The cafeteria buzzed like any other afternoon. Students shuffled between tables, trays clattered, laughter echoed. To anyone else, it was normal.
But not to Kentarō.
Because he'd already seen this.
Yūto dropping his curry tray.
The lunch lady yelling at a guy with pink hair.
A group of girls passing by and giggling at something that hadn't happened yet.
Kentarō stood frozen, tray in hand.
"This is the fourth time," he whispered.
He turned.
And sure enough, Sarah sat exactly where she had every time—table in the corner, eyes flicking across the room like a radar scanning for anomalies.
🍛 Flashback – Earlier That Morning
After sharing timeline memories the night before, Kentarō had slept only a few hours. When he woke up, his analog clock was spinning backward. Again.
Sarah had messaged him using Yūto's phone:
"Meet me at the cafeteria. 1:05 PM. Don't be late. The loop starts there."
🌀 Back to the Present – 1:06 PM
Kentarō walked over and sat down in front of Sarah.
"It's happening again, isn't it?" he said, quiet.
Sarah nodded, serious. "A minor loop. Temporal distortion. A timeline fragment is stuck."
He looked around. "How are people not noticing?"
"They're NPCs in this glitch," she said. "Only you and I are outside it."
She tapped her wrist—a strange compass-like device he hadn't seen before spun erratically. "The loop keeps resetting every time someone tries to leave the cafeteria."
Kentarō furrowed his brow. "Then why don't we just walk out together?"
She stared at him. "We've tried that. 7 times already. You don't remember—but I do."
He blinked. "So… what resets it?"
"That's what we're about to find out. Again."
🔁 1:08 PM – Attempt #8
They tried again.
This time, Kentarō reached the cafeteria door.
The moment he touched the handle—
FLASH!
—He was back in line with the tray.
Yūto dropped his curry again.
Laughter echoed.
Same. Exact. Scene.
🧩 1:05 PM – Attempt #9
Sarah scribbled notes quickly.
"I think the trigger isn't physical," she muttered. "It's emotional. Someone here is repeating a regret strong enough to anchor the loop."
Kentarō scanned the room.
His eyes landed on someone familiar.
Reika Minazuki.
She sat by herself, staring at her untouched rice bowl. The way her fingers trembled—the way she glanced at his table every loop...
"She confessed in one timeline," Sarah said softly. "You didn't notice. That pain might've crossed into this one."
Kentarō's heart stung. "How do we fix it?"
"You need to do something you didn't do before," Sarah said. "Try listening."
🫂 1:06 PM – Attempt #10
Kentarō walked straight to Reika's table.
"Hey… mind if I join?"
She looked startled. "Huh? Yeah, sure…"
They sat quietly for a moment.
"I saw you staring earlier," he said. "Something wrong?"
Reika hesitated, then gave a sad smile. "You don't remember, do you?"
"Remember what?"
"The old rooftop. The time you pulled me away from jumping off after Daichi humiliated me in front of the whole class."
Kentarō froze.
"That was you?"
Reika's voice shook. "You forgot. I didn't."
💥 Loop Break
Suddenly, the cafeteria lights flickered.
Sarah looked up, eyes wide. "Something's happening."
Time glitched—plates shimmered, the lunch lady paused mid-yell.
Kentarō stood and walked over to Sarah.
"Did I do it?"
Sarah nodded. "You broke her loop of regret. She was the anchor."
And then—
Time moved forward. The bell rang for the next class.
For the first time in what felt like hours, the world felt real again.
🌙 Later That Night – Kentarō's Apartment Rooftop
"I thought you said only you had timeline memories," Kentarō asked.
Sarah stared at the sky. "Sometimes... emotions bleed into other timelines. Love. Regret. Guilt. They're stronger than logic."
"So… Reika never confessed in this world. But her heart remembered."
Sarah nodded. "World lines aren't clean. They overlap. Blend. People suffer for choices they don't even remember making."
Kentarō leaned back. "That's terrifying."
Sarah gave a small smile. "It is."
Then she looked at him.
"But we're starting to wake them up."
📝 Meanwhile – Unknown Location
In a dark room with ticking clocks, Professor Hoshikawa stood alone.
A projection floated in front of him:
"World Line 136: Distortion Detected. Cafeteria Loop Resolved."
He narrowed his eyes.
"They're accelerating. I need to prepare the Lock Sequence."
Behind him, Mira appeared in the corner.
Small. Glowing. Watching.
"They're almost ready," she whispered..