Mina wasn’t a spy.
She wasn’t even the sneaky type.

But by the end of the week, she had memorized the layout of the staff office, learned how to get into the storage closet without a key, and noticed the suspicious pattern in the school nurse’s weekly schedule.

Desperation, it turned out, was a great teacher.

The man with the grey umbrella hadn't shown up again. But ever since that encounter, strange things kept happening. The public announcement system would crackle with static at odd moments. Her phone would randomly restart when she tried to message Saki. And three times now, she’d caught sight of the same bird—dark feathers, glassy eyes—perched outside her classroom window.

Watching. Always watching.

She didn’t tell anyone. Not even Saki.
Because something told her this wasn’t just about Ren anymore.
It was about her too.

It started with a rumour.
A second-year student who had transferred in just a few months ago had suddenly “left the country.” No explanation. No goodbyes.

But Mina overheard something while pretending to browse the art club bulletin board.

“She broke down screaming in the middle of a quiz,” someone whispered. “Said she could hear the teacher thinking about her.”

Mina’s heart dropped.

She tracked down the girl’s locker. Empty.
Except for a folded piece of origami wedged inside.

She opened it carefully, expecting a note—or maybe nothing at all.

Instead, there was a pressed camellia inside. Red and brittle. And scribbled underneath:

“CODE RED: Echoes are awake.”

That night, she found a locked folder on her old laptop she didn’t remember creating. It was named “TEA.”
Password-protected.

She tried her birthday. Her cat’s name. Her favourite tea blend.
Nothing worked.

She was about to give up when a strange impulse made her type:
Null

The folder opened.

Inside were scanned pages of old notebooks she didn’t remember scanning—full of notes she did remember writing.

But there were new annotations in someone else’s handwriting. Clean. Sharp. Scientific.

“Subject shows resistance to traditional aura detection.”
“Mental shielding stronger than expected.”
“Possible link to Project Echo.”

Mina’s breath caught.
Project Echo?

This wasn’t just an ability anymore.
It was a program.

And she was part of it.
Whether she knew it or not.