I honestly just thought that the memories were replaced/added to when he was 7-8 years old, because he made that wish for himself I was going to think that ur theory of him being replaced by a different him might be correct but then where would the adult nine go? I don't like that he'll never see the same Melissa so I'm gonna stay blissful and think the memories were added for my sake
Yeah, I was worried about that, but quickly dismissed it - like I said, that's just one theory, after all, otherwise that would mean she's going to be a lot, lot older when they reunite. - My persisting theory that it was just a slight moment for little Nine, to grant his wish... adult Nine would return to take his place as he woke up in his real world.
What he thought was a dream, could very well be an alternate universe. The one thing jarring this pleasant thought is the fact that while there are several story universes, there's only one Melissa.
So, maybe, it's a "link". His young self's wish made it a possibility, his memories afterwards pushed him to move forward, wish granted, and wake up as adult Nine. He experienced a dream-like childhood with Melissa. A mix between dream and reality, youth and maturity.
I know I'm a bit late, but I got time loop vibes.
He made the wish as an eight year old it came true in him travelling to the future and experiencing a day with the person who will love him the most on his life. That is what gave him the hope and resilience to persist even if he doesn't have clear memories. It would also give more reasoning for why in the future he falls for her so hard and fast.
As for where the him of her time is for that day when past him is in the future maybe he just skipped a day because magic, maybe his body was magicked smaller and he Hosted his past self's consciousness, maybe it's similar to whatever happened to OG Melissa just not permanent. Then when little Nine is eventually older it happens again where he makes way for 8 year old nine for a single day because of his past wish which was already granted.
After reading this and connecting everything together, I also think that's very likely the case. That werewolf magic sure is confusing, as well as the mix up of past and present, but it does make sense, thinking about it, that his past self may have faint memories of a kind and caring adult Melissa - I just couldn't fully wrap my head around it because Melissa is meant to be the only one to change the time loop that the Goddess had been setting in motion every time.
This Melissa is meant to be the precedent because the original Melissa from before, the Melissa countless timeloops and stories before, was just the lovestruck, hopeless Melissa who loved her cheating fiance. Which was why it felt like an oddity wherein our present Melissa makes an impact on past Nine, because if he followed his timeline, that'd be a new Melissa, and perhaps not the current Melissa. But yeah, if I can simplify it and apply the theory, then there's no more timeloops - just their story, their past selves, their current selves, and just a strange conjunction between the two periods. To make it even more simple for my mind to unravel: it was all possible due to werewolf magic; there are no alternate future Melissas in this timeline; the new Melissa made it possible for past Nine to meet her present self through their future. There is only one Melissa, and this world's Nine, that made all this possible.
...I feel like I made a complicated matter seem even more complicated in my mind...
The last sidestory(?) was a little confusing, but I think I can imagine what may have happened, maybe. Little 8 year old Nine wanted to meet someone warm, as he said somewhere here. He likely made that wish on a full moon, and hence it was granted - on the moment wherein there is no more danger nor crisis, and their feelings for each other are already clear and determined. If it happened earlier, Melissa might not have been able to give him all that much care due to dealing with crisis after crisis, not to mention how it might impact future Nine's relationship with Melissa. So, he likely replaced older Nine for a moment, until the magic wore off and he went back to his world. After that, little Nine was determined to meet her again - perhaps in a different timeframe, in a path that leads to a similar future? This is what confuses me. I don't think Melissa had to wait for this Nine to grow up, as old as she is, for them to reunite, when they were already together.
If it's an alternate story, universe, and timeline, then we can't guarantee if it's the same "Melissa" that this Nine will meet. So, maybe, little Nine reunited with another version of this reincarnated Melissa, outside of the usual story too, but in a different path? And then, in the previous world, adult nine must've simply thought of it as a strange dream, probably to be told that a younger him had played with everyone in there?