The clock has rewound, but the weight of memory hasn't.
Vspo! streamer Yakumo Beni dies on a rain-soaked crossing in Shibuya—only to open her eyes three months in the past, every heartbreak and headline still burning fresh in her mind. A friend's hidden illness. A flame war that breaks a gentle heart. Her own death, ticking down somewhere on the calendar.
She remembers all of it. No one else remembers any of it.
With nothing but a notes app full of half-legible warnings and a mint-green strea
The Mint-Green Rewinder - The armor of perfectionism, an unreachable warning
Spring sunlight poured through the window glass.
The corridor of the Vspo! streaming studio was quiet. Only the low hum of the air conditioner was faintly audible.
Yakumo Beni was walking down that corridor.
(Today's the day. I'm gonna meet Hinano-senpai.)
Deep in her chest, her heart pounded like a drum. A thin layer of sweat had formed on her palms.
A week had passed since the day she took Nozomi to the hospital. The scream of that pregnant woman still lingered in the back of her ears. The pain in her right knee came back sometimes, as if remembering on its own.
But she couldn't afford to stop.
The next person she had to save was Tachibana Hinano.
In her previous life, her senpai had been caught in an SNS flame war and had her heart broken.
Beni stopped in front of the break room door.
One deep breath.
(I'm fine. I can do this.)
She opened the door.
"Oh, Beni. Weren't you off today?"
Hinano was sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee.
Straight black hair, long. Usually she wore it half-up, but today it was down. Her narrow blue eyes looked straight at Beni. Her gaze was intense. Just being looked at made you feel like straightening your spine.
Three piercings on her left ear. On her right wrist, a wristband — a commemorative prize from a past tournament.
She was about five foot five. Seven centimeters taller than Beni. Maybe that was why it felt like being looked down on.
"Senpai, there's something I want to talk to you about."
Beni sat down across from Hinano.
Hinano set her cup on the table. A small sound echoed through the quiet room.
"So formal. What's going on?"
Hinano's voice was calm. Cool, stoic, no wasted motion. Her usual voice.
But Beni knew.
This person's strength wasn't real strength.
It was armor. Armor to hide her weakness.
In her previous life, that armor had been smashed apart by slander on SNS. The result of constantly pushing herself to be perfect.
(Not this time. I won't let that happen.)
Beni opened her mouth.
"Lately, the comments on SNS and the distance between you and your fans — are you okay with all that?"
Hinano furrowed her brow just slightly.
"What are you talking about? Out of nowhere."
"Um... lately the vibe on SNS has been kind of off, and there are more weird people among the fans, I guess..."
The words wouldn't come out right.
She couldn't just tell her about the memories from her previous life. If she said "you're going to get flamed," she'd be seen as some kind of prophet.
"So, um, I just want you to be careful. With replying to comments, and DMs, and stuff."
Hinano stared into Beni's eyes.
Her blue eyes narrowed, probing.
"Beni. Do you know something?"
That one sentence made Beni's heart jump.
"Huh... no, it's not like I know something..."
"Then why do you look so desperate?"
Hinano lifted her cup and took a sip of coffee.
"You worry too much. I'm not the type to care about that stuff."
She laughed it off.
But behind that smile, something cold remained.
(No good. She's suspicious.)
Beni clenched her fists on her lap.
Her nails dug into her palms.
"But, senpai. Please, really be careful. Especially around May."
The moment she said it, she knew she'd messed up.
"May?"
Hinano's voice dropped a notch.
"Why May?"
"Uh, um, that's..."
The words caught in her throat.
Inside her head, alarms were blaring.
(Crap. Crap. I dug my own grave.)
Hinano set down her cup and crossed her arms.
"Beni. You've been acting strange lately."
"S-strange? That's not true."
"You forced Nozomi to go to the hospital too, didn't you? What was that about?"
At the mention of Nozomi, Beni bit her lip.
She'd found Nozomi's illness because she already knew about it. But there was no way to explain that.
"That was... because I was worried about Nozomi's health."
"How did you know? Even Nozomi herself hadn't noticed."
Hinano's pursuit was sharp.
No escape route.
"That was... intuition."
"You take someone to the hospital on intuition?"
Silence.
Only the sound of the air conditioner, unbearably loud.
Hinano let out a small sigh.
"Well, I'm glad Nozomi was saved. But your behavior — from the outside, it looks creepy."
Creepy.
The word stabbed into her chest.
"Besides, worrying about my SNS is none of your business. I do things my own way."
Hinano stood up.
"Anyway, I need to get ready for my stream."
"Senpai..."
"Beni. I appreciate that you're worried. But that 'I'm hiding something' face of yours — I don't enjoy looking at it."
Hinano left the break room with those words.
The sound of the door closing.
Beni sat on the sofa, unable to move.
(I failed.)
She bit her lip.
The taste of iron spread through her mouth.
(I made senpai distrust me.)
Beni covered her face with both hands.
Through the gaps in her fingers, the fluorescent lights on the ceiling blurred.
——
That afternoon.
Beni was in the studio's editing room, checking videos with Nozomi.
"Beni-chan, are you okay? You look pale."
Nozomi peered at Beni's face with concern.
Soft chestnut medium hair. Two side-tails. Droopy brown eyes. A tear mole under her left eye.
Today she wore a light pink cardigan. On her lap sat her usual teddy bear plushie, Nontan.
"I'm fine. Just a little short on sleep."
Beni laughed it off.
But Nozomi didn't look convinced.
"Don't push yourself. Nozomi doesn't want anything to happen to you, Beni-chan."
Nozomi's hand gently touched Beni's.
Warm.
That warmth hurt, just a little, right now.
(I'm supposed to be protecting everyone, and I'm making her worry.)
"I'm really fine. More importantly, how's your health?"
"Yeah, no problems so far. Dr. Kashiwagi said the progress looks good too."
Nozomi went, ehehe, and smiled.
"It's all thanks to you, Beni-chan. Thank you, really."
That smile tightened something in Beni's chest.
(Thanks to me, huh...)
The scream of the pregnant woman in the hospital corridor flashed back.
The price of saving Nozomi.
Someone else had been hurt.
(Even so — I want to believe I wasn't wrong.)
Beni squeezed Nozomi's hand back.
"As long as you're okay, Nozomi, that's all that matters."
——
Evening.
Beni was alone in the studio break room, staring at her phone.
The conversation with Hinano wouldn't leave her head.
'That "I'm hiding something" face of yours — I don't enjoy looking at it.'
(Hiding-something face, huh.)
Of course.
She was hiding things.
That she'd died and come back.
That she knew the future.
All of it, hidden.
But if she didn't hide it, she'd be seen as even creepier.
(What do I have to do to be believed?)
Beni sighed.
That's when it happened.
The break room door opened quietly.
"Ah... Hinano-senpai."
It was Hinano who walked in.
She must have just finished streaming — her face looked a little tired.
"Beni. You're still here."
Hinano sat down across from Beni.
She glanced at the coffee maker, then stood up.
"Want some?"
"Huh... ah, yes. Thank you."
Hinano deftly brewed the coffee and placed a cup in front of Beni.
Steam curled upward.
"Sorry for being harsh earlier."
Hinano said it quietly.
"No, I'm the one who said weird things. I'm sorry."
"I know you're worried about me. But I have my own way of fighting."
Hinano took a sip of coffee.
"As the ace, I have to keep producing results. I can't afford to show weakness."
At those words, Beni looked up.
Hinano's expression was cool, as always.
But deep in her voice, just a little exhaustion showed.
"If I make a mistake, it causes trouble for the team. Fans drift away. So I have to be perfect."
Hinano looked out the window.
The sunset was sinking into the gaps between the buildings.
Orange light illuminated Hinano's profile.
(This person — she's been fighting alone this whole time.)
Something burned deep in Beni's chest.
In her previous life, when Hinano got flamed.
There was no one to support her.
Her perfectionist armor was smashed apart by slander on SNS, and her heart broke.
(This time, I'll be the one to support her.)
"Senpai, it's okay to show weakness."
Before she knew it, the words had left her mouth.
Hinano's eyes widened for just a moment, then she smiled.
"How naive."
One word, and she was cut off.
"If you show weakness, that's the end. That's how I've lived my life."
Hinano set down her cup and stood.
"Thanks for the coffee. See you, Beni."
"Senpai..."
Hinano left the break room without looking back.
The door closed.
Beni was left alone.
The steam from the coffee had already faded.
"...No good. It's not reaching her at all."
Beni bit her lip.
The taste of iron spread through her mouth again.
(Senpai's armor is way thicker than I thought.)
——
That night.
Beni returned to her apartment.
She unlocked the door and stepped inside.
Turned on the light, collapsed onto the bed.
Stared at the ceiling.
The fluorescent light blurred softly.
(I'm exhausted.)
Her body felt heavy as lead.
Her right knee throbbed.
Her left pinky still felt wrong.
Beni pulled out her phone.
Opened the notes app.
'Nozomi hospital success代价 pregnant woman'
'Hinano warning failed distrust'
She wrote that far, and her finger stopped.
That's when it happened.
Bzzz.
Her phone vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
One message.
'What you are doing is distorting the world.'
Her heart jumped.
(Again...)
Beni hurriedly looked out the window.
Through the gap in the curtains, she could see the streetlight.
No figure.
The man in the black coat was nowhere.
But she was being watched. Definitely.
That sensation clung to her back.
"Who are you... What are you?"
Beni clutched her phone and couldn't move for a while.
——
The next morning.
Beni stood in front of the bathroom mirror.
Washed her face, brushed her teeth, fixed her hair.
Her mint-green long hair shimmered in the morning light.
The choker at her neck. The star-shaped earring on her left ear. The thin string bracelet on her right wrist.
Her usual self.
(I'm fine. Today, I'm still me.)
She thought that, and tried to look away from the mirror.
—Something was off.
Beni looked at her left hand.
The back.
The back of her hand.
The color of the wall behind it was showing through.
Just barely.
The white of the white wall.
It was faintly visible through the back of her hand.
"...What?"
Beni brought her left hand closer to the mirror.
It was transparent.
No mistake.
The outline of the back of her hand was blurry.
The wall's color mixed with her skin's color, growing thin.
"Why... Why is this happening?"
Beni touched the back of her left hand with her right.
There was sensation.
Cold.
It was definitely there.
And yet, visually, it was thin.
"No... No no no."
Beni crumpled to the floor in front of the mirror.
The strength left her legs.
It wasn't just her pinky.
Now the back of her hand.
She was starting to disappear.
Her body was starting to disappear.
"Am I... going to vanish...?"
Her voice trembled.
Tears spilled.
The reflection in the mirror was crying.
Her thinned left hand tried to wipe the tears, and grasped at air.
——
How long had she been like that?
Beni slowly stood up.
She gripped the sink, took a deep breath.
One. Two. Three.
The tears wouldn't stop.
But she couldn't stay collapsed.
Beni pulled out her phone.
Opened the notes app.
With trembling fingers, she typed.
'Hinano-senpai warning failed. Bought distrust instead. Back of left hand started turning transparent.'
She wrote that far, and her finger stopped.
(It's not over yet.)
Beni took another deep breath.
"It's not over yet. There has to be a way to protect senpai."
She murmured it aloud.
Her trembling voice grew just a little stronger.
(What do I need to do to earn senpai's trust?)
(What's the root of senpai's pressure?)
Beni looked at the mirror.
Her thinned left hand was still there.
(Even if my body disappears, I'll do what I have to do.)
(That's the path I chose.)
Beni clenched her fist.
The back of her
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