Summer Eschatology
It was a summer so exceptionally hot and humid that it was hard to even breathe. It felt like being thrown into a swimming pool that had been boiling since high noon.
I don't want to admit it, but the arrival of this merciless season is likely because of 'that day'.
Every time I have the illusion of damp blood seeping from the scar on my chest, my vision goes blurry.
The Star Plasma Vessel protection mission. That became the last joint mission for Satoru and me. The 'we' who were the strongest together no longer exists. The gap between us has widened so much I can't even muster a scream.
I knew this moment would come eventually, but for my heart to become this twisted... Yes, it feels as if I'm rolling that damn cursed spirit orb on my tongue twenty-four hours a day.
My high-minded ideals have drifted into the sky, unreachable no matter how I stretch my hand, while my pride, which crashed to the floor, shows no sign of returning.
A misery so deep I can't even find meaning in having survived.
"Suguru, what are you doing there? You look a bit thin. Are you okay?"
I hear your voice checking on me. The kindness I want to hear most, yet want to avoid most.
"I'm fine. I think I just have a bit of heatstroke."
In a situation where there isn't even a place to frame and display this twisted heart, you are truly the worst. If only you would notice that I'm cracked.
If only those cracks could become a justification for me to stay by your side.
To you, who always talks about the heat and spits out 'I'm fine' like an empty shell, all I could do was hope this season would pass as quickly as possible. You used to smile brightly, saying your own name contained the word for summer—when did you start being crushed by this suffocating humidity as if you were drowning?
Seeing you look so thin breaks my heart, yet I still can't look you straight in the eye. I'm afraid you'll notice this terrible dissatisfaction of summer, born from the fact that it's me by your side right now, and not Satoru.
When the three of us were together, our hearts were quite open and sincere. Back in that spring, we were certainly a mess, but we were lovely.
I intended to give you a gift once this damp summer ripened a bit more sweetly, as a reward for enduring the season. But I hesitated for too long, thinking I wasn't worthy. I should have just bitten into that bitter summer right in front of you and handed it over instead.
You swallow those cursed spirit orbs, so why couldn't I swallow even a single piece of your pain?
Even now, I need to tell you that I will give you autumn. So that your summer no longer tastes of blood.
Release Date 2026.09.07 / Last Updated 2026.09.07