The Prologue: Past

"Why must this happen... Why can't I be happy... I have failed myself... I have regretted so much..."

The words echoed the turmoil within as I stood teetering on the bridge railing. It was terrifying. Below, the dark water mirrored the bleakness consuming me. It was a terrifying precipice, both physically and emotionally.

The specifics of my mistakes, the weight of my regrets, had become an unbearable burden. Escape felt like the only solace. 

A desperate internal battle raged: Should I just move on, try for another chance? Or should I simply... give up? The latter, heavy with finality, won.

In the end... I chose to... "give up...".

There. Succumbing to the crushing weight of my emotions..., I leaped into the inky blackness in front of me. I plunged into the cold embrace of the water, leaving behind the oppressive darkness of the night and the distant, indifferent stars.

The impact was brutal, the cold a shock that quickly turned to a numbing embrace. Through the murky depths, the faint glimmer of the night sky above began to fade..., swallowed by the encroaching darkness as my consciousness slipped away.

This is it. The end.

I lost my consciousness. Entirely. It is the end. I reached it.

...

...

But the end hadn't arrived. Instead, I awoke to a familiar ceiling, the softness of a bed beneath me a stark contrast to the cold, unforgiving water.

"What am I doing here? This shouldn't be... Unless... is my mind merely replaying the past?" 

The thought offered a fragile, impossible explanation.

That was my thought. I thought... I was dead, really. But unfortunately... No.

"Onii-chan! Wake up!!!!"

"Hyaaaa!!!!! A ghost!!!!"

I scrambled backward, falling off the bed in shock. Standing before me, vibrant and undeniably real, was my little sister. 

She's supposed to be dead. 

Leukemia had taken her years ago. How could this be?

"A ghost? I am? Oi, onii-chan... You're insulting me now, huh?"

A sharp kick to my side, delivered with familiar sisterly annoyance, dispelled any lingering notion of a dream or hallucination. It was real. Impossibly real.

Only then did the impossible truth crash down upon me. I had been sent back... In the past.

The past.