Tadashi sometimes wondered when everything had gone right.
After everything he had been through, life had somehow become beautiful.
The challenge was over. The fear was gone. The strange worlds, the monsters, the endless days of wondering whether he would survive until tomorrow—all of it had become nothing more than memories.
Years had passed since then.
Everyone had moved on.
Haruka and Haruto had somehow turned their rivalry into one of the largest technology companies in the world, yet they still found reasons to compete with one another over the smallest things. Sakamoto had become a professional basketball player. Nao had become a nurse, dedicating herself to saving others with the same determination she had always carried.
And Tadashi had found his own place in the world. He became an accountant and most importantly, he had married Nao. Sometimes, when they sat together at night, Tadashi would look at her and wonder how someone like him had managed to reach a life like this.
He had survived.
He had come home.
He had grown up.
He had found love.
Everything was finally where it was supposed to be. So why... Why did something still feel wrong. Tadashi could never explain it.
Perhaps it was because some part of him never truly believed the nightmare was over. Perhaps it was because, deep down, he knew that a person who had once been forced to fight for his life could never completely return to the person he had been before. Or perhaps...
There had always been something waiting for him.
He just didn't know what.
Until the day he turned twenty.
...
Tadashi opened his eyes. He didn't know when he had closed them. There was nothing beneath his feet, above him, or even around him. He simply stood there. Darkness stretched endlessly in every direction. For a few seconds, he didn't move. Then he looked ahead. His breathing stopped.
The void.
His body remembered before his mind could, his chest tightened, his hands trembled, and every instinct inside him screamed to run. He had spent years trying to forget this place. He never wanted to see it again.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
"Tadashi."
His eyes widened. He knew that voice. Slow footsteps approached. A familiar figure emerged from the darkness.
Simon.
The same smile. The same calm expression, as if nothing had happened. Simon looked at him for a moment.
"Perhaps... it has been a while."
Tadashi couldn't speak. Simon turned slightly.
"There is someone I'd like you to meet."
Another figure appeared. Another angel.
"Meet Rudius."
Rudius looked at Tadashi for several seconds before speaking.
"Seventh Pillar. "
Tadashi frowned.
"...Seventh Pillar?"
Rudius didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked toward Simon then back at Tadashi.
"I guess you never realized it."
The darkness behind them shifted.
"Have you ever wondered why you had to survive for seven days?"
Seven faint lights appeared.
"Your challenge was never as simple as you believed."
Tadashi stared. Rudius continued.
"You were not the only one."
Silence.
"There were six before you."
Tadashi's expression changed.
"Huh?"
Rudius smiled faintly.
"And you were the seventh pillar."
-THE SCREECHES ARE BACK!-
...
The first thing Tadashi saw was a blur as the third Pillar moved. That was all. One moment he was standing still and the next, he was already behind his opponent. A second later, the impact came. The ground shattered. The Pillar looked down at Tadashi and smiled.
"You people really don't understand how valuable a second is."
He disappeared again.
"I learned that the hard way."
Another impact and burst of speed. He wasn't simply fast, he treated time as though it belonged to him.
...
Elsewhere, the Fourth Pillar calmly walked through the battlefield. Her opponent raised his weapon. She smiled.
"Go ahead."
She didn't even move.
"Try to resist me."
Her smile widened.
"Everyone thinks they're different."
The opponent hesitated.
"That's what makes this so easy."
There was something almost arrogant in the way she spoke. She genuinely believed no one could resist her. And perhaps... she had very good reasons for believing it.
...
A scream came from somewhere nearby.
The Sixth Pillar was running.
"WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?!"
Something exploded behind him. He tripped, rolled down a hill, barely avoided another attack, then somehow landed safely behind cover. He stared at his surroundings. He blinked.
"...I'm alive?"
He paused then smiled through his tears.
"Of course I am."
...
The Fifth Pillar stood behind a ttree, peeking around it. Someone looked in her direction. She immediately hid again.
"...Too many people."
Her voice was barely audibl as she disappeared. No one saw where she went.
---
The Second Pillar simply watched.
His opponent attacked.
He moved.
Another attack.
He moved again.
A third.
He was already somewhere else.
He seemed to know what was coming before it happened.
He looked almost bored.
"Predictable."
...
And somewhere beyond them all... the First Pillar stood, silently watching. No one knew what he was thinking. No one dared ask.
--MEMORIES AT STAKE!--
...
Tadashi's world became quiet again. Nao sat beside him. For a brief moment, the battlefield didn't exist and neither did the Pillars. There was only her. She leaned against him. After everything they had survived, happiness had somehow become something so simple. A quiet evening, someone waiting for him to come home. Nao looked at him.
"You know I'll always be here, right?"
Tadashi looked at her. For once, he didn't have an answer and simply smiled. Somewhere deep inside him...something broke.
--UNCOVERING SECRETS!--
...
The night sky was beautiful. Kei and Rin stood beneath it, their hands intertwined. Neither spoke for a while as the stars reflected in Rin's eyes. Kei looked at her.
"I'll win."
Rin looked surprised.
"Kei..."
"I promise."
His grip tightened around her hand.
"I'll win this challenge."
There was something strange in his voice. As if he already knew what winning would cost. Rin smiled anyway as Kei looked toward the stars.
...
"Come on, Number Seven."
The Fourth Pillar stood before Tadashi.
She smiled.
"Don't tell me that's all you've got."
Tadashi stared at her as she tilting her head.
"Go all out."
Tadashi's eyes sharpened, his breathing slowed.
"I have to remember."
The Fourth Pillar's smile faded slightly.
"Remember what?"
He remembered the forest, the fear, the loneliness, the days that refused to end, the people he had lost and saved. Tadashi raised his head.
"Everything!"
...
Simon stood in the darkness, watching the scene unfold. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"That was the first attempt."
Silence. Then--
A screech.
--SWITCH 7--
A warm night. A crowd gathered beneath a dark sky as Tadashi stood beside Nao. Haruka and Haruto argued about something neither of them would admit was pointless. Sakamoto laughed. For a moment, everyone was together. Then the fireworks began.
One after another, brilliant colours filled the sky. Nao looked upward, and Tadashi watched her instead. He smiled. This was his life.
His family.
His world.
--THE FINAL SWITCH!--
Simon looked toward the seven stone pillars, filled with tallies of strokes. His smile slowly returned.
"Perhaps..."
He paused.
"...this will be interesting."
And somewhere beyond the darkness...
something began to move.