Before dawn, Harumichi picked up his phone. Screen opens. Ren's chat. Typing. "We need to talk. Come to the pier in the morning." Send. Reply came in three seconds. " [surprised]Huh? What?" Harumichi set the phone down. Didn't respond. 　　　＊ Kamome Pier. The jetty. Morning light still thin. Sea gray. Waves low. Repeating. Salt smell heavy. Harumichi stood at the tip. Footsteps from behind. " [gentle]So what's this about, calling me out this early?" Ren came beside him. Stood parallel. Blonde hair swayed slightly in sea wind. Water-blue eyes on the sea. Silver piercing in left ear caught morning light. Harumichi couldn't speak. Still watching the sea. " [gentle]……You're not talking?" Ren turned. Looked at Harumichi's face. Harumichi stayed silent. Searching for words. Where to start. How to make him believe. He'd thought about it forever, but now in this moment, words were disappearing. " Ren." Finally. One word came out. " [gentle]What?" " I have memories from a year ahead." Silence. Wave came. Pulled back. Came again. Ren opened his mouth after a beat. " [laughing]……What? What did you just say?" " Time rewound. From a year later." Ren's face looked like it might laugh. " [sarcastic]You're seriously saying that?" Harumichi looked at Ren's face. Straight on. Direct. Ren's half-smile stopped. That's when he saw Harumichi's eyes were serious. Water-blue eyes. Laughter vanished. " ……Keep going." Harumichi talked. About the time loop. Waking up a year later. Finding himself back here. About Ren——falling off a cliff at the 7th curve of Tatsumi Pass. About Takamura planning to spread oil on the road. Glauben placing obstacles for route guidance. The script to provoke Ren. Draw him in. About Yajima being a spy. Feeding all of Harumichi's movements to Takamura. Harumichi's voice shook while talking. Tried to hold it back. Couldn't. " The hospital hallway was white." Voice got smaller. " I kept calling your name. No matter how many times. You never answered." Something blurred in his eyes. Tried to wipe it. Couldn't. Ren stayed silent. Watching the sea. Harumichi kept talking. How he couldn't do it alone. But couldn't tell anyone. How that broke his judgment completely. " So I'm telling you. You." Voice cracked. Long silence. Ren said nothing. Sea continued. Waves came and pulled back several times. Then Ren moved. Both hands out. Grabbed Harumichi's shoulders. Hard. Firm. " [serious]……You're an idiot." Voice slightly hoarse. " [serious]Why'd you carry it alone?" Ren's eyes were red. But his voice didn't waver. Still gripping Harumichi's shoulders, Ren faced forward. Looked at the sea. Then slowly turned his gaze back to Harumichi's face. " [serious]So let's go together. I'll smash every future you saw." Said it completely. Harumichi couldn't speak. Something loosened in his chest. A year's worth of something he'd held tight. 　　　＊ Ren released Harumichi's shoulders. Expression switched immediately. Thinking face. " [serious]So how exactly does Takamura's plan work?" Harumichi steadied his breath. Pulled up memories. " Oil spread on the cliff section the night before. Route guidance obstacles placed by Glauben members before the 6th curve. Provoke you. Draw you in." Ren put his hand on his chin. Listening silently. Watching his profile, Harumichi finally breathed easier. Not alone. That realization spread through his body. 　　　＊ Moved from the jetty to Warehouse 3. Ren grabbed the whiteboard marker. Harumichi traced memories while talking. Ren writes. Timing of oil spread workers. Placement of obstacles. How to provoke Ren. Glauben member positions. All information pulled from Harumichi's head laid out. Takamura's plan revealed how precisely it was constructed. Ren looked at the whiteboard. " [serious]This guy's insane." Then looked at Harumichi. " [serious]But it's all exposed now because of you." Harumichi looked at the whiteboard. " Problem is we don't have enough people. Need five or six to cover all points simultaneously." Ren thought for a moment. Then stood up. " [serious]I'll call them." " Wait." " [serious]You can bow your head later. I'm going first." Said it completely. Left the warehouse. Sliding door closed behind him. 　　　＊ Ren came back at dusk. From afternoon through evening, he'd gone directly to each member he couldn't reach. Waited outside a factory where one worked. Knocked on another's bedroom door. Ren spoke with a serious face. Not smiling. "Help Harumichi. We're Garwing, right?" Deep bow. Went to Yajima alone too. Yajima stood at the doorway. Wouldn't move. Head down. " [sad]Even if you come, I'm just trouble." Ren answered. " [serious]We'll figure out the debt thing with Harumichi later. Just come tonight." Long silence after. Yajima nodded. Evening. Harumichi's phone buzzed. Message from Ren. "Bringing everyone." Harumichi gripped his phone. Something in his chest ached. Slowly. 　　　＊ Night came. Warehouse 3's sliding door opened. One person enters. Another. Another. No one met eyes at first. In front of the sofa. By the tool shelf. Against the wall. Scattered. Warehouse filled with presence again. Yajima came in last. Stood small in the corner. Ren looked at everyone's faces. " [gentle]Thanks for coming." Then looked at Harumichi. Harumichi looked at each face. Takamura's trap. Oil spread at Tatsumi Pass. Ren being targeted. Skipped the detailed time loop talk. Just stated the fact: Takamura's moving tomorrow night to push Ren off a cliff. Members listened silently. Finished talking. Harumichi exhaled once. " Lend me your strength." Said quietly. First time asking anyone for help. Almost ever. Silence for seconds. Then someone spoke. " I'm in." One nodded. Another nodded. Next. Next. Yajima's shoulders shook in the corner. " [crying]Never again. I won't betray you again." Voice wrung out. Ren tapped Yajima's back once. Warehouse filled with presence. First time in a while. 　　　＊ Harumichi and Ren stood before the whiteboard. Started assigning roles. Squad to stop oil workers before the pass. Squad to remove route obstacles. Squad to run ahead of Ren. Keep him from taking the bait. Yajima took the role of reversing the information he'd given Takamura. Let Takamura think he still had eyes on Harumichi's movements. Move him tomorrow without knowing his spy intel got turned around. Every face showed tension and resolve. Harumichi writing tomorrow's timeline on the whiteboard. Ren stood quietly beside him. Voice so small no one else heard. Ren spoke. " [whispers]You carried all this alone for a year?" Harumichi nodded. That was his answer. Ren said nothing. Lightly bumped his fist against Harumichi's arm. Small contact. That's all. But that touch reached something in Harumichi's chest. A year's worth of untouched places. Harumichi looked at the whiteboard. Timeline laid out. Tomorrow night, people at each point. Every part of Takamura's plan. Now countered. Gotta do it. Those words weren't empty tonight. Wave sounds outside the warehouse. Kamome Pier's night sounds. Coming back here tomorrow. That's why. But——small and cold remained in one corner of his mind. If Takamura noticed his plan wasn't airtight anymore. If he noticed. He'd change moves. How, unreadable. The time loop memories might stop working. Scenarios beyond prediction. Looked at the whiteboard. Ren beside it. Marker in hand.