Countdown
As if waking from a deep dream, Wu Dao sat up in the middle of the night with a start.
He was drenched in sweat, tears still glistening in the corners of his eyes. Recalling the fire, his heart ached so much he felt almost suffocated.
He still hasn't accomplished anything.
But at that moment, Wu Dao suddenly realized something.
How did I get back?
He didn't shake hands with Naoto, not to mention that it had been verified that he had lost the ability to go back in time...
Is the present truly the past? Or am I just dreaming?
Wu Dao pinched his face hard; it hurt.
They're back, they really are back...
He collapsed, exhausted, his arms covering his eyes.
So tired.
But if he didn't pull himself together, something terrible was bound to happen. He couldn't back down, abandon everything, and pretend he knew nothing—he couldn't do that.
He put his hand down, got up, found his phone, and made a call.
*
Yuko also didn't sleep well that night.
She had another dream.
This time, she was experienced and immediately realized that she had dreamed of a future after discovering that she was a ghost.
I thought that everything would be fine once the problem of Kisaki was solved, but it seems that's not the case now.
This is not good news.
But she still held onto a sliver of hope.
At this moment, Yuko was standing at the entrance of a staircase inside the building. Wisps of cold air floated upwards, and she guessed that there was an underground cold storage below.
Yuko looked down with a hint of fear, but her inner strength compelled her to move forward. After taking several deep breaths, she finally took a step.
She kept telling herself that no matter what she saw, she had to stay calm.
After the staircase turned a corner, Yuko saw several people blocking the entrance in various poses. They were all strangers. Yuko walked through them with a puzzled look, then, as if sensing something, she looked down at a young man with white hair.
The man looked very thin. He was sitting cross-legged with his back against the armrest, chewing on a taiyaki in his hand. Yuko, who was looking down at him, couldn't see his face, but could see the tattoo on the back of his neck.
For some reason, this person gave her a strong sense of déjà vu. Puzzled, Yuko descended the stairs to the ground floor and looked around before finally spotting a familiar face. Even though he had changed his hair color, the distinctive diamond-shaped scar on his lip made him instantly recognizable to Yuko.
It is Spring Night.
He had grown much taller, or rather, he had grown up. He was standing there now, with three people bound and kneeling beside him.
With a gun in one hand and a pill in the other, Chun Qianye exaggeratedly tilted his head back and let the pill fall into his mouth, as if he were performing.
After swallowing, he seemed excited about what was about to happen, yet also suppressed that excitement as he walked to the three of them, bowed down and whispered in the ear of the struggling, sobbing man: "Shh, the king is about to speak."
Then the white-haired youth spoke: "Kill him."
Haru Chiya immediately let out a wild roar as if she had been injected with stimulants, and then pulled the trigger crisply and cleanly, as if she had done it a thousand times.
Yuko, who witnessed all of this, felt her heart sink completely. She was stunned for a moment because of the shock, but there was no time for her to be stunned. After regaining her senses, she told herself that she must remember the faces of these people.
At this moment, the white-haired, black-clad youth stood up, and as he left, the others followed behind him.
Judging from their behavior, Yuko guessed that this person must be the leader. Realizing this, she quickly followed.
“Mikey is in a bad mood,” a taller man whispered from behind.
"Huh? Doesn't he do this every day?" The person next to him didn't notice the difference.
who?
Mikey?
No.
Yuko instinctively denied it, staring at the person in disbelief.
“Don’t you know, Gentian? Today is Isana’s wedding day.” The tall man said, then gestured to a man with a horrifying scar on his face and heterochromatic eyes, “Tsurucho and Isana are such good friends, they should have received an invitation, right?”
Tsurucho ignored him, pretending not to have heard. How could he not know about Isana's marriage? The topic was far too sensitive. Tsurucho involuntarily glanced at Mikey, then looked away. At least for the people he followed now, neither Isana nor that name was something that could be easily mentioned.
If he could, Tsurucho hoped that Isana, now free from the gang, could live a quiet, unnoticed life, leading an ordinary and peaceful existence. He was willing to give anything for this.
The group changed routes and separated for various reasons during their journey. Mikey called a car, but Santu was stopped when he tried to get in, so he reluctantly stayed behind.
Yuko, being a spirit, was able to sit down next to Mikey without any problems.
The car drove on and finally stopped on the roadside near the church. A large crowd, dressed formally, stood at the entrance, bathed in the glow of confetti, their laughter and chatter creating a lively atmosphere. Surrounded by women in wedding dresses and men in white suits, a wedding was taking place.
The ceremony was drawing to a close, and it was time to take a group photo.
Yuko got out of the car and walked closer, easily seeing the bride's face. To her surprise, the bride smiling so happily was actually herself as an adult. As her gaze shifted, she saw "her" surrounded by family and friends: her father, brother, Emma, Nono, Draken, the venue... They were all enjoying each other's happiness.
They did indeed grow up together as promised, and none of them sacrificed themselves.
This is wonderful…
Is it really a good deal?
Yuko turned her head and looked at the person in the car. It was a black sedan, with only half of the window rolled down, revealing half of his face.
Empty eyes, revealing no emotion.
Even the owner of the eyes, Sano Manjiro, didn't know what he was thinking.
He gazed at the scene in the distance. With just a single command, gunfire could replace fireworks, and joy could turn to wailing—how simple. But the thought had barely crossed his mind when a dull ache gripped his heart. He didn't know why he felt this pain, but it was like the occasional bubble rising from a swamp, the only proof he could feel that he was still alive.
Over there, the lively crowd began to move to another location, and the newlyweds got into their wedding car to leave. Inside the car, the bride looked at her reflection in the window; even after the ceremony was over, she still felt a sense of unreality.
Am I really married?
She looked at the diamond wedding ring on her hand and fell silent.
At that moment, a hand grasped hers, and the groom looked at her.
Upon seeing this, the bride instinctively smiled at him, and the groom smiled back.
The car started.
The bride seemed to sense something and turned to look out the car window.
It flashed by in an instant.
Her gaze seemed to be chasing something, and she couldn't help but lean forward and press her face against the car window to look back, but she couldn't see anything.
"What's wrong?" the groom asked her.
The bride suppressed her unease and shook her head. "It's nothing."
Yuko, standing in the middle of the road, could only watch as the two cars passed each other, as if it were a foregone conclusion.
*
Yuko opened her eyes in bed, her gaze unfocused. She unconsciously raised her hand; the plain silver ring was still on her finger. Strange, why was she looking at the ring?
The night was silent. She was enveloped by an inexplicable sadness. Was she dreaming? Why couldn't she remember anything?
Yuko couldn't fall asleep anymore, her mind in turmoil. By the time she came to her senses, she was already sitting in front of the TV in the living room. She sat listlessly on the sofa, watching a boring shopping program playing on the TV.
"Only 998, only 998..."
Yuko stared blankly at the television. It seemed like it had been a long time since she had felt this way. Before she had any friends, the television was her best companion.
*
She was awakened by the maid's exclamation.
"Miss Yuko, how did you fall asleep on the sofa? Oh dear, your eyes!"
The maid quickly helped her to bed. Seeing that she wasn't feeling well, Ms. Shimizu tried to get her excused from school, only to find out that winter break had already started and there was no need to ask for leave at all. She was frantic.
A light rain began to fall outside. Yuko barely slept in the latter half of the night, but fell asleep quickly after lying in bed.
"Ding!" "Da!"
She didn't know how long she had slept when the knocking sound coming from the window woke her up. Yuko looked towards the source of the sound and saw a pebble being thrown onto the glass, followed by another a moment later.
Yuko got up in confusion and went to open the window. Standing under the tree in the backyard was none other than her boyfriend.
She couldn't help but smile.
Mikey nimbly climbed up the tree and, using the air conditioner unit as a stepping stone, jumped through the window.
"Why are you here?" Yuko asked him.
"The gatekeeper said you weren't seeing guests today, and I thought something had happened to you," Mikey explained, carefully checking her over to make sure she was unharmed and in good condition. "What happened?"
Yuko scratched her head sheepishly: "Because I stayed up all night watching TV last night..."
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