[AllTakemichi] Control

Chapter 53

"You're the only one who can save my sister."

"Please... save everyone, you crybaby hero."

"I'm leaving Mikey and Touman to you."

"I'm entrusting my memories of Baji-san and Touman... to you."

"My life... it's nothing but pain."

"Takemitchy, your hands... they're so warm."

"Save Kurokawa Izana."

"Mikey's counting on you."

"Save me, Takemichi."

Voices echo through the dark room - fragmented, desperate. Like clips from old films, the memories play over and over again on a giant invisible screen. Takemichi trembles, panic rising like a wave. His head pounds like it's being split in two. He curls in on himself, shaking. His lips move without sound at first, then quietly, he whispers:

"I can do this... I'll save everyone."

But another voice - his own - cuts through the silence, cruel and cold:

"You can't do anything, Takemichi. You're weak. You're useless. You don't have strength. You're not smart enough to save anyone. You couldn't save Baji. Emma died because of you. Mikey only fell into darkness because you returned to the future. The future will repeat itself. You'll watch them all die again, right in front of you."

It's his own voice, but twisted - sharp and bitter, mirroring the way he always blames himself. Every dark thought, every buried fear, every ounce of guilt he carries since the day he got a second chance.

"No!" Takemichi snaps back, his voice cracking. "I had the chance to change everything. I saved them. Everyone will be happy... together!"

But then another voice laughs - a mocking, venomous chuckle.

"Together? Oh, sure. You worked so hard for that, didn't you?"

The voices fall silent. Darkness thickens. And then... a massive hourglass appears before him. Grains of sand fall slowly, endlessly, down into the bottom. What is it? Takemichi doesn't know. But as he stares, unease claws at his chest. A strange, silent dread builds within him.

The two voices return - closer this time, whispering like demons just behind his ear. And every word etches itself deep into his mind.

"They'll live happily ever after... but not with you."

"You saved them, Takemichi. But what about you? You carry the pain. You carry the despair. You keep trying, only to end up... alone."

The sand keeps falling. Time is slipping away - too obvious now. But whose time? What for?

Suddenly, Takemichi can't breathe. He collapses, clutching himself, shivering violently. It's cold. So cold. The darkness grows thicker, stronger. It wraps around him, pulls at him, tries to devour him whole. He struggles. He tries to run. But there's no way out.

It's terrifying. Please. He doesn't want to be trapped here.

He thinks of his friends in Touman. He thinks of Mikey.

"Please... someone... save me."

But Mikey isn't here. No one is. Takemichi cries out, again and again. Someone - anyone - please show up. He doesn't want to be alone. But no one hears him. No one comes.

"In the end... you always come back to being alone."

That voice again. Over and over in his mind. Takemichi starts to break. He gives in. Stops struggling. Lets the darkness consume him.