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 - Cross My Heart and Hope to Lie, and a Vow Renewed
Whispers echoed through the hallway.
Just around the corner where Shunya had bumped into him. Iris's classroom was right there.
"You hear? That person's doing the ritual tomorrow."
"For real? What if it fails?"
"You don't know? Forty years ago, a whole southern town vanished. Twelve thousand people."
Kaito's feet stopped.
Three boys huddled by the wall.
"Isn't that bad? If it fails again, Tobari's in trouble."
"Yeah. Our precious Savior better get it right."
"Right? Fail and she's just dead weight."
Laughter.
Kaito's right fist clenched.
(These bastards—)
Should he hit them? He thought about it. But he held back. No point causing a scene. And Iris's classroom was right there.
He moved forward.
Stood before the door marked Class 3-4. Opened it.
*Clatter.*
Wind blew through.
No one was there.
The cleaning bucket. The date on the blackboard. Everything left as it was. But the classroom sat empty.
A window was open. White curtains swayed gently.
The back row. Window seat.
Iris's desk.
He approached. Inside the desk, an envelope. A wing crest in wax. Pharos's mark. He pulled it out. Glanced inside.
*Mist-Returning Ritual: Final Confirmation*
In bold letters. Next to Iris's name: "Subject Number: M-077." Like she was a thing.
Heat spread deep in Kaito's chest.
(No. You're not a subject. You're Iris.)
He put the envelope back. Then raised his head.
Beyond the open window. Above the school building. Steel-frame shadows stretched.
The rooftop.
In the last timeline, she'd often been up there. When something felt wrong, she always was.
Kaito ran. Sprinted down the hall. Took the stairs three at a time. Breath ragged. Still, his feet didn't stop.
He stood before the rooftop door.
Old iron. Rusted reddish-brown. He gripped the handle. Cold.
He threw it open.
*Screeee—*
Blinding light.
Eyes narrowed, Kaito scanned the rooftop.
Beyond the chain-link fence, facing the harbor, she stood.
Long silver hair danced softly in the sea breeze. A small back, not even 158 centimeters. Tension in her shoulders. Hands clenched tight.
Iris.
The seventeen-year-old savior was there.
"...Kaito."
She turned. Her deep violet eyes narrowed against the light.
"Why are you here?"
Her voice was small. Fading at the edges.
Kaito scratched his head. Slowly. Deliberately. Like it was a hassle.
"No reason. You weren't in class. Came looking."
A lie. He hadn't just come from class. He'd rewound time itself. But he wasn't about to say that.
"Skipping tomorrow's prep? And you're the honor student. Pathetic."
Tossing out the jab, he stood beside her. Leaned against the fence.
The harbor came into view.
Tobari Port's cranes lined up. A cargo ship floated on the gray sea. No sign of mist over the southwestern port city today. The Veil Phenomenon. Occurring worldwide for two hundred years. The mist strengthened in cycles. At its worst, it covered the world as the "Mist of Nothingness." A white void that dissolved emotion. He'd seen it. In the last timeline.
"I'm not skipping. ...I just wanted to look. From up here."
Her words came in fragments. Voice trembling.
Her fingertips too.
Looking closely, her fingers on the fence shook faintly.
"...I'm scared."
She said it quietly.
"Tomorrow. The Mist-Returning Ritual. If I fail, it'll be like the Second Void-Mist Disaster again. That thing forty years ago. The town of Nagiri. Gone. Twelve thousand people died."
The wind tangled her silver hair.
"Since I was eight. That's all I've ever heard. 'Don't fail.' 'Don't die.' 'Save the world.'"
Her right hand gripped her left arm. Tight. Nails whitening.
"No one ever said, 'You're doing great.' No one asked, 'Are you okay?' Everyone looks at me with eyes full of expectation. Or fear. That's it..."
Her voice was wet.
"What even is a 'Savior'? Succeed and you're a saint. Fail and you're a sacrifice? I'm just seventeen... I just wanted to be a normal girl..."
Tears spilled.
The wind caught one. It landed on the back of Kaito's hand. Hot.
Kaito clenched his fist.
The blood-soaked Iris from the last timeline burned behind his eyes.
Broken wings. A knife buried deep in her abdomen. Blood spilling slick and warm. Staining the parking lot concrete red.
(I couldn't even say thank you. I'd decided to protect her. I decided that a long time ago.)
Heat rose behind his eyes.
Suddenly, Kaito grabbed Iris's right hand.
"Huh...?"
Her eyes went wide.
"You remember?"
He squeezed her pinky. Hard.
"Six years ago. Summer. Hikage Shrine. We made a pinky promise. You didn't forget."
Iris's throat moved slightly.
"Pinky promise—"
He said it in one breath.
"If you lie, swallow a thousand needles. I'll protect you. No matter how much the world hates you, I'll never abandon you. ...That's what I decided back then."
"Kaito..."
"So I'm saying it. Even if you die, I'll rewind. As many times as it takes. So stop carrying everything alone."
At those words, Iris couldn't hold back anymore.
Large tears fell one after another onto the neglected rooftop floor.
"...I don't want to swallow a thousand needles."
She said it with a crumpled smile. Then wrapped her pinky around his.
Her pale, slender finger squeezed Kaito's. Tight.
Warm.
Alive.
"Promise. This time, I'll keep it. Everything you want to protect. I'll protect it all."
For a while, they stood there. Fingers intertwined. Watching the harbor.
A peaceful dusk. No mist. Orange light reflected off the port cranes.
(I will protect her. No matter what.)
Kaito swore it deep in his chest.
In his pocket, Le Revanoir seemed to pulse with faint heat.
After school.
The hallway's murmur faded. Kaito followed Iris down the hill.
"Kaito, are you really coming? I'm meeting my guards now."
Iris smiled, troubled.
"It's a pain, but I'm going. You were gonna wander off alone again, weren't you."
"...How did you know?"
"It's written on your face."
The sea breeze blew up from the bottom of the hill.
Soon, they reached the station front. A corner of the old shopping district. A red brick building with a wooden sign. Handwritten letters: "Café Kagura."
He opened the door.
A bell chimed.
The interior was dim. Coffee scent hung in the air. Three people from the guard team sat in a booth by the wall. He knew immediately. Their presence was different from the other customers.
"Welcome! Iris-chan, is that your friend today?"
A short-haired woman waved with a smile like sunshine. Looked barely twenty. Pharos guard. He knew from the last timeline. A cheerful big-sister type.
"Yeah. Childhood friend. Kaito. Nice to meet you."
"...Guarding the Savior isn't a game, kid."
A low voice came from the back. A stern-faced man in his forties. Ex-military, probably. Arms crossed. Glaring at Kaito.
"It's fine, Genda-san. He's a dear friend."
Iris covered for him immediately.
But Kaito's attention was elsewhere.
The counter seat.
A tall man sat in silence. Drinking coffee. Silver-streaked, bluish-black hair cut short.
Shunya Kurosaki.
182 centimeters tall. Large hands holding the coffee cup. Knotted fingers. Gray eyes that looked silver in certain light.
More than anything. The silver badge swaying at his chest.
The Wing Crest Badge.
A special identification tag. Given only to Pharos's Savior guards.
Even when Kaito entered, Shunya only glanced at him.
"...Yo."
He raised a hand lightly.
No response.
Kaito sat beside Iris. But his eyes stayed fixed on Shunya's Wing Crest Badge.
(That badge. He was wearing it in the last timeline. When he betrayed Iris.)
In his pocket, Le Revanoir creaked.
*Tick... tick...*
A faint needle sound.
No one noticed. But Kaito heard it clearly.
He pulled out the watch.
Jet-black face. Silver hands turning slowly. Backwards.
The hands pointed toward Shunya. Stopped dead.
(—It's him.)
His chest pounded.
(There's a traitor in this team. Someone who will kill Iris. Le Revanoir's hands are telling me.)
"You. We bumped into each other in the hallway earlier."
A sudden voice.
Shunya stood from the counter. Staring straight at Kaito.
The air in the café tightened.
"Yeah. My bad. Bumped into you."
Kaito forced a smile. Heart hammering.
"Why is your watch turning backwards."
His breath nearly stopped.
"...Huh?"
"I saw the hands. Moving backwards. Movement that defies this world's physics."
Shunya's gray eyes pierced Kaito's left wrist.
Sharp.
A guard's observational skill. Or something else entirely—knowledge from the Pendulum side.
"Must be your imagination. Old watch. Moves weird."
He hid it with his sleeve.
Expressionless, Shunya stepped closer.
"...Show me."
An order. *You heard me*—that tone.
Then.
"Alright, that's enough. Trouble between customers is bad for business."
A hoarse voice cut in.
From behind the counter, an older woman emerged. Gray-streaked short hair tied back. A face etched with deep wrinkles. She smiled.
"Shunya. Don't bully the newcomer. You promised Aunt Tsumugi, remember."
Café Kagura's master. Tsumugi.
Kaito pulled at his memory. A name he'd heard while investigating Shunya in the last timeline. Former Pharos staff. The guardian who took in the orphaned Shunya and raised him.
Shunya stepped back.
"...Fine."
He muttered it almost inaudibly. Returned to his seat.
Tsumugi turned to Kaito.
"So you're Kaito-kun. I've heard about you from Iris-chan. Order whatever you like. First-time customers get coffee on the house."
She said it and headed back to the counter.
Kaito let out a small breath.
Saved. But he'd learned something too.
(Shunya Kurosaki. He knows something. Seeing through the watch's movement... That's not something an ordinary Pharos guard can do.)
And this café itself was key.
Tsumugi. The woman who raised Shunya. Former Pharos staff. Information from the last timeline. It checked out.
(I'll start investigating here. Get Shunya's background from Tsumugi. And get closer to the truth of who stabbed Iris in the last timeline.)
Kaito steeled his resolve.
The sun set. The café windows dyed crimson.
The scent of coffee. The sound of waves from the coastal road.
Right behind that peaceful everyday life.
The guard team's shadows slowly closed in around Iris.
That much was certain.
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