The alarm buzzed like it always did.
6:15 AM. Monday.
Outside, the sky burned in soft oranges and pale violet streaks, the two suns rising in tandem—one larger and golden, the other a faint red twin that never cast heat. And in the corner of that surreal sky, like some half-forgotten scar on reality, hung the spiral moon.
Always turning. Never blinking.
Inside his small bedroom, Haru Airumoto stared out the window like he did every morning.
He didn't gasp. He didn't marvel.
He just stood there, toothbrush hanging from his mouth, spiky black hair still half-collapsed on one side. The world had changed years ago, but his interest in it had expired even before that.
No Fateform. No Arc. No divine nonsense.
Not his problem.
He blinked.
"Haru! Breakfast!"
His sister's voice. Sharp as always.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered through foam, turning from the window.
Fifteen minutes later, he sat at the table, dry toast in one hand, watching the spiral moon from the edge of the kitchen blinds.
"Mom and Dad already left," his sister said, back to him. "They've got that client in Arkure City again."
"Right."
She turned to look at him. "You're quiet this morning."
"I'm quiet every morning."
She made a face. "Whatever. Just don't forget your pass card for the bus. And don't get caught staring at the sky again. You looked like a cultist last week."
"I was zoning out."
"You always zone out."
Outside, the town was peaceful.
Sekai Town had been that way for nearly ten years — untouched by Lusts, unmarked by relics, barely mentioned in the convergence reports.
Everyone knew the world had changed, that Arcs now fell like omens, and mortals were awakening things inside themselves they didn't understand.
But none of that ever happened here.
That's why Haru liked it.
The school bus hummed along the familiar gray road. Familiar fields. Familiar bridge. Familiar silence.
Haru sat near the window, earphones in, watching the skies as "Die With A Smile" played through his playlist. He didn't know who the artist was. He didn't care.
Class was normal.
Too normal.
Mr. Kensho droned on about some historic battle involving a Lust and a Watcher. Haru tuned it out.
Giro passed him a folded note. "Party this weekend — don't ghost me again 😡"
He didn't reply. She always invited him. He always said no.
When the final bell rang, the school erupted in cheers. Year Two was over.
A one-month break.
And after that, boarding. No more day-students. No more Sekai Town comforts.
Haru felt nothing.
He packed his bag, ignored Giro's teasing as she walked beside him, and let his mind wander back to the spiral moon.
Why's it always turning?
Later, as they neared the edge of town, Giro stopped him.
"Hey… what are you doing this weekend?" she asked, voice suddenly softer.
Haru blinked. "Probably nothing."
"We're throwing a party. Like, a real one. Not those lame class events. Just… come. Please?"
She reached into her pocket and handed him a crimson invitation, etched with strange gold curls.
"Maybe I'll come," he lied.
She smiled and skipped off.
Far away, just outside the border of Sekai Town,
a man covered in sweat and dust sprinted toward the town's welcome sign.
His eyes were wide.
His shirt torn.
His hands clutched something wrapped in black cloth.
He had made it.
Sekai Town was still standing.
But he was too late.
The spiral moon had stopped turning.