Morning at Seagull Wharf smelled like tide. Just that was enough. Harumichi felt tears coming. One year. Couldn't come here. The wharf air. Wave sounds. Rust smell. All of it stuck to Ren's death. So he couldn't come. But not now. Not today. Today, Ren wasn't dead yet. Opening the sliding door to Warehouse 3. Members scattered inside. One on the sofa, phone glowing. One digging through the tool rack. One staring at a route map on the whiteboard. Garwing's usual morning. Lights on. No dust on the sofa. Whiteboard ink still fresh. (This place is still alive.) Harumichi stood in the doorway. Watching. Then. Engine sound from outside. "Let's go——!!" The sliding door kicked open. Metal screamed. The warehouse air shook. Kisaragi Ren walked in. Blonde short hair tousled slightly by wind. Light blue eyes glittering. Smiling. Silver piercing in his left ear caught the fluorescent light. "[excited]Oi, what time's the meeting today? I'm starving. Can I hit up Marusen first?" A few warehouse members laughed. "Again?" "Too early." "Ren does this every time." Harumichi couldn't move. Just stared at Ren's face. One year. Hadn't heard Ren's voice. Hadn't seen Ren's smile. Hadn't seen that stupid energetic entrance in so long. Memory-Ren was always at the night pass. In front of the cliff. A disappearing back. But present-Ren was here. "[excited]Huh? Harumichi, what's wrong?" Ren came closer. Peered at Harumichi's face. Light blue eyes looking straight at him. "[surprised]Your face looks scary. Something happen?" Harumichi opened his mouth. Nothing came out. "[serious]……Nothing." Ren stared at Harumichi's face for three seconds. Then tilted his head slightly. Didn't believe him. But didn't push. "[gentle]I see. Well, whatever." Ren turned back to the members. "Let's grab food before the meeting! Marusen's fried horse mackerel!" Laughter erupted again. Harumichi clenched his back teeth. His hands trembled slightly. 　　　＊ Past noon. Harumichi straddled his bike alone. Destination: Tatsumi Pass. Tatsumi Pass. North of Minato Saki City. Prefecture road cutting through Aoba Mountains. Twelve kilometers total. Three hundred fifty meters elevation gain. Seventeen hairpin curves. Road maintenance lacking. Cracks and gaps everywhere. Three kilometers of cliff section from midway up. Maximum depth: sixty meters. Old guardrail, seventy centimeters high. Hit it with a bike, it breaks easy. Three people dead here in five years. Harumichi rode slow. Entering the cliff section. Air along the cliff edge felt cold. Left side: guardrail, then cliff. Look down and tree tops looked tiny. Check the road surface. Dry. Clean. No oil. Of course not. Takamura plants it on race day. Harumichi knew from post-timeloop memories. Nothing yet. But when oil hits this road, it becomes a trap instantly. Curve 7 approaching. Pulled the bike to the shoulder. Stopped. Narrow shoulder. Outside: guardrail, then cliff. Harumichi didn't remove his helmet. Looked down the cliff. Sixty meters. Trees below. Rocks. Ren fell here. Oil on the road. Couldn't make the curve. Broke through the guardrail. Fell with the bike. Transported to Minato Saki Central Hospital but on arrival already—— Harumichi touched the guardrail rust with his finger. Cold. Thin. Really thin iron. Just this one sheet. And here, Harumichi thought of something else. Retracing pre-timeloop memories carefully. Why did Ren decide to enter this race? Provocation. From Grauben's side. Calculated from the start, knowing Ren's personality. Ren had guts. Reckless. Say "scared?" and he'd never back down. Takamura knew that. So he challenged Ren directly. "Heard someone from Garwing can't handle the cliff section." Ren said "Let's go" instantly. Takamura targeted Ren from the start. Not an accident. Murderous intent. But no evidence. Road oil washed away by rain. Takamura said nothing. Harumichi only had memories. Memories from the future after timeloop. Memories no one could prove. (What do I do?) Harumichi pulled his hand from the guardrail. Started the engine. Bike growled low. Get Ren out of the race. That's all. 　　　＊ Evening. Back at Warehouse 3. Ren was still there. After some members left, just Ren and Harumichi remained. Ren lay on the sofa, facing the ceiling. Playing with his phone. Same stupid posture as always. Harumichi stood in front of Ren. "[serious]Ren" "[gentle]What" Ren looked up from his phone. "[serious]Don't enter the next race" Ren's face froze slightly. Sat up from the sofa. Light blue eyes on Harumichi. "[surprised]……What do you mean" "[serious]It's dangerous. Don't do it" Ren stared at Harumichi's face. Seconds. Searching for something. "[gentle]Why suddenly. Give me a reason" Harumichi opened his mouth. Got stuck. What could he say? Tell him about the timeloop? Say you'll die in ten days? Say Takamura's spreading oil on the road? Can't. No evidence. Won't believe it. Before that——when Harumichi told Ren something like that, what would Ren do? Might charge straight at Takamura. Situation changes. Gets worse. "[serious]……Because it's dangerous" Ren watched Harumichi for a while. Then slowly smiled. But this smile was different from usual. Troubled somehow. But soft. "[gentle]I get why you'd say that. I know you're worried. But——" Ren stood up. Five centimeters taller than Harumichi. "[serious]Running away isn't who I am" Straight eyes. Smiling but serious eyes. "[gentle]I get that you're worried. But if I back down, that's not me anymore. That's what I'm saying" Harumichi wanted to say something. Words wouldn't come. He knew everything. What came next. Knew it. So wanted to stop it. But no words to stop it with. Ren tapped Harumichi's shoulder once. Light but solid weight. "[gentle]Let's eat. Marusen" Just that. Ren walked ahead. Harumichi watched his back. (Didn't reach him.) 　　　＊ Night. Harumichi entered Marusen alone. Separated from Ren. Ren met up with other members, walked a different direction. Harumichi walked alone toward Seagull Wharf but couldn't face going back to the warehouse. Ended up at Marusen instead. End of the counter. His usual spot. Maruyama came out in an apron. Tanned face. Short hair mixed with white. Glanced at Harumichi once. Said nothing. Started making fried horse mackerel set without being asked. Grateful for that. Set arrived. Two fried horse mackerel. White rice. Miso soup. Harumichi picked up his chopsticks. Didn't move them right away. Organizing pre-timeloop memories in his head. After Ren died. Garwing falling apart. Members leaving one by one. Their faces as they went. Then one day Harumichi realized——information was leaking. Garwing's internal talk reaching Grauben's side. Action timing. Meeting spots. Who was where when. It reached Takamura. A spy existed. Inside the team. Someone in Garwing feeding Takamura information. Noticing it in the previous timeline came too late. After Ren died. After the team collapsed. Already too late. This timeline, he knew. But——didn't know who. Harumichi poked the fried horse mackerel with his chopsticks. Maruyama wiped the counter, glanced at Harumichi. "[gentle]You eating okay" "[serious]……Yeah, I'm eating" "[gentle]Your face says you're not eating" Harumichi smiled weakly. Maruyama just said "Eat" and went back to the kitchen. Harumichi looked out the window. Shiokaze Street's night streetlights barely lit the concrete. Street was quiet. Wharf direction was dark. Right now Warehouse 3 might have someone. Members staying behind. Members laughing. One of them——feeding Takamura information. Faces from the warehouse flashed through his head one by one. The laughing one. The whiteboard-staring one. The tool-rack-digging one. Who. Harumichi set down his chopsticks. Half the fried horse mackerel remained. Lost appetite. Should he suspect Ren too——thought it for a second, killed it immediately. Ren was different. Ren nearly died in Takamura's trap. But then who? Harumichi didn't know. Didn't know but had to sit with smiling members. Someone was a traitor. But didn't know who. That someone might be gathering information right now. Race schedule. Garwing's movements. What Harumichi was thinking. Harumichi drank cold miso soup slowly. Outside the window, wind passed. Old sign on Shiokaze Street swayed slightly. Not even ten days until Tatsumi Pass. Couldn't convince Ren. Don't know the spy's identity. No evidence on Takamura. Only weapon: one year of memories. Harumichi stood slowly. Pulled 650 yen from his wallet. Placed it on the counter. "[serious]Thanks for the meal" "[gentle]Come again" Opened the door. Night air hit his face. Harumichi didn't look up at the sky. Looked down. Started walking. Toward the wharf. One thing repeating in his head. ——Have to find the spy. Before Ren dies. Before Takamura makes his move. Don't know who. But will find them. That was the first step. The only step Harumichi could take now.