My second chance

Prologue

Rain poured endlessly from the dark sky, each drop hitting the ground like needles against Takemichi's skin. His breathing came out weak and uneven as he laid motionless in the middle of the empty street, blood mixing with the cold rainwater beneath him.

But despite the pain-

He smiled.

For once... he saved someone.

Not too late. Not this time.

The cries, the chaos, the desperate screams ringing in his ears moments ago slowly faded into silence. His heavy eyelids began to close as darkness swallowed his vision whole.

"So this is... the end..."

Yet before everything disappeared completely-

A strange warmth wrapped around him.

Then-

Light.

Takemichi gasped sharply, sitting upright so suddenly that his chest burned. His eyes widened in confusion as he stared around the unfamiliar room.

No...

Not unfamiliar.

Small wooden desk. Old superhero posters. The cracked ceiling he used to count every night before sleeping.

His breath hitched.

"This is... my room?"

But something felt wrong.

Takemichi looked down at himself, his hands trembling violently.

Tiny hands.
A child's hands.

His heartbeat stopped for a second as he rushed toward the dusty mirror beside his bed.

And staring back at him...

Was an eight-year-old Hanagaki Takemichi.

Outside, thunder roared across the sky once more.

Because somehow-

He had returned to the past.

Again.