Streetlight.
Dry ground.
Stillness.
"Oi! You're doing that thing again."
Kai didn't react this time.
Didn't panic.
Didn't scream.
He just stood there.
Breathing slowly.
Eyes empty.
"…again," he muttered.
"What?" Lina frowned.
Kai looked at her.
Really looked this time.
Her face.
Her eyes.
Her expression.
Alive.
"…you died," he said quietly.
"…okay, seriously, what's wrong with you?"
He didn't answer.
Instead—
He turned.
Scanning the street.
Counting seconds in his head.
3…
2…
1—
CRACK.
The sound echoed exactly on time.
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"…so it's fixed."
"What is?" Lina asked, now clearly uneasy.
He grabbed her arm again.
"We're leaving. Now."
"Kai—"
"Don't argue!"
They moved again.
Different route this time.
Away from the street.
Into a side alley.
Kai's mind raced.
Change variables.
Different path.
Different outcome.
The world trembled.
The building collapsed behind them—
Just like before.
But this time—
They weren't there.
Kai exhaled.
"…it worked…"
Then—
A scream.
From the alley.
Kai turned.
Too late.
A metal beam—thrown from the collapse—pierced through the narrow space.
Straight through Lina.
Her body froze.
Eyes wide.
"…Kai…"
Time stopped.