"To save everything, you must first hold the weight of its ending."
Scene 1 – The Countdown Begins
May 18, 2011 – Trial Space, Outside Time
The sky above was a void of night—no stars, no moon—only a colossal red timer counting down relentlessly:
60.0
59.9
59.8
Below, Tokyo burned. The familiar streets and landmarks—Strawberry Pro, the hospital, Ai's stage, the Hoshino residence—flickered in the glow of devastation, like cherished memories reduced to fragile paper lanterns caught in a merciless wind.
In the midst of the collapsing world, Souta stood alone on a field of charred ash, his knees sinking into the remnants of yesterday's life. Desperation mingled with outrage as Ruby's scream cut through the chaos, Ai's trembling hand reached out for comfort, and Aqua's shout of his name was lost in the static of a future that felt all too real.
His voice rose, raw with panic and heartbreak:
"What the hell is this? You said you'd test me, not kill them!"
An unseen presence answered from all around him:
"This is the weight of omnipotence. The world dies every second you hesitate."
Scene 2 – Happy Stands Firm
From the darkness, Happy stepped forward—not the simple teddy bear of memory, but transformed into a being of woven light and indomitable will. Standing at Souta's side, his once soft eyes now burned with resolve.
"You said you were strong enough to protect them. Then protect them," Happy declared, a quiet challenge that pierced through the dread.
Souta's panic only deepened. "I don't even know how to stop this," he gasped, his voice tremulous. "I can't rewind it, I can't stop it—"
"Stop trying to undo time or fire or destruction," Happy snapped, firm yet caring, before gently poking Souta's heart. "Undo the fate that causes it."
For a charged moment, Souta's eyes widened as he repeated, "…Undo fate…?"
Scene 3 – A Flash of Realization
In that suspended heartbeat of time, the universe itself slowed around him—time pausing at exactly 45.2 seconds. In this stillness, Souta found a sudden clarity.
This wasn't a matter of brute strength or clever trickery. It was grief incarnate—each disaster born of despair: Ai's untimely loss, Aqua's seething rage, Ruby's lonely tears, and his own long-buried fear. The gods were not simply testing his might; they were challenging him to mend fate by softening the pain that birthed destruction, rather than trying to dominate destiny itself.
"I don't want to control them anymore…" he murmured into the silence. "I want them to choose joy."
Rising slowly, determination infusing his every gesture, he declared, "Then I'll undo the thread that says this world ends in flames." Outstretched, his hand shone—with a light that was neither white nor gold, but a clear, raw, honest transparency that promised not erasure, but rebirth.
Scene 4 – The Light That Unwrote
With trembling fingers, Souta's glow spread outward as he looked first to Ai's tear-streaked reflection trapped behind a fragile veil.
"I undo the world where you die," he whispered.
Then, turning toward Ruby, he vowed, "I undo the future where you cry alone."
Softly, he reached for Aqua as well:
"I undo the fate that breaks you before you can grow."
And finally, in a voice brimming with both sorrow and hope, he finished, "I undo the story where I lose all of you."
In that sacred act, it was as if his very chest opened—not with physical pain, but with the pure release of spirit. From deep within emerged a single, shimmering thread: his core fate. Not wrenched by force, but rewritten through the gentle power of truth.
Scene 5 – The World Reformed
Slowly, as if rewinding the course of a heart-rending reel, the flames receded. The scorched streets rebuilt themselves and the overhead darkness gave way to a tender, blue sky.
The timer hit 00.0.
Yet even as it faded, the clock's red urgency melted into a constellation of soft stars—a reminder that every ending holds the seed of a new beginning. The trial world crumbled, not from unyielding violence, but from the completion of a painful transformation.
Now, suspended in this serene space, Souta floated alone—until gods emerged in an ethereal circle overhead. The being of silence stepped forward and intoned,
"You have passed the Trial of Infinity.
You did not destroy us.
You did not overwrite destiny.
You chose to rewrite only yourself."
A path of stars unfurled behind them, whispering promises of renewal. "You may return… with more than you came."
Scene 6 – Return of the Third Child
May 18, 2011 – 8:23 AM – Hoshino Residence
Back home, the morning was a gentle rousing of a once-chaotic day. Ai dropped her spoon in shock, Aqua jolted upright, and Ruby's hand flew to her mouth in disbelief as Souta stood in the doorway, a soft smile illuminating his face like the first rays of sunrise.
"I'm back," he said, his voice tender and weary.
Happy, ever playful and comforting, materialized beside him, licking a paw as if to seal an unspoken promise. One by one, Ruby rushed to tackle him, Aqua enveloped him in a protective embrace, and Ai gathered them all into a warm, tearful circle.
Through choked whispers, Ai murmured, "You weren't supposed to carry that alone."
Souta's smile wavered with both regret and gratitude as he replied, "I didn't. You were with me in every step."
Scene 7 – The Eyes That Watch
Far across the boundless reaches of the universe, in a realm so remote that even the gods dared not tread, two glowing red eyes flickered open in the void. Peering through a mirror stained with crimson memory, they observed the Hoshino home with a cold, calculating intensity.
"He grows faster than the timelines want…" a voice murmured darkly.
"…Shall we interfere?" came another, low and echoing.
A deep, resonant voice then answered, "Not yet."
As the viewing mirror cracked, the ominous promise of what might come lingered—a silent vow that the watchful eyes would see all of fate unfold.
To Be Continued in Chapter 66 – The Red-Eyed Watcher