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Beneath the faint dawning light was a young lady in black and white, her aviator hat and goggles reflecting the rays of the orange skies. Sitting on a bench was she, a blueprint of a plane's structure laying still beside her free hand. Dark, yet bluish strands of hair let themselves loose in the morning breeze, soon tied up into a low ponytail of some sort.
She then stared into the blueprint that once laid itself so idly before her, now holding it in her grasp as she tried to vividly remember the day this seemingly ordinary, yet special piece of paper was given to her.
Though she didn't remember exactly when, that certain day was but a hot and scorching one. According to little Ichika's thoughts that day, even a bird that could fly so freely would take its rest and halt somewhere beneath the shadows of this town.
Yes, this city filled with dystopia, one that harbored nothing but despair and agony for those who reside in it. Countless figures of the military police dressed in black, blindfolded in vermillion, weapons readied at hand so to fire at whoever dared to escape. No matter who it was, even if it was someone so dear to them, could end up in the hands of whatever ruled the heavens so to truly bid farewell to this horrible land.
As children, she and her dear friend Honami, would be terrified of even the mere presence of one of them. Screams of agony and the shouting sounds of whoever they captured that tried their best to stand up for themselves, only for a ringing sound of a gunshot's noise echoing in the gaps of the city. Constantly locking themselves up in a building whose name could not be remembered by any of their little minds, constructing a plan to escape like the young, carefree children they were so to crave the taste of freedom and nothing else, even if it merely danced for only a second on the tip of their fingers.
"Honami," the girl suddenly said. "If we really want to escape, then... don't we need a sort of vehicle to do so?"
"You're right," she murmured, nodding. "Maybe some sort of plane will do?"
"A... plane? What's that?"
"From what I've heard, they can take you up so high until you can see birds and clouds! It looks like a big, big bird with its wings spread out, and..."
"... Does it look like this?"
Little did Honami know that Ichika has been drawing what she tried to explain from the start. Well, knowing Honami's own ability to draw, maybe it was better for Ichika to be the one sketching all of it on paper for now. After all, if they really do want to fly away from here, they'd need a good, reliable blueprint on what it'd look like so to build one of their own to escape.
On what seemed like a piece of paper dyed in blue, scribbled on with white marks all over the place, it seemed so wonderful, many thoughts of riding such an object would take the two of them away from this awful city they lived in. Maybe they'll even build it together. Perhaps they could live out their dreams of seeing what the color of grass and the skies truly looked like outside of the dome covering the town dyed in orange, escaping together.
"It really does!" the girl with light brown hair exclaimed excitedly, her mind traveling to how she wished for their future filled with freedom would seem like. "Ichika-chan's really good at drawing, huh..."
"Ah, thank you... I tried my best."
"Wait, Ichika-chan," she abruptly interrupted the other's session of silence. "If we really grow up to build something like this, does that mean that... we'll escape, together?"
"Of course! That'd be... pretty nice."
"Wanna make a pinky promise for it?"
A little finger extended itself before Ichika's eyes, soon intertwining with her own. Underneath the summer skies did they smile, their small fingers wrapping around each other as it turned into a moment of holding one another's hands. And there the blueprint laid, before taken aback by Ichika a few years later.
That year, Honami was never to be seen smiling and laughing with her again. Though she's not dead or anything like that, there's no way for Ichika to not worry about her in any way. Maybe she's joining the police force for whatever reason she had in mind?
Regardless, she's too busy to take care of that now.
Now that Ichika's all grown up, she could do whatever she want! Come to think of it, she's no longer confined by the boundaries that a child would have. She could go wherever she wanted, breathe whichever sort of air she desired, and taste whatever she wished to lay upon her.
That means she could be free. She could breathe the air of freedom beyond this cage-like city. She could taste the true feeling of happiness, outside this dystopian land.
She had the choice to do whatever now.
And that includes the choice to be free.
Countless days, weeks, months and years she spent building the plane in their old blueprint, as if time went so quickly that she didn't even forget about their childhood promise. Unlike Honami, whom has left her to be on her own to join forces with what the two of them despised the most as children, her dream and her feelings remained the same. The dream to build a plane so to take her and her dear Honami away from this town and touch the grasslands' warmth directly by their own fingers and breathe the air free of pollution and every terrible thing that this town harbored by itself.
And now, there she stood, snapping herself out of her brief trance of nostalgia. That old promise her childhood friend abandoned deep in the depths of her heart, was now held so dearly in Ichika's hands.
The promise to escape. The promise to run away.
That old blueprint, once again, was clutched in hand as she ran. Momentarily adjusting her clothes, the girl's black leather vest shined the reflection of the daylight.
As the earflaps of her hat fluttered about in the wind, the tapping of her shoes echoed inside the building. Clumsily dashing through each and every gap that would lead her to the room that holds the plane she finished building weeks ago, there she set foot upon the floor along with her own noises, Ichika seemingly unaware of what she'd done.
It seemed that her footsteps' sound alerted someone nearby.
"Hey, I think I just heard something," an elderly voice said, one that sounded like it belonged to an old man who worked in the police force, for that voice felt familiar for the black-haired aviator. "Someone's here."
"Ah, what a coincidence," another one of them murmured. This time, the voice belonged to a lady quite young, maybe the same age as her and Honami. "I felt someone pass by, too."
"Is it... an escaping prisoner?" A silhouette of a tall boy shifted before her as Ichika hid herself behind a wall. "Mochizuki, can you check it out?"
"Roger that."
That voice.
One that used to be filled with so much joy, warmth and happiness, was now dyed in sorrow and the heavy weight of the city's own dignity. A voice that belonged to someone so special, yet someone who grew up to be so distant from her.
Mochizuki Honami. An officer of the city's forces. No, not her dearest childhood friend who always cared for her. Maybe that person was... long gone?
Regardless, Ichika didn't want to know. She knew it really was, indeed, her old friend, but did she really change this much when she left her?
Ichika's breathing grew hasty, swallowing air mixed with dust as she stayed inside a closet behind the gaping door of an abandoned, messy, polluted storage room. Sprinkles of sand scattered themselves all over the room since the moment she set foot inside, making it harder for her to breathe. Yes, she knew she needed to hold her breath, but how can she do so if she can't even take a deep breath without coughing and making noise.
Regardless, she tried her best to stay silent, the other's footsteps approaching her, slowly but surely.
From the gap of the closet's doors, she could see Honami walk over each and every tile of the floor, observing whatever sound came across her ears and whichever kind of scent laid itself bare upon her nose. As if she could see through the reddish blindfold covering her once gleeful gaze, now hidden away by the piece of cloth covering it.
For a second, Ichika thought she could relax for a moment. After all, it's not like Honami could see her and find her sitting here, squeezing herself in between boxes, right?
Well, for a moment, she wasn't wrong. It's just that Honami didn't want to move. Leaning her back on a wall, she put herself at rest, as if waiting for whoever hid in the room to come out by themselves.
"Damn it," Ichika cursed under her breath. "Now there's no way I could-"
"Could do what?"
Unnoticeably, the officer was now standing before her, a closet's door now opened wide before them both.
"Hoshino-san, I didn't expect to be seeing you here, you know?" she continued. "I thought you'd be just like an obedient little dog, but... it seems that my expectations were too high for someone as stubborn as you."
"H-Honami..."
"Now, follow me. I suppose you–"
A loud noise then emerged from the room, the sound of Ichika running away, hiding her face as she pushed Honami so briefly, even she couldn't feel any touch from Ichika's form albeit a faint one. The sheer power of her movement, however, was strong enough to knock her down onto a table, leaving her in a sitting position, as still as ever.
"Sorry," she cooed as she got out of the room. "But I have something important to take care of."
"And what exactly is that, Hoshino?"
The old man from earlier was now holding her at gunpoint, the muzzle of his pistol brushing against the strands of her ponytail. Not long after, the presence of the other officers were soon felt by the aviator's own feelings, of how she felt watched from many sides of the room. From atop the staircase, the many doors surrounding her, and not to mention the currently knocked-out Honami that'll soon recover so to capture her and imprison her for an escape attempt.
"Tell us, lass, what kind of intent do you have in that sick head of yours?"
"That old man's got a point. This city already gives you everything you need! Food, water and electricity... and yet, you still wish for more?"
"How greedy... I'm glad someone like you would be put behind bars soon. Such a nuisance would be better off locked in the prison downstairs."
"Ah, calm down, sir. I think we can all talk this out," Ichika chided in a teasingly disrespectful manner. "I have no intent to escape. I was simply just wandering around, yeah? Looking at the rooms here, going up and down the stairs... Well, I guess I can call it a 'nostalgia trip' of some sort. Don't you all get what I mean?"
Even without turning her head around, she could see, or preferably, feel the old man behind her inch the pistol closer to her head.
"Nonsense!" his loud voice shouted out, and the aviator scoffed quietly as he yelled. "When you ran out to us, I felt a large piece of paper tucking out of your pocket, you know? What kind of paper is that?"
Ichika laughed.
"What's that laugh for?"
"Well, you see, this is a letter for one of my relatives!"
"And who is that 'relative' exactly?"
The girl looked down, a snicker appearing before her face. Good thing she had a pocket knife stored somewhere between her clothing folds. Turning around, she pulled out her own weapon so to injure the man's hand, his pistol falling out of his grasp as blood spattered out of his glove, causing him to fall to his knees. Seeing such a sight, she chuckled once again, looking down at the now kneeling form of the officer.
"I lied," she mockingly muttered. "I don't have any relative who lives somewhere here."
"Damn it... Seize her!"
As the bullets rained down upon her from the floor above and the doors surrounding them, she agilely dodged them all, if not reflecting them back to whoever tried to shoot her with her knife. That weapon seemed so small, and yet, Ichika was able to make good use of it. One by one, the bullets of each officer ran out, and once she saw one of them try their best to reload it before she could move even more, the girl would take them down, seizing their pistols only with a few moves.
"The tension's really rising, now!" the aviator laughed with arms opened, jeering at the remaining ones as she wiped the traces of blood on her cheek. "Anyways, since I've seized all your weapons, maybe it'd be best for you all to try and catch me yourself, right?"
They all obeyed her order. How stupid, Ichika thought to herself. With their shrinking distance from one another, it'd be easier for her to knock them out.
And now, there she stood, hands covered in the blood of the officer's forms laying down beneath her shadow. Their breaths growing raggedy as they tried their best to support one another's figures, the oldest of them pointed at her and shouted.
"I'll never forgive you for this, Hoshino! Foolish, disgusting animals like you should just rot in–"
"Silence, sir. I'll take care of her now."
Honami's voice then made its way back to Ichika. Swiftly turning her body, her knife flew to the area near the other's ear, tearing off the vermillion blindfold that covered her brilliant eyes.
"Ah, Honami," the girl breathed out, smiling, albeit in a slightly teasing, yet relieved manner as she closed her eyes due to how happy she truly felt, ignoring the stains of the other officers' blood on her cheek. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this."
"Ichika, you..."
"Is there anything wrong with what I'm doing?" she cooed. "It's not like I killed them or something. I just knocked them out for a moment, so don't worry about them."
"..."
"Hey, that reminds me," Ichika whispered, inching closer to Honami so to take her knife back in a close, touchy manner. As if it was a move of pinning her onto the wall, their breaths synchronizing as she tried to pull off the knife. "Why does it seem like you worry about them... more than you worry about me and our old dream?"
"... I don't understand what you're talking about, Ichika."
"You'll find out soon. For now, spar with me for a moment, will you?"
"As you wish."
As the knife came off, the two began to clash their forms against one another. Holding a gun in her hand was Honami, and spinning the pocket knife between her fingers was Ichika. Above the bodies of the passed out guards, they spar, almost like a waltz of some sort. A dance so to celebrate their reunion, the aviator thought, even if the officer seemed to think of something more serious than whatever went in her mind.
Spinning the other's body by the tip of her fingers like a dance of pure content, Ichika did exactly so, tenderly gazing at the lady before her. Underneath the light from atop the staircase, she seemed so beautiful. And yet, the girl in her grasp was no longer the person she used to be. The warm, cheerful and loving Honami she spent her childhood with was no more. The girl before her eyes was but the form of a cold, stoic prison guard, Mochizuki.
An unattainable beauty laid itself upon her gaze, as if teasing the girl's heart for what she cannot have.
Someone as wonderful as her, lost to the cold, hardened hearts of whoever ruled this land.
"It seems like this sparring session has grown quite intimate for the both of us," she softly murmured, a soft smile on her face. "Isn't that right, Honami?"
The pistol in her hand didn't cease to get itself clenched between the guard's fingers, not letting go of the fact that the two of them truly were sparring and not dancing a waltz for Ichika's sake.
"I don't think so."
Unconsciously pushing herself away from the aviator's figure, the gun pointed at her in a similar manner the old man did. The only difference was that Honami looked into her eyes with a gaze devoid of any warmth, while the officer before her only pointed it at her and didn't even manage to get a good look at her with a blindfold on his face.
Another difference for Ichika to note was how they held the weapon in their hands.
Earlier, the man held it tightly without even a short pause of seriousness, and he was surely going to see her die before his hands if it wasn't for how she acted. Meanwhile, Honami's eyes...
Even if there was no warmth behind it all, there's a tiny bit of hesitation that hid itself upon her stare. Gloved hands trembling as she unknowingly gulped, almost like she didn't want Ichika to pass away and depart from her life at that moment.
Was she giving her a chance to run away?
"What's with that look, Honami?"
"There's absolutely nothing with it. Now, tell me, Ichika. What is it that you want from me... this whole time?"
"Well, you see," she softly uttered out, confining Honami's hand with her own once again as she tilted her body so to replicate what seemed to be a tender move of a dance between two. "Back then, we used to promise each other of something, don't you remember?"
"And what exactly do you mean-" Honami kicked her away, even if not in such a strong manner. "... by that?"
"You... You really don't remember what you promised me?"
Ichika let her body sway in the hard breeze as the sheer power of the other's movement pushed her until she hit the wall behind her. Her grip on the knife loosened, almost letting it fall to the ground. The Honami she knew was really gone. The one standing in front of her resembled someone else she never knew. Someone so unfamiliar to her. And yet, she remained the same. How she looked and how she felt deep in her heart, it really did remain the same.
But of course, that aviator would be too shallow-minded to look through it all. No, it would be too time-consuming if she was to think all of this through. Just to be safe, she needed to keep her hopes at a low ground. To see Honami in a different state, to see her being a whole new person than who she used to be.
A kind, caring childhood friend, now turned into that of a bitter, sharp-tongued guard.
"You... promised me freedom, Honami."
A silent stare followed with a serious expression of Honami's own one.
"You promised... that we would build a plane together to reach the skies... taste what freedom truly felt like, and..."
"And?"
That sounded so awfully irking.
Ichika has had enough.
As the older's breaths grew raggedy, Ichika, being the stronger one of the two, ran headfirst towards the other's direction, the pocket knife in her hand flying towards the guard. Though, an arm soon held over her neck as her hand stuck itself to the wall, purposefully refraining from injuring Honami's form. Once again, the aviator pushed and pinned her once dear friend against the ceramic surface of the building, a broken sound of her weeping resounding in her ears.
"You promised me... to escape together!"
Her voice shook with all the thousands, millions, no, billions of teardrops she held back behind her face, choking her throat as she tried to speak.
"You said we'd run away together... and when I heard that, I could already imagine... how happy we'd be."
Tears staining the fabric of Honami's clothes, all those noises of agony did nothing to soften her heart. At least, that's what it seemed to be for Ichika. Regardless, she sobbed, blabbering about their childhood dreams and how the younger ditched them all in a hole, never wishing for it to come true ever again.
"When I heard you say all those sweet words, I started to think of how joyful your smile would be if we were to play in the grasslands outside!" she shouted and thrashed against her own body, crying in nobody's arms, unlike how she wanted Honami to at least comfort her as she sobbed. "I wanted the two of us... to see snow without any disgusting blood stains on it! I wanted the both of us... to witness the world without getting confined by this cage-like town! And... I...."
The knife in Ichika's hand pierced itself even more into the wall as she cried, a crack forming in the hole she stabbed it into. Honami's face didn't cease to remain still, though it softened before Ichika was to be able to see it.
"I wanted to see the stars clearly, without anything blocking me from doing so... with you," she cried out, despairingly burying her face deeper and deeper into the fabric of the younger's shirt. "How stupid of me... to believe in our lies back then..."
Eventually, the older's body grew even more weaker as she let out more of her tears, uncontrollably moving as she sobbed. Arms wrapping around Honami's form, clutching at the black fabric that hugged her figure. More of her sobs and cries spilled out of her lips, held back by the ragged breathing of her throat. As if even her body won't let herself express what she truly felt before one whom she really loved.
As her crying slowly came to an end, Ichika let out a raspy voice.
"Well, I guess that's what I can tell you for now," she sighed, wiping her tears away in a childish manner. "I'll let you find out the rest of what I really want by yourself. I've had enough of staying here this long."
"Ichika–"
"I don't want to hear any more from you. If you really forgot what our dream used to be, then... I suppose it's better for me to show it to you!"
"Ah..."
"So, what are you waiting for?" the aviator yelled, a slightly irked off expression on her face. "Chase me! Seize me like they told you to! After all, you'll find out either way! If I manage to escape and ride on the plane like how you've always wanted, you'll see what I meant by 'our childhood dream'! And if you could capture me on time, then..."
"Then-?"
"Then I'll tell you everything, as much as you wish for me to tell!"
Running after the light outside of the building, Ichika went upstairs, as if bidding farewell to Honami as she ran. Those tears haven't dried up, and such was but a nuisance to her gaze. She didn't want to cry over someone who doesn't love her as much as she used to. It's no use crying over that girl now. All she needed to do was to reach the room where she stored the plane and take her leave so to show Honami her dream.
To escape and to feel freedom by the edge of her hand, even for a fleeting moment.
In order to achieve such, she'd give up everything, even her life.
Though, Honami was an exception.
As Ichika started to turn on the plane's engine, the other still remained somewhere in the staircase. Memories of their childhood then flooded her mind. Those times where they would chase one another, running up and down the stairs like there was no tomorrow. Watching the guards pass by as they sit together on the stairs, Honami hiding behind Ichika's protective arm, as if the officers truly wish harm upon innocent children like them. Even if they never did anything to them in the end, Ichika still grew wary of them all.
Perhaps that was why it seemed like she despised seeing Honami as one of them?
The brown-haired girl started to tear up. It felt as if she was watching their younger forms play with one another beneath the light from above, illuminating her own gaze. But of course, being the tough lady she is now, she wanted to brush off those thoughts.
But of course, it worsened and worsened.
Her last memory with Ichika was the day they played with some toy airplanes, pretending as if they were riding it and freeing themselves of this city.
"Look, Honami, we're free now!"
Ichika laughing so joyfully before her was way much more than that of a warm memory.
Perhaps she... really loved her? Even more than how she was supposed to respect this horrible dystopian land and the forces ruling it?
No, no, maybe that's just Ichika's words from earlier twisting her heart in a bitterly sweet way. But if that's true, then...
Why did her heart ache at the sight of a plane before her, flying away into the skies, just like how she and Ichika used to wish for?
The plane that looked just like the drawing Ichika gave her when she was but a young girl, was now really flying before her eyes. Riding it was a young lady with her black hair tied into a low ponytail, goggles gleaming with the sun's light as it flew off into the skies.
Yes, the person riding it was, indeed, Hoshino Ichika. The same one she witnessed when she was a child, harboring the same undying spirit the two of them used to have.
Now, the only one with such a strong, selfish desire for such a wish was Ichika. That stubborn girl was now flying far away, the plane not ceasing to stop whatsoever.
Meanwhile, the other laughed joyfully, the wind brushing against her hair, almost like nothing else mattered in the world besides her wish and how she'd like to show it to Honami. Although the error lamp countlessly flickered in her sight, it's not that she cared or anything. It's too late for her to go back, and she didn't regret any of her acts at all.
Well, maybe she kind of did. It'd be better for Honami to stay with her, to still share the same dream. Even if she broke the cage-like dome surrounding the city, seeing the grasslands outside, all of it feels like a waste without her.
Was it because she actually loved her more than anything else she had? Even this old dream of hers?
No, no, she wanted to show Honami her dream. Only that would be a proper answer.
But if so, then why would she spar with Honami in such a manner?
Thoughts started to jumble up in her mind with the same manner as how it did with Honami. A beeping noise, however, came to interrupt her mind.
The plane was going to explode.
Was she going to try jumping off and land safely, though?
Of course not. She wanted to show Honami what it meant to harbor an undying dream.
Three.
Two.
One.
And so, the plane exploded before the guard's gaze, a rain of pieces made of iron and steel showering the place beneath the shadow of what was once the plane. An exploding of red, orange, yellow, gray and black played on, a show of madness presented right in front of Honami herself.
Was Ichika's dream... to escape and run away, even if she had to give away her life in exchange of the taste of freedom?
Of course. It has always been like that.
Even if Ichika wasn't there to tell her the truth, something in her heart told her that such was but a perfect puzzle piece so to connect what has happened so far.
That girl, who seemed so meekly quiet before her in her childish days, had always shared the same dream, even if Honami was to throw them away once they grew up. The day she started working in this hellish place was the moment she felt like she 'erased' all her past memories with Ichika, leaving her in a state of utter confusion as she watched the aviator try to refresh her memories that were long gone, ditched in a hole by those terrible people whom had forced upon her such an order; to have her dear friend die by her hands.
Now, however, all of it really was too late. She could no longer go back and stick to Ichika for the rest of their lives, their tale ending together upon the world beyond, hearts filled with joy and contentment.
But of course, now all she could do was watch all of it unfold as she continued to run after the remains of the plane.
She needed to find her, one last time.
"Ichika-chan!"
Her voice reached out to the gaps of the city, alerting even the children that passed by. However, they weren't even surprised, nor terrified by her presence. For the look in her face was enough to make whoever witnessed her believe that she really is, indeed, an innocent being. One that was once dyed in the shadows of those who cruelly helped the rulers of the city color her with their awful ways of getting what they wanted to keep. This way of living in a terrible city, one clouded in nothing but dystopia itself.
As she continued to run and run, she then found an old building whose name she couldn't even remember, along with Ichika. They used to play here before they were to live somewhere near the prison. Above the building was a gaping hole with its ruined surface, the remains of a plane inside. The smell of burnt flesh greeted her the second she went inside.
Atop the pieces of the broken plane was Ichika, her eyes closed, as if she was sealed of seeing the world before her after she experienced such a thing. Seeing that best friend of hers lay nearly lifeless on the rubble, Honami then rushed to her side, holding her unconscious body.
"Ichika-chan!" she called out without a response. "Ichika-chan, wake up!"
There were no signs of change. Even if she tried checking her heart rate, it felt so weak. Her body grew so pale, even if it was tainted in both dust and blood.
"Ichika-chan, please..."
Not long after, a cough emitted from her throat, a rasped voice trying its best to reach Honami.
"Hona... mi?"
"Ichika-chan!" The girl held the older in her arms, hugging and embracing her as the afterglow comes to settle upon the day. "You're still here. I'm so glad..."
"No, no, Honami, I–" she coughed out, blood staining her black gloves. "I'm not... At least, I won't be for long."
"Don't say that! I'll go get help!"
"Honami."
Ichika's eyes were now opened, her weakened hand tugging onto her beloved's sleeve. She didn't want her to leave. She knew it was the end. And with that, she wanted to make the most of her last moments together with her.
"Please, stay. I can't bear to see you leave me again."
Upon hearing the aviator's request, she sighed out lovingly, eyes filled with that of a despaired expression. An agonized smile formed itself on her face as she let Ichika settle herself on her lap, seeing her warm gaze for one last time before she was to never see her again.
"Ichika-chan," she suddenly said. "I think... I understand what you wanted to tell me."
"Oh? Do tell me about that."
"Your dream... was to be free and to do whatever it takes to achieve that, wasn't it?" Honami smiled. "Even if you set your life on the line, that... didn't matter to you at all, did it?"
"You're right."
Ichika let out a laugh, before an awful series of coughs took over her body. The urge to throw up nearly overwhelmed her. If only Honami wasn't there to calm her down, she would've feel herself growing sicker and weaker with each painful breath she took.
"Although," the girl murmured, holding the other's hand that loosely wrapped around her neck. "That's not all."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I... wanted to see all of it with you, Honami. Even if I did feel what it was like to no longer be a flightless bird trapped in a cage, it... it felt like... a waste. Because..."
"Because I wasn't... there?"
"E-exactly. I really wanted to see you smile... if you were to be there with me."
A soft sigh escaped Ichika's lips, her gaze growing bleary as she spoke.
"After all, your smile... is more than a beautiful sight for me to behold."
Embracing the aviator tighter in her grasp, there the guard cried, weeping. Countless sayings of the word "sorry" was the only thing ringing through Ichika's mind, for Honami truly did felt like she needed and had to apologize for causing whatever happened to her and the plane.
If only Ichika could stay there longer, she would've heard Honami apologize to her on each and every second. She... never really liked hearing that, honestly.
To her, Honami was but a good, wonderful person whom has done nothing wrong in her life. None of her wrongdoings would seem like so to Ichika. Perhaps this is what one meant when they say 'seeing the world through a love-tinted lens' or some sort?
Regardless, none of this was her fault.
"It's okay, you can stop apologizing now." She stroked the other's arms, comfortably settling herself between them. "It's all just a part of my selfish dream, Honami. None of this was your fault."
"Ichika-chan, you don't–"
"I do, Honami. I understand, and I... forgive you. From the deepest depths of my heart, I really, really do."
Tears fell so freely onto Ichika's face, a weeping noise emerging out of Honami as she cried. Seeing such a sight before her, Ichika softly smiled in a sad manner, followed by her dearest doing the exact same thing.
"I see..."
"So, don't worry about me, okay?"
"Mhm. I... I love you so much, Ichika-chan."
Silence.
That was, before the aviator kissed away the other's tears, cherishing her expression as she stroked her cheek in a slow, tender manner as she smiled and chuckled.
"I love you, too, dear Honami."
Pulling her close for a momentarily kiss, letting their lips seal an unspoken promise. An desperate plea from the older to the one she loved so to accept the fate of their bitter parting. Lips brushing against one another's tongue, they smiled right after, a relieved expression on Ichika's features.
"Now, I have... one last thing to ask of you."
"Ah, what is it?"
"Can we... stay like this... until the end?"
Honami simply smiled, her tear-streaked face now blooming into that of a gleeful gaze.
"Of course, Ichika-chan. As you wish."