Sena, Another Sky: On the Road You Didn't Take - The Three Avatars of the Boundary Realm — A Choice No One Makes
The stone steps of the shrine were colder than I expected.
The chill hardness seeped directly through my pants. The air was damp, carrying a faint scent of incense.
Shirosaki Haruto sat down on the hundred-and-eighth step.
(*I really came, huh.*)
Above his head, Kapimaru was watching him with worry. The fluffy white fur seemed to glow faintly in the darkness.
" Are you really going? You can still turn back, you know."
" Yeah. I'm going."
Haruto stood up.
Before him stood the torii gate of Minatozaka Shrine.
But it was no longer an ordinary torii gate.
*Warp.*
Space was distorting. The scenery beyond the gate was melting into a chaotic mess, wavering unsteadily. Like paint submerged in water, colors and shapes blended together, writhing.
The air stung.
A sensation like static electricity, prickling against the skin.
" The boundary is getting incredibly thin. In a few more hours, maybe..."
" That's why now is the only time, right?"
Haruto stood before the torii gate.
His heart was pounding so hard it was almost deafening.
(*I'm scared.*)
Honestly, he was terrified.
But.
(*I can't afford to say I'm scared.*)
Sena's tear-streaked face surfaced in his mind.
Ren's unwavering eyes.
Akira-senpai's cold, yet somehow sorrowful voice.
Everyone was suffering because of him.
Because he was indecisive.
Because he couldn't choose anyone.
(*Then I have no choice but to do this, right?*)
It'll be fine.
He told himself that.
Haruto took a step forward.
His body was sucked into the distortion of the torii gate.
" Haruto! Don't push yourself! Let's go back after all—"
Kapimaru's voice grew distant.
*Warp.*
The world flipped upside down.
Up and down vanished.
Right and left, front and back—everything jumbled together, and he had no idea where he was or which way he was facing.
His body felt like it was about to scatter into pieces.
For a moment, an intense floating sensation.
Like the stomach-lifting drop on a roller coaster, his insides floated up.
And then—.
*Whoosh.*
Light.
Blinding, pure white light filled his entire field of vision.
"Whoa—!"
Haruto shielded his face with both hands.
Even the back of his eyelids was white; he couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed.
...How long had he been like that?
Slowly, the light began to settle.
Haruto timidly opened his eyes.
"Huh...?"
Where—was this?
Everything around him was pure white.
A pure white floor.
A pure white ceiling.
Pure white walls.
He couldn't even tell if they existed or not.
Just an infinite expanse of white space.
Only his own shadow fell darkly at his feet.
"Kapimaru...?"
There was no reply.
Haruto looked at his own hands.
They were there. His own hands. He could clench and open them. He could feel his fingers.
(*But... something's off.*)
A strange sensation, as if he wasn't quite himself.
" —Yo."
A voice.
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Haruto spun around.
" Wha—..."
Words failed him.
Standing there was—.
The same face as me.
The same clothes as me.
The same hairstyle as me.
But the atmosphere was slightly different.
Gentle eyes.
A soft, troubled smile.
Another Haruto, wrapped in an aura like that of a kind older brother.
" So you're me. The original me."
" —I've been waiting."
Another voice spoke.
This time from the opposite side.
When Haruto turned toward it—.
There was another one.
This time, a Haruto with burning eyes.
Clenching his fists tightly, staring straight at him.
A passionate Haruto, possessing an unbreakable, strong will that would never yield, no matter what.
" So you're the original. I've been waiting."
" Eh, eh, eh...!? Wait a minute! Two!? There are two of me!?"
Haruto couldn't help but shout.
His mind was a mess.
He couldn't comprehend the situation at all.
" Yeah, it seems that way. I'm the Haruto who chose to be with Sena in the main timeline."
The main-timeline Haruto said quietly.
When he spoke the name Sena, his eyes clouded faintly.
" I'm the Haruto who chose to save Ren and Akira in the *if* world."
The *if*-world Haruto said powerfully.
The moment the names Ren and Akira left his mouth, his voice filled with heat.
" You are the original Haruto, who hasn't chosen either yet."
" We are the 'what-if possibilities' within you."
Haruto stumbled a step backward.
(*A dream?*)
(*Is this a dream?*)
But the sensations were too real.
The feeling of the soles of his feet pressing against the white floor.
The sound of his own breathing.
His heart was pounding annoyingly loud.
" Sena is crying because of me."
The main-timeline Haruto suddenly spoke up.
His gentle eyes narrowed sadly.
" She's trying to withdraw herself. Trying to sacrifice herself to make things easier for me. ...I can't forgive that. I absolutely refuse to accept Sena's self-sacrifice. I don't want to lose her smile."
His voice held quiet anger and deep affection.
" Sena is kind. Too kind. So she suppresses her own feelings and smiles... for my sake. That's wrong. It's absolutely wrong...!"
Haruto was at a loss for words.
That's right.
Sena was that kind of person.
Whenever he was troubled, she always put herself second and prioritized him.
That kindness now felt painful instead.
" But does that mean you can betray Ren and Akira!?"
This time, the *if*-world Haruto shouted.
His burning eyes blazed with anger.
" Without me, Ren would have lost karate and all hope! He was saved by me! If I hadn't told him 'It's okay,' he would have—! And Akira too, he changed his ways because I was there! There's no way I can abandon them now!"
The *if*-world Haruto's voice sounded as if it was mixed with tears.
" Ren... he said, 'I'll protect you even if it kills me.' I still remember the first time he smiled. The reason he could do karate again and smile from the heart—was because I was there. For that me to betray him... I absolutely, absolutely can't...!"
Both Harutos looked at him simultaneously.
"Choose. Nothing can begin unless you choose."
"Choose. If you don't choose us, everyone will disappear."
The two voices overlapped.
Haruto shut his eyes tightly.
(*Choose?*)
(*Sena, or Ren and Akira?*)
(*Are you telling me to choose one or the other?*)
In his head, Sena's smile, Ren's serious face, and Akira's cold gaze spun around and around.
He loved them all.
They were all precious to him.
That's why.
" —No!!"
Haruto yelled at the top of his lungs.
Both Harutos looked at him with surprised faces.
" That's wrong! Why does it have to be one or the other!? I want to live with Sena, and Ren, and Akira—all of them! Choosing one person and making the others 'never happened'—that's absolutely wrong!"
Tears spilled out.
Hot droplets streamed down his cheeks.
" I won't choose anyone. I'll choose everyone! Isn't there a path where I can live with all of them!? I absolutely don't want a future where someone is crying!"
Haruto's shout was absorbed into the pure white space.
That's when it happened.
*Crack.*
A fissure ran through the space.
"Eh—"
A black crack spread across the white wall.
With a crackling sound, it expanded rapidly.
" This is bad! Haruto, three of you existing simultaneously violates the world's exclusion principle! The boundary predator will—"
Kapimaru's voice came from somewhere.
The next moment.
"—Found you."
*Slither.*
Something emerged from the depths of the crack.
Black.
A thick, viscous black mass.
Its form was unstable, writhing and squirming.
On its surface, countless eyes blinked open, all staring at him at once.
Fangs glistened wetly.
Hundreds of fangs grew from a gash that couldn't even be called a mouth.
" Wh-what is that—"
" A World Devourer...! A creature that feeds on boundary bugs! Run! If it touches you, your memories and existence will be completely devoured!"
The aberration moved.
With a single *throb*—.
Like a snake targeting its prey, it surged toward the three Harutos with terrifying speed.
" Run!!"
Haruto shouted instinctively.
The three Harutos broke into a sprint simultaneously.
---
Reality, Minatozaka Shrine.
The cold night air bit into the skin.
The torii gate was glowing eerily.
A flickering, pale blue light.
As if peering into water, the scenery beyond the gate appeared distorted.
"Haruto-kun..."
Sena stood frozen before the torii gate.
Her flaxen hair swayed gently in the night breeze.
Her large, sky-blue eyes were wide open, filled with anxiety.
The GPS on her phone had indicated Haruto's location was here.
"So you really did come here."
Just as Sena murmured in a trembling voice.
*Crunch.*
The sound of gravel being stepped on came from behind.
" ...So you came too."
With his jet-black hair flowing in the night wind, Kurose Ren stood there.
His deep indigo eyes pierced Sena coldly.
" Your wishy-washy kindness cornered Haruto. It's all your fault, isn't it?"
" Huh...?"
Sena's face stiffened.
" That's not true! That's not true at all! Aren't you the one pushing everything onto Haruto-kun, Ren-kun!?"
Sena raised her voice.
It was the first time the usually quiet Sena had bared her emotions like this.
" You're always like that, Ren-kun. You throw your feelings at Haruto-kun, pressure him to 'choose'... You don't understand at all how much he's suffering!"
" What did you say...!?"
Ren stepped forward.
The surgical scar on his right knee throbbed faintly.
" —Both of you have pretty selfish arguments."
A quiet, yet clear voice echoed through the shrine grounds.
Turning around, they saw Shiraishi Akira slowly climbing the stone steps.
His eyes were as cold as ever.
" Sena, you think 'it'll be fine if I just step aside.' That's the same as forcing the decision onto Haruto. Do you think Haruto will feel better if you choose a path that hurts you? You're just inflicting a deeper wound on him."
Sena gasped sharply.
" Ren, you say 'I'm hopeless without Haruto.' That's your dependency. Aren't you just treating Haruto like a savior and making him shoulder all the responsibility for your own life?"
" Akira, you bastard—!"
Ren moved to grab Akira by the collar.
" Stop it. I'm just stating facts. Both of you are just trying to make Haruto yours. Your jealousy and possessiveness are destroying the world. It's ugly. Hopelessly so."
Akira lightly brushed Ren's hand away.
A painfully heavy silence fell among the three of them.
Hatred for each other, jealousy, and helplessness swirled chaotically.
Tears welled up in Sena's eyes.
Ren's fists trembled with anger.
Akira just stared at the two of them coldly.
Everyone wanted to save Haruto.
That feeling alone was the same.
Yet, they couldn't manage to get on the same page.
---
" Damn it, damn it!"
Inside the boundary realm.
Haruto and the others were running desperately.
Through a space without up or down, left or right, they fled as if tumbling, as if swimming.
The aberration was closing in right behind them.
"■■■■!!"
A scream that didn't form words.
A black tentacle lashed out like a whip, aiming for the *if*-world Haruto.
" Whoa—!!"
He couldn't dodge it completely.
The tentacle wrapped around the *if*-world Haruto's right arm.
*ZAP!!*
A sound and flash like static electricity.
"Gaaaaahhh!!"
The *if*-world Haruto's right arm—vanished.
From the elbow down, it was simply gone.
From the severed cross-section, instead of blood, particles of light sparkled and spilled out.
And then—.
Something vanished from inside Haruto's head.
Behind the gymnasium.
The day Ren first showed weakness.
*'I... can't do karate anymore...'*
*'Don't give up! It'll be fine!'*
The weight of Ren as he dragged him to the dojo that day.
*'I'll protect you... even if it kills me.'*
Ren's face when he said that and smiled.
Those memories, though his own, were rapidly fading.
" Ah, ahh... Ren, Ren... I remember, but... huh...?"
Haruto clutched his head.
The sensation of precious memories with Ren slipping through his fingers like sand.
(*No, no, no
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