The rain began as a whisper—soft droplets that tapped against the leaves and rooftops like distant memories. But it grew heavier, as if the sky itself had cracked open, spilling sorrow upon the earth. Asahi stood beneath the downpour, unmoving, his eyes fixed on the figure before him.
MA stood there, his silhouette blurred by the sheets of rain. His voice slipped through the storm, soft and broken. "...You know what?"
Silence stretched between them, pulled taut by regret and something darker. Asahi's eyes remained wide, unblinking, as the rain trickled down his cheeks, masking the tears he wouldn't let fall.
"I don't regret you killing me," MA whispered, voice so fragile it almost crumbled under the weight of his own words.
Asahi's breath hitched. He didn't move. Couldn't move. He just stood there, drenched and frozen.
MA's gaze softened, distant. "You wanna know why?"
The rain splattered around them, heavy and unrelenting. Asahi's shoulders slumped under its weight, but he still couldn't speak. His eyes dropped to the ground, to the puddles rippling at his feet.
After a long pause, MA's voice returned, quivering like it was cracking under the truth. "I realized… Anari can only live in your dimension."
The words fell like thunder, reverberating through the void around them. Asahi's knees wobbled, his breath escaping him in jagged bursts. His hands clenched at his sides, shaking.
"That's the fate, Asahi," MA continued, his voice breaking. "That's why FA told you to kill us… because you're the only one where she lives."
A sob tore its way out of Asahi's throat, raw and unrestrained. "I… I'm sorry!" His voice cracked, splintered like glass. "I'm so, so sorry!" Tears crashed down, mingling with the rain, indistinguishable from the sky's own grief.
MA's eyes shimmered, but he didn't move. His smile was soft, almost nostalgic. "That's why you have to protect her now, Asahi. Do it… for all of us."
The words settled into the storm, lingering like the final breath of a fading memory. Asahi's lips parted, but no sound came. He stood there, drenched in sorrow and storm. Eyes wide. Breath shallow.
Asahi whispered, "...us?"
MA's eyes met his, gentle yet resolute. "Yep..."
The softness shattered. MA's tone shifted, cracking like thunder across the storm. His eyes flared with something wild. "Come on, Asahi! KILL EVERYONE… LET THEM BE FREE!"
Lightning split the sky. Thunder rolled in waves. Asahi blinked, his expression cold and empty.
"Kill." He said it flat. Cold. Not a scream. Not a whisper. Just... fate.
And with that word, everything changed.
A door creaked open.
Asahi blinked. He was no longer in the void. No longer with MA. He stood before his house, rain pelting the rooftop like drumbeats of destiny. The storm hadn't stopped. But this place—this moment—it felt wrong.
A man stood in the doorway. No—
It was him.
Another Asahi.
His clothes were soaked—not with rain, but with mud and something darker... blood. His eyes? Cold. Lifeless. Like hope had died long ago. They stared at each other, two reflections cast from different worlds.
The Other Asahi chuckled softly, a hollow sound swallowed by the storm. He pulled a crumpled cigar from his pocket, flicking a lighter with a hand that shook just slightly.
"Uhhh... got lost, huh?" The Other Asahi muttered, voice rough and broken. "Because of the dimension sphere break?"
Asahi didn't answer. Didn't nod. Didn't blink.
The Other Asahi lit the cigar. The flame flickered, revealing scars across his jaw—deep and jagged like cracks in porcelain. He took a long drag, eyes fixed on Asahi.
"Mmm… Don't worry, bro," he said, voice carrying the weight of a thousand shattered dreams. "We all have the same fate."
His tone wasn't mocking. It wasn't even sad. It was numb.
Empty.
He stepped aside. The door stayed open. Rain poured harder now, drumming against the roof like a thousand desperate whispers.
The Other Asahi's eyes met his. Both cold. Both... broken.
"...Now come inside," he murmured, eyes unblinking. "It's raining."
And Asahi, silent and heavy with the weight of fate, stepped forward.
The storm raged on.
MA's whispers grew louder. "We all have to pay the price, Asahi... you just pay more."
Silence (FA's Side)
Darkness.
No sound. No wind. No direction.
Only silence.
FA blinked.
"Huh... where am I?" he muttered, eyes scanning the black void that stretched endlessly around him. No walls. No ground. Just darkness beneath his feet—and silence pressing down like gravity.
"This is weird…" he breathed, tilting his head back and looking up at nothing. "Mmm…"
Then, he shouted.
"Come on!"
His voice cracked through the emptiness.
"This Asahi… never does anything right, huh? Idiot."
His tone wasn't playful. It was irritated… frustrated… tired.
He exhaled hard. "What am I even supposed to do in this black fucking space, huh?"
FA dropped to the floor—or whatever was holding him up—and sat down with a grunt.
"Ahhh… fuck…" he whispered, raking his fingers through his hair. "I'm wasting time…"
Then he screamed.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
His voice echoed.
It bounced.
It returned.
"Huh…" He blinked, a spark of thought igniting in his exhausted brain. "The voice echoed?"
He stood up.
"So it's not an endless void. The sound's being reflected..."
He cracked his neck and shoulders, warming up like he was about to jog into a battlefield.
"Interesting."
A pause.
Then he took a breath and said, "Let's walk in the north direction."
A beat of silence.
(He didn't even know where north was. Not in this place.)
But he walked anyway.
FA walked.
Step after step, his boots tapped against nothingness.
No walls. No lights. No gravity.
Just black.
He muttered under his breath, "Uhhh… nothing's here, I think."
Then he stopped. Looked around.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
He screamed again, louder than before.
This time… the echo came faster. Stronger. Sharper.
He tilted his head. Eyes narrowing.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"…The echo waves have increased," he whispered.
He exhaled through his nose. Calm. Sure.
"The end is near."
FA started walking faster, each step bouncing louder in the endless void.
"If I walk at this speed, I might reach the end easily," he muttered, casually—almost joking to himself.
But then…
He stopped.
His foot landed.
No echo followed.
The footsteps—gone.
FA's eyes widened.
"Huh…?"
His heart began to race.
"What's… happening?" he whispered.
"AAAAAAHHHH!!"
He screamed.
Nothing replied.
Dead silence.
His head spun. Breath slowing.
Panic rose like poison in his chest.
He fell to his knees.
Hands trembling.
Sweat dripping down his face in sheets.
He looked around, eyes darting into the endless dark.
"Everything's… black," he whispered, breath heaving. "Something's wrong."
Then—
Silence.
No thoughts.
No noise.
Just a hollow void, pressing down on him.
Suddenly, his body calmed.
FA blinked.
His breathing steadied.
He took in a massive breath and exhaled hard.
"…What's happening?" he said softly.
Then his eyes froze.
He didn't blink. Didn't move.
He felt it.
Something was behind him.
His breath picked up again.
His spine stiffened.
He whispered, voice barely holding steady—
"…Something's there."
And slowly—
FA turned around.
(ASAHI'S SIDE)
The door stayed open.
Rain poured harder now.
"...Now come inside," the other Asahi said. "It's raining."
Asahi looked at him—cold and unreadable—then stepped through the doorway.
Inside, everything felt wrong.
Wrong air. Wrong silence. Wrong presence.
He slipped off his shoes out of habit.
The other Asahi noticed.
"Hey… no need for that kind of respect," he said with a faint smirk.
"Our mom always used to say that, right? 'Remove your shoes all the time.'"
The smile he gave wasn't warm.
It was dark. Bitter. Faintly nostalgic.
Asahi said nothing.
But his eyes locked onto him.
They both walked down the hallway, entering the other Asahi's room.
It was… empty.
No bed. No furniture. No light.
Just one thing sitting in the center of the room.
A single photo.
Asahi walked closer.
His eyes narrowed.
MA whispered quietly inside him:
"What is this place…? There's… nothing here. Nothing."
Asahi knelt.
Picked up the photo.
The other Asahi—OA—noticed immediately.
"That's the only memory I have of her," OA said.
Asahi stared at it.
Anari.
OA.
Smiling. Together.
He stood up slowly and turned toward him.
"Do you want to live?" Asahi asked, voice flat.
OA blinked.
"Huh?"
"..."
"Yes," OA answered. Cold. Without hesitation.
Asahi stared deeper into him. His expression didn't change.
"Why?"
OA's eyes darkened.
"I found out there's a dimension where Anari and our parents are alive."
His voice was sharp. Icy.
"Yeah... I'm going after that."
Asahi's lips curled slightly.
"Ohhh... good," he said.
Then—his face changed.
The coldness returned.
"But... what will that Asahi do, huh?"
OA's face didn't flinch.
"I know… every Asahi is suffering. Every one of us."
"And still… that Asahi got the luckiest dimension, you know?"
Asahi's smile vanished.
"Luckiest, huh…"
OA nodded slowly.
"It's still alright," he muttered. "Let him enjoy it. But—"
His face darkened.
"Someone broke the dimension sphere of that place. Every dimension's sphere. I don't know if it was fate or some kind of divine madness..."
OA looked up, eyes fierce.
"But someone gave us a chance to claim that blessing."
"He knew our pain," OA shouted, fists clenched.
"That's why he broke all the dimensional spheres!"
He stepped closer.
"That Asahi… is our savior."
Silence.
Asahi stared at him coldly.
OA's voice dropped into a whisper.
"And I will collect that blessing."
Asahi stared at him, eyes cold and unreadable.
The photo shook slightly in his hand as thunder cracked outside.
But neither of them blinked.
They were the same