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“INORI!”
You shout. She doesn’t turn around but the pause in her limping steps is a chance.
“Come back,” you whisper and hope the smoke and debris carry your wish to her. “We can still do something. There must be a way.”
“Hikaru,” she rasps. You see her lips tremble before her head finally turns—finally you see the determination in her canary eyes. “I’m sorry.”
This resolve is what you love about her and it’s the reason she’s leaving you.
“I can’t help you anymore if you… once you leave.”
“I know.”
She says it so fearlessly in the same way it breaks your heart. Just as easily she spins out of your life with worlds and society ripping you both apart.
-
It’s wrong because the world goes on.
You win as the champion of the 25th Alien Stage. The dazzling confetti rains upon you as you smile. The aliens hail you and praise you with their adorations. A beautiful voice with a charming face. The ideal pet for every alien alike. Other human pets gaze at you in a mixture of inspiration and fear.
Life goes on and it’s wrong because Inori is no longer with you.
You sing anyway, until your vocal cords scream, until you vomit blood. You sing because you cannot bear to have a bullet in your neck.
Inori. Your dear Inori may have left you but she cannot erase you and the songs you sang together. So, live, you must.
-
The 26th Alien Stage begins. Lives are ended at your own hands, with a sparkle on your title. The screen flashing behind you with its verdict. You win.
This is all you need to do. On this death show with your own voice, a star like you will be born. It will light every single heart, how far away they may be.
Imagine, when you step on the final round, in your soft silk and sequin costumes, the world changes.
-
The thing with God is: He is kind. Almost.
Somewhere, Miku collapses on the ground, in the cradle of Yuna. She bleeds from the neck. A pool of red surrounds the two of them like a halo. Distantly, the crowd shouts in your ear. It should be overwhelming, with the stage and aliens amplifying their incessant squeal yet it falls silent in the same manner the world pauses when you finally meet a pair of bright, beautiful amber eyes.
Inori stands there, as breathtaking as the day she walked away from you.
“Ino—”
When you take a step, the lights go dark and a gun clicks in your head.
It’s nothing compared to the heart pounding inside your chest. A thousand memories and a million more emotions rush into your head, filling your lungs and lifting your lips into a genuine smile.
This whole world doesn't really matter. Not when you feel like eleven again and meeting a girl for the first time.
You learn that she’s right, for a while now, and it’s your mistake for denying, for being naive, for turning away the salvation she had offered out of this godforsaken hellhole.
So now, you’re ready, with words so many it will burst out any moment now.
So, you call her, “Inori.”
You take a step. “Inori.”
She turns to see you. She sees you!
Excitedly, you walk towards her. “Inori, I—”
She meets you halfway in a haste, with a spin so abrupt you feel so light with your happiness.
So fast that with a gun’s bang , you don’t realize it has been taken away.
Inori falls on you. Her blood on your clothes and cheeks warms the icy despair in your veins.
“A-ah, Inori, we—”
“I’m sorry,” she says, first and foremost. “I shouldn’t have left you.”
“It’s fine! But first—”
“Listen first.” Your protests choke in your throat as Inori grips your shoulders hard. The warm blood seeps deeper through your clothes.
“I thought maybe I should have convinced you more, knowing what might happen. Every day, every match, I wish you would win and… you always did.”
How is it possible? To feel the happiest and feel hopeless in mere moments?
“I… was hoping I could come and get you out of here someday.”
Your hand stupidly grips her shirt, as tight as your fragile hope can hold, even as your world turns dark and colorless. You desperately pray to whoever god out in the stars to grant your wish to see this girl again, to hear her own prayers be sang again, to be with her again.
“Hikaru… live. Live with love.”
On the stage without lights or sound, surrounded by rebellion and society, you muse.
Without her, how can you live?