Silence. No thoughts. No noise. Just a hollow void pressing down on him like gravity with no center.
Suddenly— His body calmed. FA blinked. His breath slowly evened out. He inhaled. Deeply. And exhaled.
"…What's happening?" he whispered.
Then his eyes froze. He didn't blink. He didn't move. He didn't even breathe.
Because he felt it.
Something… was behind him.
His breath picked up again. His spine stiffened. His skin burned with a quiet panic.
He whispered—his voice fragile, like it could break at any second:
"…Something's there."
Slowly— FA turned around.
He expected a monster. A demon. A void. A reflection.
But what he saw instead…
Was a screen.
Floating in midair. Soft white glow. Flickering. Glitching—like a heartbeat that couldn't make up its mind.
"…Huh?"
FA stepped closer. The screen buzzed. Hummed softly. Almost like it was… breathing.
"…It's full of white," he murmured.
Then—
A face appeared.
A girl. No. A woman. Mature. Cold. Beautiful.
Familiar.
Anari.
FA froze. His lips parted.
"…A… Anari?"
His voice cracked like glass under pressure. He stepped in closer, barely breathing.
"…Oi…" he whispered, his voice trembling.
"I never thought… I'd see her again…"
He smiled. A small, disbelieving, aching smile. The kind of smile that lives only in memory.
But then—
She spoke.
"Hey, Asahi."
Her voice wasn't warm. It wasn't hopeful.
It was ice. Sharp. Detached.
The light from the screen flickered, casting shadows across FA's face. His smile faded, replaced by disbelief.
His smile shattered.
"Huh…?"
"You hate me, right?"
His breath stopped. The air felt too thick, like it was suffocating him. A suffocating pressure squeezed his lungs, like something clawing its way up his throat.
"What…? No—no! I never said that!"
He laughed—desperate. Shaky. Like the sound itself was begging to believe it, clinging to a lie that even his heart wouldn't accept.
"Hey… what are you saying?"
Anari didn't stop. Her eyes, hollow and distant, pierced through him, seeing past the layers of his denial, slicing into the marrow of his truth.
"You said you were suffering because of me."
Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, yet it carved through the silence like a blade. Her words felt like glass dragged across his heart, shattering pieces he had tried so hard to keep together.
"You always walked with me."
Her gaze didn't waver, hardening with each passing second.
"Always sat near me."
The rain in the void pattered harder, drumming against nothingness, echoing her every word like a thousand knives dropping from the sky.
"Always ate with me…"
Her voice cracked, just a little. But that crack bled pain. Decades of it. Centuries, maybe. Like she'd been carrying that weight in silence, hiding it behind smiles he never saw through.
Her eyes were older now. Her soul… heavier.
"You hated it, didn't you?" she asked, the words slipping through trembling lips that seemed like they'd been waiting a lifetime to say them.
Her stare never faltered.
"You were trying to ignore me all along…"
FA shook his head violently. His hands trembled at his sides, fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white, the skin straining like it would burst.
"No… no…" he whispered, He laughed again, but it was hollow. A desperate cry to silence her words, to pretend he didn't hear the truth echoing back at him.
"I want to walk to school with you again." His voice cracked under the weight of his own heartache, splintering like fragile glass.
"I want to sit next to you again."
His fists loosened, fingers stretching out to the void as if she were right there, just out of reach. His fingertips brushed against the cold emptiness, grasping for shadows.
"I want to eat your food again… and again… and again…"
His breath hitched. His knees nearly buckled under the weight of everything he'd held back, a thousand regrets clawing their way up his throat.
"Hey…"
He was crying now.
Truly. Fully.
"Anari… I never hated you…"
His voice shattered on the last word, crumbling into the rain-soaked silence.
Then—
Anari's expression changed.
She was angry.
Shattered.
"THEN WHY!?" she screamed.
"Why did you reject me that day, huh?!"
"You hated me all along!
You were just using me—to gain your wish!"
Her hands trembled.
Her voice cracked.
She stared deep into his eyes, voice barely a whisper now:
"If you loved me…
then why did you reject me?"
"WHY… WHY… WHY?!"
She broke down, sobbing.
Her image flickered on the screen like a dying signal.
FA didn't move.
He couldn't.
His tears wouldn't stop.
"Anari…"
His voice trembled.
"What… are you saying…?"
"I don't even remember that day…"
"I'm not a fool… to reject you…"
He smiled.
But it wasn't joy.
It was pain wrapped in denial.
"I could never…"
Then it started.
His body twitched.
"Huh…?"
His fingers flickered.
His shoulders glitched.
His legs—
stuttering between frames.
"What the hell…?"
The light in the screen pulsed.
And then—
A single memory exploded into his mind.
Silence.
Black.
Then—
FA opened his eyes.
"…Huh?"
He was standing in a park.
Time: 8:30 PM.
The sky above—clear and full of stars.
The moon hung low, perfectly round and glowing.
A gentle breeze carried the scent of trees and calm.
Streetlamps glowed softly—romantic, delicate.
And the lake…
Still. Beautiful.
It reflected the stars and moon like a canvas of light.
By the lake—
Two people stood.
A boy.
A girl.
FA took a step forward, stunned.
He hid behind a tree instinctively—watching.
"Wait…"
"That's… me."
"That's… her."
"My past timeline… my last memory…"
His voice cracked.
He stared at the moment frozen in time.
He was watching his own memory…
As if he wasn't part of it.
"I… I don't remember this," FA whispered.
His heart was racing.
"What's happening…? Why am I here…?"
He staggered back a step—then forced himself to breathe.
(Calm down. Just calm down, Asahi. Just… listen to what they're saying.)
His back hit the tree.
He slid down to the ground and stared from the shadows.
"What's happening…?"
"Why am I here…?"
FA stumbled back, dazed.
The world was too quiet.
His heartbeat — too loud.
He turned slowly…
And pressed his back against a tree.
His fingers trembled.
(Calm down. Just calm down, Asahi. Just… listen. Just breathe.)
He slid down to the ground, hiding in the shadows of a memory he didn't know yet.
And then he saw it.
Two figures, standing by the lake.
Lit by soft, golden streetlamps.
A sky full of stars.
A gentle breeze swaying the trees.
The moon reflecting perfectly off the water.
A moment that looked…
Too peaceful to exist in his world.
Anari was smiling.
She held up a small shopping bag and twirled slightly, like a girl spinning in a dream.
"I shopped so much today…" (Her voice warm. Innocent.)
Past FA stood beside her. Hands in his pockets.
"Huh… I just lost all my money." (Flat. But teasing.)
Anari laughed softly.
"But you still bought it for me, right?
I loved it…
You know?"
She looked at him.
She beamed.
And in that moment—
FA's heart cracked.
Past FA looked back at her.
Something in his chest shifted.
"Yeah…" (A whisper)
"I don't regret it…
For that smile."
Anari's head tilted.
She leaned in closer.
"Hmm? Say that again… I didn't hear you."
Past FA panicked.
Looked away.
"N-Nothing."
Anari laughed.
Beautiful. Pure.
"You know what? I heard it."
She winked.
He blushed.
And for a second—
they weren't two broken people.
They were just… happy.
In the shadows…
FA's hands curled into fists.
His breath hitched.
His eyes — hollow.
(I don't remember this…)
(I don't remember this warmth… this love… this version of us.)
And suddenly—
He wanted to remember.
The two of them looked up at the sky.
The stars shimmered.
The moon looked painted by the gods themselves.
And in the silence…
Past FA looked at Anari.
(She's everything.)
(My whole world… right in front of me.)
(Please, God… don't let me ruin this.)
His voice was a breath:
"I want to see this face… every day."
Anari turned.
Stepped closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Past FA froze.
His heart pounded like thunder.
His hands shook.
(Don't regret this. Don't regret this…)
Anari:(Soft. Real. Brave.)
"Asahi…"
From the shadows—
FA's eyes widened.
His lungs collapsed in on themselves.
(This is it…)
(I REMEMBER THIS NOW.)
His mind snapped.
His soul cracked open.
Past FA looked at her, eyes full of fear.
Anari looked back with eyes full of love.
"I love you, Asahi." (She whispered.)
FA didn't move.
He didn't breathe.
Because he knew…
He knew what he was about to hear.
The line that changed everything.
Past FA's lips parted.
He hesitated.
"Anari…"
"You shouldn't say that to me…"
"…Because…"
(Please don't say it. Please… don't—)
"I don't feel the same."
Silence.
Anari's smile died.
Her eyes widened.
Tears bloomed instantly.
"Oh… I see."
She stepped back.
Her hands trembled.
"Sorry…
I'm just a fool, right?" (She laughed. But it broke mid-air.)
"Why did I even say that…?"
She wiped her tears.
But more kept falling.
"Sorry…"
Past FA:(Whispers)
"A…Anari…"
From the shadows—
FA's face cracked open.
Tears flooded.
(Why did I do this…?)
(Why did I ruin the one thing I prayed for?)
Anari:
"No… it's alright.
I'm going home."
She turned—
And ran.
Crying.
The stars disappeared.
The moon vanished behind clouds.
The wind stopped.
And then—
rain.
One drop.
Two.
A storm.
The streetlights flickered—then died.
Past FA collapsed to his knees.
He looked up, arms weak.
"This is what fate wanted, huh?!"
He screamed—
"ARARARAAAAAAA!!"
His voice shattered the night.
He clawed at the sky.
Laughed through his tears.
"I want her to say it again… again… again…"
"I'd listen until I went deaf."
"Why me…?"
"Why…?"
He laughed bitterly.
"Now she'll only remember the Asahi who rejected her…"
"Not the one who stayed. Not the one who smiled. Not the one who loved."
From the shadows—
FA's tears fell silently.
(I carried everyone… alone… all this time.)
(And this… is what I get?)
(This is the price for saving everyone?)
He looked up.
Eyes red.
Voice numb.
"Sometimes… I just wish I disappeared."
Past FA screamed.
"GOD!!"
"RAAAAAAARARARARAA!!"
Then silence.
Then—
"I just wanted to say I love her…"
"Is that so wrong…?" (Voice cracking)
"Even sometimes… God isn't fair."
He bit his lips.
Blood spilled.
"Anari…" (Low. Shaky. Honest.)
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry…"
"Sorry…"
"Sorry…"
His voice faded.
Lower.
Weaker.
Gone.
FA was teleported.
Back to the void.
Back to black.
Back to the silence.
No words.
No emotion.
Until—
A whisper.
"Do we even… have a happy ending?"