The scent of grilled squid mixed with the smoky sweetness of caramel apples as Yuto Arisaka pushed through the festival crowd. Children ran past him with sparklers, couples giggled under the fluttering glow of paper lanterns, and somewhere nearby, his heartbeat was looking for her.
Aira.
His fingers trembled slightly around the edges of the letter in his pocket. He had written it last night—no edits, no rewrites, just raw thoughts spilled from his heart. Tonight, he would finally give it to her. Or so he thought.
He spotted her near the goldfish scooping booth. Her laughter rang out like bells—sharp, light, unforgettable. She was crouched beside a small girl, patiently guiding her net toward a darting goldfish. Her long silver hair caught the lantern light and shimmered like falling stars.
Time slowed.
Yuto knew this was the moment. He would walk up to her, say her name, and—
The ground trembled.
Laughter turned into confusion. The light from the fireworks hill flared into a blinding sapphire beam. And then—
Boom.
Sound vanished.
Heat seared his face.
Screams tore through the silence.
Aira turned her head, eyes wide, mouth moving—
"Yuto—run!"
The world shattered. Glass. Wood. Flesh. Flame.
---
Darkness.
Cold sweat. Racing heart.
A sharp buzz. Yuto's alarm clock.
He blinked against the pale morning light flooding through the window.
The calendar read Sunday.
Time: 7:00 AM.
His body felt strange—like he had lived another life, one that ended in fire.
"...What the hell was that?"
The fireworks. The screams. Aira—
She had died.
And yet...
He was back. Back where the week began. Like a nightmare set to repeat.
And the letter? Still in his pocket, sealed and untouched.
Yuto's breath caught.
The loop had begun.