—
The wind howled across the rooftop of Hikari Tower. Hoshiro stood at the edge, looking down at a Tokyo he no longer fully recognized. Buildings were unchanged… yet somehow *wrong*. Names on signs were different. Statues in parks that had never existed before.
"Ayame says this distortion is global," Kazuki said, stepping up behind him. "But it's centered here. Always here."
Hoshiro's eyes narrowed. "It's not just memory. It's identity."
He reached into his coat and pulled out the original mask—the cracked one. He hadn't worn it since Amaterasu fell. But something about its weight felt familiar… needed.
—
Later that night, deep beneath the city in a forgotten Spiral Archive, they found it.
A stasis pod.
Inside: a boy.
Identical to Hoshiro.
—
"Is that… you?" Ayame whispered.
The pod's vitals glowed. He was alive. Breathing. Same DNA. Same scars.
"No," Hoshiro said quietly. "That's who I *was supposed* to become. A Spiral weapon. They cloned me before I broke free."
The clone opened its eyes—void black, glowing faintly. It didn't scream. It smiled.
"You finally came back to finish the cycle."
—
The Spiral Twin had awakened.
And he remembered *everything*.
—