It's raining when Ahri tells me to come by her place.
'This must be it' Looking at the luxurious building.
[Mini-Quest Complete: Echoes in the Closet]
[Location: Ahri's Apartment – Yongsan District]
[Objective: Help Ahri Let Go of Yasuo's Ghost]
___________________________________
The key was already under the mat.
Cole didn't knock. He let himself in, rain still clinging to his shoulders, the quiet hum of Seoul muffled behind the thick windows. Inside, the apartment was dim—curtains drawn, lights low, shadows like memories stretched across every surface.
Ahri stood in the hallway.
She didn't greet him. Just nodded once, barefoot in a hoodie too big for her frame, her tails swaying slowly behind her. The same girl who commanded arenas now looked like she hadn't slept in days.
Cole didn't comment. He followed her.
There were three boxes stacked by the bedroom door. Unlabeled. Untouched. Each one carrying more weight than it should have.
"It's stupid," she said quietly. "They're just things."
Ahri gave a bitter smile. " Every time I walk past this hallway, I hear his voice. Not the good parts. Just the ones that stuck like splinters."
"They're reminders of what you had"
She crouched beside the top box. Didn't open it.
"I thought I'd thrown him out when I told him to leave," she whispered. "But I was wrong. He's still here. Just in pieces."
Tears pricked at the ends of her eyes "You know the only reason why I got this apartment was so that we'd have a place that was ours. "
"I thought you stayed with the girls?"
"I mean I guess we do. I think I've slept at HQ 4 times in the last month. It can get suffocating."
Cole sat down across from her, crossing his legs on the hardwood. Rain tapped lightly against the balcony door like a clock counting seconds she couldn't get back.
"You don't have to do this alone."
Ahri's voice broke slightly. "That's the thing, Cole. I'm always alone when it matters."
He didn't flinch. He didn't offer hollow reassurances. He just waited.
Finally, she pulled the box open.
Inside: a denim jacket. Dusty mixtapes. A broken phone charger. The kind of things that wouldn't mean anything to anyone else.
But Cole saw the way her hands trembled.
She picked up a crumpled photo—Ahri and Yasuo backstage, years ago. He was laughing, arms around her, windblown hair and that stupid grin. She was shining. Or trying to.
"I don't even know who that girl is anymore," she murmured.
Cole took the photo from her gently. Looked at it.
"She's still here," he said. "But she's learning how to be real instead of perfect."
Ahri looked up, eyes glassy. "He used to say he loved me more when I wasn't performing."
"And then punished you every time you did."
The silence that followed was brutal.
Then she reached into the box and began emptying it. One item at a time. A guitar pick. A backstage pass. A birthday card never opened.
Each object placed in a second box: the one labeled DONATE. She hesitated at the jacket.
"He left this here the day he walked out," she said.
Cole stood. Took it from her.
"What do you want me to do with it?"
Ahri stared at the fabric like it could speak. Then, finally, she exhaled.
"Throw it off the balcony."
He blinked. "Seriously?"
She smiled through the grief. "No. But god, I want to."
Cole nodded. "Basement incinerator, then?"
She chuckled—just a little. "Donate it. Let someone else rewrite the story in it."
They spent the next hour going through the rest. By the end, the air felt lighter. Cleaner. The hallway, once a graveyard, was just a hallway again.
[Bond Update: Ahri – Barrier Lowered]
[SP Gained: +100]
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They ended up on the couch, not touching, but close enough that the silence felt safe.
"I never thanked you," she said, eyes on the ceiling.
"You don't have to."
"I want to. No one else would've known how to… be here for this."
Cole looked at her. "You're allowed to fall apart. But you don't have to rebuild alone."
Ahri turned her head. Met his eyes.
For a moment, she looked like she might kiss him.
But instead, she leaned her head against his shoulder, just enough to say not yet, but maybe one day.
"You're dangerous," she whispered.
Cole smiled. "So I've heard."
Outside, the rain had stopped.
Inside, for the first time in a long time, so had the echoes.
[Mini-Quest Complete: Echoes in the Closet]
[Ahri's Affection Increased – Now "Flickering Trust"]
[New Status Effect: Ahri – Burden Lifted (+1 Willpower in performances for 1 week)]
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