Toshio had never been afraid of dreams before.But lately, they didn't feel like dreams anymore — they felt like memories.
He could still feel the warmth of her hand, the glow of the burning field, and the silver eyes of the man who whispered, "You never could change fate."Every time he blinked, he saw flashes — a sword dripping with light, a temple under a crimson sky, and Airi standing before him, calling his name — not Toshio, but something that echoed through time.
When morning came, he barely touched his breakfast. His mother noticed but said nothing. She'd always known when to leave him alone.
At school, Airi looked exhausted too. Her eyes were shadowed, her movements slower.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked quietly.
She hesitated before nodding. "I… had a dream again."
His chest tightened. "You too?"
Airi's gaze flickered toward him. "There was fire… and your voice. You were calling my name, but it wasn't this one."
Toshio's spoon clattered against the desk. "What name?"
Her lips parted, and she whispered, "Rai."
The sound made the air around them feel heavier. Toshio's pulse thundered in his ears.
He had heard that name in his dream too.
That afternoon, rain began to fall — soft and cold, soaking the streets in silver light. Toshio and Airi found shelter under a bus stop, the sound of raindrops filling the silence between them.
"Toshio," Airi said softly, "Do you… believe in past lives?"
He glanced at her. "I didn't. Not until now."
She smiled faintly. "Me too."
For a moment, neither spoke. But then she added, "In my dream, you were… dying. You told me something before the fire took you."
"What did I say?"
Her voice trembled. "You said… 'Find me again, no matter how many lifetimes it takes.'"
The rain drowned out his heartbeat.It was exactly what he'd said in his dream.
He couldn't explain it. Couldn't understand why their dreams matched like two halves of a broken melody. But deep down, something knew.
They had met before.Loved before.And lost each other before.
Later that evening, Toshio walked home alone. The streetlamps flickered as thunder rolled in the distance.But as he passed Airi's house, he froze.
Through her window, he saw her sitting at her desk, staring at something glowing faintly in her hands.
He moved closer — and saw it clearly this time.A pendant. Old, silver, engraved with the name "Rai."
The same name that had haunted his dreams.
A sharp pain flashed through his head — a vision:He saw himself standing on a battlefield, reaching toward Airi as she clutched the same pendant.And behind her stood Ren — with the same silver eyes and cruel smile.
"This time," Ren's voice echoed in his skull, "you won't take her from me again."
Toshio staggered back, gasping. The pendant's glow faded. Airi looked up, their eyes meeting through the rain-streaked glass.
For a second, time itself seemed to stop.
And in that silence, he realized the truth he had been running from —this wasn't just love.This was fate, rewritten through centuries.
That night, Toshio wrote in his journal for the first time in years.
"If these dreams are memories… then I have to protect her this time.Even if fate tries to take her again."
He closed the book, staring out the window where Airi's light still burned through the storm.
The thunder rumbled once more — distant, like a warning.
Somewhere out there, Ren was waiting.And the echoes of their past were only beginning to stir.