Sixth Loop, Chapter 29 : 哀しみの記憶 (Memory of Sorrow)

As Daichi soared upward, Izumi's trembling body in his arms, a sudden surge of foreign emotions flooded his mind. His vision blurred, not from the tears streaming down his face, but from something far deeper.

Images flickered like a broken film reel—disjointed yet vivid, forcing themselves into his consciousness. He froze mid-flight, overwhelmed by the sheer weight of what he was seeing. These weren't his memories. They belonged to her—Alter Izumi.

In one fractured moment, he saw her cradling Alter Daichi's lifeless body, her tears soaking the bloodied battlefield around them. She screamed his name, over and over, her voice breaking with every syllable. Her sobs shook the air, her trembling hands clutching his cold face as if trying to will life back into him.

"Why?!" Alter Izumi's voice echoed in his mind, raw and broken. "Why couldn't I save you?! You promised we'd fight together… but now…" She choked on her words, her breaths ragged. "Now I'm alone… completely alone…"

Daichi's chest tightened as he felt her grief as if it were his own. Her love for Alter Daichi had been infinite, unyielding, and yet it wasn't enough to protect him. Her world had crumbled into pieces the day she lost him, and that sorrow had festered, consuming her soul.

Another memory surged forward, dragging Daichi deeper into her despair. He saw Alter Izumi standing in front of a mirror, her reflection distorted by a growing black void in her chest—the first sign of the corruption. She reached out to the mirror, her voice trembling.

"If I could see you again… just once…" she whispered, her tone fragile, desperate. "I'd give up everything… even my own soul."

The memory shifted again, this time to a world much like his own but desolate and lifeless. Alter Izumi stood alone in a collapsing universe, her tears falling freely. Her hands reached for the sky, pleading with forces beyond her understanding.

"Take me!" she screamed, her voice raw and cracking. "Take my body, my mind, my heart—anything! Just bring him back! Please… I'll do anything!"

Daichi gasped, his breath catching as the weight of her grief threatened to suffocate him. He realized then what had driven her to this point—the sheer depth of her love, her desperation to bring back the one she had lost.

But the memories weren't done with him yet.

In the next scene, Daichi saw himself—not as he was now, but as the Daichi from Alter Izumi's universe. He smiled at her, his hand brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I'll protect you, no matter what," he said softly, his voice filled with warmth. "You're my everything, Izumi. Always."

Her smile, radiant and full of hope, burned itself into Daichi's mind. He felt her love, her joy, her belief that they could conquer anything together.

And then, he saw himself—her Daichi—falling in battle.

The memory was vivid, excruciating. Blood spilled from Alter Daichi's chest as he collapsed into her arms. "Izumi…" he whispered, his voice faint, his eyes filled with regret. "I'm sorry… I couldn't keep my promise…"

"Don't say that!" she sobbed, clutching him tightly. "You're going to be fine! Just hold on!"

But his hand slipped from hers, his gaze fading as the life left his body.

"Don't leave me!" she screamed, shaking him, her cries echoing across the empty battlefield. "You can't leave me! You promised! You promised!"

The memory shattered, and Daichi found himself back in the present, his arms still wrapped around Izumi. His heart ached as if it had been torn apart. The weight of her sorrow, her desperation, her love—it all came crashing down on him.

He looked at her, his tears flowing freely now. "I understand," he whispered, his voice trembling. "I understand why you did this… why you became this. You just wanted to see him again… didn't you?"

Izumi's eyes flickered open, her corrupted form trembling. For a moment, her expression softened, and a tear escaped her eye. "I… I didn't want to hurt anyone…" she murmured, her voice faint, almost inaudible. "I just… wanted him back…"

Daichi's grip tightened, his body trembling with the weight of what he had to do. "I'm sorry, Izumi," he choked out, his voice breaking. "I can't let this continue… but I swear, I'll carry your love with me. Always."

Her lips curved into a faint smile, though her tears continued to fall. "Thank you… for understanding…"

The sun loomed before them, an overwhelming, blazing inferno that seemed to devour everything in its path. Its searing heat bore down on them, oppressive and unrelenting, like a tidal wave of fire threatening to consume their very souls. Daichi stood firm, his body trembling under the crushing weight of both the sun's energy and the decision he was about to make. His breaths came in ragged gasps, his heart heavy with sorrow that seemed to echo across the void.

With trembling hands, he gently pushed her forward, his glowing right hand pressing firmly against the core embedded in her chest. "This is the only way…" he whispered, more to himself than to her, as if trying to justify the unbearable choice.

The energy of the sun surged violently into the key, the brilliant light of the core clashing with Daichi's power. The collision was cataclysmic, a blinding brilliance that seemed to tear apart the very fabric of existence. Alter Izumi's screams pierced the air, a sound so raw and heart-wrenching it felt like the universe itself was crying out in anguish.

Daichi's tears streamed freely, mingling with the light and her screams. His voice cracked as he murmured, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" He clenched his teeth, his resolve faltering for a fleeting moment before he steeled himself once more.

"I can't bear this anymore," Daichi choked out, his voice trembling under the weight of his grief. His entire being burned with the sun's power, the pain threatening to crush him, but he forced himself to keep going. Summoning the last fragments of his strength, he poured every ounce of his energy into his right hand, his determination like a beacon in the chaos.

The core began to crack. Cracks spread across its surface like fragile spiderwebs, glimmering faintly with the energy of countless stars. A pair of massive wings unfolded from Daichi's back, their patterns shimmering with swirling galaxies, their radiance casting a celestial glow across the vast expanse of space. They were beautiful and sorrowful, a fleeting embodiment of his resolve and his sacrifice.

Through the chaos, he whispered the words that shattered his heart, "Goodbye, Izumi…" His voice trembled, each syllable a dagger in his chest.

As the key shattered into countless, glimmering fragments, Izumi's screams softened. Her trembling hand rose, her fingers ghosting over Daichi's face. He froze at the touch, the warmth of her hand against his cheek a stark contrast to the searing pain enveloping them. Her glowing eyes softened, her expression serene despite the chaos around them.

"I'm glad… to have met you" she whispered, her voice barely audible, yet it carried the weight of everything she could not say. Her lips curved into a gentle, fleeting smile—a smile that held no regret, only gratitude and love.

And then, she dissolved into light.

The moment her body faded, the collision of the sun's energy and the broken key reached its peak, igniting an explosion so immense that it painted the cosmos with light and chaos. The world below flickered, reality itself wavering, disoriented by the clash of forces beyond comprehension.

Daichi's body collapsed, battered and broken, his consciousness slipping away like sand through his fingers. Yet, even as the pain consumed him, he clung desperately to the memory of her final touch, her smile, and her whispered words.

Daichi's body faltered, his strength drained. His consciousness began to fade, but even in his final moments of awareness, he clung to the memory of her smile, her touch, her love.

And as the light enveloped him, a single tear fell from his eye, carrying with it the weight of a thousand goodbyes.

And then… silence.