Darkness.That was all Ren could see.
He felt weightless, as though he were floating in an endless sea of stars. His body had no warmth, his hands no strength—yet his heart pulsed with something strange. A memory. A promise. A name he couldn't quite remember.
Then, through the void, a voice whispered.
"Ren… can you still hear me?"
He turned. From the starlit horizon, a girl appeared—her silver hair flowing like moonlight, her violet eyes shining with sorrow. She was beautiful, almost unreal, as if she didn't belong to the mortal world.
"Who… are you?" Ren asked, his voice trembling.
The girl smiled softly, though sadness lingered in her eyes."You've forgotten again. That's cruel… but expected. Every time you are reborn, you lose more pieces of yourself."
"Reborn?" Ren repeated, confused. "What do you mean?"
The girl reached out, her fingers brushing against his cheek, though he felt no warmth."You are bound by the Eternal Cycle. Each time you die, you live again… carrying fragments of the past. And in every life, you search for us—the bonds you cannot let go of."
Ren's chest tightened. Us? Did that mean… there were others?
"Why me?" he whispered. "Why am I trapped in this… cycle?"
The girl's eyes glimmered with something unspoken, as if she carried the answer but couldn't reveal it."Because of a choice you once made. A promise that has yet to be fulfilled. Until then, you will wander across lifetimes… searching."
Before Ren could speak, the stars around him began to fade, swallowed by a blinding light. The girl's form wavered, her voice echoing faintly.
"Find us, Ren… before the cycle consumes you."
—
Ren gasped, his eyes snapping open.
He was lying on a soft bed, sunlight spilling through the curtains of a modest room. His chest rose and fell rapidly as if he had just escaped from drowning. His head throbbed with fragments of the dream—the girl, her silver hair, her sad smile.
"A dream…?" he muttered, rubbing his temples. "No, it felt too real."
The door creaked open. A cheerful voice rang out.
"Ren! You're awake? Come on, you'll be late for class!"
A girl with chestnut-brown hair peeked inside, her school uniform slightly messy but her smile bright. Her name was Aria, his childhood friend.
Ren blinked. For a moment, when he looked at her, a strange warmth tugged at his heart. It was as if he had seen her… somewhere before. Not just yesterday, not just years ago, but in another life entirely.
"Aria…" he whispered unconsciously.
She tilted her head. "What's with that face? Did you have a weird dream again?"
Ren forced a laugh, but inside, his mind swirled with questions.
The dream of the silver-haired girl. The words Eternal Cycle. The strange feeling when he looked at Aria.
Could it be… that his life was not as ordinary as he believed?
And so, the story of Ren—the boy who loved across lifetimes—quietly began once again.