Chapter 37: The Echo of Her Heart

Ren stepped through the last wave of dissolving light, and the world reformed into a place he recognized instantly.

A wide, empty street at sunset.

Cold wind.

A quiet sky.

This was the day she left.

Not physically—emotionally.

The memory tightened around him like a noose.

Yuki stood alone beneath a flickering streetlamp, clutching a small envelope. Her face was red from crying, but her expression was blank. She looked drained, like she had reached her limit.

Ren’s heart twisted.

This was the time she had written the first draft of their separation letter.

The one she threw away the next morning.

The one she secretly rewrote months later.

He watched her whisper to the wind:

“I can’t keep doing this…”

The shock in the memory hit him harder than he expected.

He stepped forward. “Yuki!”

But his voice didn’t reach her; this was a memory, not reality.

The ground shook beneath him. Cracks spread across the sky like broken glass. This world was falling apart.

He saw another version of Yuki appear—her present self, the high school Yuki trapped in this collapsing timeline. She stood across from her older memory, staring in horror.

“That’s… me?” she whispered.

Ren could finally reach her.

He grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close. “Yuki! We don’t have time. This place is breaking!”

But Yuki couldn’t look away from her older self.

“She was so tired,” she muttered. “She had no one. Not her father. Not you. Not even herself.”

The streetlamp sparked violently.

Fragments of the world fell like shattered mirrors around them.

Ren held her tighter. “Yuki—listen to me. I’m here. I came all this way for you.”

She stared at him, her voice barely a breath.

“But will it even matter? If we fall in love again, if we get married again… will we end up like this again?”

Her words cut deeper than any wound.

“Not if we change,” he said softly. “Not if I change. Not if you aren’t alone this time.”

The memory-Yuki dissolved into light, her figure breaking into glowing particles.

Present-Yuki trembled, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Ren… I’m scared.”

He cupped her face.

“So am I.”

The world convulsed again—harsh, violent.

A vortex opened behind Yuki, pulling at her like a rip in space.

Ren grabbed her hand instantly.

“Hold on!”

Her feet slid across the cracking ground.

“I don’t want to disappear!” she cried.

“You won’t!” he shouted back.

But then a voice filled the collapsing world, soft and deep.

The deity.

Using his mother’s tone.

“To return her, a price must be paid.”

The light pulsed. Time froze.

Yuki went still. Ren’s heart sank.

“No,” he whispered. “Not again. Not another sacrifice.”

The deity appeared—not physical, just a swirling radiance taking shape.

“Yuki Harada has become a time anchor,” it said.

“She absorbed the distortions caused by your return. Her existence is now entangled with the unstable timeline.”

Ren clenched his jaw. “Then take my memories instead. Take anything. Just don’t take her.”

The deity’s form flickered.

“Your memories would not balance the distortion.”

“Hers will.”

Yuki’s eyes widened.

“My… memories?”

Ren grabbed her shoulders. “You can’t! Yuki, you’ll forget everything.”

She looked at him with a trembling smile—sad, peaceful, accepting.

“Ren… our memories were what hurt us the most.”

He shook his head violently. “No. Don’t say that. Our memories also saved us. They brought me here to you.”

She touched his cheek, voice gentle.

“Then make new ones.”

His breath caught.

“Yuki, please…”

She stepped closer, forehead resting against his.

“Ren… If losing everything means the timeline stays intact… means you get to live, and Haru and Mina get to live… and maybe someday our kids can live too…”

Her voice broke.

“…then I’m willing.”

The deity’s voice returned, calm and final.

“If she returns, all memories of Ren Aoki will vanish from her mind.”

“And from the minds of those connected to her.”

“Even the boy who loves her most.”

Ren froze.

“W-What…?”

Yuki’s tears finally fell.

“It means… you won’t remember me either.”

His chest caved in.

“No. No, I refuse. I came here for you! I won’t lose you all over again!”

“Ren…”

She reached up and stroked his cheek with trembling fingers.

“You saved me.”

The vortex roared louder, pulling her backwards.

Ren held on with everything he had.

She leaned forward—

—and kissed him.

Soft.

Warm.

Breaking.

A goodbye disguised as love.

“Thank you,” she whispered against his lips. “For trying again.”

A bright light engulfed her.

Ren screamed her name, reaching out blindly—

“YUKI—!!”

—but her hand slipped through his fingers.

The world snapped.

Silence.

Darkness.

A single thought fell through him:

Please… don’t take her from me.