Hina had seen this before.
A vision she once hoped would never come true… now unfolding before her very eyes.
That image burned into her memory.
Kouhei—lying motionless in a crimson pool of his own blood.
There he was.
Still.
Lifeless.
Cold.
Dead.
The moment Masayoshi's time manipulation finally dissipated, the invisible shackles that had bound her limbs were gone.
Hina could move again.
But her body didn't react the way she wanted it to.
Her legs felt heavy, like walking through a dream soaked in dread, and she approached him with painstaking slowness, as if each step would make this nightmare even more real.
Her feet dragged across the blood-stained earth.
Part of her didn't want to see it.
Part of her wanted to turn away, to flee, or to pretend it wasn't real.
But another part needed to see it.
Needed to feel every inch of the pain that was coming.
As if letting it hit her like a truck would somehow make it easier to accept.
