Summary
Heartbroken and alone, Rui collapses on the top of the school roof in tears while her friends question her sudden disappearance. One girl reveals that this is because she was rejected by Kei Mizuhara -her childhood friend- and now he's avoiding her.
Rui continues to cry while angrily chewing out Kei for being such a jerk. It took a lot for her to confess to him but now she regrets it. She wishes she could take it back so that they could still be friends...
Rui's friends begin to wonder why she would head up to the roof top in the first place when one mentions that they had been discussing the "Hell's Clock". It's a mystical item said owned by a ghost who inhabits the school roof, and if one makes a wish beneath the large clock, she will appear to grant that person the use of the special clock and will allow them to freely manipulate time. But in exchange she requests something important to the person.
As Rui stares up at the clock, she recalls the prior day in class when it was revealed Kei would be moving to Hokkaido due to his fathers job. She was visibly shaken by this and her friends -aware of her feelings for him- convinced her to say something. Rui agreed knowing she might not have another chance, and while making their way home from school she suddenly spit it out. Kei gently apologized before taking off, saying he couldn't like her as anything more than a friend.
Hearing the large clock begin to chime, Rui abruptly begs with the ghost to grant her wish and allow her to be taken back in time before she confessed to Kei. Such a story couldn't be real though, and as she laments this and prepares to leave, Rui is startled when she turns to find a pocket-watch float down before her. She picks it up with no hesitation and asks to be taken to the previous day. Light flashes and everything becomes hazy.
Suddenly, Rui is snapped out of her daze by Kei, who asks her if she fell asleep standing there for so long. He reminds her that she wanted to tell him something as she recollects her bearings, and realizing that this is when she confessed, Rui notices the clock is now around her neck. Seeing how suspicious Kei appears to be, she quickly asks him to visit her during winter holiday after he moves. He seems concerned but he agrees, and she convinces herself that sooner or later she will get over her feelings for him, so at least this way they will still be friends.
The following school day Rui is confronted by her friends who ask for an update about her relationship with Kei. Rui explains that she decided not to tell him and they express concern, wondering if she is really okay with that before bringing up how much she regretted not saying something before. They also point out how common it is for girls to make a hasty confession so it's not like she's the only one who would be taking such a risk. They appear worried as she suddenly laughs at them, then claims to be over him as Kei joins them to ask that she writes down what she would like as a souvenir while he's away. They take off as she struggles to think of anything and she pauses to ask him if he's happy to be leaving. Kei teasingly asks her if she will be lonely without him, expressing amusement after Rui attempts to say that she got tired of looking at him by now. He admits that he might get lonely though, so he wants to have as much fun as possible to make sure he won't.
It dons on Rui that this is how it's always been with them; while Kei looks forward and remains positive, she always looked back and felt regret. Growing up he would always be the one to cheer her up and make her feel better. But she's sure by now he's forgotten such precious memories.
After school ends a farewell party is held for Kei, and in this time Rui's friends make note of how popular he seems to be. Even students from some other schools within the district have shown up to see him off.
Meanwhile, Rui has ran off to get the snacks, and she finds herself distracted again while returning to the classroom- only to stop when she hears a friend tell Kei that Rui has feelings for someone. However, Rui bluntly refuses to say anything and his attempts to find out more only causes her to become agitated until she snaps at him. She tells Kei that she will never confess to this guy and how he's leaving so she doesn't care about him anymore, and soon the memories of the pain she felt before obtaining the clock begin to return to her. She stuns Kei with her sudden cruelty and he silently turns to leave, causing Rui to cry again as she realizes what she did.
She really is only full of regret...
The following day, Rui stays in bed, too depressed to do anything as her worried mother joins her. Rui remembers that she has the Hell's Clock and prepares to use it again until she happens to look towards the yard, where she sees the flowers left on Jiro's -her pet dog- grave. She asks about them as her mother waters the plants outside, and she reveals that Kei stopped by earlier, much to her shock.
Rui gets up to further observe the small grave and she recalls the day Jiro was buried. She miserably blamed herself for not realizing he was sick and being unable to do anything but Kei stopped her, claiming to have seen Jiro in his dreams. Jiro claimed he was very happy, and he had a lot of fun with her, so he lived with no regret. Kei presents Rui with a flower, saying that Jiro asked him to give it to her so that she could be happy again, and whenever she feels sad, Jiro will give her another flower.
By now, many other memories begin to flood to her mind, and Rui notes that no matter what happened, she lived with many regrets. She acknowledges that she might get hurt a lot, but without being able to move on she can't expect anything to change.
Grabbing something from her room, Rui rushes to town in hopes of finding Kei at the bus stop before he leaves. Seeing him preparing to get on, she yells out to him and rips off the clock -as the ghost is shown to observe them- and Rui stands in the street. She prepares to tell Kei her true feelings, unaware of the approaching truck heading her way until she finds herself thrown to the ground and many people in a panic.
Rui is surprised to see she is okay, but she looks on to find the bloodied corpse of Kei's laying lifeless before her...
As the clock lays on the ground, broken, Rui screams for Kei.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: Yomi's opening, in which she starts to describe something, only to realize she no longer has it.
- Everyone, have you ever had regrets and thought: "if at that time I did this..." or "I should've done it like this?". Many times? Hehehe, poor kid! For those who feel that way, I want to introduce a special clock to you. Oh...? Sorry, but I dropped it! If only I held onto it tighter!
- Be Careful What You Wish For
- Break the Cutie: Rui is Prone to Tears and is heavily dependent on her friendship with Kei and carries a lot of baggage over past mistakes. This was a given.
- Cruel Twist Ending
- Dead Person Conversation: Yomi makes an appearance offering the Hell's Clock to Rui.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Kei shoves Rui out of the way of an oncoming truck.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Rui attempts to do this to preserve her friendship with Kei.
- Tsundere: Rui is shown to act this way after being taken back in time to avoid revealing how she really feels about Kei leaving.
