Shibuya Hal was the leader of Neo-Porte and a man who kept protecting his friends. But his kindness was slowly shaving away his own life. One day, overwhelmed by a relentless streaming schedule and mental exhaustion, he collapsed. When he woke up, he found himself in a strange, pure-white space. There, a self-proclaimed 'Manager of Fate,' a girl named Chloe, appeared. She told him, 'You were supposed to die three months from now. But I want to give you a chance to do it over.' Hal laughed it off
Neo-Porte Regret: Shibuya Hal Dies Twice - The Collapse of Trust: The Closest Man Bares His Fangs
Fifth floor. The president's office.
Shibuya Haru opened the desk drawer.
He pulled out a crumpled equipment removal permit.
Unfolded it.
Approved by: Mitsurugi Rei. Date: Last Tuesday, late night.
Beside it, he placed a record from two years ago.
The disappearance of Sakura, an initial member.
The last day he came to the office. Around that time, Rei's late-night shifts had increased to more than three times a week.
The numbers clearly showed the truth.
(No doubt about it.)
Haru clenched his fist.
The old wristband on his right wrist soaked up sweat, cold against his skin.
Three years ago, the night they founded Neo-Porte.
Five of them at a small izakaya in Dogenzaka, vowing to reach the top together.
Everyone's smiles back then.
Rei's gentle smile.
(Was that smile all a lie?)
Something tightened deep in his chest.
But he couldn't back down now.
To protect his comrades.
Haru picked up his phone.
Sent a message to Rei.
"Tonight, I need to talk. President's office. Come."
Sent.
Read receipt came immediately.
No reply.
Haru looked out the window.
Shibuya was dyed in twilight.
Crowds crossed the scramble intersection.
No one knew Haru's loneliness.
No one knew what was about to happen.
——
Night came.
Neo-Porte headquarters. Fifth floor.
Half the hallway lights were on.
Haru opened the door to the president's office.
Inside was dark.
Shibuya's neon glow seeped faintly through the window.
A single sheet of paper on the desk.
The permit.
Haru stared at it.
(This ends everything.)
The sound of the door opening.
He turned around.
Mitsurugi Rei stood there.
Black hair in a precise seven-three part. Stiff with hair product.
Cold gray eyes.
A small piercing on his left ear.
He pushed up his glasses with his right hand.
The usual gesture.
But the air was different.
"Hey, Haru. Sorry to keep you waiting."
Rei's voice was calm, as always.
But his eyes weren't smiling.
"Rei. I'll ask you straight."
Haru thrust the permit from the desk in front of Rei.
"Was it you who deleted the equipment data?"
Rei looked at the permit in silence.
"Sakura two years ago... and Mina too..."
Haru's voice trembled.
"Was it all you?"
Silence.
A long, long silence.
Rei's lips moved slowly.
He was smiling.
But it was a smile Haru had never seen before. Cold.
"—So you finally noticed."
Rei's voice changed.
The calmness vanished.
A voice cold as ice.
"With you around, I can't move forward."
Haru stopped breathing.
"W-what are you saying..."
"When Neo-Porte was founded, I actually put up the most money. Forty-five percent of the total. You put up twenty at best."
Rei stepped closer to Haru.
"And yet, the one on stage was always you. Charisma? Don't make me laugh. You're just a hollow man that people happen to like."
"Stop it, Rei!"
"I want to be acknowledged. I'm the one suited to be president. You're in the way."
Rei's gray eyes glinted in the darkness.
"Sakura two years ago, and Takase Mina last week—all my doing."
Haru's mind went blank.
"Sakura noticed my money trail. So I erased him. Mina sniffed around where she shouldn't. So I erased her."
"Erased... you don't mean..."
"I didn't kill them. I just made sure they could never come back. In this industry, if you destroy someone's name, they vanish easily enough."
Rei sneered.
"People disappear from around you. You never notice. And even if you do, you can't do anything. You're incompetent."
Haru's fist trembled.
"Why go this far! We're comrades!"
He shouted.
His throat felt like it would tear.
"Comrades?"
Rei tilted his head.
"When you collapsed, I laughed deep inside. I thought my era had come. If you died, everything would be mine."
"—gh!"
Haru stepped forward.
But in that instant.
Bzzt.
Sharp pain.
His whole body seized up.
A stun gun.
Rei had been hiding it.
"You're always like this. You move on emotion. That's why you're so easy to read."
Haru crumpled to the floor.
His body wouldn't obey.
Then.
Throb.
Every old wound across his body erupted in pain at once.
The price of time-leaping.
In that pure white space, Chloe had said it.
'The wounds and exhaustion you suffered in life will assail you again and again.'
Now those words became reality.
"Guh... aah...!"
The pain made his vision burst white.
He couldn't move.
Not a single finger.
"Oh? Can't move? How convenient."
Rei looked down at Haru.
"Because you sat so comfortably in the president's seat, I endured. For three whole years."
Rei's shoe kicked Haru in the stomach.
Thud.
"Gah...!"
His organs felt like they flipped.
"I hated those eyes of yours. The ones that trust people."
Another hit.
A fist to the face.
Crack.
Blood sprayed from his nose.
"I hated those words of yours. 'I'll protect my comrades.' They made me sick."
Another hit.
Thud.
"You haven't protected anyone. Sakura, Mina—everyone vanished because of you."
Rei grabbed Haru's hair and yanked his face up.
"This is the end. Your era is over."
Rei slammed Haru's face into the floor.
Crack.
Blood spread across the floor.
Rei stood up.
Straightened his suit collar.
"Tomorrow, it'll be said you collapsed from overwork. Everyone will believe it. No one will believe you anymore."
Rei headed for the door.
Didn't look back.
"Goodbye, Haru."
The sound of the door closing.
Click.
Silence.
——
Haru lay on the floor, covered in blood.
His consciousness faded.
(Everyone... listen to me...)
No voice came out.
The taste of blood spread through his mouth.
(Rei... Rei is...)
His body was cold.
Death was near.
(Am I going to die?)
Chloe's words echoed in his head.
'Your death will not be undone.'
(So this is the price.)
(Can the fate of death not be changed?)
Tears mixed with blood and fell to the floor.
(I decided I would protect everyone.)
(And again, I can't protect anyone.)
His fingertip moved slightly.
His phone.
Buzzing in his pocket.
Haru gathered his last strength and gripped the phone.
The screen blurred.
Missed calls.
Tachibana Hinata.
Over and over, incoming calls.
With trembling fingers, Haru pressed the call button.
Click.
"Haru-kun! Where are you!? I've been so worried! Hey, can you hear me!?"
Hinata's voice.
Bright, energetic, Hinata's voice.
That voice, in the darkness, sounded like a single ray of light.
"Hinata..."
His voice was hoarse.
Blood caught in his throat.
"Haru-kun!? Your voice sounds wrong!? What happened!? Where are you!?"
Hinata's voice turned frantic.
"Rei..."
Haru forced it out.
"Rei... everyone..."
"Haru-kun!? What are you saying!? What about Rei-san!?"
"...Please."
His final words.
"Protect... everyone..."
Click.
The phone fell to the floor.
"Haru-kun!? Haru-kun!! Hey, answer me! Haru-kun!!!"
Hinata's scream echoed faintly from the speaker.
Haru's vision darkened.
His consciousness sank.
(Hinata... please...)
(Everyone...)
In the sea of blood, Haru quietly closed his eyes.
——
On the other end of the call.
The streets of Shibuya.
Tachibana Hinata stood frozen, clutching her phone.
"Haru-kun... Haru-kun..."
The tears wouldn't stop.
In her eyes, a look of resolve took hold.
"Wait for me... I'm coming now..."
Hinata started running.
To Neo-Porte headquarters.
Through the Shibuya night, she sprinted at full speed.
The light turned red.
She didn't care.
Car horns blared.
She didn't care.
Haru-kun. Haru-kun. Haru-kun.
Only that name repeated in her head.
——
Fifth floor. The president's office.
In the sea of blood, Haru was barely breathing.
The wristband on his right wrist was soaked in blood.
A memento the five of them bought three years ago.
Its fabric now kept absorbing Haru's blood.
Outside the window.
Shibuya's neon lights shone indifferently, as always.
No one knew what had happened in this room.
No one knew Haru's despair.
The quiet night deepened.
Haru's finger moved faintly.
(I can't... end here yet...)
At the bottom of his consciousness, something small was still burning.
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