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Sonia Nevermind was beautiful. She was kind, well loved, soft, and the sweetest person anyone had ever met. If there was anyone that deserved the title of princess, it was her: she had the porcelain skin of Snow White, the golden hair of Rapunzel, and the eyes of Cinderella. She was admired by all, even those who preferred not to admit it.
But one day she went to bed and didn’t wake up.
When Sonia opened her eyes, she was standing up in her dorm room at Hope’s Peak Academy. She didn’t remember standing up, but when she turned around and saw herself lying in her bed, motionless and not breathing, her own breath grew shaky. Sonia tentatively looked down at her hands, then turned and attempted to grab her phone, only to find her fingers phase through the device. Her phone vibrated over and over, lighting up on the screen multiple texts from many of the students, but the most were from Souda. His started out as “I can’t believe it” and eventually broke down, getting worse and worse until all he sent were scrambled letters and numbers, no words.
She continued to watch herself lie in the bed, completely motionless. At one point she sat on the side of the bed and tried to touch her own body: her hands, her cheeks, and her hair. Nothing. Sonia felt like she was going to vomit, but when she hunched over herself, her stomach was empty and airy. She felt like she was floating and tried to calm herself down. Okay, she reasoned with herself, so…I am no longer alive. There isn’t a thing to do. I suppose I should see if anyone knows.
Much to Sonia’s discontent, the news had spread faster than she had wanted. She silently phased through the door of her room only to find that there was a trio of policemen roping off the area and a crowd of students standing to watch in horror. They all looked like they had just jumped out of bed and run straight down the corridor to see. Souda was at the very front, his hands limp as he held onto the crime scene tape. Sonia was surprised to see that he wasn’t crying, nor looked like he had been crying. In the back, she spotted Gundam leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. At first glance he seemed unconcerned, yet when she drew closer, his eyes were wide in horror as he stared at the ground. All she saw in them was regret.
It wasn’t that Sonia didn’t want to pass over and live peacefully in death, she just didn’t know how. There were a lot of things, she discovered with frustration, that she didn’t know as of late. The same went for all of the student’s attending the academy at the time of her…passing (death still seemed like an extremely harsh term). No one knew just how she died; one moment she was bright and full of energy and alive, and the next she was covered by a blanket and wheeled out of her room on a gurney. People tried to reason that she had been poisoned or assassinated in her sleep, but that would require a motive with malice behind it (and no one held any malice for her).
Her parents took a journey to Hope’s Peak to retrieve her body for a proper funeral. Sonia watched as her mother and father looked through her room, touching even the smallest relic and breaking into sobs. Her father’s usual kind eyes were now crinkled with sadness, and her mother looked as if she’d never smile again. For some reason, they decided to have an open funeral so that every citizen in Novoselic could pay their respects. As a courtesy, they invited the members of Sonia’s class to attend if they wished. Several of them took the time off of school to show up to the service. Souda attended out of obligation, feeling that if he didn’t, it would dishonor her memory. Gundam attended out of obligation as well, but was unhappy about being there and seeing her lying there, looking the most peaceful he’d ever seen her. The two sat next to each other, not saying a word to one another the entire time.
In addition, everyone mourned in a different way. Hinata, more or less, would not have appeared sad to an outsider, but his classmates knew how he felt. He and Komaeda, after just a bit of time, became inseparable, Komaeda being disappointed that one of the symbols of hope had been extinguished. Saionji wailed, crying for her “Big Sis Sonia”, despite the fact that when Sonia was alive she had been regarded just the same as everyone else (except Koizumi, who Saionji managed to elicit several tears from). Responses were various from the rest, but everyone looked to Souda and Gundam. No one had heard Gundam’s voice in weeks. Souda, wanting to cling to Hinata but also wanting to stay away from Komaeda, was left alone. Sonia, her spirit still wandering, watched them both carefully.
During the mornings, she kept her eyes on Souda, and in the evenings she stayed by Gundam until he fell asleep. She made sure to rotate her routine every other day to keep things balanced in her head. It had been a while since she had heard her own voice and she yearned for someone to talk to. Death was calming, but it felt so, so lonely.
A month after Sonia’s death, she still found herself in the school, watching as people adapted over time. Hinata and Komaeda returned to their normal selves, along with Saionji and Koizumi. She was with Gundam around three in the afternoon when a girl from the class below them (Celestia, if her memory served correctly) asked to speak to him. The Four Dark Gods, all curled up in his muffler, perked up at the news, as did Sonia. Gundam cleared his throat, and spoke lowly, “I do not believe I desire to speak in the presence of a mortal, for my tongue may accidentally set you ablaze in the process.” He sounded wary and worn out.
“Yes, well, Tanaka-san,” she spoke evenly, and Sonia twitched as she said his name, “I can empathize with your current situation. I have lost many loved ones as well, and I have a proposal for you.” She waited for a response, but when none came, Celestia spoke again, quieter. “As much as I would love to tell you here, Tanaka-san, I fear that we are being watched.”
Sun-D rushed up onto his shoulder from where she slept in his scarf, nibbling at his ear (a sign that she wanted attention or wanted Gundam to get away from Celestia. Sonia preferred the latter). Sonia well recognized Gundam’s expression as one she had seen many times: a look of interest. He replaced Sun-D back to back to her spot where she previously slept and ignored her protests. “We are alone, She-Witch. State your reason of being.”
“As a professional gambler, Tanaka-san, I know the feeling of having eyes trained on my head. It is a rather unpleasant feeling, wouldn’t you agree? I could tell if someone were watching me from a kilometer away.” Celestia placed a feminine hand on his bandaged arm and he recoiled away, momentarily waking Jum-P. In place of the awkward silence, she offered a cold, calculating smile. “Perhaps it would be safer in your room.”
He was intrigued by her words, obviously, seeing her vocabulary and behavior almost to the level of his own. As they travelled down the corridor and up a flight of stairs, Sonia flitted behind nervously, listening to Gundam explain that his skin was poisonous to mortals and if she were to touch him again she’d need to be more careful. Sonia’s heart lay sinking deeper into her stomach as she watched Celestia’s heels click up the stairs, almost methodically. The words She-Witch rang in her ears.
She phased through the wall into Gundam’s room and gazed around while the two situated themselves. She’d never been in Gundam’s room; it was a step they had both wanted to take, but neither had. Sonia watched with nausea in her core as Celestia placed herself right on the edge of his bed, poised and looking hungry for blood.
“So, Tanaka-san,” she spoke, hands rested on her bony knees, “or may I call you Gundam?”
“You may not call me anything if you insist upon wasting my time,” he snapped, growing impatient. “I will not repeat myself again.”
“Fine, fine,” Celestia shrugged casually, watching Gundam with a close eye. “I, like I have said, have lost a dear one before as well. Though it has never been a lover, I would like you to know that I am…available to hear your concerns.” Something changed in her expression, Sonia noticed: so subtle that she could have blinked and missed it.
“…Miss Sonia was not my lover,” Gundam muttered, his eyes trained on the floor. “My only mistress is darkness, She-Witch.” The blonde princess faltered; he had never called her her first name to her face before.
“Yes, but…perhaps you could accompany me sometime. As you know, people have dreams, and, well…I believe you should be part of mine. If the interest serves you right.” And then she leaned up on her toes and whispered something in his ear, and Gundam’s eyes widened the largest Sonia had ever seen them. A moment after she moved away, his face flushed a deep red and she smiled mischievously. But after another moment, the flush disappeared, and he looked her straight in the eyes.
“I comprehend the disgusting trash you are insinuating,” he spoke, low and even and angry, “and if you so desire to be the sorceress of mortal men and control their will, then so be it. However…” he began to shake, awakening the Dark Gods hiding in his muffler. “How dare you cross me by soiling the very name and sacred memory of My Lady of Eternal Darkness? I pray that wherever she may be, she hears this treachery you have wrongly named a “proposal” and she sets fire to the very ground you dare to step foot on.” Cham-P excitedly crawled along his shoulder as he grew louder and louder, and eventually Gundam turned his attention to the creature, his back to Celestia. “Now leave us, She-Witch.”
Sonia watched in utter shock as Celestia smiled coldly and left the room without a single word. With the room full of silence, Gundam sat back down on his bed and tended to his Four Dark Gods for a little bit while Sonia watched in awe. Then, startlingly sudden, he set them down and pressed his hands to his knees. He swallowed tightly and began to talk. “My Lady of Eternal Darkness…I must unashamedly admit that your songs still plague my thoughts to this day. I haven’t a doubt that wherever you may be, you strike fear into the hearts of many…as you managed to slip your soul into my body and make me ache for you.” Gundam looked up, his brow furrowed in a deep concentration as he attempted to put his words together. “I fear occasionally that your words have struck poison into my veins and that I am dying without your life essence.” As he spoke, his hamsters nestled in his lap, scratching against his shirt and squeaking softly. “If there is any possibility that I may be blessed in the presence of My Lady, may she express herself to me…somehow.”
Without taking her wide blue eyes off of him, she took a shaky step backwards and, as he watched, she swung her hand across the curtain and let it flutter through the room. His breath caught in his throat and even the Dark Gods turned in awe to look at them. Sonia’s eyes grew wet and she cried until she watched Gundam fall asleep that night.
Souda was in the library the next morning, going to find a book for his chemistry homework. While Sonia sat on top of a table and watched him fail to find any books related to chemistry, she overheard some of the underclassman talking. She tensed as she turned: those were the underclassman who knew Celestia. In fact, that seemed to be what they were talking about. She took a moment to glance back at Souda (who was still struggling) and then she listened to what they had to say.
“You know, I heard her talking to Yamada-chi about it that morning,” a tall one spoke. He must have been the fortune teller, Yasuhiro Hagakure. Sonia recognized him from his immense dreadlocks, and he absently picked at them. Sitting on the table where he was now, the tips of his hair brushed the ceiling. He continued to speak. “Actually, I’d just had a vision about that a couple of days before.”
One of the other boys hunched over the table looked up at Hagakure as he spoke. She knew who this one was: he was the other SHSL Good Luck, Makoto Naegi. She vaguely recalled talk from Komaeda, who fawned over him, naming just about every praise in the book and more, before Hinata stepped in and said something along the lines of “that’s enough”. As Naegi listened to Hagakure prattle on about his vision, he eventually decided to interrupt and said, “Uh, pardon me, Hagakure-kun, but who was the upper-classman that Celes-san tried to…approach?” He grinned meekly at his last word.
“The animal breeder, Gundam Tanaka,” the only girl answered him; the pop idol, Maizono. She had a strong reputation at the school for not only her music, but her impeccable and lovely attitude about anything. However, Sonia had heard that she had a taste for sharp things that she kept secret. Maizono sighed softly through her nose, looking over at Naegi. “It’s a shame. I heard that he’s been depressed for a while because of that princess girl.”
Hm. Princess girl. Sonia had never heard herself referred to like that. In fact, it had been a while since she’d really heard anyone talk about her. She glanced over as the last of the group, a fiery redhead, kicked his feet up onto the table in a feeble attempt to look cool. He was obviously only present for the girl. “The princess, eh? Too bad we were in different classes. I had a good feeling about her.” He grinned mischievously and Sonia rolled her eyes. “Princess Sonia Nevermind. We might never have talked, but she had a great body.”
He laughed and Hagakure prodded at him teasingly, until the two got into a brief argument. Sonia thought it was amusing, actually: that here this boy was talking about how attractive she was, and yet, she didn’t have a clue what his name was, or even his talent. She turned around again to watch Souda struggle with his books, but he wasn’t there.
In fact, he wasn’t anywhere within Sonia’s field of vision, which worried her. She slid off of the table and began to look through the rows of bookshelves to find him, but he was nowhere to be found. Just as she emerged from the maze of books to look on the other side of the library, the conversation of the underclassmen there halted abruptly to a stop. All four of them looked to see a pink-haired boy standing there in front of them, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly.
“As much as I thought that…that Sonia-san had a great body,” Souda spoke, lowly and almost a grumble, “that wasn’t all that was great about her.” He walked over to the other end of the table where the red haired boy sat, slowly removing his feet from the tabletop. Souda leaned over the table, very much in the boy’s face, and spoke slowly, as if educating a child. “A body isn’t all there is to a person. There’s their personality, their likes, their dislikes, their interests, and their passions…she was wonderful. Even if I never got to see her in the light that I wanted…she was still wonderful.”
“Look, um, I didn’t mean anything by an offhanded comment –”
“And all you care about is what she would look like under the sheets?!” Souda blurted loudly, face flushing red in anger (and also the picture of Sonia under the sheets). He slammed his clenched fists on the table and looked at him with something sparking in his eyes. As Sonia moved closer, she recognized it as an emotion that she’d never seen in Souda before: despair. It scared her. “She was more than a body, she was a smile, she was a bright pair of eyes, she was every possible thing you think of when you say the word princess!”
Souda was very much breathless by the time he had finished, and the boy was leaned back in his chair in an attempt to get out of his face. His eyes lingered on Souda’s sharp teeth and Souda was just about to say something else when Naegi spoke up instead. “Um, I’m sorry, but…I think we were just about to go. Leon-kun didn’t mean to offend you in any way.” He stood up, moving around Maizono to get to the mechanic. “What was your name again?”
“…Kazuichi Souda,” he murmured, and Naegi beamed at him.
“Leon-kun will pay you back for the comment in compensation later, if that’s alright. It won’t happen again, you can have my word for it.” Leon sat up to protest, but Maizono kicked him under the table.
“…Thanks, kid,” Souda spoke, low, and mustered up his best smile. “I appreciate it.” Naegi bid him goodbye as the rest of them awkwardly scrambled out of the library. Souda returned to his spot by the shelves, looking for the book, and he muttered, “Guess I can see why Komaeda always goes on ‘bout him.” He continued to look endlessly for about fifteen more minutes before Sonia grew impatient. She looked right in front of her on the shelf and saw the book he needed. So with as much energy as she could conjure in her form of a soul, she grabbed the book and pulled it so it fell onto the floor in a dusty thump.
He looked down from his spot on the shelf, kneeling to the floor and picking it up with cautious fingers. “This is…what I needed.” It sounded more like a question rather than a statement, and he ran his thumb along the spine of the old book. When he opened it, she peeked down on it, and spotted something she definitely did not intend to be there. His eyes widened and he began to tremble.
In her own script was written in the very top left corner of the first page was the word thanks.
Sonia had never intended to grow so attached to the two boys. She found a new, softer side of Souda that she was positive was created when he found out she was dead. She liked this new side of him better, but it still made her a little bit sad; she hadn’t meant to change him like she did. And in Gundam she found someone who she loved and felt lost without. It hadn’t been Sonia’s intention to fall in love while she was in high school, but then again, she hadn’t intended to die either, and that happened.
But in death, when she was away from both Gundam and Souda, she discovered things about her other classmates. She enjoyed wandering around the halls and listening to the nonsensical chatter and gossip, occasionally picking up bits of knowledge. She once witnessed Kuzuryuu kiss Peko chastely on the lips to say goodnight (presumably for the first time, considering her reaction). She saw Akane and Nidai sparring together, Nidai shouting tips for her while she ignored them. They eventually tumbled around on the floor for a while before returning to training. She witnessed Ibuki gently strumming her guitar, murmuring the words of a new song under her breath, while several other people sat around and listened leisurely. Once, she even saw Hinata surprise Komaeda in front of everyone by kissing him outright at a lunch table. After leaving Komaeda breathless, he continued to eat as if nothing had happened.
When she was with Souda, she was happy. It was a bit of an enjoyment watching him at times: his frustrated expression when he studied, the calmness of his features as he disassembled and reassembled a car engine he’d brought into his room, the deftness and skill of his fingers as he handled his tools. When she was with Gundam, she was happy, too. She would watch him feed his hamsters with utter concentration, and when they were finished they showered him with tiny kisses. He would update his blog and she would read it over his shoulder. Every now and then, he would look at the medium-sized chalkboard above his desk and take a piece of chalk to it to draw one of his incantation circles. Fascinated, she would try and reach up to feel the chalk on her fingers, to witness the effect of the spell, but it would burn her.
Sometimes, she wished that she had known these sides of them when she was alive. She might have been good friends with Souda (even as dull as he could be at times), and might have even yielded to his wishes and shown him her bare skin. She knew what she would have done with Gundam had she been alive: she would have kissed him once, then twice, then repeatedly. She would have loved him, and possibly he her. But Sonia wasn’t alive anymore. Thinking of all of the “ifs” was really the only thing she cried about anymore.
It was one of the times that Sonia was not with Souda nor Gundam, and she wandered the halls. It was late, and her invisible footsteps were silent, but the only noise she heard. She wandered into the recreation room to find Hinata and Komaeda together, with Hinata on the couch and Komaeda’s back to his legs. They were watching two underclassman (Sonia couldn’t remember their names – the swimmer and the wrestler, maybe?) use the foosball table, and they seemed to be having a conversation. Sonia walked over and sat on the arm of the couch, coming in on the middle of Hinata’s sentence.
“…telling you, Komaeda, those two are dangerous right now. We should just leave them alone like we have been,” he spoke evenly, running his hands through Komaeda’s hair.
The other hummed pleasantly – either from a thought or from Hinata’s hands, Sonia wasn’t sure. “Yes, but that doesn’t seem to be working, does it? I heard that just the other day Souda-kun yelled at some underclassman for saying the wrong thing.” He grinned lightly and captured one of Hinata’s hands, letting the other roam free. “Perhaps we shouldn’t invite them to spend time with us, but set them up to spend time with someone else. I have a feeling that Teruteru would very much enjoy Souda’s company.”
“Yeah, that’s probably true, but…” the brunette trailed off, eyes lingering on Komaeda as he locked gazes with him. “What about Gundam? He’s barely said two words to anyone since it happened, and when he does, he’s angry.”
“Gundam may be a bit more difficult. Maybe he and Ibuki could spend some time together? I’m not quite sure. Maybe he’s happier to be alone.”
Hinata sighed softly through his nose and began running his hands through Komaeda’s hair again. “You know, Komaeda, I still think we should leave this alone. Both of them are untouchable right now. So what if Gundam is angry and Souda is, too? They’ll calm down. They always do.” He leaned over gently to get a better look into Komaeda’s grey eyes. “If you’re concerned about them, tell them. I am, too. I know that eventually, after some time, they’ll be fine.”
And something quickly changed in the other boy’s eyes, and Sonia knew that the talk of Souda and Gundam was over. The corner of his mouth twitched just slightly. He was in awe. “Hinata-kun…your eyes are absolutely radiating with hope…! It’s beautiful…”
Sonia left them alone and didn’t turn around. Whatever they were doing or were going to do was nothing of her business (though, technically, neither was the conversation). It was interesting to see how everything played out, she realized with a smile. She hadn’t considered that anyone else had thought to get involved with her boys. While Souda and Teruteru wouldn’t be a good pair for others, if they hit it off, they’d be unstoppable. But thinking of Gundam and Ibuki scared her a bit. She knew that Ibuki was a good, kind girl and that she was definitely weird enough to handle someone like him. But she wondered vaguely if they would fit so well together that Sonia would be forgotten. It twisted her stomach into knots and corkscrews. Maybe if she were alive, she and Gundam wouldn’t be in love like she thought they would be.
As he had been talking about, Komaeda proposed to Souda that he and Teruteru spend some time together. As reluctant as he was, Souda agreed, thinking that perhaps a change of pace would be good for him. Sonia was present for the entire thing. They sat together in the cafeteria during dinner one night and just talked about meaningless things – stupid boy things, Sonia noted happily. Teruteru very easily skipped talk of the deceased princess, and some of the things that he said even made Souda laugh. It was all going very well until Teruteru, a slave to his urges, ran the tip of his foot up the inside of his leg and murmured something low and maybe a bit sensuous. Souda, repulsed, excused himself to leave and proceeded to practically sprint out of the cafeteria. Saionji snickered at a nearby table.
She followed Souda back to his dorm room, where he immediately sat himself down at a TV he had been taking apart and got straight to work. Unlike before, however, he wasn’t stoic and concentrated as he was when he usually worked with his machines. He was shaking a little bit, with his screwdriver clunking clumsily against the edge of the plastic screen, and he fussed with the frame before eventually grunting loudly in frustration and slamming the tool onto the floor. “Goddamn it,” he muttered, and picked himself up only to slump back down onto his bed.
“Nothing’s been the same,” he sighed, face buried in his pillow. “Sonia-san’s presence isn’t here to illuminate the world anymore…I feel cold inside.” He sat back up, back against the wall and pillow clutched to his chest, solemnly removing his hat. “It’s weird…when she was alive I couldn’t stop crying. But ever since she died I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it…” This would have been the part where Sonia expected him to release a guttural cry and sob into his hands, but he stayed completely still as stone. She crawled onto his bed and sat next to him, hands on her knees.
“It’s only been a month, but it feels like…like a lifetime. I don’t feel like the same person…” he grinned bitterly and ran a hand through his hair. “I wish I could just talk to her one more time…hear her voice.”
These were the “ifs” that killed Sonia so badly. It was a bit relieving to see that she wasn’t the only one in this situation that was having these thoughts, and especially that she wasn’t the only one being hit hard by them. Vaguely, she wondered if there was any possible way to connect to Souda, to let him hear her voice. Well, she thought to herself, it can’t hurt to try.
The blonde-haired princess reached over and laced her fingers around Souda’s the best she could, gave them a squeeze, and whispered, “Souda.”
He recoiled almost immediately, but Sonia felt the bed begin to shake. He looked down at his hand, then slowly turned to where he heard her voice, and mumbled, “Sonia…?” When she tried again to hold his hand, she merely phased through his skin. He didn’t seem to feel that one. At this point, Sonia truly did expect him to cry, because the way he was reacting made her throat close up. But he just stared at the hand she held and watched as it shook, then he curled it into a fist and placed it above his heart. She watched him for a little while longer, listening to the noises he made that sounded somewhat like words. But his eyes were dry.
Several days later, Sonia was watching Gundam in the late evening. He hadn’t been feeling well all day long, and his skin was warm and slick. Instead of tending to his hamsters, he instructed The Dark Gods to set themselves to bed, because he felt if he stood he might fall down and be unable to stand back up. His schoolwork lay in messy stacks on his desk, unfinished and without any intention of becoming finished. Gundam barely managed to slide along the walls to get himself undressed and collapse back into bed, lying on top of his blankets. He chuckled lowly at himself as Sonia sat cross-legged next to his weak form.
“It would appear that Miss Sonia’s deadly poison has finally breached to the surface of my body…how cruel of you, my Lady of Eternal Darkness, to wound your future Dark Overlord so grotesquely…” he coughed, his body retching as he did and shaking the bed. He mussed up his hair and rolled onto his back, releasing a shaky, sharp breath. “To hear your voice would be the most magnificent blessing I could ever receive…”
Sonia hesitated, seeing as how he was obviously extremely ill, but recognized that in her form, she could no longer contract physical sickness. Gundam rolled over, his arms loose, and shut his eyes in a feeble attempt to sleep. Carefully and slowly, she laid down next to him, then curled herself up in his arms, surprised that she didn’t phase through him. She rested her hands gently against his chest, and he cracked open his eyes in mild confusion. But he grinned a bit anyways.
“If there is any way I would spend my last breaths, it would be with you in my arms, Miss Sonia,” Gundam breathed, body visibly relaxing. She wasn’t sure if he could see her, but it appeared that he didn’t care, and she didn’t either. His voice was brushing through her hair. “Lucifer has burdened me with the most glorious delusion that I could ever hope for.”
“I love you,” she whispered, hearing her own voice in her ears. “Feel better.”
For the first time since she died, Sonia slept. She lay in Gundam’s arms the entire night and slept soundly and peacefully, and he did as well. When he woke in the morning, he exclaimed excitedly to his Dark Gods that he was feeling in much better health.
Gundam and Souda brushed shoulders in the hallway the next week. Actually, it wasn’t a brush, it was more of a mutual push. The corridors were crowded and when they bumped into each other, and both of them were pushed back by it, accidently hitting some others walking around them. Sonia watched the entire thing unfold before her. Souda hissed as he hit the wall, baring his sharp teeth at the other before speaking gruffly, “You should say excuse me, you know.”
“I don’t believe that your mortal tongue has any suggestion to offer one such as me, shark-toothed one,” Gundam spat back, eyes flaring angrily. “I do, however, suggest that you have your skin checked out within several days, as if may be inflamed and painful within time. My touch is poisonous to ones of your descent.”
“You asshole, quit talking like some freak!” Souda shouted, pushing himself off of the wall and moving towards him. By now, the halls had quieted and there was a circle formed around them. Normally there might have been shouts or chants, but the circle of people was dead quiet with horror and knowledge of who those two boys were. Gundam growled and began to walk around Souda slowly, stalking him like a lion.
“Perhaps you should alter your language to sound more like myself so that your future Dark Overlord may have mercy on you!”
“That doesn’t even make any sense!”
“Don’t you attack me with your meaningless nonsensical jabber, pink-haired man! You do not fool me as you are now: I am fully aware that you have been sent here to destroy me in every possibly sense of the word!”
“Yeah, well, Sonia hasn’t forgotten about me!” Souda shouted, and Sonia’s heart dropped in her chest. The hallway was completely silent other than their yelling. Gundam’s eyes widened and Souda grinned widely. “She’s with me all the time! Her spirit follows me around!”
“The spirit of My Lady of Eternal Darkness watches over me, not you, pink one,” he snarled, baring his teeth like a predator to his prey. Souda stuttered, at a loss for words, and Gundam drew close enough and growled right in his face, “I have heard her very voice tell me that she loves me.”
Sonia gasped, covering her mouth as she watched the fire in Souda’s eyes immediately die out. Her whole body was wracked with nausea and guilt – it was almost too much to bear, so she clutched her stomach. There was no noise for a good second or two, not even the sound of someone breathing, until the flames in Souda’s eyes were lit up again in anger, twice as strong and twice as powerful. In a split second he toppled over Gundam and slammed his body to the floor. Gundam let out a yell and retaliated with a claw to Souda’s face.
It was ugly and messy and no one wanted to see the two boys fight, but people were frozen in place. There was a lot of yelling and insults flying that no one could understand, let alone Sonia. She watched the fight continue until their clothes were a bit tattered, their hair messed up, and both were breathing harshly. Sonia saw out of the corner of her eye a man push through the crowd of people (SHSL Hall Monitor, she thought) and rush to the two boys to pull them apart, shouting something about fights being against the school code. As they were torn from each other, not even bothering to lunge for the other anymore, both of them had tears streaming freely down their faces.
“Why are we fighting,” Souda spoke, sounding more like a statement than a question. He blinked quickly to try and get the tears away, but they continued to come. “We had the same goal but she’s gone. There isn’t anything we can do about it.” Souda sniffed harshly and whimpered a bit.
“…For once,” Gundam said, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes, “I believe I agree with you, shark-tooth. Our heavenly motives were both extremely similar: to gain the prized affection of Miss Sonia…” he swallowed tightly and the crowd began to dissipate. Between them, the hall monitor ushered them along to the main office where they would receive their punishment. Sonia watched as her two boys practically wailed while walking down the hallway, both of them crying out her name. Neither of them complained to one another and seemed particularly mutual. It was the closest thing she’d ever seen to them getting along, and she thought it was the most precious thing she’d ever witnessed.
Together, it seemed, the two of them were a good pair. They were unstoppable when they weren’t bickering, Sonia noted (which, admittedly, was a good 75% of the time they spent together). They were happier and generally more pleasant when they were together, and it made things much easier for Sonia to keep her eye on the two of them. With some reluctance, they shared the stories of their encounters with Sonia’s spirit. She noted with happiness that both of them were horribly biased and had nothing but good things to say.
They sat together in the library on a dreary Saturday morning, neither of them able to sleep nor too early for anyone to have woken up yet. Sonia sat and watched them contentedly as she sat on top of one of the library’s tables, listening to them talk in hushed voices.
“You know, I think I might have seen her again last night,” Souda murmured quickly, voice excited as he spoke. “I was walking back to my room after showering and when I got inside, the door closed, and I hadn’t. Touched. A thing.” He spoke with all of the enthusiasm of a ten year old telling ghost stories. The story, of course, was completely false, as Sonia had slept with Gundam last night.
“As much as I would enjoy telling menial tales of our encounters with the spirit of Our Lady of Eternal Darkness, I have formulated a plan for the both of us, pink one,” Gundam spoke, pulling a piece of chalk out of the inside of his sleeve. Sonia giggled and Souda rolled his eyes and Gundam cleared space on the table, sketching out several incantations and circles. “As you are aware, both of us are clearly in the presence of Miss Sonia’s consciousness. She may only reach either of us occasionally and they are random occurrences. But I believe we could both pull her from the beyond to speak with her just once more.”
“…O-kay,” Souda whistled, leaning back casually in his chair. “So. Let’s say that whatever this plan of yours is works. What do we say to her?”
“Unfortunately,” he scribbled as he spoke, “depending on how many materials we are able to collect, our time will be limited accordingly. If her presence with us is minimal, we will say what we must quickly before she goes. If our time is plentiful, we may speak individually. And as for the contents of your speech,” he glanced up for a split second, “I could not care less.”
“Alright.” Souda leaned forward, a bit intrigued now. “So here’s my deal. I’ll do whatever. Collect whatever. Say whatever. But after we talk to her – if we talk to her – we’ll go back to a…mutual ignorance of each other. Sound good?” Reluctantly and slowly, he extended his hand for Gundam to shake. Just as reluctant, Gundam looked up and shook it, firmly but quickly. He muttered something offhand and embarrassed that he should be more careful next time when touching the hand of a God. Souda dismissed the comment and the two got to work.
It was the first time Sonia really felt like smiling in a while.
Gundam and Souda argued even less when they both had a goal in mind. They worked silently and efficiently, finding tools and researching when to summon and how. Gundam suggested that her soul would be the strongest in presence on an important date, deciding on her birthday, October 13th (just about three months after her death). All other events and dates were set aside for the purpose of her summoning.
She was a bit nervous, but eager that the both of them were so willing to work towards a common goal. Sonia specifically remembered Gundam saying, “We shall strike when the time is nigh. As the first stars peek their gentle, shy faces out of the deep night sky on the evening of the 13th of October, we shall together bring back to this world momentarily what it has been stripped of so mercilessly.”
Everyone heard about it naturally, considering that those two would never work together unless something were going on. Both Gundam and Souda became a bit more isolated from everyone else but each other from the time the plan was prepared up until the date of its execution. Naturally, there were rumors circulating like flies. The ones that knew about the summoning plan thought that they weren’t trying to bring back Sonia, but perhaps some omnipotent being to find and wreak havoc on the one that killed her. Others thought that maybe the two had miraculously found something in each other and were in a relationship. A few even thought that the two were going insane and were planning to wreck the school in Sonia’s name on her birthday. No one actually knew the full plan, not even what the two would have considered friends at this point. They kept it as secretive as they could and agreed once it was over that they would go back to how they were before.
For the time being, however, Sonia could see the obvious internal struggles that they were both going through to put up with each other. Gundam found it the easiest to act like Souda wasn’t around when he started talking, so Gundam ended up talking a lot. It was all meaningless nonsense, too, just ordinary, everyday sentences fluffed up until almost every other word was incomprehensible bullshit. Souda found comfort in ignoring essentially every word that came out of Gundam’s mouth that didn’t have to do with what they were doing (and as of late, those conversations were far and few in between). He would just focus on finding that one important piece of information in the 900 page book that they’d found from the library, or listen to the calming yet quiet sound of his wrench clacking against metal. Anything but listening to Gundam Tanaka go on and on and on about…well, whatever he went on about these days.
Sonia was growing nervous. In her entire time spectating in the world of the living, she’d never expected anything like this. By listening to basically everything they were saying, she knew the things that they planned to tell her. And while it had always been her dream as a little girl to have a prince declare his love for her, she’d never imagined that it would be: not one, but two princes – she wouldn’t be alive – and if she reciprocated in the wrong way then one would kill the other (most likely). In addition, Sonia had no idea if the thing would even work. And if it did, how would she be present? Her voice, or her form? And if her form was there, would they be able to touch her? These thoughts plagued her so incredibly bad that she couldn’t sleep any more. It seemed that these same ideas were present in the minds of Gundam and Souda, too, considering that neither of them got any rest the night of October 12th.
Her birthday flew by. It was something that had never happened to Sonia before, alive or dead, the way the time passed that day. She sat with Gundam during his morning classes and Souda during his afternoon ones, and every time she blinked the bell was ringing for the next period. The two sat with each other during lunch, going over their plan together repeatedly, neither of them touching their food, until the time was over and they had to get back to class. Eventually, the last bell of the day rang, and they both raced out of class and met each other by the entrance to the cafeteria.
“Do you have everything ready?” Souda spoke, tone even and speech fast. “We’ve got a couple of hours to set up, but we have all of the materials, right?”
“I believe so,” Gundam stuttered, beginning to head back to his room. “We shall depart now for our living quarters. In exactly fifteen minutes we shall meet at the door of Miss Sonia’s old inhabitance. Go over the lists that were given to you thrice and then proceed to the destination with utmost haste. Time is of the essence.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Souda waved him away, but sped down the hallway anyway, and Gundam went in the opposite direction. Sonia, frantic, stood in the middle where the two had been talking. Whether she chose to find Gundam or find Souda would make no difference because they were doing the same thing, working as the same mind.
Quietly, she walked back to her old, vacant room, realizing solemnly that she no longer had any part to play other than to wait.
If Sonia was being brutally honest with herself, her expectations were low for the summoning. Gundam and Souda were crazed with hope, which was, as it was known, just as much of a drug as despair was. Yet there they were, in Sonia’s old room, with Souda lighting dozens of candles placed carefully on the shelves, on the desk, on the floor, and on the bedposts, and with Gundam looking out the window to watch the sky grow dark. They switched places every ten minutes, Gundam efficiently lighting the candles and Souda efficiently burning himself several times. Sonia stood in the middle of the room, hands clasped nervously to her chest as she took in the sight.
“Our time for preparation grows short,” Gundam spoke, bandaged hand gently grasping the curtain. He sighed softly through his nose and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “The many Gods of the Underworld are howling for the loss of their Queen on this night. Her presence with us is strong…I sense it.”
Souda blew out another match, tossing it into the plastic trash bin near the door. “You really think so?”
He nodded. “Undoubtedly.”
“You know, isn’t this…kind of against the rules?” Souda thought aloud, retrieving another match from the box. As he spoke, he struck the match and lit it, continuing to light the last of the candles. “Sneaking into a girl’s room after curfew that is. Not only a girl’s room, but…a dead girl’s room. I mean, it has to be in the books somewhere…well, y’know, maybe not. This is probably so ridiculous that no one would even dream of putting this into some stupid rule book…”
Gundam turned, watching as the other teenager babbled on, and cut him off. “Souda,” he said, catching both he and Sonia off-guard (it would be the first and last time that Souda ever heard his name come out of Gundam’s mouth). “It is time. The sun has been vanquished by the night and the stars will appear shortly.”
“Got it,” the pink-haired man spoke, lighting three more candles before blowing out the match and tossing both it and the rest of the box into the trash can. He turned out the light in Sonia’s room, leaving a strong glow of light around everything except the very center, right where Sonia stood. Gundam brought a piece of chalk out of his sleeve, murmured something vague, kissed it, and began furiously scribbling on the floor of the room. His lips were pressed tight into a line with a chalky smudge in the middle. Souda stepped back slowly, letting him do what he knew how to do, and being careful not to step on any candles.
Before she knew it, there was a large incantation circle at her feet, with intricate detail and Latin terms written in different sections of it. As he worked, Gundam barked, “Pin the curtains open.” Souda scrambled to do what he said, avoiding his circle, and Sonia turned as the light of the moon shone down on her face. She attempted to move towards the window, but the moment she went to step outside of the chalk-zone, she was met with a wall of opposition.
“This is it,” Souda breathed, watching Gundam intently finish up the incantation circle. He moved to join the other on the floor while Gundam scrambled quickly to retrieve his notebook he’d been scribbling in for the past several weeks. After settling on the correct page, he looked at Souda, took a breath, and then placed his fingers gently on the largest ring of the circle. Souda followed suit. This is it, Sonia realized as well, kneeling so that she was eye-level with the both of them. This will be their last chance for closure.
Incomprehensible words flowed from Gundam’s lips at a speed that not even Souda understood, but seemed to place faith in. His eyes were closed tight in concentration, willing for Sonia to be seen with every cell in his body, while Gundam’s eyes flew across the page, eventually coming to an abrupt stop. He spoke in his own voice once more. “It is the general will of these two servants of darkness, Gundam Tanaka –”
“– and Souda Kazuichi –”
“– that an audience is requested with a soul that has been unrightfully stolen from the both of us. In the name of Our Lady of Eternal Darkness, we do bring forth her presence here to this world…in the name of the Lords of Darkness, and their fathers and their fathers before them…we would bring her back…!”
The two of them clutched hands at the same time for support, and the circle lit to an eerie neon purple. From the circle, a gust of wind was released, just barely strong enough to blow out about a fourth of the nearby candles. Gundam and Souda began to cough, covering their mouths and being obstructed from Sonia’s view. The wind tasted like gas, Sonia noted, coughing roughly as well and bracing herself on the floor. But as soon as she stopped, she noticed that the boys had, as well. The air cleared, and Sonia looked up to see Gundam and Souda with their eyes trained on her – directly on her.
“…S-Sonia…san?” Souda spoke, gently removing his hands from the circle as Gundam followed suit. “Is…is that really you?” He moved closer, placing a violently shaking hand on top of hers, and recoiling immediately when he felt her skin. “I…thought I’d never see you again.”
“Y-Yes…I’m real. It’s me,” she hesitated, slowly breaking into a smile. “I, I’m back…for a little bit, I’m back.”
They were both interrupted by the sound of hand slamming loudly against the floor, and Sonia looked to see Gundam kneeling over, murmuring something softly, then sitting up and looking at her with nothing but emotion in his eyes. “M-Miss Sonia…i-in my most vivid delusions I would have never dreamt your presence would be as heavenly as I’d pictured…the occasions of when I imagined I’d seen you are countless and plentiful…”
“No, Tanaka-san,” she said, scooting a bit closer and being careful to stay within the circle, “Gundam, sit up.” He sniffed and did as he was told, the tips of his ears beginning to turn red. “I…I was really there. For both of you,” she added, looking to Souda as well to bring him into the conversation. “Ever since I…died, I’ve been here, watching both of you.”
“So it’s been real…!” Souda gasped, expression lighting up like a child. He grinned, revealing his sharp pointed teeth. “All of it…we weren’t just imagining it.” They all sat there for a minute, reveling in each other’s presence, before he spoke again. “Hey…how much time do we have…?”
“Approximately a half an hour,” Gundam spoke, his eyes not leaving Sonia’s.
“Fifteen minutes each,” the other suggested, waiting for a moment before adding, “Who goes first…?”
“I…want to speak to Souda first.” Sonia looked to his eyes, which had an unusual spark to them. Gundam remained quiet, but nodded and stood. He looked as if he were about to say something, but closed his mouth, turned around, and left the room without a word. Souda scooted so he was right in her view, smiling warmly at her.
“…Hey,” he said after a brief pause.
“Hello,” she said back. She smiled a bit, wondering why she’d decided to talk to him first, not exactly sure what to say. The nausea in the pit of her stomach began to worm its way into her heart.
“Okay, so, alright,” Souda blurted suddenly, startling the both of them, “I, uh, needed to know a couple of things real quick. Just…as a basis and then from there we can continue on. Kay?” The way he spoke was quick and full of insecurity. Sonia smiled softly and reached out, placing her hands on his gently, gaining his attention.
“Souda-kun, there is no need to be nervous,” she assured, and he took a breath and held her hands in his. “Anything that you ask me will receive an answer, I promise.”
“Well…” he took a minute, removing his hat and holding it in one hand. “I knew that you were…kind of on a different level than I was. But you were…you are beautiful, Sonia-san,” Souda met her eyes, and she looked down to her lap just from the intensity of his gaze. “I know I never really said it the right way, but all of my advances and stuff were because I wanted to see you as you are.” He raised her hand in his to his eye level, studying it quietly, running the pad of his thumb across her tendons. “I wanted to see how a girl’s body worked underneath her skin…and your beauty…I thought you would be perfect. But I need to know, and honestly tell me.” Sonia raised her eyes to look back at him, a bit bashful, but waiting. “Did I ever have a chance of getting that?”
She took a quiet breath, gathering her thoughts. “As you were, Souda-kun…no, I am afraid you didn’t. You must know that your advances, while with…moderately good intention, were gone about in the wrong manner, only serving to prove my disinterest with you. If you had merely told me then perhaps I would have listened more, Souda-kun.” Sonia noticed that Souda’s eyes were still trained on her hand, tracing her veins with a bit of a miserable expression. She huffed indignantly. “However,” she reached over and titled his head up, “that does not mean that any romantic advances in the future will go the same way…not with me, unfortunately.” She smiled, trying to add a bit of humor, and he attempted a smile in return. “Women are smart, Souda-kun. If you tell them, I am sure they will understand.”
“But you…”
“No,” she spoke simply, slipping her hand out of his. She gently placed it down on his knee, keeping her hand on top of it. “Not me. I am an event of the past. You are still alive but I am not. You need to focus on what is ahead.”
“Listen,” he sighed, “I get that. But, um…if I had told you that, would things have been different?”
“Absolutely. I…I am not sure what would have happened if you had told me. Perhaps I would have succumbed to your wishes eventually and we would have been closer. I was an excellent model in Novoselic,” she giggled.
Souda gaped. “You were…you were a model?!”
“Of course not,” she laughed. “My parents would have never conceded. However, when I was disguised in the street, I was approached several times and asked to consider it as a career.”
There was a soft knocking on the door, followed by a deep, muffled voice. “Your time is up.”
“…Right,” Souda breathed, “so, then…this is it. The last time I’ll ever see you.”
“Yes,” Sonia agreed, and realized with a hitch in her heart that being with Souda was not as emotional as she had anticipated. He hadn’t cried, but when she hugged him goodbye her shoulder was wet. He mumbled something inaudible that was hopefully not for her ears, seeing as she didn’t understand it. “I will always appreciate everything you did in my memory, Souda. I saw…the way you defended me against anyone. It is an amazing quality.” She pulled back, still partially in his arms, and saw he was crying. “Let it shine bright inside of you and radiate to others.”
He looked like he was about to say something else, but Sonia’s last words pulled a strong, guttural cry out of him, and he ashamedly stood and left the room as quick as he could. Souda switched places with someone who was taller, darker, and seemingly more in control. Her heart fluttered as Gundam crossed the boundary by sitting right across from her inside the incantation circle. His eyes met hers just as the door clicked shut and Souda, in the hallway, let out one last sob before quieting down.
“Unlike the pink one I am very much used to being in the presence of incantation circles,” he spoke, voice smooth, “and spirits, of course. They were never…the souls of those I knew, however.”
“I missed you too, Tanaka-san,” she smiled, leaning in and hugging him without his permission (he was as red as a traffic light, but she was sure he didn’t mind). She moved away, still half in his arms. “The afterlife is rather lonely. I’ve no one to keep me company and keep me interested.”
“My Lady,” he said abruptly, nearly interrupting her, “if I may ask.” Sonia nodded, and he went on. “There was evening last month where…well, your Future Overlord –” Gundam gestured to himself “– was rather ill. I had taken to bed when the moon had just greeted the night sky. As I attempted to heal myself from the wretched poison that had entered my heavenly vessel…my ears picked up on your voice. You spoke of rather…well, words that I was sure had never been said by your own tongue. You had said –”
She cut him off with a hand on top of his. “I told you I loved you. I am aware.” His eyes widened and just as he began to retreat into his scarf, she pulled him back. “Tanaka-san, I apologize if I am frightening you, but…I, too, have things left unsaid.” Sonia expected some sort of witty response to him, but he was upsettingly quiet. “T…Tanaka-san, this may put some weight onto your shoulders, but…I believe I’d fallen in love with you. I am sorry.”
“Why…would this put pressure unto me?”
“B-Because.” Sonia was crying now, openly, beginning to shake. “I feel as if I had made so many mistakes while I was alive…I should have been open and approached you.” Gundam was still silent, which frightened her even more. She gasped a sob. “H…How can I give Souda-san the advice to be honest to someone he loves if I cannot even follow this myself?”
By crying, Sonia knew she was doing nothing but wasting the time she had with him, yet somehow she couldn’t help herself. The sadness of her entire situation had never struck her until that very moment, sitting on the floor of her old room with the one she adored, shrouded in the dim light of flickering candles. The “ifs” were back and they were taking their toll on her in the worst possible way. Sonia realized she would never have the chance to fall in love with Souda (and she wanted to, God did she want to, just because she knew it was incredibly possible). She would never be able to confess to Gundam in a normal, teenage girl way, never be able to watch the stars with him and kiss him and swell with emotion. Instead, she sat in a crumpled heap on the floor, sobbing miserably and wasting precious time. Instead, all she got was a reluctant reassurance to Souda and an embarrassing declaration of affection to Gundam that was probably not even reciprocated.
When she was beginning to wonder how long she could cry for, she felt a gentle hand pull her up. It was soft and warm and large, cradling her cheek and awkwardly wiping her tears away. “Miss Sonia,” came Gundam’s voice, recomposed and brimming with confidence that she’d never heard in him, “weeping for the past will not do anything but romanticize its existence. I am conscious that this is a fact and it can be verified by many. If I may also verify, with the demons in my blackened heart as witness, that your affections are…mutual.” He turned red again, bright red, but refused to hide. “You needn’t worry about the existence of the shark-toothed one and I any longer, for we shall find methods of assisting each other.” The bandages on Gundam’s hand grew wet with Sonia’s tears, but she pressed her face into the palm of his hand to comfort herself.
“It is unfortunate that you are unaware of the importance of your title,” he continued. “Our Lady of Eternal Darkness is nothing that would be so lightly bestowed to any filthy mortal girl who would mindlessly go along with any words that spilled from my lips. No, it had to be bequeathed unto a worthy woman who would use the title to her every advantage, willing the hearts and souls of many to fall hopelessly into her trap by singing the siren’s song of infatuation. Someone to be the stars in the sky while I am the moon. That title,” he brushed some of her hair aside softly, “was only fitting for one person, and that would be you, Miss Sonia.”
Sonia released a bit of a laugh, wiping her own tears away and feeling her time running short. There was one last thing she wanted to do. “Tana…Gundam.” That caught his attention. “Have you had your first kiss yet?”
Gundam flushed. “No, My Lady. It would kill any mortal to press their lips to mine in such a fashion.”
“Well,” she grinned, leaning in, “I am no longer a mortal.”
He would have never seen it coming, that his first kiss would come from the Princess of Novoselic, or that her lips would be beautifully soft, or that for a moment he lost all fear of human contact. This was not Sonia’s first kiss, nor her second or her third, but it was twice as wonderful and yet twice as sad as she could have imagined. The kiss started innocent and slowly morphed into something a bit older and more grown up (with Sonia’s initiation of course). It didn’t last too much longer until Gundam broke away, feeling pressured, but his head was spinning and he decided that he had been intoxicated (on what, he didn’t know). Sonia watched him, flushed herself, before leaning back.
“I think that I am out of time, Gundam.” As she spoke, Sonia’s body began to fade, phasing through Gundam’s hold. She looked like she was beginning to cry again. He was silent, mouth open, still shocked from her kiss. “Please…tell Souda-kun that what you and he did for me and because of me are the most meaningful things that anyone has ever done for me.” She stood, legs shaking violently, and he followed her up, although slower. Right as she took a step back, on the edge of the circle, Gundam regained his voice and stuttered out.
“Be safe in your travels, sweet princess…my soul places the deepest trust and faith in your journeys.” He was a little shaky, as well, but resolved to stay strong, clearing his throat.
“…You know, I do not think I will be able to come back this time,” she smiled sadly, wiping her eyes with a sniff. Her form began to fade slowly as she spoke. “Please…if one last thing, do not forget me, but let go of me. Remember who I was but mourn me no longer. You are so kind, Gundam,” she sobbed, “and so interesting that anyone would be blessed in your company.”
For the first time in a very, very long time, Gundam smiled, warm yet firm, and he nodded. “Strike silent and swift, love of mine. On this date the lonely winds shall howl your name in the memory of Our Lady of Eternal Darkness.” She smiled, stepping out of the incantation circle slowly, disappearing twice as fast now. He kept speaking as she listened with all her strength. “Farewell, Miss Sonia. Fear not for the fate of the two of us. All of your wishes shall be sustained.”
“Thank you,” Sonia cried softly, wiping her eye one last time before there was another gust of wind even larger than before. All of the remaining candles were blown out, the curtains fluttered, and Sonia Nevermind was gone.
Silence reigned through the air for half a minute before the door was opened, with Souda’s voice penetrating the air. “Time’s u—” he croaked, cut off from Gundam staring directly at him. Souda shivered a bit and moved to look out the window. “…Guess you knew time was up. She probably thinks I’m pathetic, the way I ran out crying…” he smirked to himself, a bit unhappily, and quickly shut the curtains. “Well, at least I’m back to normal.”
There was a hand on his shoulder suddenly, and when the pink-haired man turned to look, it was Gundam’s. His stare had turned from threatened and alarmed to reassuring. “She thought nothing of the sort.”
And despite the fact that he felt like on principle he shouldn’t, Souda let loose a tiny lopsided grin.
The two left Sonia’s room and locked it, walking down the hall together. All in all, they both silently agreed that their pasts should be put aside for the sake of the future, just like she would have wanted. Souda made light-hearted conversation and Gundam humored him in return, neither of them (for once) feeling like they wanted to be somewhere else. It felt fresh and relieving for a change, welcome for both of them. Neither Gundam nor Souda knew where Sonia was at that moment, but they both knew that wherever she was she was smiling.