Second

I was certain I'd closed my eyes in the Commander's arms, satisfied.

So why was I standing alone in the middle of a train corridor?

A sense of wrongness — as if the process had been snipped away, leaving only the result.

I glanced around, then made a beeline for the nearest restroom.

Inside, I stepped up to the mirror.

"…My body hasn't changed."

My reflection was still Leila. The same navy-blue hair, the same golden eyes, the same composed and lovely face.

The girl in the mirror furrowed her brow, looking thoroughly confused.

Right. Come to think of it, my abdomen and side had been torn open.

I undid the buttons of my uniform and bared my skin.

But there wasn't a single mark on that pale white surface. Not even a scar.

*A dream? A hallucination? No — it's not that. This feels more like…*

I quickly rummaged through my uniform pockets.

In the right pocket of my skirt, I found my terminal.

I turned on the screen. The date it displayed was one week ago.

The interior of the train I'd boarded on my way to Lumia.

A memory of death too vivid to be fabricated.

And the date on the terminal, winding back as if time itself had reversed.

In other words, simply put…

"I came back."

Death Regression.

A phenomenon where death acts as a trigger to reverse time.

Setting aside whether such a thing was even possible —

It was, by far, the most sufficient explanation for what I was experiencing.

*That's… impossible…*

My heart lurched.

How much effort had I poured into crafting that perfect death?

And all of it had simply… ceased to have happened?

Something like that was, truly…

"Absolutely incredible……"

In the mirror, Leila's face twisted.

The tension drained from her eyes. Her lips parted slightly. Her cheeks flushed red.

She looked utterly intoxicated — obscenely, deliciously so.

It was a face that could never be shown to anyone. A face that wasn't Leila at all.

But it couldn't be helped.

There was no one watching me here, anyway.

And in my current state, there was simply no way I could keep up the performance.

*Honestly… I was a little unsatisfied. I wanted to see so much more.*

No regrets.

I'd done everything I could with what I'd been given.

But to say I had no lingering wants would be a lie.

Honestly, dying in front of him was a little too simple, wasn't it?

Having my dignity stripped away before a Commander who couldn't move a muscle.

Making him take my life with his own hands.

Or becoming his lover entirely, only to be stolen away by someone else — that wouldn't be bad either.

And then watching the Commander suffer each and every time.

Over and over and over again.

That most exquisite of moments, repeated endlessly…

"Oh."

Just then, a single scene flashed through my mind.

The Commander's face — after he'd kissed me, utterly wrecked with anguish.

The sight of him, who had refused to give up on me until the very end, finally breaking apart completely… it was truly…

"……"

*Click.*

I locked the restroom door firmly behind me.

This space was mine now. No one could interrupt.

*Haaah* — a hot breath slipped through my lips.

My patience had reached its limit.

*

*Shhhhh.*

I washed my hands at the sink and thought calmly.

I understood that what had happened to me was a Regression — time reversing itself.

But was there any guarantee this Regression would repeat?

*This might be the only chance I get. I don't even know how I came back in the first place.*

If that was the case, I should treat this as my last opportunity.

And make the choice I'd regret the least.

What that choice was… I still couldn't quite feel it out.

I put my clothes back on.

As I did, a sharp sting flared from my forearm.

So that's why women carry handkerchiefs.

The teeth marks slipped out of sight beneath the fold of my uniform sleeve.

*The time right now is… after the train derailment. After dealing with the Erosion Species jamming communications, just before heading to Lumia.*

Which meant the Commander was on this train.

Right. Good thing I'd already let off all that heat. If I'd run into him in that state earlier, it would have been a disaster.

I straightened my uniform and stepped out of the restroom.

The time I'd lost to that little indulgence was roughly thirty minutes.

A bit long for a bathroom break, but I could always say I'd been checking my luggage.

With that excuse in mind, I made my way back toward the passenger car.

And then, rounding the corner, I came face to face with the Commander.

"Oh. Commander."

What was the distance between us at this point in time, again?

We hadn't built any rapport yet. So — polite, measured. That felt right.

I tilted my head with a casual air.

But the Commander, the moment he spotted me, did something I hadn't anticipated.

"Leila!"

"Wha—?!"

*Whoosh.*

He pulled me into his arms without warning.

Suddenly enveloped in his embrace, I was thoroughly thrown off.

Wait — we'd only met a few hours ago, hadn't we?

We weren't nearly close enough for him to just grab me like this…

And then, like a bolt of lightning, it struck me.

A possibility I'd dismissed without a second thought.

It poked its head out and made itself known.

*…Don't tell me — him too?*

The Commander had regressed from the future, just like me.

That would explain this unnatural behavior perfectly.

Of course, until he said it out loud himself, it was nothing more than a suspicion.

But the idea that the stoic Commander had simply lost his mind seemed far less likely than the possibility that he'd regressed, just as I had.

*He wouldn't have been calling me "Leila" yet — I hadn't given him permission. Yeah. This is practically confirmed.*

Wait, hold on.

But that's a problem.

If I regress, the Commander regresses with me?

If that's actually the case, then…

I can't use the NTR route!

*Damn it — I was going to let myself get stolen away on purpose and shred his heart to pieces…!*

But if the Commander had genuinely traveled back through time with me, then carelessly recreating an NTR scenario would be an incredibly stupid move.

One wrong step and I could be disqualified as the heroine entirely.

Even I would lose all affection for a woman who seemed easy, no matter how much I liked her.

And if my death became the death of a woman who wasn't his heroine — it wouldn't stir anything in him at all.

*Ugh, I wanted to watch him wail over a stolen lover…!*

Still, it wasn't all bad.

There were ways to make use of this, too.

Making him witness my death over and over again had its own kind of appeal.

For now… let's figure out how to handle this situation first.

"U-um… Commander? Even given the relationship between a Valkyrie and her Commander, this is a bit much so soon…"

"…Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—!"

I played the part of the flustered innocent, letting my discomfort show.

The performance was a different facet from the capable, reliable image I'd projected so far.

This was Leila as a hopeless romantic — awkward and inexperienced when it came to matters between men and women.

That seemed to snap him back to reality.

The Commander startled and hastily released me.

With some distance between us, I could finally see his face properly.

All manner of emotions played across those usually impassive features.

Joy. Guilt. Regret. Fear. Anxiety…

Right. He might as well have been wearing a sign that said *I came back.*

*Where exactly did he return from? Is the Commander the cause of this Regression? There's even a chance I got swept up in his regression by accident…*

There was nothing I could confirm yet.

This wasn't in the original story at all. I'd need to gather information separately.

Concealing the darkness churning inside me, I scratched my cheek as if embarrassed.

The reaction of someone not particularly bothered, but caught off guard.

"Um… Commander, why did you suddenly embrace me like that…? There's a reason, isn't there?"

"Ugh…"

"We haven't known each other long, but… I believe you're a good person, Commander."

Well, the reason was obvious enough.

He'd watched me die in front of him, looking like that.

The moment he saw me standing here unharmed, he'd acted on impulse.

But the me of right now was performing ignorance of all that.

So I looked up at him with concern, as if genuinely asking him to explain.

The Commander pressed his lips together, as if deliberating over his answer.

Then, fist clenched, he spoke.

"It's just… I was anxious."

"Anxious?"

"No matter how much I searched the train, I couldn't find you… I was worried something might have happened. After what occurred earlier, I thought…"

Ah. So that's the angle he's going with.

It seemed the Commander had no intention of revealing that he'd regressed.

Well — I had every intention of keeping my mouth shut and toying with him, too.

I understand. Using an information advantage to pull someone's strings really is the most fun.

While I was nodding along to myself internally, he asked me with a faintly restless air:

"Where have you been all this time?"

"I was checking my luggage, and then I stopped by the restroom for a moment…"

"Ah."

A single word from the Commander, and silence settled between us.

Well — I had answered while averting my eyes, as if embarrassed.

He probably thought he'd pried into something sensitive with his unnecessary worrying.

The truth was I'd been indulging myself and lost track of time, but…

Still, this seemed like a good moment to earn a little goodwill.

I smiled with a slightly sheepish air and said:

"Hehe, it's a strange feeling."

"What do you mean?"

"The thing is, I'm generally good at everything… so it's rare for someone to worry about me. Of course, being suddenly pulled into a hug was a little startling…! But thank you for worrying about me, Commander."

The Commander's eyes widened slightly, and something seemed to dawn on him.

I wondered what was running through his mind right now.

Perhaps he was overlapping me with the me he remembered.

Good. Then let me try once more, playing the part of someone who knows nothing.

I fixed him with a playful look and closed the distance between us.

"By the way, Commander — not 'Miss Leila'? Since when have you been calling me so casually?"

"Ah, that… if it bothers you…"

"Hehehe. No. I like 'Leila.' It feels more familiar, doesn't it?"

I answered brightly, in a way that would call the old Leila to mind.

At that, the Commander clenched his jaw as if something painful had surfaced.

Ahaha — he's thinking of the me who died. How endearing.

A moment later, he furrowed his brow slightly, as if wrestling with something.

And in a voice so small it would have been easy to miss, he murmured:

"…You don't need to add honorifics when you speak to me, either."

"Hm? What did you say?"

"Ah — no. Nothing…"

That exchange was the last of it, and we returned to the passenger car together.

Seats facing each other, close enough to see one another's faces.

Sinking back into the plush chair, I spoke to him without preamble.

"Did you know? Valkyries have better physical capabilities than ordinary humans."

"That… I'm aware of."

"So apparently some Valkyries can see as clearly on a moonless night as in broad daylight. Isn't that fascinating?"

"That… does sound fascinating."

He nodded along, bewildered by my non sequitur.

I smiled brightly and continued.

"I'd love to have an ability like that. Like exceptional hearing, for instance. What kind would you want, Commander?"

"I'd want… hm? What did you just…"

"Hm? What is it, Commander?"

"Ugh… why are you pretending not to hear me…"

"Ehehe, who knows?"

Right. Even after a Regression, the Commander is still the Commander.

I let out a quiet laugh at the sight of him — so satisfying to tease.

And then the Commander, too, allowed himself a small smile.

Right. If he stayed stiff and guarded the whole time, there'd be no joy in breaking him down.

For now — let's start by rebuilding what had crumbled.

*I'm counting on you going forward, Commander.*

The train headed for Lumia.

The second time around. My chest swelled with anticipation for what lay ahead.