Gray Wings No Longer Needed ~I'll Protect Your Tomorrow~ - The First Price

The after-school chime rang in the distance. The light streaming through the classroom windows had already turned to evening colors. Orange light dyed the empty desks and chairs. Kanata sat at his window-side seat, staring at his phone. On the screen, that reverse-spinning hourglass. Modorino Tokei. The displayed news hadn't changed. *"Stabbing incident in front of Kawase Station, Minase City. Victim is a female high school student. Suspect currently at large."* The countdown below it ticked down relentlessly. 00:47:22 00:47:21 00:47:20 His heart pounded. Too loud. Deep in his chest, the throbbing wouldn't stop. Sweat slicked his palms. The phone nearly slipped. "...Is this really going to happen?" His own voice shook more than he expected. If this thing was real. If Yui, crying in that dream, was trying to tell him something. (*This time, I have to protect her.*) He stood. His chair fell back. A loud clatter echoed through the empty classroom. He looked out the window. Beyond the southern hills, the chimney of the old Kanemitsu Factory ruins cast its shadow. Crows cawed in the distance. Kanata shoved his phone into his pocket and bolted from the classroom. ◇◇◇ He pedaled his bike at full speed toward Kawase Station. Wind sliced past his ears. The April air was still cold. It stung his eyes. His uniform blazer flapped wildly. He cut along the Asase River path. The water sparkled in the sunset. Normally, he'd stop to admire it. Now, he just blew past. His mind was full of Yui. The lantern-floating festival they went to as kids. *"Let's promise. We'll always be together."* Yui's voice came back to him. *"Yeah. Promise."* His own reply echoed too. (*I couldn't keep it.*) That fight. Ten minutes late. The message: *"I'm done with you!"* That was it. Yui was gone. But now, right in front of him, someone else might get stabbed. (*This time, I'll make it.*) He crossed Midori Bridge. The tires jumped at the seams. The countdown was already under thirty minutes. ◇◇◇ He reached Kawase Station. He ditched his bike at the edge of the sidewalk and scanned the rotary. The station front was packed with the evening rush. Suited office workers. Housewives with shopping bags. Students heading home from clubs. None of them knew what was about to happen. They walked around, laughing carelessly. Kanata pulled out his phone. 00:12:08 00:12:07 Twelve minutes left. Where? Where's the culprit? His eyes darted. The flowerbed in the center of the rotary. The bench beside it. —That bench. The spot where Yui used to sit. After school, on her days off from the Fleur flower shop, Yui would sit there taking pictures of flowers. He'd be next to her, spacing out while eating a rice ball from the convenience store. Just that. An ordinary, nothing-special everyday life. But it would never come back. Kanata bit his lip. His teeth sank in. He tasted blood. Then. Something strange caught the edge of his vision. East side of the rotary. Near the entrance of Every Mart Kawase Station. A middle-aged man stood there. Wearing a coat. In April. A thick, black coat. His hair was a mess. His eyes were wrong. Unfocused. Darting around. And his right hand was shoved inside his coat. (*...That's him.*) Gut instinct. A cold sensation crawled up from his neck to his lower back. Kanata started running. ◇◇◇ The man's gaze was fixed on a young woman. Near the bench. Operating her phone. Waiting for someone. Early twenties, maybe. The bag on her shoulder swayed. She didn't notice. The man approaching from behind. His hand emerged from inside the coat. Clutching a fruit knife. A blade about fifteen centimeters long. Something you'd find in a kitchen. But the moment the tip glinted in the sunset, he knew it was a weapon. The people around them still hadn't noticed. Yui's crying face from the dream flashed through Kanata's mind. Tears streaming down. Desperately moving her mouth. Trying to tell him something. He couldn't hear her voice. But now, he understood. That was— "Help me." Kanata screamed. "Run!!" The man moved. He raised the knife and charged at the woman. Three steps. Two. One. The blade swung down. Kanata threw his whole body forward. He shoved the woman behind the bench. Her bag flew into the air. Its contents scattered. "Kyaaa!" The woman's scream. And then. *Crunch.* A searing impact tore through his side. At first, he didn't understand what happened. Just that one spot burned. Abnormally hot. Kanata tangled with the man and collapsed to the ground. His vision swayed. The man pulled the knife out. Blood. His own blood spread slowly across his uniform. Red. So red. "Ugh... ah..." A voiceless sound leaked out. The man, knife still in hand, fled into the crowd. "Someone! Someone call an ambulance!" Someone's shout. Kanata lay on his back, staring up at the sky. The sunset was painfully bright. Orange and pink mixed together. The color of the sky Yui loved. (*It hurts.*) (*But with this...*) Someone grabbed his hand. Probably the woman from before. He could feel her trembling. "Stay with me! I already called an ambulance!" Her voice was distant. Like he was underwater. Sounds muffled and dull. Kanata clutched the phone in his pocket. Inside his palm, that app kept running. Maybe the future could change. (*Please.*) (*Change.*) His consciousness slowly sank. ◇◇◇ The smell of antiseptic. Kanata lifted his heavy eyelids. White ceiling. Fluorescent light, blurry and dim. This place— "You're awake." A calm male voice. The curtain opened. A doctor in a white coat, maybe in his forties, walked in. "This is Minase City Hospital. You were stabbed in front of Kawase Station and brought in by ambulance. The wound was deep, but fortunately it didn't reach your organs. We've finished suturing. You should be able to get the stitches out in about two weeks." Explained in a matter-of-fact tone. Kanata touched his side. Bandaged. When he pressed with his finger, a dull pain spread. (*I'm alive.*) (*I'm actually alive.*) "...My phone." His voice was hoarse. His throat bone-dry. "Huh?" "My phone. Where is it?" The doctor—Katagiri, apparently—looked slightly surprised, then pointed to the side table. "Ah, it's right there. You kept clutching it even after you lost consciousness. We had a hard time prying it loose." Kanata forced his aching body up and grabbed the phone. He turned on the screen. His fingers trembled. He tapped the Modorino Tokei icon. The app opened. There— *"Stabbing incident in front of Kawase Station, Minase City. Male office worker (17) sustains minor injuries. Suspect currently at large."* The article had been rewritten. The victim wasn't a female high school student. Male office worker, age 17. —That's me. Kanata stared at the words for a long moment. The future had changed. That woman was safe. The stabbing itself still happened. But at least, the future where someone died had changed. "...Haha." Laughter bubbled up. Tears spilled over at the same time. They ran down his cheeks and fell onto the pillow. "Haha... hahaha..." The wound in his side ached. Every laugh sent a sharp, pulling pain. But he couldn't stop laughing. He'd changed it. The future. This app was real. (*Yui.*) (*I changed it.*) (*I changed the future.*) At the same time, fear surged up. Did something like this really exist? Who made it? For what purpose? And if he used it over and over—what would happen? His grip tightened on the phone. Sweat from his palm blurred the screen. ◇◇◇ Late night. Kanata was dreaming. A riverbank at sunset. The bank of the Asase River. The sky was a beautiful gradient of orange and purple. The smell of grass. The murmur of the river. And there, Yui was. Soft brown semi-long hair down to her shoulders. A small flower hairpin swaying on her left braid. She was crouching down, picking tiny flowers blooming on the bank. Gently pinching the stems with her fingertips. Gathering them carefully in her palm. "Yui." When he called out, she looked up. This time, she wasn't crying. That smile he loved so much. Her big, round, gentle light-brown eyes narrowed like crescent moons. On her right wrist, the same blue friendship bracelet as his. Faded. Worn out. But definitely there. Yui kept smiling and moved her mouth. No voice came out. But he could read her lips. *"Thank... you."* That's what she said. "Yui!" He tried to run to her. He reached out his hand. But he couldn't reach. The distance between them wouldn't shrink. Yui smiled one more time. And then— ◇◇◇ He woke up. The hospital room was dark. Outside the window, the moon was out. Kanata exhaled quietly. (*Yui.*) (*Thank you, she said...*) The phone by his pillow vibrated. A small buzzing sound. Kanata picked up the phone. A notification was displayed on the screen. The Modorino Tokei icon. Apparently, new news had been delivered. Kanata opened the app. It took a few seconds to process the words that jumped out at him. *"Tomorrow's News"* *"Gas explosion at the old Kanemitsu Factory ruins, southern Minase City. Two passersby caught in the blast and killed. Victims: Shiina Yuika (17) and one other."* Kanata's breath stopped. Shiina Yuika. Yui's real name. (*Yui is—going to die?*) (*Tomorrow?*) Even though he'd changed the future. Even though he'd taken the stabbing victim's place. And yet, Yui was going to die in a different way? Kanata trembled in his bed, clutching his phone. His wound ached. But he didn't care about that. "...What the hell." His voice shook. "What the hell!!" He almost hurled the phone at the wall. He held back. Instead, he crushed the sheets in his grip. He clenched them until his fingers turned white. (*One more time.*) (*If I go back one more time—*) At the bottom of the screen, a countdown started moving again. A new countdown. Time to change the next future. But then, the edge of Kanata's vision warped slightly. His right eye wouldn't focus. He rubbed his eyelids. Twice. Three times. Still, it was just a little blurry. (*...What?*) He looked at his hand. The hand holding the phone. His fingertips seemed just a little thinner. Maybe his imagination. But— (*Is this the price?*) There was no explanation for the app anywhere. But he knew. Instinctively. This app ran on some kind of sacrifice. His body. His lifespan. Something of his was being shaved away. Even so. Kanata stared at the countdown. 00:00:00 It hadn't started yet. But it would soon. The next future. How many hours until the future where Yui dies next? "...It's okay." He muttered it. The words that were Yui's habit. He said them to himself. "It's okay. I'll figure something out." Outside the window, the moon was about to hide behind the clouds. The darkness in the hospital room deepened just a little. Kanata kept clutching his phone, staring fixedly at the countdown screen. The old Kanemitsu Factory ruins. The place he went with Yui for a test of courage when they were kids. Inside the abandoned factory, there was graffiti drawn with glow-in-the-dark paint. Yui had laughed and said it was "pretty, like stars." A place like that. Yui was going to die there. He would never allow that future. (*I'll change it. No matter how many times.*) (*I'll protect her. No matter how many times it takes.*) There was no hesitation left in Kanata's eyes. Just protect her. If it meant that, he didn't care what happened to his body. The distortion in his right eye's vision seemed to spread a little wider. But Kanata ignored it. The phone screen glowed pale blue in the darkness of the hospital room. The reverse-spinning hourglass flickered. On and off. On and off.

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Episode 2

Name: Gray Wings No Longer Needed ~I'll Protect Your Tomorrow~
Author: Novelia

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