Yujin and Leila sprinted through the empty nighttime streets.
They pushed forward, moving toward safety, putting as much distance between themselves and danger as they could.
Until Leila finally hit her limit and crumpled to the ground.
Yujin caught her, and with every last scrap of strength he had, kept moving toward their destination.
"Hah, hah…. Is this, the place."
"Yes…. Hff, hff…. Commander. Set me down over there…."
"Understood."
The place they'd reached was a safe house on the outskirts of the city.
A basement somewhere in the southern district, a fair distance from the center.
There was a proper evacuation shelter beneath the Valhalla facility, of course.
But this was one of several fallback refuges prepared for emergencies no one could predict.
A location known only to a select few, even among those with clearance.
They could lie low here for a while, at least.
Even so, Yujin's face was still etched with anxiety.
*Now what do I do?*
That reaction was understandable, in its way.
Because the situation they were in was nothing short of catastrophic.
The Rabbit Hole Squad — Lumia's greatest fighting force — and Leila were both combat-incapacitated.
And somewhere in the city, a bandaged woman of unknown identity was still at large.
In a few hours, a swarm of Erosion Species would descend on the city.
All he'd wanted was to change a future where everyone died.
So why was he staring down the same outcome again?
Just as Yujin clenched his fist against a crushing, senseless helplessness —
Leila, who had been leaning against the sofa, let out a ragged, painful cough.
"Kgh, ugh…! Hh, hah…."
"Leila!"
"I'm, I'm fine. Commander. This much is… nothing. I can recover… quickly."
Her words were bravado, and obviously so.
Her body trembled so badly she couldn't move on her own.
Her half-lidded eyes and pale lips made the severity of her condition plain.
Even Yujin, standing right beside her, could see it clearly.
Could she really not notice it herself?
His heart plummeted. He bit down hard.
Leila grimaced against the pain she could barely contain, and murmured:
"B-but…. That woman — what on earth is she…? She kept asking so relentlessly where you were…. Do you have any idea… who she might be…?"
"Ugh, that's…."
Yujin was suddenly at a loss for words.
The woman had asked, over and over, where the Commander was.
And in that moment, he'd caught a glimpse of her one visible eye.
The cloth wrapped over it had been soaking through with red in real time.
He didn't need to look beneath the bandages to know what had been done to Leila.
So if he told her the truth now — would she resent him for it?
That fear closed around his heart like a fist.
Even so, he didn't want to lie to her.
He forced down his hesitation, and opened his mouth with the feeling of a man about to be sick.
"That enemy… she likely knows I'm a Regressor."
"She knows you're… a Regressor?"
"Yes. I have no idea how she found out, but she seemed to be specifically wary of my ability."
"I see…. A criminal organization, hostile to Valkyries…. When you consider the power of Regression… I can't say I don't understand… why they'd resort to something this extreme…."
But Leila didn't resent Yujin in the slightest.
She simply nodded, as though a question had been answered, her expression calm and even.
Then she slowly blinked her one remaining eye.
As if her consciousness were gradually dimming.
Perhaps she noticed it herself.
She bit down and forced her upper body upright.
"Ngh, hah…. Commander…. Could you reach into my jacket pocket… and take out a syringe…?"
"What is this?"
"A stimulant…. Please inject it into my thigh…. Otherwise I think I'll fall asleep… any moment now…."
Yujin did as Leila asked, retrieving the stimulant from her jacket.
And pressed it directly into her thigh.
Leila's eyes flew open — she'd been growing increasingly drowsy.
Fortunately, the stimulant seemed to contain some analgesic effect as well.
The visible signs of pain gradually eased.
"Fwaaah…. I can think straight again. Thank you. Commander."
"…Don't thank me. I'm in no position to be thanked."
Yujin felt a deep, wrenching guilt at her gratitude.
Because the one who had put her in this state was no one else but him.
Accepting her thanks felt unconscionably shameless.
"If I had kept my identity properly hidden, none of this would have…."
"What did you do wrong? The one at fault is whoever attacked us without warning."
"Even so…."
"If we're assigning blame, I have plenty of fault in this too. I had no idea something like this would happen…. So please — don't be so hard on yourself."
Leila's tone was firm, almost severe.
She seemed to feel a sense of responsibility for how things had turned out.
But he still felt as though he'd swallowed a lead weight.
How could anyone not blame themselves in a situation like this?
At least Yujin was not the kind of person who could be that shameless.
In the end, she forced a brighter tone, as if deliberately changing the subject.
"A-anyway… let's think about what to do next! It's just too frustrating to sit here and take this. Yeah. We can't let it go without hitting back somehow."
What's already happened can't be undone.
Let's think about how to get out of this.
But the moment Leila finished speaking, silence fell between them.
No matter how they looked at it, the situation seemed hopeless.
The bandaged woman and the Erosion Species. They couldn't defeat either one right now.
And on top of that, all outside communications had been severed.
A complete checkmate — no move left to make.
Leila, lost in thought, looked up at the ceiling and spoke.
"…If that woman captures the Commander, she'll make sure you can never die, won't she?"
"Most likely… yes."
"Then there won't be a second chance after that…."
The worst case was Yujin being taken by the bandaged woman.
In that case, well… there was really only one option left.
Leila took a small, quiet breath and lowered her gaze to meet Yujin's.
"Commander. I think you should regress from here."
The words Yujin had never been able to bring himself to say.
And yet Leila's eyes held an apology in them.
"If you regress, you…."
Why hadn't Yujin suggested the obvious solution of Regression?
The reason was simple. If he regressed, he would have to part with the Leila in front of him — forever.
He still couldn't be certain a second Regression was even possible.
And even if it worked… the Leila he would meet there would be a Leila with no memory of the past week.
It was a choice Yujin simply could not bring himself to make with his own hands.
He was grimacing, unable to bear the weight of it — and Leila, watching him, went briefly blank.
Then, as if forcing down an emotion that threatened to break free, she bit her lip hard and spoke.
"I-it's okay…. I was going to die before the Regression anyway, right?"
"…."
"So it's… fine. Y-yeah. It's fine…."
Leila squeezed her thighs together and bowed her head.
In the process, her hips fidgeted in a strangely restless way —
but Yujin couldn't bring himself to look at her properly, and missed it entirely.
"Aren't you… afraid?"
"Hmm… afraid or not afraid…. If I'm being honest, yes, I'm afraid. There's still so much I want to do."
"Leila…."
"Who in the world actually likes dying?"
Clunk.
At her blunt words, Yujin's heart went cold.
The Leila he turned to look at wore an expression that said it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Naturally, another face began to overlap with hers.
The Leila before the Regression — smiling as she closed her eyes.
Had that Leila been carrying the same thought inside her, too?
Some terrible sensation carved a hollow through Yujin's gut.
But she wasn't finished yet.
Leila — her face battered and ruined — smiled a gentle smile.
"Even so, it's okay."
"Okay, meaning…."
"Commander. Every Valkyrie is prepared to die. It wouldn't be strange to die tomorrow. That's the reason we were brought into this world in the first place."
"…."
"In that sense, I'm actually one of the lucky ones. You'll keep moving forward — and you'll keep remembering me, won't you?"
"That's…."
Leila folded her hands quietly in her lap, like a devout nun.
Even if she died here, Yujin — who would keep regressing — would remember her.
That alone was enough. She seemed to believe it with her whole heart.
And at that, rain fell on Yujin's parched and withering heart.
A spring rain called trust — warmer than anything else he'd ever felt.
His eyes burned. He bowed his head.
"…."
And so he never noticed.
That Leila was watching him, quietly running her tongue over her lips.
When he finally lifted his head again, she was gazing at him with a soft, steady smile.
This time, unlike before, the silence that followed was not uncomfortable.
Then, a flicker of mischief drifted into the corners of her eyes, and Leila asked:
"Hey, Commander. Last time I died — what did you do at the very end?"
"The very end, you mean? That time…."
"Oh, should I guess?"
Tap, tap.
Leila tapped her moistened lips with one finger.
She narrowed her eyes and pressed him.
"You kissed me… didn't you?"
"Wh—?! How did you…."
"It's not that hard to figure out. Because…."
Leila was speaking boldly — and then she stopped dead.
A faint flush crept into her cheeks, and she mumbled, almost shyly:
"Right now, I… feel the same way…."
"What…."
"O-oh, of course! It's not like I've fallen for you romantically or anything! It's more like… dying without ever being kissed even once would be a shame, I suppose…. A lifelong dream, you could say…."
"Pfft, kh-hh…."
"D-don't laugh!"
It had all been so serious just a moment ago.
One sentence from her, and every last trace of tension evaporated.
Leila flushing and flustering, Yujin breaking into laughter.
Leila seemed to make up her mind about something —
and reached up to cup his face in both hands.
"I-it's okay, right? This much…. I worked hard, so…."
"Yes. If that's what you want."
She was terribly embarrassed, and yet utterly unapologetic about asking for it.
Something soft seeped into Yujin's heart as he looked at her.
A feeling he hadn't yet named for himself.
Leila squeezed her eyes shut, and their lips met.
For Yujin, the second time. For Leila, the first.
After the brief contact, she turned her head away and grumbled lightly:
"H-hm. Less impressive than I expected…?"
"Is that so."
"Y-yeah…."
Leila's small murmur was the last word spoken for a while.
Neither of them started a new conversation.
As if savoring the lingering warmth of the kiss.
Neither one reached for words first.
Time passed like that — for tens of minutes.
And at last, Leila reached her limit.
"Commander, could I borrow your shoulder?"
"…Yes."
"I'm sorry. I don't think I can hold on much longer…."
Whether she had been forcing herself to stay conscious all this time —
or whether the kiss had finally let go of her last remaining attachment —
she let that light head fall against Yujin's shoulder with a soft thud.
Leila closed her eyes.
Her expression was one of profound peace in that moment.
She breathed in labored, shallow pulls for a little while, and then, in that same position, she spoke.
"Commander. I just had a good idea."
"What is it?"
"If you regress and meet me again… will you make me fall for you?"
It was an out-of-nowhere request, and an awkward one in more ways than one.
He'd gone his whole life without a single close friend of the opposite sex.
Even if she asked him to make her fall for him, he had no idea how.
And whether he'd even have the time for it was another question entirely.
He had to navigate every crisis within a single week.
Would there be any room to spare for making Leila fall for him?
Even knowing all of that, Yujin couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"You probably didn't know. But I was drawn to you from the very first moment I saw you, Commander."
"I had no idea."
"So…. If there's a next time, make me fall for you first — and then use me however you like. I'll give you permission for that."
"…I'll think about it."
It was only then that Yujin understood what she was trying to say.
Even if he never revealed he was a Regressor, she would surely help him regardless.
She was quietly, wordlessly showing him her trust.
Leila reached out with great effort and took his hand in hers, and began to speak.
It was what she called, in her own words, the Leila capture guide.
"I don't particularly mind physical contact. So feel free to hold my hand — boldly."
"My favorite food is a spicy chicken sandwich. Buy one for me in secret and I'll be absolutely delighted."
"For coffee, please make it a café mocha with lots of whipped cream. I don't like bitter things. Oh, apple juice works too."
"You can come visit my room sometimes. I'll pretend I'm not happy about it, but I will be. Ah — but nothing indecent!"
"Hey, Commander. Nothing indecent, really?"
"Absolutely, positively, completely off-limits, okay…? Hey, are you listening?"
"…Yes. I'm listening."
Slowly —
the strength drained from Leila's hand, which had been gripping his so tightly.
Yujin realized it a beat too late and tried to hold on —
but her hand slipped away and fell, limp, to the floor.
"And…."
"…Yes."
"I'm sorry…. For leaving you alone…."
That was the last of it.
Her body had already passed its limit.
Leila slid down and collapsed into Yujin's lap.
He grabbed her shoulders in a panic —
but there was no warmth left to feel beneath his fingertips.
*Ah. I see. I let her die again.*
A crushing sense of loss tore a vast hole through his chest.
Feeling this agony for the second time, Yujin's vision went black.
"…I'm the one who's sorry. Because I… wasn't enough."
If only he could hold his head high and feel no shame.
He wouldn't be hurting this badly.
He had, in every practical sense, caused her death twice with his own hands.
Yujin held Leila in his arms and screamed without a sound.
The pain was too great even for tears, and so he simply closed his eyes.
How much time passed like that, he couldn't say.
He regretted, and regretted, and regretted, and regretted, until —
until he could feel nothing at all.
Yujin reached into his pocket with hollow, sunken eyes.
*Leila….*
Inside was the card she had left behind.
Something he'd been carrying all this time, waiting for a moment that never came.
He changed the card into the shape of a gun.
He pressed the muzzle to his own temple.
"Next time, without fail…."
His finger slowly drew back the trigger.
But there was not a trace of fear in Yujin's eyes.
A small, quiet click — and the world collapsed.