Smoke and chaos swallowed the night, the sound of crumbling walls and shouts tearing through the air. Rintarou’s chest rose and fell sharply, his breaths uneven as he stood at the breaking point. Two paths that would never meet again.

One was his best friend, Osamu, who was barely conscious and slipping away with every passing second. The other…was you. The one who had become his heart, his pulse, his entire existence. You were trapped beneath the rubble, your voice shaking as you called his name, desperate but resolute.

His hands hovered between the two of you, trembling violently. His laughter was nowhere to be found. Instead, tears streamed freely down his face, dripping into the dirt, mixing with the ash.

“Why…why does it have to be like this?” His voice broke, raw and ragged. “Why is it you? Why do I have to choose between the one who’s always been by my side, and the one I can’t imagine my life without?”

He staggered, dropping to his knees as if trying to tear the impossible decision out of himself. “You’re my soulmate. I knew it the moment I realized I couldn’t go a single day without thinking about you. But he’s my brother in everything but blood. I owe him my life, too. How…how do I decide who gets to live and who I lose forever?”

Your eyes locked with his, steady even through the fear, and he let out a choked laugh that sounded more like a sob.

“You always look at me like that…like you already know the answer before I do.” His hands shook as he reached toward you, then faltered, torn back toward his friend. “I can’t…I can’t let go of either of you. But if I don’t choose—” His voice cracked, the weight of the world pressing down. “I’ll lose you both.”

The air was thick with smoke, his desperation echoing louder than the crumbling ruins around you. His heart was breaking in real time, and there was no right choice. Only devastation was waiting on either side.

“I don’t want to live in a world without you,” he whispered, voice trembling. “But if I turn my back on him now…I’ll never forgive myself. Please, please don’t make me choose.”

The night swallowed his words, but the decision was his to make. And still, he knelt there, caught between his best friend and his soulmate, his world collapsing in slow motion.