Ren had never been the kind of person to believe in fate. But standing beneath the rusted overhang at Tsukigawa Station, watching the rain whisper secrets into the pavement, he was beginning to reconsider.
Ten days. Nine, now.
And somehow, she was still the key.
Yuki Arisawa sat beside him on the bench, umbrella resting at her side like a forgotten prop. She hadn't said much since they agreed to meet. She just stared out at the mist, her face unreadable, as if listening for something only she could hear.
Ren cleared his throat. "Did you… remember anything? About what I said yesterday?"
"That you're going to die in ten days?" she said flatly. "And a mysterious system is watching you? Not exactly the usual conversation starter, Ichiro."
He winced. "Fair. But you didn't walk away either."
"No," she said. "Because I felt something."
That made him look up. "What do you mean?"
"I've been having these dreams," Yuki said slowly, her voice quieter now, like she was trying not to disturb something fragile. "They started a few days ago. I see someone being stabbed. Over and over again. The same alley. The same apology. I wake up crying."
Ren's skin went cold. "That's not a dream," he whispered. "That's what happened."
"I thought I was going crazy." She looked at him, eyes wide. "But when you talked to me yesterday, something clicked. Like I'd seen you before, even though we've barely spoken in class."
He let the silence stretch between them. Not out of awkwardness — out of fear. Fear that if he said too much, he'd scare her off. And fear that if he didn't, he'd die without ever knowing the truth.
"Yuki," he said, careful now, "I think you're connected to this. Somehow. Maybe you were there. Maybe you knew who did it. But when time reset, something went wrong. You forgot."
"…Or maybe I was never supposed to remember."
The thought hung in the air like smoke.
Another chime rang in Ren's head.
Deviation level: 4%
Unknown variables increasing.
He ignored it.
"Then let's find out together," Ren said. "You and me. We've got nine days. We'll dig into everything — the alley, the people around me, even the places I was before I died."
She hesitated. "And what if you still die?"
Ren met her gaze. "Then at least I won't be alone this time."
They began that night.
The library, where it had ended, was their first stop. A quiet place nestled between two forgotten ramen shops, abandoned at night except for the occasional night owl or ghost. Ren remembered it too well — the way the alley curved around back, the streetlight that always flickered, the smell of old books that never quite left the air.
And as they rounded the corner, Yuki stopped cold.
"There," she whispered. "I've… seen this before."
She pointed at the wall. A faint stain, long faded but still visible — a splatter pattern Ren would never forget.
He had bled there.
She touched the brick wall, fingers trembling.
"Ren," she said, "what if I'm not just someone who saw it?"
He turned to her slowly. "What do you mean?"
"What if…" She swallowed hard. "What if I was the one who stabbed you?"
His breath caught.
The clouds parted briefly above, and the moon emerged — vast, watching, silent.
Another chime.
Tsuki is observing.
No interference permitted.
Ren looked up at the glowing orb above them.
He didn't need Tsuki's help anymore.
But he still needed the truth.
Even if it came from her lips.