High school student Kaito rewinds time to save his childhood friend IRyS, who was supposed to have died.
Just as the world is consumed by the Void Mist and all seems lost, a black-winged angel named IRyS falls from the sky before Kaito's eyes. Called the 'Savior,' IRyS was betrayed by the people she tried to protect. They branded her a demon's pawn, and they killed her.
In his moment of despair, Kaito screams—and a black clock appears in his hand. Trapped together in a frozen moment, IRyS asks
Hollow Reload: Saving the Dark Angel - The Void Mist and the Black Clock
The sky was painted white.
No. Not white. Deeper. The color of nothing. The Void Mist—that's what everyone called it. About two hundred years ago, the mist rose simultaneously across the globe. Twelve percent of the population vanished. That's what the history books said. Now, the city of Tobari was completely swallowed by it.
Streetlights. Traffic signals. The convenience store sign. All dead. No human voices. Not for days.
"...Heh."
A dry laugh escaped.
Walking through the mist. My uniform shirt was gray now. Sweat and dust. Only the emblem on the left chest proved it was from Tobari North High. My black hair was tied back in a small knot. At least that kept it off my neck.
A man stood in the middle of the road. A salaryman in a suit. But his eyes were wrong. The light had drained from his pupils. Glass marbles.
A human whose emotions had been dissolved by the Void Mist.
Not even human anymore. Alive or dead—didn't matter. I could end up the same way any time.
"You think so too, right?"
I spoke to the salaryman. No answer. I knew that.
I narrowed my brown eyes and looked up at the sky. Kaito.
Nothing to see. Just white emptiness.
My heart thumped. Loud.
A face surfaced. My childhood friend. Long silver-white hair in a loose braid. Deep violet eyes that glowed blue in the night mist.
Iris.
The one person I couldn't protect.
"...Damn it."
Heat rose in my throat.
Iris was a Savior. Chosen by Pharos—an international organization—to quell the mist. A compatible candidate. One in millions. Maybe.
But they killed her.
Called her a devil's pawn.
Her guards—chosen to protect the Savior—turned on her.
I couldn't do anything.
Just watched.
Just screamed.
I glanced at my left wrist. A faint mark. Like a clock hand. I didn't know when it appeared. Staring at it made me feel utterly pathetic.
"...My life doesn't matter anyway."
A small mutter.
Not afraid to die. Afraid of ending up powerless again.
If I could redo it.
If I could go back to that day. That moment.
This time—
That's when it happened.
The sky cracked.
The white curtain of mist tore open. Something fell from beyond. A human-shaped thing with black wings spread wide.
"...Iris!"
I shouted.
My legs moved on their own. Sprinting through the ruined shopping district. Leaping over a fallen vending machine. Crushing glass shards underfoot. Running toward the falling shadow.
A heavy thud.
She had fallen at the edge of a parking lot.
Her wings were broken. The right wing bent at a grotesque angle. Black feathers scattered around it.
"Iris!"
I rushed to her. Lifted her up.
Her white dress was dyed crimson. A deep stab wound in her abdomen. Blood gushed out. My hands. My uniform. Slick and sticky in seconds.
Her long eyelashes trembled.
Violet eyes slowly opened.
"Kai...to."
Her voice was hoarse.
"Don't talk! I'll save you."
I said it. But I had nothing. No bandages. No medicine. No way to call an ambulance. The mist had taken everything.
"No... it's no use."
Iris smiled. A crumpled, tearful smile.
"Everyone said I was a devil's pawn... Pendulum—those people—they manipulated everyone..."
"Pendulum?"
I'd heard the name. A dangerous secret society. They worshipped the mist as humanity's evolution. Rumored to lurk behind Pharos. Maybe.
"I'm a Savior... I just wanted to protect everyone..."
Her hand touched my cheek. Her fingertips were ice-cold.
Memories flashed through my mind.
A year ago. The day Iris was chosen as Savior.
On the rooftop of Tobari North High. Looking at the sea. Smiling anxiously. "Do you think I can do it?"
The next day, she changed. Never showed weakness again. Surrounded by guards like Shunya. It felt like she'd gone somewhere far away.
She never told me anything.
Carried it all alone.
"...I'm sorry."
The words slipped out before I knew it.
"I'm sorry, Iris. I couldn't do anything."
Heat burned behind my eyes.
"No... it's not your fault, Kaito."
Her breathing grew shallower.
No time left.
"I swore I'd protect you."
My voice shook.
"Back then. Now. I'm still..."
Powerless. Can't protect her. Losing her again. Right before my eyes.
No. I refuse.
Absolutely not.
I wanted to scream. My throat seized. No voice came. Instead, something surged from deep inside. Rage? Sorrow? Despair?
My heart burned. Abnormally hot.
—Click.
A sound.
A clock hand moving.
I looked at my right hand. I was gripping something. When did that happen?
In my palm lay a jet-black pocket watch. The face. The ornate rim. All painted in pure black. A single silver hand. Slowly rotating counterclockwise.
"What... is this?"
That moment.
The world stopped.
The wind. The distant drift of mist. A drop of blood on the ground. Everything froze completely. A tear on Iris's eyelashes hung suspended in the air.
But she was different.
Iris slowly lifted her face.
Violet eyes looked straight at me.
"...Levoir Noir."
She whispered.
"The black clock... Kaito, you can turn back time."
"Turn back... time?"
I stared at the watch in my palm. The hand moved backward. Quietly. Steadily.
Iris smiled.
A real, tear-stained smile this time.
"Hey, Kaito... do you want to start over?"
Her voice dissolved into the frozen world.
Start over?
The answer was obvious.
"Yeah."
I nodded.
"This time, I'll protect you. For sure."
I gripped the watch with both hands. Tight. With all my strength.
In that instant, the world began to reverse.
Scenery melted. Time rewound. A high-pitched ringing in my ears. Images flooding my mind.
Iris laughing in the classroom.
Iris on the rooftop, wind in her hair.
Iris waving at me. A small gesture.
All of it. Rewinding.
Consciousness faded.
—Beep beep beep.
An electronic tone woke me.
My phone alarm blared on the bedside table. I checked the screen. The date. The day before the Void Mist swallowed everything.
"...Not a dream. Right?"
I sat up. Not an unfamiliar ceiling. My room. A 2LDK apartment in Tobari's residential district. Seagulls crying from the sea. A normal morning.
But different.
I opened my right hand.
The jet-black pocket watch—Levoir Noir—was still there. Cold. Heavy.
"I came back."
My heart pounded.
I threw on my uniform. Left one button of the white shirt undone. An old habit. I glanced at my left wrist. The clock-hand mark seemed darker than yesterday.
Didn't matter.
I'm going to school. To see Iris.
"Wait for me."
I muttered it and bolted out of the room.
Running up the slope. The sea breeze was lukewarm. A faint salt smell. Tobari was a port town. A harbor city in the southwest. This area was a hilly residential district. An old coffee shop stood near the station. Kagura. Where we used to gather. Me and the others.
Soon, the school building appeared on the hill.
Tobari North High.
Through the gate. Changed into indoor shoes at the lockers. Took the stairs two at a time to the second floor. My classroom.
The moment I stepped into the hallway—
Thud. A shoulder slammed into mine.
"...Sorry."
A tall male student. Short-cropped black hair with a bluish-silver tint. Gray eyes that looked silver in certain light. Chillingly expressionless.
Tall. Over ten centimeters taller than me.
And on his chest, a silver badge gleamed. Engraved with a black wing design.
The Wing Crest Badge.
A special identifier. Given only to the Savior's guards by Pharos.
This guy was—
"Shunya Kurosaki."
The name left my mouth naturally.
"...What?"
Expressionless. Gray eyes pierced through me.
I remembered. In the previous timeline, he was one of the guards who betrayed Iris. But not yet. Not now.
"You're Iris's guard."
Shunya's eyebrow twitched.
"I am. What of it?"
Flat voice. Unreadable.
"...No. Nothing."
I looked away.
Not an enemy. Not yet. And I didn't know why he betrayed her. In the previous timeline, I never got the chance to ask.
But this time was different.
I watched Shunya's back as he walked away. My resolve hardened.
No one has betrayed her yet.
Then there's only one thing to do.
Uncover the conspiracy.
Protect Iris with my own hands.
"...Wait for me, Iris."
A small mutter. I started walking again.
I opened the classroom door. Bright morning light streamed through the windows. Classmates laughing.
In that familiar everyday scene, she was there.
By the window. Long silver-white hair swaying. Smiling at me.
Deep violet eyes sparkled in the light.
"Good morning, Kaito."
That voice seeped into my chest.
Yeah. I made it back.
"...Morning."
My right hand gripped the black watch in my pocket.
The cold sensation told me this was real.
This time.
This time, I'll protect you. I swear it.
Outside the window, no sign of mist yet. The sea of Tobari shimmered quietly.
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