Rewinding Cadence

Volume 1 · Chapter 11The Vanishing Kiss

Day 42, Pre‑Collapse—Late Night

The city's pulse quickened as the final hours of the cycle bled away. Cadence Station's ruins trembled under the weight of unchecked entropy—walls rippling with cracks, lamps flickering like dying fireflies, the distant wind moaning through fractured avenues. Ren and Chu stood atop the roof of the central clocktower, its great face cracked at 42 but still luminous in that otherworldly glow.

Below them, the city stretched in silent ruin. The horizon quivered with the approaching collapse, a swirling maelstrom of green light and ash that would reset everything.

Chu pressed a hand to her chest, breathing hard. "It's almost time," she whispered. Her voice cracked under exhaustion and fear. "Every loop… I've waited for you here."

Ren reached for her hand. It was cold, trembling like a leaf in a gale. "And I've always found you." His voice was fierce, raw with memory and promise. "Even when I didn't know why."

Chu's eyes filled with tears. "Ren—"

He placed a finger under her chin, tilting her face upward. The cracked clockface behind them bathed her silver hair in milky light. "Chu," he said, voice soft. "I remember everything now. Every loop. Every promise. Every time you begged me not to love you."

She shook her head, tears spilling free. "I told you… don't love me. Because—" Her words caught in her throat. She drew a shuddering breath.

Ren cupped both sides of her face. "Because everyone who loves you… vanishes." His eyes glistened. "But I choose you anyway."

A distant toll sounded from the ruined bell across the plaza: one, two, three… each chime a hammer to their hearts.

Chu pressed her forehead to his. "I'm scared," she whispered. "I've seen you disappear—felt you fade—so many times."

Ren pulled her close. "Then hold on to me."

She closed her eyes. Below them, the storm of collapse swirled faster—shards of light piercing the dark like dying stars. The wind whipped around the tower, tearing at Chu's hair and cloak. Yet in that moment, nothing existed but them.

Ren leaned in, brushing his lips against her temple. He whispered, "Promise me… if nothing else survives, you'll find me again."

Chu's tears stained his shirt. She lifted her face, meeting his gaze in the fractured glow. "I promise," she breathed.

He closed the distance. Their lips met in a kiss that trembled with all the weight of 134 loops—the ache of falling in love again and again, the horror of losing each other, the fierce hope that memory could conquer oblivion.

Time slowed. The ruined city hushed. In that stolen heartbeat, they were infinite.

Midnight—The Collapse

A blinding flash of green‑white light erupted around them. The wind screamed as if the world itself were tearing apart. Ren tightened his arms around Chu, eyes closed, bracing for the end.

The flood of light swallowed them whole. In its brilliance, their silhouettes blurred together—two souls clinging amid dissolution.

When the glare receded, everything had changed.

Cycle 2 · Day 1 Morning

Ren's first breath was cold and hollow. He lay on cracked asphalt—dust motes dancing in the pale dawn. No ache in his side, no warmth of Chu's arms. He sat up, heart pounding with emptiness.

He blinked at a shattered storefront, fragments of glass scattered like fallen memories. A tingle ran through his spine—something vital was missing.

He ran a hand to his chest, feeling only the smooth fabric of his shirt. No scar. No pouch at his wrist. No echo of blood‑ink anchors.

"Chu…" he whispered, voice cracking.

Footsteps startled him. He turned to see a silver‑haired girl stepping from the shadows of a collapsed fountain—eyes wide, breath trembling.

"Do I… know you?" she asked, sketchbook clutched to her chest.

Ren's throat closed. His mind ached with unspoken longing. He dropped to one knee, reaching for her hand.

"You always do," he said, voice raw with promise.

Above them, the broken clocktower flickered at Day 1, its hands moving freely for the first time. A single beam of green‑tinged light spilled across the plaza—cold, but full of possibility.

And somewhere in the distant sky, twin shooting stars blazed across the dawn, whispering of love that even oblivion could not erase.