It was an April morning with rain. The cherry blossoms had begun to fall, and the drops pushed the pale petals down into the puddles on the asphalt road. Students held bright umbrellas as they walked through the school gate one by one.
The next day, Shimizu Ken worried he wouldn't be able to meet Iori Amamiya's eyes after what happened yesterday. However, nothing strange happened.
As always, Shimizu Ken met his two friends at their usual spot, and they went to school together. Yet when he reached Iori, she tilted her head and made a gesture, lightly touching her lips with her fingers, as if reminding him of yesterday's kiss.
They had talked for a long time last night after the confrontation. Shimizu Ken was sure that Iori had regained her memory from the first loop, even if she herself did not fully grasp the implications or understand the extent of what had truly happened.
He guessed that her memories from both loops had merged chaotically, as described in previous chapters. She could recall some things from the first loop, but because the two sets of memories were mixed, with many repeats and clashes, the pieces were so messy that even she could not sort them out.
After Shimizu Ken confessed his past lies, Iori learned that the Ken of the first loop did not genuinely love her.
Her first reaction had been anger—deep anger. The bite mark on Ken's neck still ached, and it was clear proof of that.
But soon after, Iori's tone shifted, and she said:
"My dear, I said I would bring back the you from that time, so I will make you fall in love with me again. No, I will make you truly love me. But if you fall for another girl before that, then I will have to hurt you a little, keep you for myself, take care of you until you get better, and then once more..."
Now, Iori wanted Shimizu Ken entirely. She desired every part of him for herself, not allowing anyone else to touch him.
She could take his body by force if she wished, but that was not her goal. She wanted his heart, not his fear. She did not want to become a wild killer who would destroy him and lose him forever.
But that was only while she did not fall into full despair. If one day she found Ken with another girl and knew she had lost him for good, then things would not end the same way.
In the first loop, when Ken won the hearts of five main girls, none of them knew about the others. Each believed she was the only one.
This was why, even after he said those past words were lies, Iori still loved him too much to kill him last night.
She believed he had no other girl near him. Even if he did not like her for now, she felt that one day he would be hers.
To Iori, it was only a matter of time.
Ken had not slept at all last night. He spent hours reading online about yandere girls.
There were many types: possessive, clingy, stalker, and even jailer types.
Iori was most likely the possessive type, and a very strong one.
Many yandere had their own strange logic that felt normal to them. At first, they might look like simple, pure girls in love, no different from others.
But if something shocked them too much, they could lose control. The dark voice in their mind could twist things, making them think it was right to attack anything.
For example, to attack their parents, the voice might say the parents are fake. Last night, that might have been what Iori felt.
Shimizu Ken was not a yandere, and he could not fully comprehend their mindset. However, he understood that Iori must have been in immense emotional pain last night.
In truth, Iori was not inherently violent. The knife appeared because she felt insecure and feared losing the one she loved.
She wanted to have him fully, even his heart, without making him fear her.
She did not see him as an enemy, but as a treasure she must never lose, and must not let anyone else touch.
Still, this was only true while she did not fall into despair. If she ever did, everything would change.
That morning, when Shimizu Ken saw Iori again, a chilling realization struck him.
If Iori could regain her first loop memory and become like this, what if the other four girls from the first loop also regained their memories?
If that was true, and one of the five lost control one day and stabbed him, then with Iori's deep love for him now, he could not imagine what she would do after that. And that did not even count the other three.
Ken made up his mind. He had to prevent this from escalating. He could not repeat his past mistakes. He needed to find a way to change Iori, to restore her to the normal girl she once was.
It had been two years since he entered this world. But from today, Shimizu Ken resolved to confront the reality of his actions and their consequences.
He would no longer view them as mere game characters, but as individuals with their own emotions and agency, just like himself.