My youth story cannot be a knight war

Being surrounded by this raging fire, even without being directly touched, one can feel the burning pain as if the skin is being swallowed by the heat, and the water in the body is constantly decomposing under the high temperature.

All I could hear was the sound of buildings collapsing, glass shattering under the intense heat and pouring down from the sky like raindrops, and burned trees falling one after another.

And the screams of people.

The wails of countless humans filled this world completely engulfed by flames. At this moment, all things were heading towards equal death and end under the flames of destruction, even the rulers who claimed to be the spirit of all things on this planet were no exception.

The dark sky was illuminated red, and the sky on all sides was dyed with the color of fire. People's cries echoed in such a red world, making this scene like the hot hell in myths and legends that burned all the sufferers.

"what happened?"

In this scene filled with wailing, a brisk voice that didn't match the atmosphere was heard.

"Why do you look so miserable? Don't you like seeing other people smile? Then you should also like to smile, right? Can you share your smile with me?"

"Become stronger and give me more smiles, please?"

-

"!?"

The pain came quickly and went away quickly, passing in just a dozen seconds.

But during this period of time, all the clothes on Kyosuke Kousaka's body were soaked with sweat, and even the sheets under him had a small circle of wet marks.

Kyosuke Kousaka's eyes were wide open, his pupils almost shrunk into a point, and his palm, which was lowered from his forehead, couldn't stop shaking, as if the shock had not yet gone away.

Cold sweat continued to ooze out from his forehead, sliding down the curve of his tough face to his chin, and then dripping onto his crossed legs under the force of gravity.

What was that just now?

「——Wait, who are you……」

[His clasped hands covered Zaimokuza's eyes, and everything in front of him fell into endless darkness at this moment.]

[Then, at the end of the pitch-black darkness, a ray of white light slowly appeared.]

[At first, it was just a pinpoint-sized light, and then as time passed in my senses, it gradually expanded, and finally dispelled all the darkness, and the white light enveloped everything in front of me! ]

[A stream of white light washed over him, and Zaimokuza felt that his body seemed to be constantly dissipating in the flow of light. His restless consciousness slowly calmed down, and a sincere feeling of sleepiness kept coming from the bottom of his heart.]

[Finally, he lost all his consciousness and fell into nothingness.]

……

[“Hmm…”]

[The long eyelashes trembled gently, and then slowly parted, revealing the black eyes full of hesitation.]

【"here it is--!?"】

[Zaimokuza looked at his own feet in sneakers with a confused look in his eyes, and murmured in confusion.]

[The next moment, he came to his senses and suddenly widened his eyes, and immediately sat up from his chair with a surprised expression.]

[“Oh right! I was in the battle with the twenty-fifth... Mr. Kousaka!? Where are you!?”]

[His brain started to work rapidly, and all the memories of what happened before surged from the depths of his mind like flowing water. Zaimokuza looked around vigilantly, calling out the name of Kousaka Kyousuke, who was the last person he saw before he lost consciousness.]

[But when he saw everything clearly, his eyes, which were originally full of vigilance, became dull in an instant.]

[“This place is——”]

[White snow drifted down from the sky, covering all the buildings in sight with a pure white color without any dirt. The irises of Zaimokuza's eyes reflected the buildings in front of him that were completely wrapped in snow, and his eyelids gradually opened.]

[“This is… Sobu High School?”]

[Looking at this familiar complex of buildings, Zaimokuza muttered to himself, his eyes full of disbelief.]

[No matter how much time has passed, he has never forgotten the name of this building complex in front of him - because the school with this name once changed his life.]

Here, Zaimokuza met some of the most important people in his life, including the teacher who taught him attentively and pointed out his path in life, the club he joined that made him feel the warmth of his first school life, and the friends he cherished most in his life...

[This school left Zaimokuza with too many firsts, and it occupied too much of his memory. Therefore, even though he had graduated and left for many years, he would still often return here in his dreams at midnight.]

[…But why? Why is he here now? ]

[Haven’t I already——]

[“Hmm!”]

[The purple light and the horrible pain that followed flashed through his mind, and Zaimokuza reflexively reached out to cover his neck, his face full of lingering fear.]

[But he immediately put down his hand in surprise, looking at his white palm in astonishment, without any dirt on it.]

[“My injury…what on earth is going on???”]

【Zaimokuza felt extremely surprised. He clearly remembered that his neck had two holes opened by the sneak attack of No. 25 before, and even his vocal cords should have been completely destroyed by that attack.】

[But why can I still speak now? And even the serious enough to be fatal injuries are gone? ]

[But that's not important. The most important thing is why I'm here now? In Sobu High School? In this high school that I returned to not long ago to fulfill a promise with my teacher? ]

【Thinking of this, Zaimokuza looked up without any hesitation. The familiar scenery and layout in front of him immediately reminded him of where in the school this was.】

[Whether it was the football net over there, the running track, or the tennis court not far away, all of them seemed to be vividly remembered, bearing the indelible marks of his student days.]

[“This is… the playground where we have physical education class? And why is it snowing? Isn’t the snow season in Chiba long over by now?”]

[Looking at the snow that continued to fall in front of him, Zaimokuza reached out and took one of the snowflakes with doubt.]

[“So cold!”]

[After the hexagonal crystal fell into Zaimokuza's hand, the cold feeling brought by the temperature of his palm told him that this was not an illusion.]

[“How could this happen? Why did it turn out like this? How on earth should I…”]

【Zaimokuza felt increasingly confused and took a step forward driven by the doubts in his heart. He was eager to know what was going on.】

【Clang! 】

[Because of his big steps, Zaimokuza's heels accidentally hit the legs of the chair, and a book that he was sitting on slid off the chair onto the snow-covered plastic playground, leaving a clear indentation on the snowy surface.]

【"Um?"】

【Zaimokuza looked at the brown-covered book at his feet, which looked a bit old, and squatted down to pick it up in confusion, and then brushed off the snow on the cover.】

[“…What’s wrong with this book? Not only is there no name written on it, but there’s not even a single word written on the pages?”]

[He checked both the front and back of the book cover, and after not seeing any title that should be the book's name, he opened the book. But what he saw made him frown again.]

[Crash--]

[The white pages of the book quickly turned between the covers at both ends as the fingers moved, but there was no handwriting on any of the pages inside until the last page of white paper turned over and the bottom page of the cover was exposed.]

[“Hey? Why do strange things always happen one after another?”]

[Looking at the wordless book in his hand, Zaimokuza scratched his short white hair that was almost longer than his ears in distress. Everything he discovered in succession made him feel an indescribable sense of weirdness.]

【“…”】

[Just as Zaimokuza squatted on the playground and scratched his head, a pair of black eyes in the dark of the building were quietly watching his back. The dark irises reflected his divided back through the wire mesh of the playground.]

[The man stared at him for a while, then turned around and walked in another direction without any regrets. When he walked out from under the building, the faint light from the sky illuminated the Sobu High School uniform he was wearing, which was a pitch-black base with a few white stripes on it.]

[A ghostly black figure passed by the playground exit not far away, which Zaimokuza was facing when he was half-crouching, and continued to walk slowly forward toward the aisle in front.]

[Patter. 】

[The black shoes, the same color as the school uniform, stepped on the snow, making a slight sound that was insignificant compared to the entire campus.]

[But for Zaimokuza at this moment, when this faint sound of footsteps fell into his ears, it was no less deafening than the thunder exploding in the sky.]

[“——Who is it!?”]

[Without time to think, Zaimokuza instinctively put the book inside his windbreaker, quickly turned around to look in the direction of the voice, and asked the question first.]

[The figure wearing the Sobu High School uniform didn't care that he had been discovered, and ignored Zaimokuza's questioning. He still kept his pace without looking back, and walked slowly towards the corner in the distance.]

[However, in contrast to the calm attitude of the figure, Zaimokuza is completely unable to calm down. ]

【“——”】

[Looking at the figure outside the wire fence of the playground, walking around the corner towards the teaching building, Zaimokuza's mind suddenly went blank as if it had been hit hard by a heavy hammer.]

[“…How is that possible?”]

[Looking at the back figure disappearing around the corner of the building, his eyes couldn't help shaking at this moment, and his lips trembled synchronously. ]

【Zaimokuza stood up slowly. When he stood up completely, he even took several steps back unsteadily. He only managed to steady himself by reaching out and grabbing the back of the chair behind him.】

[“That person is——!!!”]

[His right hand gripped the back of the chair so hard that his palm turned pale. He stared at the corner where the figure disappeared. At this moment, an unprecedented shudder ran through Zaimokuza's body.]

【"……etc!"】

[Soon after, Zaimokuza came back to his senses from the shock and suddenly realized that the figure had left. He immediately used his palm to push the chair down, and at the same time, using the reaction force to lean forward, his feet pulled off the ground and rushed in the direction where the figure left.]

[The black soles stepped on the ground, leaving two clear shoe prints on the snow covering the playground.]

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, health room.

"That person is..."

"It's definitely him."

When that figure appeared in the light curtain, not only did "Zaimokuza Yoshiki" in the light curtain react extremely greatly, but even the other people here also reacted.

Everyone simultaneously focused their attention on Zaimokuza Yoshiki, the "protagonist", and on another person—

Hikigaya Hachiman.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

Hikigaya, who was being stared at by everyone in the health room, rubbed his messy black hair helplessly, and at this moment he inexplicably felt a little sad.

"Although I have always hoped to show my face in the light screen, to be honest..."

He looked up at the light curtain, chasing the figure into the teaching room, and seeing "Zaimokuza Yoshiki" climbing the stairs anxiously with a look on his face, and couldn't help but sigh tiredly.

"I didn't expect that I would appear in this way in the end... Tsk, I'm not Uchiha Sasuke."

[——How is it possible? ]

[Patta, pat, pat—]

[The crisp sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor. Zaimokuza had already forgotten the school rule of Sobu High School that "no outdoor shoes are allowed into the teaching building". His black sneakers left black footprints with snow on the floor of the teaching building as he ran.]

[While chasing after the figure who turned his head and disappeared around the corner of his vision, he clenched his teeth tightly while running, so hard that his molars made a creaking sound.]

[——How could it be you? ]

[Zaimokuza, who had climbed up the stairs, suddenly looked up and saw the figure again taking his hand off the stair handle and turning to the left.]

[Zaimokuza knew the direction the other party was heading, and even knew where his destination was. ]

[Because turn left at the exit of the staircase, and then continue walking straight for a distance, after turning a corner in the corridor at the end, there is a row of old empty classrooms... There is a club activity room formed by students located in one of the empty classrooms. ]

[And the name of that club is the Service Club. ]

[——You’ve clearly already…]

【Zaimokuza held onto the handrail of the stairs and lowered his head, his whole body trembling.】

【“……!”】

[A familiar name that he hadn't seen for many years appeared on his lips. He opened his mouth, but felt something stuck in his throat.]

[He gritted his teeth again, ran to the upper level of the stairs, and continued running along the path that the figure had just walked until he reached the familiar corner.]

[After turning the corner, the scene before my eyes once again showed an extended corridor.]

[That figure appeared in the distance, standing quietly in front of the sliding door of a classroom, not moving away.]

[Looking at the figure that appeared in his field of vision, looking at the familiar profile of the face with the upper half of the face covered by bangs, Zaimokuza no longer had any doubts at this moment. ]

[The moment I saw him, the blockage in my throat melted away like snow encountering a blazing fire. The air flowed into my throat along with the wind, vibrating the vocal cords, brewing the familiar name.]

[I have hardly ever mentioned this name in the past few years, but when I say it again, there is no sense of alienation caused by the passage of time. It feels as familiar as before.]

【Zaimokuza, who was standing at the end of the corridor, looked at the familiar man and shouted out the man's name at the top of his lungs.】

【"——Hachiman!!!"】