Yandere Stream

No one answered.

Not because they didn’t know what to say.

Because nobody in the room had expected that question.

The older Kai stood quietly in the doorway, warm light spilling past him and across the apartment floor. Up close, the differences became impossible to ignore.

He wasn’t much older.

Maybe two years.

Three at most.

His hair was slightly longer than Kai remembered ever wearing it, tied loosely behind his head. The faint scar crossing his left eyebrow had faded almost white with age, and his clothes looked worn enough to suggest they had seen years of constant use.

But it was his eyes that stopped Kai cold.

They weren’t haunted.

They were tired.

There was a difference.

Haunted people looked like they were running from something.

This man looked like he’d been running for so long he’d forgotten what it felt like to stop.

His attention never left the monitor.

”...Is she really still with you?”

Kai slowly turned toward Discord.

Luna hadn’t spoken.

Her microphone icon glowed green, but she sounded as though she’d forgotten how to breathe.

Finally—

”...Kai?”

Her voice cracked.

The older Kai smiled.

The expression was so gentle, so painfully relieved, that Kai felt something tighten deep inside his chest.

”You remembered my voice.”

Luna made a small, broken sound.

”I...”

”You...”

She couldn’t finish.

The words dissolved into quiet sobs.

The older Kai lowered his eyes.

”I was afraid.”

A quiet laugh escaped him.

”I’ve been afraid for a very long time.”

Kai finally found his voice.

”...Who are you?”

The older version of himself met his gaze.

”That’s a fair question.”

”I could say I’m you.”

”I could say I’m what you become.”

”I could say I’m what’s left.”

A faint smile crossed his face.

”None of those answers would actually help.”

He stepped fully through the doorway.

The hidden entrance remained open behind him, revealing only warm sunlight and an ordinary hallway lined with old wooden floors.

It looked...

Normal.

Almost disappointingly normal after everything Kai had imagined.

The older Kai noticed where he was looking.

”It never shows you what it really is.”

Kai frowned.

”What?”

”Apartment 7C.”

He glanced over his shoulder.

”It lets you see what you can survive.”

Daniel had gone completely pale.

”...I’m sorry.”

He pointed at the older Kai.

”Can everyone else see him?”

”I can.”

Derek answered immediately through the speaker.

”So can I.”

Daniel let out a slow breath and nodded.

”...Good.”

”Because I was starting to think I’d finally lost it.”

The older Kai chuckled softly.

”You’ll be okay, Daniel.”

Daniel froze.

”...How do you know my name?”

”You’ve introduced yourself to me.”

”When?”

The smile slowly faded.

”...More times than you remember.”

Silence settled over the apartment once again.

The older Kai walked toward the coffee table, his eyes falling on the faded Polaroid.

Very carefully, he picked it up.

His thumb brushed across the scratched-out face.

”I always hated this picture.”

Kai stared.

”You’ve seen it before.”

”I took it.”

The answer came so naturally that no one questioned it.

The older Kai continued staring at the photograph.

”We climbed onto the roof because Luna wanted to watch the meteor shower.”

Luna gasped.

”I...”

The older Kai looked toward the monitor.

”You complained the whole way up.”

”You said the stairs were trying to kill you.”

A tiny laugh escaped Luna before another sob replaced it.

”I remember...”

She whispered it more to herself than anyone else.

”...The stairs.”

The older Kai nodded.

”You almost turned around halfway because you thought you’d freeze to death.”

”I gave you my hoodie.”

Luna covered her mouth.

”I...”

”I remember...”

Kai watched her Discord icon flicker wildly as she struggled to breathe.

Not from panic.

From memory.

Real memory.

The older Kai smiled sadly.

”It comes back in pieces.”

”It always does.”

Kai stepped closer.

”You know what’s happening to us.”

”I know enough.”

”Then tell me.”

The older Kai looked directly into his own eyes.

”I can’t.”

Kai’s frustration finally surfaced.

”Why?”

”Because if I explain everything...”

He sighed.

”...you’ll stop making your own choices.”

”The rules won’t let that happen.”

Kai clenched his jaw.

”I am so tired of everyone talking about rules.”

”I know.”

”I said the same thing.”

He reached into his jacket pocket.

For the briefest instant, Kai tensed.

The older version of himself noticed.

He smiled.

”Still suspicious.”

”Good.”

Instead of a weapon...

He pulled out a small notebook.

Worn black leather.

Its edges were frayed from years of use.

Kai immediately recognized it.

”...That’s mine.”

”It was.”

The older Kai held it out.

”I kept it longer than you did.”

Kai accepted it carefully.

The cover felt familiar.

Too familiar.

As though he’d held it a thousand times before.

He opened the first page.

Blank.

The second.

Blank.

The third contained only a single sentence, written in his own handwriting.

If you can read this, we’re already winning.

Kai flipped through the notebook.

Most of the pages were empty.

Until the end.

Instead of journal entries...

There were names.

Hundreds of them.

Every single one had been crossed out.

Except three.

Kai Mercer

Luna

Daniel Hayes

Kai slowly looked up.

”What is this?”

The older Kai’s smile disappeared completely.

”They’re the only people left who still remember.”

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Kai looked back down at the notebook.

Hundreds of crossed-out names.

Friends.

Neighbors.

Victims.

People who had simply...

Forgotten.

Only three remained untouched.

Kai.

Luna.

Daniel.

”...No.”

His voice barely rose above a whisper.

”There has to be more.”

”There were.”

The older Kai answered gently.

”There used to be a lot more.”

The apartment felt unbearably quiet.

Outside, life continued as though nothing had happened.

A garbage truck rumbled down the street.

Someone laughed in the parking lot.

A child rode a bicycle past the building.

Morning had fully arrived.

The world had moved on.

Inside Apartment 7A...

Time seemed to stand perfectly still.

The older Kai looked back toward the open doorway leading into Apartment 7C.

For the first time, his expression hardened.

”We don’t have much time.”

Kai followed his gaze.

”Why?”

The older Kai didn’t take his eyes off the doorway.

His answer came almost as a whisper.

”Because...”

”...it knows I found you.”

As if responding to those words...

The warm golden light inside Apartment 7C flickered.

Once.

Then every floorboard inside the hidden apartment groaned in unison.

Not from footsteps.

From weight.

As though something unimaginably large...

Had just stood up somewhere deep inside.