V9 - PROLOGUE : RE:START

It was dark. An entire world of nothing but darkness.

He was tossed into a hazy world, seemingly floating in water with no sense of left or right, up or down.

His body was unable to move at all. He couldn't feel his hands or legs, and he doubted his eyes and ears were functioning.

With his mind so dazed, any thoughts he tried to formulate simply slipped out of his brain.

Where is this? Who am I? What happened to make it like this?

What little consciousness he held on to resulted only in ramblings that made the darkness flicker ever so slightly.

"—I love you."

In that pitch blackness, a voice penetrated deep into his heart.

It hung in his unhearing ears. It reached what should have been his still, unbeating heart. It found his soul, which was still unsure of its own existence.

He wailed as the voice touched him directly, its wild, mad emotion pressing in on his heart.

The voice was so terribly fleeting. The whispers wrenched his heart, filling it with such longing that it threatened to shatter.

Hearing words lovely enough to scorch his soul made him feel like he would go mad.

If I had fingers, I would touch you.

If I had a mouth, I would call your name.

If I had arms, I would embrace you.

If I had feet, I would run to your side.

If I had a body, you would never be alone again.

But none of these wishes could be granted. He had no fingers, mouth, arms, feet, or body to give.

The feeling was the same… In fact, it was a passion even greater than what he'd felt before.

The warmth he received magnified his yearning, his emotions many times over, until finally they became sins.

Sloth, because I cannot wipe away your tears.

Lust, because I want us to melt together and become one.

Gluttony, because I want to consume you, to take all of you for myself.

Greed, because I want to have everything that I love.

Wrath, because I cannot forgive the absurdity of it all.

Pride, because I scorn everything that is not you.

Jealousy, because that is all I feel for the world that embraces you.

With this realization, the world shrouded in black was filled with an overwhelming sensation of love.

That instant, the supposedly empty space warped, then shattered as irreversible time began to flow backward.

It was simple. He understood that he was starting over.

Where he had ended in darkness, light was born, and if he walked toward it, the world would greet him once more.

"—I love you."

He turned his back on the voice and walked forward. He wanted to turn toward it, but he held fast.

However, surely, one day he would take her hand.

"—I love you."

The lovely voice called out until the very end, when Subaru Natsuki—began anew.