That night, Suzuran thought she would dream something sweet.
After all, she had just kissed Kimijima Koichi.
And it wasn’t a gentle brush—it was deep, burning, and passionate.
A kiss that felt like a fire set ablaze in the depths of her heart.
She curled tightly into her blanket, replaying the moment again and again—the warmth of his breath, the lingering sensation of those soft, wet, tender touches. Her heart was racing, pounding against her chest like it wanted to leap out. Every memory of that kiss made her tremble all over again.
She couldn’t hide the smile on her face, as if she had been steeped in happiness.
—But the dream didn’t go as she had wished.
A cramped apartment. Peeling walls. Water stains dripping down from the ceiling. Outside the window was a noisy, unfamiliar city.
They had eloped.
No wedding. No blessings. Just two people clinging to each other, surviving outside the bounds of society.
Koichi burned himself out day after day to make ends meet.
Morning shifts at a café. Daytime office work as a clerical assistant.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwe0aYVcnFm
At night, he worked at three different luxury hotel bars, bartending until dawn.
She always waited for him to come home—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7p5zY4oB0
And gradually, that wait turned into fear.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsX26LQGoZw
Fear that the phone would ring.
And then, that day came.
The moment the phone rang, her heart stopped.
By the time she arrived at the hospital, all that awaited her was a bed covered in a white sheet.
Koichi lay still beneath it, pale and cold. His fingers were stiff, and on his wrist was the watch she had given him.
The glass was shattered.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xfGkfPgW1
The hands were frozen at 3:42 AM.
She collapsed to the ground, crying like her soul had been ripped apart.
“No… No, Koichi…!”
She screamed, pounding the white cloth, tears flooding down her cheeks. Her cries were so broken they seemed to shred the air.
It was a funeral—with no mourners.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAJJwPayZd
Only her, alone, burying the one she loved most in despair.
And then—she jolted awake.
The night was still deep. The room was silent.
Her whole body was soaked in sweat, hands and feet freezing. Cold sweat drenched her brow. Her heart was thundering in her chest like it had just broken free from a nightmare.
But this wasn’t a dream.
It wasn’t an illusion.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIsZ0ZONKR
Nor was it a vision of the future.
That pain of losing the one she loved—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8EIJ56Ttl
That memory of mental collapse—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1ZEBGTZXg
It was returning, piece by piece.
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She held her head, curling into a corner of the bed, trembling uncontrollably.
“…No… this isn’t now… why…”
Every scene was so clear.
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Sitting in a clinic hallway, unable to hear the doctor’s voice.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGzi257Aqz
Her mother’s funeral.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvRGSI16tw
Koichi’s death.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcva57lROlF
That moment she stepped into the lake—
Scene by scene, they came flooding back.
“Ahhhhh—!”
She stifled a scream, her face pale as if the whole world were falling apart.
Her consciousness was yanked back to that moment—
She was underwater.
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The lake was freezing. The water pressed in like thick glass, isolating her from the world.
She was sinking.
Wind howled above. Trees shivered. Her skirt fluttered, brushing softly against the water.
Icy water invaded her nose and throat. She struggled, but caught nothing.
Her chest seized in agony. It felt like an invisible hand was gripping her heart, each beat accompanied by tearing pain.
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Her limbs weakened. Her consciousness faded. But she—did not regret it.
“I’m sorry… Koichi… I’m sorry…”
She whispered, her vision blurring underwater.
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Then, the pain stopped.
The lake wasn’t cold anymore. It felt like amniotic fluid—gentle, warm, quiet.
The world fell silent.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eGYIoVSBI
Time stood still.
She floated in that stillness—no more thoughts, no more love, no more pain.
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She began to drift upward, light as a feather.
Then a beam of light rose from the lake bottom, softly illuminating her face.
She opened her eyes and saw the light—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKp9r4Jxq0H
And heard it:
A voice. Gentle and unfamiliar, yet near her ear:
“If this is the ending that leads to death… then let time begin again.”
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A burst of light—
She opened her eyes—
And she was no longer at the lake.
She was—
At the auction house on Rother Peninsula, in her childhood.
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The air was damp, mixed with mildew and sea salt. A draft crept in through the cracked walls, carrying the scent of the ocean.
She looked up—and saw herself.
Her younger self.
Small hands. Shallow breathing. Eyes wide with fear and hidden stubbornness.
And then, she saw him—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyKgWb588v
The boy chained in the corner.
Dirty. But defiant, refusing to lower his head.
Kimijima Koichi.
Her heart skipped a beat. The scene hurt from how familiar it was—like it stabbed her from the inside.
“Daddy… I want him.”
Just like last time, she ran to her father without hesitation, pointing to that boy.
Hanazono Masaru paused, then smiled.
Everything was the same.
The rhythmic chant of the auctioneer. The sound of footsteps beside her. The heavy sunset that day. Even the boy’s quiet words in the car:
“...Thank you for saving me, my lady.”
She was only nine, but for the first time, she realized—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSScirzLK1q
Her status could change someone’s fate.
—All of this, she had lived through.
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Until last night.
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She remembered the clink of silverware at dinner.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDxG7KtzGC
Her father’s calm voice announcing the arranged marriage with the Amagi family.
She remembered Koichi standing by her side, eyes gentle but expressionless, saying:
“I hope it’s a good match.”
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She cried. Just like last night.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGR5issROq
She ran to her room.
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Then—
Koichi came into her room, his voice still calm and composed.
She pouted. She acted spoiled. She told him—
That she hoped the first one to embrace and kiss her…20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuFekN1e7u
Would be him.
And then—he really kissed her.
It was a kiss that wasn’t dreamlike at all.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZGr4KwpZK
It was scorching, yearning, full of suppressed emotion.
Just like reality. Just like—
Her memory of their “first kiss.”
She had once lived that night.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOnxulfmRd
She had once lived through Koichi’s death.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGDvNo0Lih
She had lived through the sorrowful farewell.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WJJUMwQuA
Through her final descent into the lake, shattered and broken.
Her breath quivered. Her eyes widened—
Like someone finally piecing together a broken dream.
This is…
She whispered, pupils shaking, voice piercing into the nerves of fate:
“...So this is… the second timeline?”
“This isn’t… the future?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSi1uIm4rH
“This is… memory?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr89YOPZHWo
“From the first timeline?”
She spoke, trembling, as if not even she believed what she was hearing.
“Did time rewind…?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDBn7cWt3Z
“No… it was reset…?”
She stood frozen, fingers cold, her chest thudding like it had just been struck by something sharp.
“If that’s true…”
She clenched her teeth, forcing herself to pull away from that broken, tragic dream.
“Then I absolutely cannot let Koichi die again.”
“I can’t elope with him again.”
“I can’t selfishly pursue my own happiness at the cost of his life.”
Her nails dug deep into her palm.
As if pain would drive away the confusion.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsc4Gebe7Ue
As if forcing herself to stay awake.
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She raised her head.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzz2vOy58MX
Steadied her breath.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJnr9bgkzL
Forced herself to calm down.
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If this really was a second chance from fate—
Then there must be clues.
Think.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcW9Uxz6qJ
Quickly—remember.
What will happen this morning?
She had to prove this wasn’t a dream.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CBYq8Xzqn
It was memory.
She gathered every piece like shattered glass, carefully, painstakingly, trying to grasp each fragment before it slipped away.
—The morning after their first kiss.
She still remembered the familiar scene.
The dining room, awash in slanted sunlight. The silverware gleaming softly.
She hadn’t even taken the first bite of toast before her father put down his newspaper, voice calm, but each word earth-shattering:
“This weekend, Amagi Yuto will visit our home to meet you.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpAKkd7VTF
“Just to get familiar. If things go well…”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKFLzEoKOX
“Two weeks later, his father—Amagi Koichiro—will formally visit to discuss a marriage arrangement.”
Her pupils shrank violently.
Yes. That was it.
That moment. That line.
That was the scene. If her memories were really returning—
Then everything that followed would prove it.
She gripped her skirt tightly, heart racing.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJGAkw1YJ3
But she made herself stay still.
She didn’t know if the future could truly be rewritten—
But she knew:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvVu0zvsFq
The time to face it had come.
