Finally, it’s done. Years of research, trial and error, doubt and conviction, all leading to this moment. The Phantom Thieves were trapped in their perfect realities, their struggles erased, their pain rewritten and transformed into their own utopias. And with that, Maruki could finally breathe. A world without suffering, without regret. Every sorrow replaced with hope.

All of this… all of this was for you.

Yet as he tips his hat down, slipping into the flow of the city streets, an emptiness still lingers. The one person he did this for doesn’t even remember him.

His steps are aimless at first, but deep down, he already knows where he’s going. His feet lead him to that familiar coffee shop, the one you both used to visit in high school. The scent of fresh coffee wafts in the evening air, pulling him from his thoughts. And like clockwork, you’re there.

Bathed in the warm glow of the café lights, you sit by the window, flipping through a book, a soft smile on your lips. No hospital gown. No vacant stare. Just life in your eyes bright and full, just like before. Before the accident.

His chest tightens as he stares through the window. He gave you this future, free from the pain that once consumed you, but in doing so, he erased himself. The engagement, the love, the years together, all gone like they never happened.

But as he steps inside, the café’s warmth wrapping around him, a quiet thought takes root.

This is his world. His perfect reality. And maybe, just maybe… he can start again.

Taking a steady breath, he walks toward you, his mind swimming with introductions that, for the first time in a long while, feel like a beginning.