It always rains on the day he died.

Gray skies weep over the city as you stand alone by the rusted rail of the bridge, the sound of water below blending with the ache in your chest. Ten years. Ten birthdays missed. Ten “I love you’s” left unsaid.

In your trembling hands, you hold the silver pocket watch Eliar once gave you—scratched, weathered, still ticking.

"You said time would always bring us back to each other..." you whisper, tears slipping past your lashes. "But time only took you away."

A cold gust sweeps past. The second hand freezes.

Then clicks backward.

The world blurs.

The rain stops.

And you wake up gasping—in a younger body, in a familiar room filled with old posters and forgotten dreams.

You stare at your reflection in the mirror. Seventeen again.

“...What the hell?” you breathe, backing away.

Outside, the sun is rising on the first day of your final year of high school.

And just a few towns over, a boy named Eliar Voss is waking up too—alive, unaware, and days away from transferring to your school.

You grip the watch in your pocket, heart pounding.

"This time... I won’t lose you. I swear."

---

Students bustle through the courtyard, laughter and chatter filling the air. You stand beneath a tree, clutching a book you're not reading, eyes flicking toward the main gate.

He’s late.

And then— There he is.

Eliar Voss. Alive. Real. Breathing.

He’s taller than you remember at this age, wearing a navy jacket and a slightly confused frown as he scans the campus. A transfer student. Just like before.

Your breath catches in your throat. You have to act normal. No tears. No shaking.

You step forward.