He told her everything—every detail of the dream.
The suffocating darkness, The throne, The tree with blood-red leaves, The strange hollow eyed man sharpening a dagger.
And finally, the part that caught her attention most: the Eye of the Harbinger, a power described as both a blessing and a curse.
For once, Amane's mask of indifference slipped. She wasn't just listening—she was thinking. Truly processing his words. Itsuki noticed, and just as he was about to stop, a sudden memory struck him.
"Oh—and the strange man. He also said this: You are loved, but you are damned to be lost."
Amane froze, her eyes widening. For the first time since he'd met her, she looked genuinely unsettled.
"Has something strange happened to you recently?" she asked suddenly.
Itsuki frowned. "Like what?"
She leaned in slightly. "Visions. Recurring signs. Coincidences that always seem to point you toward someone... or something."
Itsuki stiffened. "A vision? Of someone? Could she mean—'
He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you asking me all these questions? How much do you really know about what's happening to me?"
Amane turned away, resting her elbows on the desk and folding her hands beneath her chin. After a pause, she spoke in a softer tone.
"You've seen a Vision. Haven't you?, What did you see?"
Itsuki didn't answer. His silence louder than any words. It was like a game of chess—every move felt calculated, every silence deliberate. But he could feel it. She was winning. Slowly cornering him.
He looked forward, away from her piercing gaze. His body shifted just slightly, but it was enough to betray the truth: he had already lost this round. She knew too much. It was only a matter of time before she figured out the things he tried to hide.
"If I tell her, maybe I'll finally find a way to save my mother... Even if she gives me nothing about herself, that alone would be enough.'
He took a deep breath. "…My mom."
Amane's eyes didn't waver. "What did you see?"
He hesitated, then lowered his gaze to the floor. "Infinite possibilities. Infinite outcomes. And in every single one of them… she died." His voice trembled, but he forced himself to continue. "Over and over again. I felt her pain. Heard her screams. Watched her body go limp each time. Every situation was different—but they all ended the same."
He stopped there. Any more and he'd break.
Amane's expression softened. For the first time, her voice carried a note of genuine sorrow. "I'm sorry. I know it must be unbearable... living every day with that knowledge."
Itsuki raised his head and looked straight at her. "Then help me. Help me save her."
Her brows furrowed. "Save her? What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb—you know what's happening to me. So help me. I don't know how to explain it, but after the vision, I just… know." His words rushed out, desperate, vulnerable. "She always dies with her hair tied up. And right after, the rain begins to fall. Every time. If I can stop one of those things from happening, I can stop her death. I know it."
Amane let out a slow, pained sigh. She had been dreading this part. Now that he'd said it aloud, she had no choice.
"I can't let you do that."
Itsuki blinked. "What…?"
"I can't let you save her."
The words struck harder than any blade. His chest tightened, disbelief painted across his face.
"She's… serious?'
"I know who you are, Itsuki, or at least I've confirmed it," she continued, her eyes boring into his. "From what you told me, from your dream—you carry a power inside you that's beyond anything you realize. But the very fact you don't understand it yet… that makes you dangerous. If you try to change what you saw, there will be consequences.
"I don't care what happens to me!" he snapped, his voice rising. "If she's fine—"
"Not you, Itsuki." Her tone sharpened. "Your mother. Whatever you saw—it will only worsen if you try to change it."
Her words sank like lead.
Itsuki sat there, silent. His hopes, the fragile thread of belief he'd been clinging to, snapped in an instant. She wasn't giving him answers. She was telling him to give up. To let the one person who gave him worth simply die.
He took his hands out of his pockets as he clenched his fists beneath the desk, his nails digging into his palms as he processed it.
Amane spoke again, her voice quieter, almost pleading. "Look around you, Itsuki. Some structures can't be broken. Trying to defy them only leads to collapse. You've already seen demons. And now you've seen a persons death before it happens. Do you really think you can alter fate without tearing something else apart?"
Her words gnawed at him, circling his thoughts like vultures. "Is this really it? Am I supposed to do nothing? Let her die?'
The silence between them grew unbearable. Finally, Itsuki rose to his feet, grabbing his bag. He didn't look back at her.
His footsteps echoed as he left the library, leaving Amane sitting alone at the table, watching his figure vanish into the distance.
"Should I really just do nothing?'
****
Itsuki walked aimlessly, his bag slung over his shoulder, barely noticing the familiar streets he was passing through. His mind was elsewhere—drifting through every conversation, every warning, every sign that had pointed toward a future he couldn't change.
"If I do nothing, she'll die. If I try, everything could go to hell...'
He felt a coldness settle in his chest as the weight of his decision bore down on him. He had asked for answers, but all he'd gotten were more questions, more tangled webs that led nowhere but to a single, inevitable truth: he had no idea what was going to happen, and he was terrified of that.
"So what now?' he thought. " What am I supposed to do with all this supposed power if I can't even save the one person who matters to me?'
He reached a crossroad, standing at the corner of a street, looking down both paths with a sense of hopelessness. The world around him seemed indifferent to his inner turmoil, people still moving, society still running.
He thought of his mother—the way she tried to be strong, the way she worked herself to the bone, always coming home late, always trying to make up for something. But what if there was no saving her? What if he really couldn't stop the inevitable?