Shi Tie Zhu had a dream.
In the dream, he saw a Nameless Abomination. This lifeform was infinitely powerful, infinitely vast, infinitely complex, yet infinitely simple.
It flourished, yet converged.
It proliferated, yet returned to one.
It was great and exalted, scattering the seeds of evolution. It was also terrifying beyond measure, harvesting all life.
It was so vast that no one could possibly refuse it. Yet with absolute will, Shi Tie Zhu rejected its summons, rejected its rules. In a haze, Shi Tie Zhu came to understand its name—Apocalypse.
On the other side, Shi Tiexin also dreamed.
His dream returned to Tokyo.
He dreamed of a night in that year and month. He had been injured, fallen asleep, then awakened. The room was quiet and peaceful. The night wind swept past, and someone stood on the balcony, watching the lights of ten thousand homes.
Shi Tiexin could not help walking toward her, wanting to see her face once more.
But for some reason, he could not move.
In a haze, the scene changed.
Fireworks burst in the little park at the street corner. This time, that girl sat beside him, humming a song and telling him to remember it well. If one day she forgot everything, he was to sing it to her again.
Shi Tiexin desperately pricked up his ears, wanting to hear her voice.
But for some reason, he could not hear it clearly.
In a haze, the scene changed again, and then again.
He saw the girl's every smile and frown. He saw her teasing and flirting time after time. He saw his own wise and resolute refusals. At the time, he had thought himself especially dependable, but at this moment, he regretted it terribly.
*If I could do it over, I wouldn't reject you, wouldn't