Haruto drifted into sleep, but the calm he sought never came. Shadows clung to his mind, dragging him into fragmented memories images and sounds he could not escape.
He found himself standing in a dimly lit room, moonlight spilling through a cracked window. The air was thick, suffused with the quiet tension of something unfinished. Before him sat a young girl, her black-and-white hair cascading down her shoulders, a tattered doll held tightly to her chest. Her piercing blue eyes stared at him with a mix of fear and something else—something familiar.
"Lilith…" Haruto's voice was shaky, the name rolling off his tongue as if it had always been there.
She tilted her head, her lips forming a faint, sad smile. "Big brother," she said softly, her voice trembling yet steady enough to cut through the silence.
Haruto knelt in front of her, his heart pounding. "What's wrong?" he asked, though deep down, he felt the weight of what was coming.
Lilith's small hands trembled as she reached out and clutched his. Her grip was strong despite the tears brimming in her eyes. "Promise me," she said, her voice soft but commanding, "promise me you won't die."
Haruto's breath caught in his chest. He wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, but the intensity in her eyes rooted him to the ground. She wasn't asking for reassurance she was demanding it.
"I will never let anyone die," he said, his voice steady, though doubt clung to the edges. "Not you. Not anyone."
Lilith shook her head, her tears falling freely now. "You always say that," she said, her tone growing sharper, "but you keep fighting. You keep throwing yourself into danger like it doesn't matter. Do you even care what happens to you?"
Her words cut deep, more than he expected. Haruto forced a smile, trying to mask the unease in his chest. "You'll never lose me," he said finally. "I promise."
But her expression didn't soften. Instead, she gave him a long, searching look, as if she didn't believe him.
The scene shifted.
The quiet room dissolved, replaced by chaos. Haruto now stood in the middle of a battlefield. The ground was littered with bodies, the air thick with smoke and the metallic scent of blood. Screams echoed around him anguished cries of people he had sworn to protect.
His sword felt heavier in his hands, and his legs wobbled as he staggered forward. Every step was a battle in itself, but his mind was fixated on one thing: I have to save them. I can't let anyone else die.
A shadowy figure loomed ahead, their aura suffocating, like a weight pressing on his chest. Haruto raised his sword, gritting his teeth
against the overwhelming force before him. The shadow advanced slowly, its presence draining the strength from his body with every step it took. Haruto's grip on his blade faltered, but he forced himself to stand firm.
The cries of the dying grew louder, echoing in his ears like a cruel reminder of his failures. Faces flashed before him, blurred and fleeting, people he had once known—comrades, friends, strangers he had sworn to protect. Each face seemed to accuse him, their silent stares piercing deeper than any blade.
"REN."
He froze as the voice echoed across the battlefield. It was soft but unmistakable, cutting through the chaos like a lifeline.
Turning sharply, he saw her—Lilith. She stood amidst the carnage, untouched by the blood and ash that marred the scene. Her black-and-white hair gleamed in the dim light, her blue eyes filled with a sorrow that seemed infinite.
"Lilith!" Haruto shouted, his voice raw with desperation.
She took a step toward him, her small figure impossibly calm against the storm of death around them. "Why, Haruto?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Why are you always like this? Always throwing yourself into the fire, always leaving us behind."
Her words struck like a blade to his chest. "I didn't mean to—" he started, but the words felt hollow even to himself.
"You promised," Lilith interrupted, her voice rising. Tears streaked down her face as she clenched her fists. "You promised me you wouldn't die! That you'd protect everyone!"
Haruto staggered back, his sword slipping from his grasp. The battlefield blurred again, the smoke and flames twisting into a new shape. He was no longer standing among the dead. Instead, he was kneeling before Lilith as she had been before—sitting on the edge of her bed, clutching his hands as if her life depended on it.
"Promise me you'll come back," she said, her voice echoing through the shifting memory.
"I promise," Haruto heard himself say again, but the conviction in his voice was fading. The image of her pleading eyes burned into his mind, even as the scene dissolved around him.
He was back in the chaos of the battlefield, but this time, he saw himself. His past self stood at the center of it all, bloody and battered, his eyes blazing with determination. The shadowy figure loomed over him, its form almost consuming the light.
Haruto watched in helpless silence as his past self lunged forward, sword raised in a final act of defiance.
"No…" Haruto whispered. He could feel the weight of the moment, the inevitability of what was to come. "Not again."
The memory blurred, the sounds fading into silence. Lilith's voice was the last thing he heard before everything went black:
"You promised me, big brother. Don't leave me."
Haruto jolted awake, his breath coming in shallow gasps. The room was dark, save for the faint glow of the moonlight through the window. He sat up, his heart pounding as if he had just fought for his life.
His hands trembled as he ran them through his sweat-soaked hair. The dream—it wasn't just a dream. It was a memory. A fragment of a life he could no longer fully recall, but the weight of it pressed on him like a stone.
"Lilith…" he whispered, the name hanging in the still air.
He stared out the window, his mind racing. Who was she to him? And why did her face, her voice, feel so familiar? He clutched his chest, his heart aching with a guilt he couldn't yet explain.
The night was quiet again, but Haruto knew he wouldn't find rest. Not now. Something was stirring inside him—something he couldn't ignore.
And for the first time since his new life began, he felt the shadows of his past creeping closer.