Morning came late.
Or maybe he woke too early.
Ayinakoji could not tell.
He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.
The crack was there.
Long.
Thin.
Endless.
He did not count it.
For the first time since he began, he did not count it.
He simply looked.
"…I'm tired."
The words were barely sound.
His room gave no answer.
The mirror stood in the corner.
Covered now with a blanket he had thrown over it during the night.
He did not want to see it.
He did not want to see himself.
Slowly, he sat up.
His body felt heavier than usual.
Not sick.
Not weak.
Just… heavy.
He got dressed.
Fixed his collar.
Tied his shoes.
Simple things.
Small things.
The kind of things people did when life still mattered.
He opened the bedroom door.
The house was silent.
No parents.
No footsteps.
No voices.
In the kitchen, a note sat on the table.
Out. Back later.
He looked at it for a long time.
Then folded it once.
Set it back exactly where it had been.
The plate beside it held bread gone stale.
He did not touch it.
Today, he did not feel hungry.
He left the house without speaking.
No "I'm going."
No "Goodbye."
There was no reason.
Outside, the sky was pale white.
No blue.
No warmth.
Just blank color stretched over the city.
The street was busier than yesterday.
Cars moved.
People walked.
Shops opened.
Voices drifted from corners.
The world continued.
As if nothing had happened.
As if he had never suffered inside it.
He walked slowly.
Hands in pockets.
Eyes lowered.
People passed him.
Shoulders brushed his arm.
No one apologized.
No one noticed.
A child ran by laughing, chased by his mother.
A worker argued on the phone.
Two students shared snacks near a gate.
Life moved around him like water around a stone.
He stopped near the wall where the cat always sat.
The wall was empty.
No cat.
He stared at the empty space.
Then nodded once.
"…I understand."
He kept walking.
School stood ahead.
Tall gates.
Grey walls.
Crowds entering.
He stopped across the road.
Looked at it.
Really looked at it.
The building where he had been ignored.
The classrooms where blame followed him.
The desks where he smiled and disappeared.
He felt nothing.
Not anger.
Not sadness.
Not fear.
Only distance.
He turned away.
He did not go in.
No one called after him.
No one asked where he was going.
No one would mark his absence until later.
Maybe not even then.
He wandered through streets he normally ignored.
Past old stores.
Past alleys.
Past windows filled with things he never bought.
A bakery smelled warm.
He kept walking.
A toy shop displayed bright colors.
He kept walking.
A bookstore had people inside laughing softly.
He kept walking.
Then he saw it.
A small pizza stand on the opposite side of the road.
Nothing special.
Cheap sign.
Old counter.
Steam rising into the cold air.
A worker inside lifted a fresh slice.
Cheese stretching.
Heat rising.
Ayinakoji stopped.
His eyes followed the slice like it was something magical.
Something impossible.
Not because it was pizza.
Because it was simple.
Because it was normal.
Because people bought things they wanted every day without thinking.
And he had never allowed himself to want anything.
For the first time in a long time…
He felt something small.
Tiny.
Warm.
"…Maybe…"
His lips moved slowly.
"…I can have one."
The light changed.
Cars slowed.
People began crossing.
Ayinakoji stepped forward.
One foot.
Then another.
The road was wide.
Wider than it looked.
Halfway across, someone laughed behind him.
A horn sounded somewhere distant.
Wind brushed his sleeve.
He kept walking.
Eyes on the stand.
On the slice waiting in the glass case.
On the simple reward at the end of the road.
Then—
A scream.
Tires shrieked.
A shadow swallowed the light.
Ayinakoji turned.
Too late.
Headlights.
White.
Blinding.
Endless.
Impact.
The world vanished.
Sound tore apart.
Sky and ground traded places.
His body became weightless.
Then pain.
Then nothing.
A pizza flyer drifted through the air beside him.
Bright red letters.
TODAY SPECIAL
He hit the pavement.
Hard.
But far away.
Everything felt far away now.
Voices rushed in.
Shouting.
Running.
Panic.
"Call someone!"
"Oh no—"
"Move back!"
Feet gathered around him.
Shapes blurred above.
Faces without names.
Eyes without meaning.
Warm liquid spread beneath him.
He looked at the sky.
Still pale.
Still empty.
Strangely beautiful.
His breathing came shallow.
Then shallower.
No one called his name.
Of course.
They didn't know it.
A laugh escaped him.
Small.
Broken.
Almost silent.
"…That makes sense."
His fingers twitched weakly.
He could not feel his legs.
Could barely feel his hands.
The pizza stand stood across the road.
So close.
Still untouched.
Still ordinary.
He had almost reached it.
A tear slid from the corner of his eye.
Not from pain.
Not from fear.
From something harder to name.
Regret.
Not for dying.
For never living.
His vision darkened at the edges.
Voices stretched and warped.
The world pulled away.
He thought of the crack on the ceiling.
The empty wall.
The cat.
The classroom.
The mirror.
The word mistake.
The smile.
The silence.
Then one final thought rose above all the others.
Clear.
Gentle.
Maybe… in another life…
I could be wanted.
His lips moved one last time.
"…Please."
The word faded into air.
Darkness closed.
Silence returned.
And then—
Laughter.
Not cruel.
Not kind.
Strange.
Bright.
Echoing through endless space.
Ayinakoji opened his eyes.
There was no road.
No blood.
No sky.
No body.
Only a vast black-and-white world stretching forever.
Cards floated in the air like leaves.
Stars spun backward.
A throne of broken clocks stood in the distance.
And seated upon it…
Was a smiling figure with mismatched eyes.
One gold.
One violet.
The figure leaned forward.
Grinning wide.
"Well now," he said cheerfully.
"That was depressing."
Ayinakoji stared in silence.
The figure placed a hand on his chest dramatically.
"Allow me to apologize!"
He stood and bowed with impossible elegance.
"I am Joker."
The world shook with laughter.
"God of Reincarnation."
Joker straightened, smile softening just a little.
For the first time in Ayinakoji's existence…
Someone looked directly at him.
Not through him.
Not past him.
At him.
And then Joker said the words that would change everything.
"How about…"
He spread his arms.
Cards exploded into light.
"…we try again?"