ransacked the place—remained scattered everywhere.
(Grandpa... did you really die in an accident?)
On the screen, the analysis data restored from the backup HDD Suzumi had entrusted to him was laid out. The symbols carved into the wall of the old Urasan Station. He already knew they were a substitution cipher encoding the names and dates of twenty-seven people who had vanished in 1987.
Souya had looked at the bottom line of that list over and over again.
"Aoyama Souichirou."
His grandfather's name.
(I always thought it was an accident. My old man told me the same thing. But...)
Souya reached back into his memories of middle school. The Buddhist altar in his grandfather's house. The old notebook hidden behind it. As a child, Souya had seen it once. He hadn't been able to read the contents—too difficult. But that notebook had been taken by someone. And then his grandfather died.
(Nocturne erased my grandfather. And they rewrote my memories too.)
Souya pressed his fingers against his temple. The gaps in his memory. That time in middle school when he'd protected someone at the old Urasan Station. But he couldn't recall their face or name. That was Nocturne's memory alteration technology. Misaki had told him. A technique combining drugs and psychotherapy to make a specific event seem like it had been a dream.
(The core of this case lies in those erased memories.)
Souya clenched his fist.
That was when it happened.
Ding-dong.
The intercom echoed through the quiet room.
Souya's shoulders gave a small jolt.
(Who is it? At this hour?)
He checked the clock. Past ten at night.
Souya rose cautiously and headed for the entrance. He peered at the door monitor. A small woman stood there, a black hoodie pulled deep over her head.
It was Mizuba Suzumi.
Souya hurried to open the door.
"Sensei... can I come in?"
Suzumi's voice was trembling faintly. Her complexion looked even paler than it had on the monitor. Souya said nothing and ushered her inside.
Suzumi sank down onto the living room floor and wrapped both arms around her shoulders. Her small frame curled in on itself, as if bracing against the cold.
"It was there again... the black van. This time it wasn't just in front of my house—it followed me the whole way from the station."
Suzumi's voice grew thinner with every word.
"I was so scared... but I knew I had to tell you, Sensei. So I ran, transferred trains... ah, but surely they didn't follow me all the way here... no, that's probably fine..."
"Calm down, Suzumi."
Souya spoke in as gentle a voice as he could manage.
"It's all right. You're safe here. First, drink some water."
He went to the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and handed it to her. Suzumi took it with both hands and drank slowly, one sip, then two. Her breathing seemed to settle, just a little.
"I'm sorry... for falling apart like that."
"Don't worry about it. So the van followed you the whole way?"
"Yes. I thought I'd shaken it off partway, but... I'm not sure."
Suzumi bowed her head, still gripping the glass. Her long black hair fell alongside her face.
Souya sat down beside her.
"Suzumi, I'm glad you told me. Thank you."
Suzumi raised her head. Her large eyes gazed at him anxiously.
"Sensei... what's going to happen to us?"
He didn't answer that question. Or rather, instead of answering, Souya stood up.
"Suzumi, there's something I want to show you."
He placed the laptop in front of her.
"This is the analysis of the backup data you gave me. You already know that the symbols at the old Urasan Station are a cipher encoding the names and dates of the twenty-seven people who disappeared in 1987."
Suzumi nodded quietly.
"Yeah. And in that list was my grandfather's name. Aoyama Souichirou. I was told he died in an accident when I was in middle school. But that was a lie. Nocturne erased my grandfather."
Suzumi's eyes widened.
"Sensei..."
"That's not all. As I kept working through this analysis, I noticed something. The gaps in my memory are the work of Nocturne's memory alteration technology. The core of this case is buried in those erased memories. Your memories are probably the same."
Souya looked straight into Suzumi's eyes.
"So I've made up my mind. I'm going to walk straight into Nocturne. I'll shove the evidence in their faces and drag the Kisaragi Station cover-up into the light of day."
Suzumi caught her breath.
"But if you do that... it's dangerous. Who knows what Kurogiri will do..."
"That's exactly why. Suzumi, the truth is, I've already been preparing."
Souya switched the laptop screen. A list of sent emails appeared.
"This analysis, photos of the symbols at the old Urasan Station, and copies of the interview notes Misaki-sensei had from back then. I've already sent all of it to Toudou Misaki-sensei and several trusted media contacts."
Suzumi's mouth fell open.
"What... when did you do all that?"
"From last night through this afternoon. Instead of gathering the evidence in one place, I distributed it. That way, even if Nocturne tries to destroy the evidence, it'll be released simultaneously across multiple outlets. They can erase my memories, but they can't erase copies that have already reached the world."
Souya spoke quietly, but clearly.
"Nocturne isn't the only one who can set traps. We can set them right back."
Suzumi was speechless for a while.
Then, slowly, the corners of her mouth turned up.
"Heh... Sensei, you really are amazing. I had no idea you'd thought it through that far."
"I wanted to do everything I could before dragging you into danger."
Souya scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.
"But at least now, maybe you can trust me a little more?"
Suzumi nodded. The fear from earlier was gone from her eyes.
"I trust you. I've trusted you from the very beginning, Sensei."
Her voice was soft and warm.
At those words, Souya felt something warm spread through his chest.
(Ah, that's right. This smile—this is what I wanted to protect.)
Souya settled back down beside her.
"Suzumi, tomorrow I'm going to the Nocturne Research Institute in Shinagawa. A direct confrontation with Kurogiri Renji. Are you coming?"
Suzumi seemed to hesitate for just a moment.
But then, immediately, she looked at him with steady eyes.
"I'm coming. I'll fight too. I'm not running anymore."
There wasn't a trace of doubt in her voice.
Souya nodded quietly.
"Understood. Then rest for today. Get ready for tomorrow."
"Yes. ...Um, Sensei."
"Hm?"
"'What I must protect is all of you. I want to stop hurting people with my own sense of justice—that's over now.' You said that before, didn't you, Sensei? Do you really mean it?"
Her question was quiet.
Souya paused for a moment before answering.
"Yeah. I mean it. As a teacher, I protect my students. That's my justice. But I don't want to see anyone get hurt because of that justice anymore. So this time, I'm not carrying everything alone—I'm borrowing your strength and Misaki-sensei's. That's what I've decided."
Suzumi listened to his words as if savoring each one.
"I won't leave you alone either, Sensei. Never."
She said it quietly, but with force.
That night, Suzumi slept on the sofa in Souya's apartment.
As he draped a blanket over her, Souya thought:
(Tomorrow, everything starts moving.)
Outside the window, Tokyo's night deepened in silence.
The next morning.
In a corner of Shinagawa Ward where mixed-use buildings crowded together, the Nocturne Research Institute occupied the second basement level.
On the surface, it was an international private research organization. A young woman with a placid smile sat at the reception desk. The company logo hung on the wall, and potted plants decorated the space. At a glance, it was an ordinary office like any other.
But Souya knew. Beyond this point lay Nocturne's Tokyo base.
Souya wore a suit. Suzumi was in a black jacket and jeans, walking half a step behind him.
"Sensei... are you all right?"
Suzumi whispered softly.
"Yeah. You're the one who shouldn't push yourself."
Souya replied in a voice only she could hear.
As they approached the reception desk, the woman looked up.
"Welcome. How may I help you today?"
"My name is Aoyama Souya. I'd like to see Kurogiri Renji. I don't have an appointment, but if you tell him I'm here, I believe he'll see me."
Souya spoke in a calm voice.
The receptionist's expression stiffened for just an instant.
"One moment, please."
She picked up the internal phone and spoke briefly.
Then she turned back to them.
"Kurogiri will be here shortly. Please wait here."
Souya and Suzumi sat down on the sofa beside the reception desk.
They waited a few minutes.
The inner door opened, and a man appeared.
Black suit. Neatly trimmed short hair. A clean-shaven face. And eyes that weren't smiling.
It was Kurogiri Renji.
"Aoyama-sensei, and Mizuba-san as well. Thank you for coming all this way."
Kurogiri bowed slowly. His manner was, as always, polite and natural.
"This way, please."
He led them to a conference room in the back.
The room was bare. White walls, a rectangular table, four chairs. No windows. Fluorescent lights in the ceiling cast an even glow over everything.
Kurogiri gestured for them to sit and took a seat across from them.
"So, what brings you here today?"
His voice was mild.
Souya took a sheet of paper from his bag.
"I want you to look at this."
He placed the paper in front of Kurogiri.
On it were the analysis of the wall symbols from the old Urasan Station, along with the names and disappearance dates of the twenty-seven people from 1987.
Kurogiri picked it up and studied it. His expression didn't change.
"This is the analysis of the symbols carved into the wall at the old Urasan Station. The symbols are a substitution cipher representing the names and dates of twenty-seven people who disappeared in 1987. And this disappearance case was written off by the police as an 'accident.' But that's not what happened. This was a large-scale disappearance incident, using the Kisaragi Station urban legend as cover. And the ones who orchestrated the cover-up—that's you. Nocturne."
Souya spoke, looking Kurogiri straight in the eye.
Kurogiri didn't take his eyes off the paper.
"I see. An interesting hypothesis."
He set the paper on the table.
"But, Aoyama-sensei. A hypothesis is only a hypothesis. As evidence, it's far too thin. And even if this were true, what could you possibly do about it?"
Kurogiri's tone remained polite. But his eyes had narrowed, as if appraising Souya.
"If we rewrite your memories, that scrap of paper becomes nothing more than scribbling. Your memories, your evidence—all of it can be made to have never existed. That is our job, after all."
Kurogiri smiled thinly.
"Your so-called 'memory alteration' won't work anymore."
Souya said it quietly.
Kurogiri's smile wavered, just slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"Copies of that evidence are no longer in my hands. I've already sent them to Toudou Misaki-sensei and several trusted media contacts. Even if you erase my memories, you can't erase copies that have already reached the world. If you touch us, that evidence goes public the instant you do. That's how it's set up."
Souya held Kurogiri's gaze and continued.
"If you lay a hand on us or my students again, Nocturne's very existence will be dragged into the light of day. Your cover-ups, the 1987 incident—all of it."
A heavy silence fell over the conference room.
Suzumi watched the exchange, holding her breath.
Kurogiri stared at Souya's face for a long moment.
Then, slowly, his smile disappeared.
"...I see. You really are interest
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