PROLOGUE
THE WASTE HEAT OF THE BEGINNING
—This is really, really not good.
Feeling the hard texture of the ground against his face, he realized that he had fallen facedown on the ground. He couldn’t move, even when he tried, and he already couldn’t feel his fingers. What he did feel was a certain heat, and it overwhelmed his entire body.
—It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot.
He coughed and vomited the blood he felt rising in his throat—the source of his waning life. So much came out that it frothed at the edges of his mouth. With his hazy vision, he could see the ground in front of him stained red.
—You’ve…got to be kidding me… All of this is mine?
Feeling as though all of the blood in his body had spilled out of him, he reached a shaking hand to try to find the source of the heat that was burning through his body. As his fingertips reached the large cut in his stomach, he understood.
No wonder it felt so hot. His brain must have been mistaking pain for heat. The clean gash that ran through his torso was so deep it had almost sliced him in half. Only bits of skin were still holding him together.
In other words, he had run right into a checkmate in the chess game of his life. As soon as he realized that, his consciousness immediately began to fall away from him.
Before his eyes, he saw a black boot descend, making ripples in the red pool of his fresh blood.
Someone was there, and that someone…was probably the one who killed him.
But he didn’t even think to look that person in the face. It didn’t matter anymore.
—The one thing he did wish was that she, at least, would be safe.
“—baru?”
He felt as if he heard a voice that rang like bells. That he heard that voice, that he could hear that voice, felt like salvation to him more than anything else, so—
“!”
With a short scream, someone else crumpled upon the carpet of blood.
She landed right beside him. He lay there, weakly attempting to reach her.
Her white hand fell, powerless. He lightly grasped it in his own bloodstained grip.
He felt the fingers of her hand move slightly to accept his own.
“Just you wait…”
He seized his fading consciousness, pulling it desperately back to buy a bit more time.
“I’m going to…”
—find a way to save you.
In the next instant, he—Subaru Natsuki—lost his life.
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