Cherreads

PROLOGUE CHAPTER: 1

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

The throat of that person was entirely full.. entirely full to that of the brim, as if the existence of that area had no choice but to be full. it was not that of banter nor that of vomit rising after a night of drinking that had caused the throat of that person to be full, but rather instead what clogged the passage that held the key of life and death was something cold——

——it was that of water.

——The water burned at that person's lungs as if that of an intruder caught by an old man whilst being illuminated by the white moonlight pouring down from above. Every breath that rightfully belonged to that person was stolen away instantly. As the liquid rejected the very concept of that person's existence.

Somewhere in the depths of that sinking consciousness, a distorted thought bloomed similarly to that of a flower.

「 This is the end i sought for.. this is what I wanted. Entirely, Whole heartedly, Wanted. 」

They believed, if only for a fraction of a moment, that this was the complete end they had been searching for. A bed where everything would finally stop and they could finally rest——

A world where they would no longer be forced to be——

<□■, □■ □■□, □■□■□ □■■'□□ □■□□■□ □■□■□■□>

——That was the story.

That was the version that remained for observers.

But in truth, the rather ugly truth was entirely different. In the end that person wasn't sinking nor were they being dragged into an endless abyss by fate. They had not prepared for this in the slightest. They had not tied stones to their ankles to ensure they sunk into the dark. They had not taken precautions to ensure there was absolutely no way back to the surface. So in that way It was not even that of a grand execution... nor was it a poetic conclusion to a life full of nothing but tragedy. In the end it was not some orchestrated, dramatic ending either.. It was simply 『Another』——

——single, instantaneous decision. Another moment where the accumulated regrets of living became too heavy for the soul to support. A step forward to their fate. If they were one to meet an end, they wanted it on their own terms as the singular author of their final breath..

That person walked out to sea willingly, They hadn't been pushed nor left to drown. But rather they moved forward on their own accord.

——every step forward, the shore behind them shrunk—

—the world of light and people—

——became further and further away, shrinking into an unreachable dot. A terrifying wave in the ocean hadn't brought him forward... But rather, without a single whisper of malice——

——He was the one who drowned himself.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

More Chapters