FA closed his eyes.
A heavy silence filled the void, a silence that wasn't just quiet but suffocating, pressing against Asahi's chest like an invisible weight. Every breath felt harder than the last.
Asahi felt it in his bones.
Then—everything vanished.
The world around him blinked out of existence, and in an instant, his feet touched the cold, unforgiving ground. His vision snapped into focus, but something was wrong. A strange pressure crawled up his spine, an ominous sensation that made his stomach churn.
This wasn't right. This wasn't the place he was used to.
Asahi's mind screamed, but his body was paralyzed by the sudden realization.
This is different.
His eyes darted across the strange new landscape, but his gaze fell on something that shouldn't exist. Something that sent a sharp, unsettling twist through his gut.
A clock.
A set of glowing numbers that burned into his mind like an impossible truth.
99:99.
Time. But not time as he knew it. A time that defied all logic. A time that shouldn't exist.
Asahi's breath hitched, his pulse quickening. His fingers twitched, trying to comprehend the impossible.
What is this?
His chest tightened. His mind screamed at him to make sense of it, but there was no logic here. Only a cold, surreal horror.
Then—a soft click.
A screen flickered to life, casting a pale glow over the room. A computer beside him powered on automatically, as if controlled by an unseen force.
A video started playing.
A black screen at first. And then—
A hand appeared, knocking against the surface as if breaking through reality itself.
And the face slowly came into view.
Asahi's throat constricted. His chest tightened. Every muscle in his body tensed.
The figure on the screen looked too familiar. Too impossible.
No.
His voice.
His face.
The words that followed shattered everything.
???: "Huh… Hi."
A pause. A slight tilt of the head, as if the person on the screen wasn't looking at Asahi, but past him, into something deeper.
???: "Asahi Rentaro."
The name tore through Asahi's chest like a blade.
His heart skipped a beat.
No.
It couldn't be.
His breath caught in his throat.
FA?
The figure on the screen smiled. A sad, exhausted smile, but there was something there—something familiar, yet distant.
FA (Future Asahi): "Yeah, I am him… but different. Not from the Dimensional Dream."
The words hit Asahi like a punch to the gut, knocking the air from his lungs. His pulse hammered in his ears. His knees weakened.
The Future Asahi?
No. This didn't make sense. This couldn't be happening.
FA: "I am recording this before my death."
A cold, suffocating silence followed.
Asahi froze. His entire body stiffened, as if every muscle had turned to stone. His breath was shallow, his chest rising and falling in short, frantic bursts.
Death?
His mind raced to comprehend the words, but they twisted inside him, each syllable more incomprehensible than the last.
No.
His hands trembled.
FA: "I knew I was going to die… I was killed."
The words landed heavily in the air. Asahi could barely process them. Killed? By who?
By what?
FA (smirking slightly): "This dimension has some restrictions."
A beat.
Then—
FA (softly): "But it's all for your good."
Asahi's vision blurred, a sudden lightheadedness taking over. His knees shook, and he had to fight to stay upright.
For my good? He barely registered the words, too much fury and confusion burning inside him.
FA: "After all… it was created for you."
Asahi's stomach twisted violently. The truth hung in the air, suffocating him.
A dimension created for him?
It didn't make sense.
And then, the words came.
FA (quietly): "The Black Man is human, after all."
A rush of heat and fury exploded in Asahi's chest. His blood boiled, his fists clenching so tightly his nails dug into his palms.
No way. That fucker!
He was too enraged to think, too confused to process the weight of the truth. The Black Man. Human.
It wasn't possible. He was... something more than human. Something wrong. Something dangerous.
FA (pausing, his voice turning serious): "Asahi… from now on, you'll have to make tough decisions."
A short, pregnant silence hung between them. Asahi's breath quickened, the world around him seeming to close in.
Tough decisions?
FA (voice darkening): "Sometimes… you will have to kill people."
His stomach lurched.
A cold sweat broke out over his skin.
What was he saying?
And then—
The final blow.
FA (softly, almost broken): "Sometimes… you will have to kill yourself."
The words hung in the air, an unbearable weight that nearly crushed Asahi under its gravity.
Kill myself?
The idea was incomprehensible.
His heart stopped.
But before he could even process the madness of those words, FA spoke again.
FA (eyes pained, voice trembling): "Please… save Anari."
Asahi's breath caught in his throat.
Anari?
He couldn't breathe.
Anari.
His pulse raced. His world tilted, spinning out of control.
FA (voice breaking): "I love her."
Asahi's vision blurred as the words landed, heavy, impossibly heavy. His fists clenched so hard his bones creaked.
I love her so much…
FA's voice quivered.
I couldn't even say it until the end.
Tears welled in Asahi's eyes, the confession tearing through him like a razor. His chest ached, his breath hitching.
Anari…
FA: "WE ARE THE CURSED ONES WHO SHOULD SAVE ALL THE FAILED DIMENSIONS."
A beat.
And then—
FA (gritting his teeth, voice strained): "AND THAT'S WHY I AM HERE—"
The words echoed like a death knell in Asahi's ears.
A slow, agonizing realization.
FA (eyes darkening, voice hardening): "WHO IS GOING TO DIE WITH MY OWN HANDS."
Asahi's stomach twisted, bile rising in his throat. His heart felt as if it had stopped beating.
No.
His chest tightened painfully.
Huh?
Own hands?
Asahi gasped for breath, his throat tight with fear and confusion.
The room seemed to close in on him.
And then—FA's final words.
FA (voice breaking, filled with regret): "Sorry for entrusting everything to you."
A pause.
Then—
FA: "Sayonara."
The screen blinked, static filling the air as the image of FA began to fade.
The last thing Asahi saw was his broken smile.
Then—darkness.
The screen went black.
Asahi stood frozen in place, his heart thudding painfully in his chest.
The silence pressed down on him. His head swam.
A soft, hollow breath escaped him. His body felt like lead, weighed down by the unbearable weight of everything he had just heard.
He whispered to the empty room.
Asahi (softly, a broken chuckle escaping him): "Huh…?"
And the world went silent.