The library alley was no longer just a crime scene. It was a graveyard of decisions, a point in time that refused to die.
Ren sat on the edge of the rooftop across from it now, looking down in silence. The wind bit at his face, but he barely felt it. His mind was elsewhere — still tangled in the memories Tsuki had returned to him.
Loop 2.
He had tried to use Yuki. That version of him had believed she was the key to breaking the loop. Not by saving her. By sacrificing her.
He remembered the way her eyes looked in that life — not afraid, not angry. Disappointed. And still, she had killed him gently, with an apology.
"I won't let that happen again," Ren muttered.
Behind his eyes, the system stirred.
Loop 3: Day 8 remaining.
Target deviation probability: 17%.
Observation continues.
He wasn't sure which was worse — that Tsuki watched and did nothing, or that it knew so much and still stayed silent.
He stood. The wind pushed against him, but this time he moved through it with purpose.
At school, Yuki was already waiting in the quiet corner of the courtyard where they'd agreed to meet. Her uniform was dusted with petals from the early cherry blossoms, her notebook clutched tightly to her chest.
"I looked through my notes," she said without greeting. "All of them. From this week, last week, even months ago."
Ren watched her closely.
"There are gaps," she continued. "Pages where I should have written something, but didn't. And… I found this."
She handed him a photo.
It was of the school's old drama club. A group shot — ten students, two teachers. Faded and torn at the edges. But in the back row…
"Me," Ren whispered. "And you."
She nodded. "But I was never in the drama club."
"Neither was I."
They stared at the photo together. One other face stood out — a girl with pale eyes and a ribbon in her hair. She stood next to Ren in the photo, smiling.
"You know her?" Yuki asked.
Ren shook his head slowly. "No. But I think she knows me."
System Tsuki: Memory sync incomplete.
Identified anomaly: Mio Kisaragi.
Warning: Engaging with anomaly may accelerate loop failure.
Ren flinched.
"Mio Kisaragi," he repeated. The name felt like broken glass on his tongue. "She might be the one behind this."
"Or the one who tried to stop it," Yuki offered.
He looked at her. "You're not afraid?"
"I'm terrified," she said. "But I'd rather be terrified with you than forget again."
They found the drama club's old room after school — Room 3-C, shuttered and half-forgotten. Dust clouded the windows. Desks were stacked haphazardly, stage props scattered like discarded dreams.
And in the center of the room, propped against the wall…
Was another note.
Ren picked it up carefully.
_"You've reached me before.
You always forget.
If you want to live, don't find me.
If you want the truth, come alone.
Mio"_
"She left this for you?" Yuki whispered.
"Or for whoever I was," Ren said. "But she knew. She remembered."
System Tsuki: Hazard warning.
Loop destabilization at 26%.
Recommendation: Cease contact with anomaly.
Ren clenched the note.
"I'm not stopping."
Yuki grabbed his wrist. "Ren. If you go alone, I might not see you again."
He looked at her, softer now. "If I don't go… we might both disappear."
She lowered her eyes, then nodded.
"Then promise me something."
"Anything."
"When you find her," she said, "don't let her erase you again."
Ren hesitated.
And for the first time, Tsuki chimed again — different this time.
Observation protocol... faltering.
Subject is remembering too much.
A pause.
The moon is not meant to be seen.
Ren looked up at the sky, cloudy and dim.
"Too late," he said.
That night, he stood at the edge of the woods behind the school.
The trail to the abandoned shrine was overgrown, old stones cracked beneath moss and time.
He stepped forward into the dark.
To meet the girl who might be his killer…
Or his only way out.