Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“ORRAAAAAAHHH!!”

Yuina Shirakawa screamed in utter desperation, her voice echoing through the battlefield as she sliced and sliced and sliced at the monster who caused it all. She didn’t care about her image as cold sweat dripped from her pores, and every fiber of her muscles ached and protested with each weakened swing of her toothpick of a seraphim. Her attacks were utterly useless—she knew it, and everyone else knew it.

Her juniors.

Ruka, Yuki, Karen, Tojo, Tama, Megumi.

Her comrades in arms.

Monaka… Kura.

They must have felt sorry for her, pitying whatever it was she was trying to achieve. Every eyes saw her despair, her pathetic sweat filled expression breaking through her usual calm façade, and her futile efforts to end the Flat Hand by her lonesome.

Swing after swing after swing after swing.

Slash after slash after slash after slash.

Each attack hitting nothing, slicing nothing, striking nothing but her own sweat and tears as her muscles burned.

A fool's hope, a fool's errand, a fool's dream.

She was doing nothing but merely hindering the inevitable.

She was tired. Her limbs wouldn’t even move anymore.

“NO!”

She screamed one more time, defiant even if her body already reached and surpassed its limits long ago. Forcing herself to brave the storm and raise her blade. Her burning furnace of a heart wouldn’t let that be the truth. She refused to give up, to lay down her seraphim and let fate run its course.

Not when she was here.

Not when she was still breathing.

Swing after swing.

Slash after slash.

The poor leader of 30-G still swung her useless toothpick against a mighty mountain, with each one growing even more miserable than the last. Her limbs engulfed in burning agony, her eyelids weighed down by a thousand tons, and her mind was blacking out. The human body could only endure so much as mercifully, her world came crashing down on itself, and she fell down from the blood red sky.

“YUINA-SENPAI!”

“Shirakawa!”

“Shirakawa-chan!”

Ruka's shout of worry filled her ears followed by the shouts of Kura and Monaka as they came to her side. Standing right in front of her as her world came to a grueling, inky void as her shield. She wanted to complain, to shout and make them stop. Yet her words died on her throat, and it came out as a small exhausted whimper and a sigh. Just before her world ended the last conversation came upon her ears.

“Tch. I’m counting on you again, Kura.”

“You can count on me.”

Then silence. Empty. Void.

Her third descent in time, all of that determination, It all amounts to nothing.

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

Yuina blinked herself awake. This scene again and again. The familiar smell of flowers and ash filled her lungs, the soft sobs of the remaining members of 30-G excluding Monaka as she tried to keep her composure. Eyes clenched, shut hands curled into fists digging right into her flesh. She wouldn't sob, wouldn't sniffle even if her tears are flowing so freely. The funeral and farewell to the master chef, and a promise Yuina couldn't keep.

Again, she had failed. Again she had let her precious people die right in front of her eyes.

Syllable after syllable, word for word. Yuina had already memorized Commander Tezuka’s speech to heart as it dulled into white noise in her ear. Buzzing, scratching, and meaningless words that did nothing for the dead. Just hollow echoes in a world that felt distant. As  Commander Tezuka ended her prayers she reached, and squeezed Yuina’s shoulder. A gesture of solidarity, something she had felt again and again before the commander left soon after. Leaving 30-G in their moment of grief.

Yuina walked to the coffin and gently ran her fingers over the smooth stone. Her eyes carried the weight of a thousand words. Guilt that shouldn’t be her fault, yet she couldn’t help but to feel like… it was her biggest failure. Nothing was left for her anymore but the spiral as she walked away.

Kiryu raised her head as she saw the figure of her friend walking away and out as she wiped her own tears.“Yuina?” she whispered to the air, to her. A voice that didn’t reach Yuina Shirakawa. The Japanese historian raised her hand half-heartedly as her lips parted, trying to form words. Yet when she was about to call her name once more, she stopped herself. Right now, they were all grieving. She trusted… knew Yuina enough to her enough to let her be. To grieve on her own, even if her heart was heavy with the weight of words left unspoken.

Watching as Yuina’s back slowly grew smaller and smaller into a speck in the distance. Watching as their squad leader walked alone.No goodbyes, no words were exchanged by those that remained in the grave. A solemn understanding of responsibility and hurt. Yuina no longer knew what to think, nor what to do as she took heavy steps towards… nowhere. Walking and walking towards the setting sun beyond the horizon, without purpose or the determination that once burned so bright in her eyes. Step by step, footfall after footfall in a maddening rhythm.

She was tired. Exhausted beyond words.

“…I really am pathetic.” She spoke to no one, expecting no one, as she found herself sitting on a wooden bench.

She didn’t remember when she had sat down, or when her legs had carried her to this place. Not that it mattered, she didn't want to walk again anyway. Her gaze locked to the ground, to her white stockings and her heels.

Hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she raised her arm to her face—desperately trying to hide the tears that threatened to fall. A weary sigh left her lips as she leaned back on the beach. Lost in thought, lost in her own… pity party. Yuina had seen death before back with her other comrades in generation 30 but this was different. This was someone she was close with. This was her precious people in her squad she promised to keep safe. Her logical mind shouted for her to just stop and just… let go of this convoluted dream.

Yet she couldn’t.

“How can I call myself the squad leader of 30-G?”

How can she be one if she couldn’t even protect them?

“Because… you are Yuina-senpai.”

A sudden gentle voice called out from behind her, catching Yuina off guard as slowly, painfully, she lowered her arm to the familiar gentle voice. Short, messy blonde hair with her bangs covering one of her beautiful, crimson eyes. There was a faint guilty and weary smile etched on her lips as she held two cans of cold oolong tea, and a half eaten chocolate cigarette hung in between her fingers.

“…K-Kayamori…” Yuina tried to stand straighter, or to at least look presentable in her voice from her responsibility as a senior. Yet, it came out as a whisper, raspy and dry. Painful to hear in her own ears.

Ruka kept her weary smile as she walked closer, around the chair as she took a seat beside her senior without waiting for an invitation. “You are the squad leader of 30-G because you are Yuina-senpai… and no one else could do that but you.”

She held out one of the cans, extended it with her left hand and offered without any words. A gesture to ground Yuina to the present, here with Ruka. The oracle looked at the offered can, and slowly as she straightened herself up from Ruka’s pep talk—she took the can. Fingers brushing the cool can as she lets it rest on her palm.. “Thank you… Kayamori.” before the silence could come, Yuina continued. “How did you find me?”

Ruka raised her choco cigarette back to her lips, taking a small meaningful bite on it. “Coincidence.” she admitted. “I thought… I saw you going to the simulation arena until… I found you here.

Even on autopilot, her body knows silence is what she needed right now, not the strain or the chaos of the simulators. But here, on this bench. Nothing more needed to be said, as Yuina’s lips curled downwards in thought. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by the rock star.

“How are you… holding up, senpai?” Ruka asked, a little blunt perhaps and maybe too direct. But at this point, Yuina preferred that than… going in circles.

“…I….” She swallowed a lump in her throat and took a moment, her gaze wouldn’t leave the unopened can on her hands. Where should she begin? What should she tell her? "Kayamori..." Was it even worth it or even safe to tell her junior about her own selfish woes to save the unsavable? But Kayamori… She was eccentric, charming, and strong. Someone that was like the light. She turned to Ruka as the rockstar had finished her chocolate treat, and went to open her can.

“If you had the power to go back in time… to save someone you lost, would you do it?”

Ruka paused mid-sip. Her eyes widened slightly as the now warming tea dribbled from her lips, trailing down to her uniform before she quickly wiped it away with her sleeve—and turned to Yuina. Her red eyes locked to her blonde senior’s golden before Ruka’s gaze flickered downwards in thought.

“I never expected you to... ask that kind of question, Yuina-senpai.” Ruka murmured as she put her can away, resting beside her. “Go back in time, huh? If it’s up to me…”

Her eyes drifted to the horizon, the setting sun painting the sky in shades of gold and crimson. A gentle silence hung between them, the world around them muted as Ruka’s voice softened.

 An echo of a flower, plucked too soon, echoed in her ears.

“You’ve taught me so much.”

“You’ve taught me how to make friends and communicate with others. We had so much fun together.”

“You helped me find my humanity once more.”

“…So, I‘m really grateful.”

“It’s because of you, I’ve been able to regain my emotions.”

Those beautiful… painful emerald eyes that shone with so much life and determination. A bitter sweet aftertaste mixing in her tongue, not from the tea or the chocolate, but from the memory of her senior came back painfully.

A tranquil, yet… sorrowful smile slowly crept across Ruka’s lips.“…If I had that power…” her gaze turned away from the sun, and to the expectant, curious Yuina Shirakawa in a private conundrum the rockstar couldn’t understand.

 “I will. I definitely will.” Ruka gave her answer that was… so utterly her, Yuina had expected that. “Though maybe it's better to try to stop the Cancer from ever invading in the first place, I doubt I could pull that kind of feat.” Ruka scratched the back of her head with a sheepish smile, trying to lighten the mood.

Yuina meanwhile,  did not answer immediately. Her eyes remained fixed on Ruka, before it went back on the  unopened can of tea, the liquid inside sloshing softly with each gentle shake she did.

“But what if…” She continued. “what if the results would end the same?” Her hands tightened around the can, fingers turning to white as the metal slowly dented beneath her grip. “No matter what you do, you would only fail again and again?”

“Even if we could change the past, the results would be the same no matter what we do. We’re merely prolonging the inevitable.”

The genius hacker of 31-A’s words came back to her like a vicious boomerang. Her struggle, her Sisyphean task that seemed so impossible.

“…Nevermind, Kayamori.” Maybe it was a fool’s hope after all. She was so desperate to bring back her friend that it had slowly turned into obsession—blinding her for the primordial truth of the universe. There was no way to save the dead, not even by changing the past. Everything will remain—

“Ehh… so what?”

“H-Huh?” Yuina’s head snapped up with disbelief at Ruka’s unexpected words shattered her thoughts, she turned sharply to meet her junior’s gaze, only to find Ruka was already looking at her. Still with that same tranquil smile.

“Even if I fail, I would try again and again just for her to live a little longer. Everyone will go someday, I know. But… is that really a bad thing?” Ruka kept her smile as she continued, “It might be selfish or just plain stupid, but I'm just someone who knows how to jam and swing a sword.”

“I’m only human, after all.”  A soft chuckle escaped Ruka’s lips. “Might as well try, right? Yuina-senpai?”

Yuina’s breath caught in her throat, a pause in her thought as for a moment, she forgot how to breathe. Ruka’s words were so simple, so painfully honest, so naive—yet, it felt like it was the greatest thing that she had ever heard in her life. Even if the result didn’t change, even if in the end she would die as well in the future, wouldn’t it mean something, just for her to cook those delicious meals for a few more days?

Maybe she just wanted to… needed to hear that. Someone told her that what she was doing was not for naught. Selfish? No doubt about it. Just for a few more days, weeks, hours… minutes. She wanted Kura to be with them.

For the first time, after she had traveled through time by her lonesome for what felt like an eternity of struggle and failure, she felt at ease as Yuina Shirakawa finally smiled. A genuine smile, delicate—like the first rays of dawn after a long, crushing, endless night, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“I’m supposed to be your senpai here, Kayamori.”

Ruka’s easy grin widened into something brighter, blinding. A toothy wide smile as if she had just been handed the world. “Hehe, well…  you’ve helped me plenty before, Yuina-senpai.” Ruka raised her can for a toast. “I’m just returning the favor.

“Fufufu.” Yuina couldn’t help but to mirror Ruka’s smile, not into the full wide grin her kouhai had, but it was genuine, followed by an escaping elegant chuckle as Yuina finally… opened the can with a click and hiss louder than the muted world around them. Raising it with the same smile still painting her lips.  “I’m truly blessed to have a kouhai like you, Kayamori.”

“Ehh… it’s supposed to be the reverse, you know senpai?”

Clink.

The sound of their cans meeting together filled the air, as if it had echoed louder than any gunshot or any Cancer will and would  through the last lights of the fading sunlight.

A toast for the girl who leaped through time.

A toast for a selfish girl who wanted to see her comrade live long and happy.

And a sip for the selfish girl who had an impossible wish to protect those she cared for. As the sun dipped to the horizon, washing the world in gold and orange and darkening the skies, Yuina stood up from her seat slowly… her mind was back, the fire… was burning again.

“Ruka, thank you.”

She said one last time, as she continued with her impossible journey. Lost in the twisted maze of time and space.

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

“SHIRAKAWA-CHAN !”

A resounding clash of blades echoed through the battlefield as Yuina’s sword collided with the burning, pale greatsword of the strongest soldier there was. Her arms trembled under the sheer force, her feet digging into the ground as she struggled to hold her almost broken stance.

‘This doesn’t make sense.’

Monaka should’ve run out of steam by now. They had held the line perfectly, and Yuina had parried every strike to the best of her ability. It should’ve been minutes ago.

‘It should’ve been perfect.’

Desperation coursed through her veins as she swung her blade one last time, a final, desperate attempt to end this nightmare. But Monaka’s scream of bestial, scorching rage echoed in the rising sun. Her crimson blade swung with a sudden, powerful burst of energy.

Grazing her abdomen—and meeting its mark on the one person Yuina was so desperately trying to save.

And Kura died.

 She tried again. Yuina recounted her mistakes, thought and studied for another approach. She clashed and distracted Monaka as Kura stood behind her to gather herself and catch her breath for a few brief seconds. Yet, the end results were the same, Monoka’s energy was boundless as she was thrown aside, and made a deep cut on her cheek as the strongest soldier dashed left and right like she was a blur.

Then the blade went down.

And Kura died.

 Maybe a direct approach was wrong. Maybe she should just… stop this from ever happening in the first place. She went to find the second Flat Hand, pushing herself beyond her limits to distract the cancer as her muscles screamed for relief, and her deflector broke apart into faint glowing cracks in the air.

The Flat Hand eventually left her alone, thinking she wasn’t worth the trouble… and went back to the tower.

And Kura died.

 Yuina walked, rather, forcing her nerves to calm down… as she went to cool her head. Yuina took a deep breath, and warned Commander Tezuka about the second Flat Hand. The Commander immediately  agreed to delay Operation Vega. It took a week, until eventually a new plan was made, with this new development coming in mind. She hoped it would be enough to pave the way for 31-A and her two comrades to head to the tower safely.

The flap of the butterfly was brutal and uncaring, as her meddling made both of the Flat Hands attracted to the tower like a moth to the flame, catching them in a horrible pincer attack.

And Kura died.

She went back again trying to gather information. Her plans had holes, incomplete information. This time, days before even the Flat Hand was discovered. She questioned everything. Why? What? When? How? Why were they so adamant on reaching the tower? She dug deeper, uncovering what they were seeking, pushing them away from the tower with all her might.

But it didn’t matter. No amount of information, prodding, and nudges she made… they still went to the tower.

And Kura died.

 No matter what she did.

No matter how many times she went back.

The result never changed.

She could feel it—the timeline, the universe itself tightening around her throat. A cruel, unyielding noose that refused to budge. Fate and destiny, the universe scheming against her. Against her dream.

They wouldn’t budge.

And

Kura

Died.

Die and

Die and

Die and

Die again.

Yuina blinked herself into Narby Park, her heart thundering in her chest as her eyes danced across the field. She heaved, struggling to hold back the rising bile in her throat as vertigo came pounding back with a vengeance.

“Guh..! Urp…!” She turned on her heel and sprinted towards the dorms, bursting into the private restroom and locking the door behind her with a harsh click, uncaring of how many eyes saw her at that moment.

“UGH!! GEEHHH!”

Her foul retching echoed in the suffocating space where she had trapped herself, emptying her stomach of whatever breakfast she had eaten that morning inside the toilet bowl.

“Ugh…! Ugh… cough! Cough!”

Yuina wiped her lips from the pungent mixture of the half-digested sludge, tasting the aftertaste of bitter and hot fumes of her stomach acid on her tongue. Yuina took a few more moments to calm herself before rising from the toilet bowl. Stumbling, swaying to hold herself on the sink. Gripping the white ceramic with every viber of her being trying not to fall. Her breathing was uneven. Harsh…pained as she coughed again.

Slowly, she raised her head up, to stare at her reflection in the mirror.

Her weary brown eyes stared back, pale and exhausted—dark bags beneath them growing more and more visible. Her hair was an elegant mess, enough to keep appearance, but not enough for her own standards. Cold sweat continued to dribble down her neck and down to her clothes.

She was a mess. A wreck of exhaustion and frustration, that yearned to just shout and scream to the cruel world. But she didn’t, not now, not ever. Yuina raised her right arm and pulled back her sleeve slowly, silently. Watching the “damage” she had done. Hundreds of marks, etched in pitch-black permanent ink, scarred her once pristine skin, like inky tendrils—pitch black roots crawling up her arms.

She reached for her pockets, pulling out a belonging she bought lately to anchor, and remind her of her dream. To keep her fire burning just a little longer. A singular black marker bought with just around 5 GP.

She yanked the cap and let it fall from her hand without grace as it rolled to her heels. She stared at her arm, and at the marks overlapping filling every good spot she could see. There wasn’t any space left, so she moved to the other arm. Curling up the sleeves to see not another space here, either. Yuina’s hand trembled before she bit her lip to regain what composure she had left before she  harshly unbuttoned her uniform, buttons clattering to the floor as her breaths grew hasty and suffocating—no matter how much air her lungs inhaled.

At that moment… Yuina’s eyes drifted from an empty spot on her shoulders to look at the woman reflected in the mirror as a slow, painful knot formed in her chest.

Like a rising cancer, a crawling parasite climbing higher and higher on her pale body. Staining everything, corrupting all, and leaving none left in its rampage but the inky black scars etched upon her skin. Going back further and further, jumping across left and right, passing through times and universes to reach the dream

‘Not enough.’

She whimpered through her raspy throat. Her grip on the marker grew hard enough to snap it in half with every second she stared at the stranger in the mirror. This woman thought of giving up.

“Not enough!”

It came as an explosive shout of frustration as her breath grew labored. Chaotic. Painful, as if it was scalding her lungs and ebbing her life away. With a sharp motion, she scratched another mark onto her shoulder, the ink sinking deep into her skin before she threw the marker away. Letting it break apart into a mess of plastic and ink as it met the furthest wall.

These reminders kept her thinking. Grounding as she raised her shaking hand to calm her beating, drumming heart, pounding her chest like a caged bird eager to be freed.

This was her 287^th leap through time and space.

Yet Kura still died.

Plan after plan, method after method perfected in simulations and calculations only for them to crumble and fail. She had tried everything, even going back weeks and months, yet the universe merely laughed and mocked her as it tightened the metaphorical noose around their necks.

The oracle shook her head and took a few more deep breaths. She had come too far to turn back now, not when she was getting closer and closer to the dream she wanted to see. For Kura, for herself.

Yuina straightened her clothes, even with the missing buttons… it should be still enough to hide the bikini she wore and the marks. She tidied her hair next before she reached for her MePad waiting on her waist, even if she was… quite slow in technology with some typos here and there, she could navigate enough  to her private journal. Showing hundreds of digital papers  filled with information as she scrolled through her bullet points.

Every move and action she had taken… no matter what came to a single singularity. Exactly the same  in every single timeline.

1. Kura would go with 31-A.
2. Flat Hand would go to the tower.
3. Monaka would go berserk.
4. Kura would die in the tower.
5. Kura would die by Monaka’s hands.

Yuina narrowed her tired eyes, as it lingered on the five points she had circled countless times. She had dissected every detail, analyzed every thread of fate, yet nothing changed. Every path led back to the same inevitable end, and it's all so…

Frustrating!

She immediately tucked her MePad once more. Her gaze locked to the sink… then up back to her reflection.

“…There’s something I’m missing. But what is it?”

The mirror said her exact same words, offering the same question that she hadn’t had the answer just yet. Yuina shook her head, sighing lightly before she washed her face lightly. Splashing the water, feeling it as it dribbled down her chin, nose, and every other corner.

She had a lot to think about and to contemplate. Without wasting another second, she knelt and picked up the black marker she had thrown away, still intact even with the cracks. Capping it with a click and letting it rest inside her pockets. With one last sigh, she unlocked the door—and a few curious, yet worried faces met her eyes as they fell off balance.

“Wah!”

“Kyah!”

“Woah!”

“…Shirakawa-chan!.”

“Shirakawa.”

It was the whole assembly of 30-G leaning on the door, hearing her panic… and her frustration. She couldn’t help but to feel a rising panic and heat on her neck and the tips of her ears. “…Everyone? What’s wrong?”

“Shirakawa!” Miya snapped first, her mask still on, hiding the top of her face as she raised her voice. “The juniors said that you’re sick! Kayamori said she saw you running to the bathroom! Are you okay?! Did you train too hard?! Did you eat something wrong?! Did you have your-”

Chie cleared her throat hard before pinching Miya lightly, causing the historian to yelp in surprise. “We heard the noises.”

“We heard y-you…screaming.” Osagahara continued next. “Are you okay?”

Yuina didn’t get a moment to say anything, to defend herself as she was being assaulted on all fronts.

“Shirakawa-chan…” Kura narrowed her eyes and spoke next as she folded her arms with a quirk of an eyebrow. “You haven’t been eating at all haven’t you?”

“I concur. “ Monaka added, following Kura. Her stance and posture mirroring Kura’s.  “Shirakawa, you look like you haven’t eaten in days. Training yourself to death wouldn’t do anyone any favors.”

“Mm, mm.” Kura nodded in agreement. “You can train as much as you want, but do take care of yourself! Come on, I’ll make you my new recipe."

“…Everyone…” Yuina can only mutter those words as she was frozen on the spot, rooted from their camaraderie, this friendship… this close knit relationship not only from soldiers but from genuine people she cared about.

This was exactly why she couldn’t stop. Why she must keep moving forward… for Kura to enjoy just this friendship a little longer.

‘This is why I should keep going.’

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

“Hey, Kura.” Yuina approached the girl sitting by her lonesome by the dorms. Her eyes closed, lost in her own world, stirring as the pink-haired girl slowly opened it to greet the caller.

“Hm? Oh it’s you Shirakawa-chan.” Kura greeted. “What can I do for you?"

“We… have a major operation coming up. Would you like to have a chat with me, maybe over some tea at the cafeteria?”

The strangely characteristic-uncharacteristic question made Kura pause for a moment. “That’s an odd thing to hear from a training fiend like you. Did something happen?”

“It must be Ruka Kayamori’s influence from 31-A.” Yuina answered. It was technically the truth. Without that talk, she would’ve given up. “I’ve learned the importance of taking some time for myself every now and then.”

“W-Wait her?!” Kura tried to make the pieces fit between the rockstar, and the usually collected and strong leader.  “You let her influence you?!”

“Yes. I think that aspect of her is why she’s such an effective squad leader for 31-A.”

“No way.” Kura shook her head, and waved her hand dismissively. “She’s just a weirdo.”

Yuina’s lips cracked up, almost to a laugh. “At any rate…" she cleared her throat lightly. "My offer still stands. What do you say?”

Kura didn’t answer immediately, she thought about something before she made her choice.“In retrospect… I already showed that weirdo, so I might as well show you too.”  The chair squeaked as Kura rose from her seat. “There’s a special place I’d like to invite you to.”

“It’ll be very relaxing, I promise.” She offered with a proud grin etched on her lips for her secret private place.

‘A special place where only Kura knows…’

"A special place here on the base? I’d love to see it.” Yuina fell into step with a single nod. Satisfied, Kura gestured for the oracle to follow, leading her deeper and off the smooth path and into an unmarked location deep inside the overgrowth.

A dirt path leading towards a small clearing as the gentle whispers of running water filled their ears. Footwear squelching on moist dirt as Kura waved her hand gleefully, just a little more she motioned. Deeper and deeper before she stopped… and turned to Yuina’s eyes with a small proud smile still on her lips.

“We’re here.”

A sanctuary of her making, a place that shouldn’t exist and as anyone knew, didn’t exist. The stream of water, the sway of the winds on the greens growing on the water and mud.

“This… is a rice paddy?” Yuina said in disbelief. She knew Kura is a rice-connoisseur, but she had even gone further to make her own small rice paddy was not… she never knew.

“Yes. Remember how Tsukishiro-chan ended up staying up three days straight clearing out the area that’s now union street?”

Yuina calmed herself from the small momentary shock. “Yes, I recall. Is this related somehow?”

Kura chuckled lightly from the faint memory. Going back to that day… that day when she was so smitten by the strongest soldier. “You see, if she hadn’t cleared that area, this rice paddy would’ve been bulldozed instead.”

“You mean…”

“Yeah.” The rice-connoisseur nodded, but her eyes never left the paddies as it continued to sway and dance. “She protected this place for me."

“We were forced to clean the baths as punishment, but… that’s a really funny memory now, looking back.” Kura shook her head fondly as another small chuckle left her lips. “Her incredible display of kindness… had me bawling like a child.”

Yuina merely stared at Kura as if she had been looking at a stranger. Her eyes wide in realization… before she painfully shut them close. This was her reason. This was her sole reason why she would follow Monaka to hell. This is why…

She would gladly lay down her life. For Monaka.

And all this time, in her focus she ignored not the method but the why, the why would Kura follow them into that building. She had ignored, never known the real reason why. Not just duty… concern… but this. This promise, the way Kura is so enamoured with a one-sided love for the soldier.

Yuina blinked a rising moisture on her eyes, the thumping of her heart… and the way a pit started to grow inside her stomach. Shame mixed with contempt as her eyes started to sting, and she clenched her fists as tight as she could.

 “I can’t believe I…”

Her angry murmur didn’t go unnoticed as Kura turned to Yuina. “What’s wrong, Shirakawa-chan?”

“Even though I knew you for so long…” The nails dug into her palm, breaking skin as her voice wavered—and Kura’s concern went ignored in this new spiral she found herself in. “I had no idea… a place so important to you existed…”

Kura was almost at a loss for words at Yuina who had gotten upset by something like this.“Well, I have kept this place well hidden. It’s not your fault Shirakawa—"

“NO!”

Yuina uncharacteristically raised her voice, interrupting the needless apology with a sharp rise in her tone. “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEAN!”

“Shirakawa-chan…?”

“I… remember well when you two were disciplined, yet I never bothered to understand! I never even thought to ask!”

Her voice broke harder, shaking into a wreckage of loathing and guilt seeping deep into her core as her tears fell… along with small drips of her blood down to the damp dirt below.

“Why have I been living so blindly?! Why… Why didn’t I act back then?!” She choked on a sob,  she couldn’t hold the gentle trickles of tears back anymore. Her dam had already been broken a long time ago. Thick droplets fell by the hundreds, unstoppable in their determined march.

“It… INFURIATES ME!”

She snapped her head from the ground, to stare at Kura, letting her see the pathetic state of Yuina Shirakawa, with a dream and anguish Kura couldn’t understand.

“Shirakawa-chan…” Kura slowly lowered her hand as she took a single step forward.

“I’m your squad leader… I should’ve tried harder to understand you all…” her breath hitched once more. “my companions…”

“It’s not your fault, Shirakawa-chan.” Kura shook her head, and closed the gap until she was in her personal space.

“…But…”

Kura reached, and squeezed Yuina’s shoulder… before pulling her to a hug. “You’re fine, really. I know you’ve spent all your time thinking through strategy and executing the squad’s duties.” She gently squeezed and made small circles on Yuina’s back. A comforting, heartfelt gesture to calm Yuina’s thundering heart as she froze in the sudden embrace.

“That’s you doing your utmost to make sure we survive, isn’t it?”

Her breathing stopped for a single long second, she couldn’t speak in her usual tone, all that came out was a low whisper. Gentle and pained.

“…That’s what I had believed… but I…”

‘I had already failed you. So… so many times.`

“Have I… been a good companion to you, Kura? All this time…? Am I worthy of being called your friend?”

`All I wanted… was to see you happy. To make more of your recipes. To spend more time with you, I have taken you for granted, Kura.`

“Hee? What on earth are you saying, Shirakawa-chan?” Kura rested her hands on her hips, teasing slightly with a raised eyebrow. “Of course you are. I always know that you’ve got my back, no matter what.”

Yuina cracked another smile at that, a smile coming out from her tear streaked face. She shuddered lightly, she was being selfish again. She didn't come here to be comforted… She was here to find another way to understand better. She did in the end, but this comfort should have come later when her dream was fulfilled. Though—she didn’t complain, she accepted it with that shy smile and the calming, slowing beats of her heart.

"I'm sorry, Kura."

“Again, there’s nothing to be sorry about.”

Yuina kept her small smile as she wiped the tears from her face, taking a deep breath—feeling the cool clean air to fill her lungs. The tears was gone, the guilt as well. What remained was the fire, burning once more. “Sorry, Kura. Can I ask you to wait for me for a few minutes?”

“Huh? I don’t mind. What’s it about?”

“You’ll see. I’ll be back soon.” She turned on her heels before breaking into a full sprint, her footfalls echo in the sanctuary.

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

“Huff... huff...”

 Her heels squelched as she sprinted back to the rice paddy, mud splashing all around, some even reaching her skirt as she kept moving. She ran to the store, and back here in all her might, every step economical and purposeful. Not a second wasted, not a single moment fleeting away in the wind.

 “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Yuina was breathless as a small bead of sweat trickled from her brow, on her right hand she held a plastic bag with a gift bought from the munition's shop.

“Shirakawa-chan, did you run all the way back here?!” Kura turned and raised her voice in shock slightly.

“I... can’t waste another precious second."

“Really...” Kura sighed at that—a teasing sigh that came from fondness instead of exhaustion. She stood up slowly, and dusted off her uniform from the invisible dust and mud. “There’s no reason for you to run. I love sitting here and watching over my little field of rice. You didn’t trouble me in the slightest.”

Yuina didn’t respond with words, not immediately at least. Instead, she extended the heavy plastic bag with the gift. It wasn’t expensive, nor was it grand. It was her. Or at least what Kiryu would best describe her at least.

“I hope I’m not imposing, but... I actually have something for you.”

Kura curled a curious eyebrow as she took the bag from Yuina’s hands and peered inside. “This is... you got this for me, Shirakawa-chan?” her tone was laced with more disbelief than ever, this was utterly unexpected though, considering her earlier outburst… this was tamer. Welcome even. “ You... you’ve really changed. Please don’t tell me that weirdo’s influence has taken root inside of you.”

That comment brought a brief melodical chuckle from the blonde.  “Fufu. Perhaps. 31-A is... good company.” She admitted fondly, at the tea shared that felt like light years away. “Ah, but if it hurts the rice paddy, you don’t need to worry about planting it.”

Kura’s lips curved into a bright smile as she held the small lily on her hand. “This is just a tiny little paddy, anyway. It’s not going to hurt anything. I bet the rice will enjoy having some cheerful company.”

“Thank you for the thoughtful gift, Shirakawa-chan.”

“No,” Yuina shook her head. “I should be the one thanking you... for sharing this lovely place with me.”

The conversation slowly disappeared into a contemplative silence from Kura as she went and planted  the lily with her hands and a few tools she kept nearby. Her focus was both on the task… and the strange feeling she had from Yuina as if...

“Hey, Shirakawa-chan.” She prompted as she pushed the dirt and mud into the hole, to the white lily for it to grow strong. “Are you... perhaps... fighting for my sake?”

“Of course. I always fight for the sake of my companions.” Yuina immediately answered, but that wasn’t the answer Kura sought. It was true, yes, but it was informal. Expected as a soldier, and leader of 30-G, but not as Yuina Shirakawa. The woman who had just had an outburst, and gave her a gift.

Kura shook her head slowly, rising up from the dirt again to lock eyes with Yuina’s. Uncertainty, yet—she couldn’t ignore this feeling in her gut.  “No, I mean... I’m getting the strangest intuition right now, and I’m having trouble putting it into words...” She paused, her gaze drifting to the swaying rice stalks, to the lily, before back to Yuina.

“But it feels like... you might be struggling with something... fighting against something for my sake. Something that, no matter what, I wouldn’t be able to understand... over and over again. That’s... the kind of vibe I’m getting.”

She was caught off guard for the second time today. All because of Kura, from their relationship.Of course Kura would notice even if she hadn’t been so close with her in the days long passed, even if they hadn’t talked much.Kura, she knew her. All of 30-G… knew her. They knew who Yuina Shirakawa was. They are receptive, that was why she cared for them, and they cared for her as well.

“What were you struggling against, Shirakawa-chan?”

Like inserting a key to a lock, turning it with a click click click until it was opened. “…I can’t tell or explain it to you, Kura. It’s… complicated. I don't understand it myself. But…”

Yuina took a deep shuddering breath. Inhale, exhale as her heart slowly hammer lightly as if she was explaining herself to Commander Tezuka. Until she remembered it wasn’t an execution, but her confiding to another friend. “If I were to explain it…it’s like chasing an impossible dream. A dream that I wanted to reach so desperately.”

A pause. “Perhaps… This too may be a dream I’ve been living.”

“A dream, huh...?” Kura closed her eyes, as a gentle breeze blew through the clearing. feeling the gentle breeze brush against her skin and hearing the soft rustle of leaves around her. “When you put it that way... perhaps we’re in a dream.”

Yuina nodded, agreeing with Kura, and letting the breeze sweep over her as well. “And I don’t want to let go of it… at least, not for a while.”

The breeze continued gently for a moment longer, letting them bask in the silence. This moment should have been tranquil. Gentle. Calm and peaceful, with just the two of them standing amidst the greatest treasure ever known to mankind. Kura should be satisfied by the answer. She did, in a sense. She respected her boundaries, her secrets, and her vague dream. That was the trust she had for Yuina Shirakawa. Yet—the lingering feeling remained, another question rising, a weight she couldn’t shake—a deep rooting deep rooting feeling that… something horrible was going to happen.

Or something that her, no, the whole of 30-G couldn’t lend a hand in. Kura took another deep breath before turning to Yuina again, studying her tranquil expression in the small breeze around them, the way she seemed… relaxed, a weight lifted, and a choice made.

“Hey, Shirakawa-chan, about your dream… is there something we can do to help you?”

‘For 30-G, for me to do something?’

The feeling remained as Kura’s eyes searched her squad leader’s face, desperately trying to find an answer in every micro expression. A twitch in her eye, a tremble on her lips, every wrinkle, every subtle movement, or even a…. a simple shake of her head.

“No. My dream… is selfish, Kura.”

“Selfish?” Kura parroted. “Even so, Shirakawa-chan, we’re a squad. You and I, and Tsukishiro, Sugawara, and Osagahara.”

It was almost a plea, to tell her what was going on. What made her outburst? What was her dream? It was a personal prodding, an interrogation that she wasn’t comfortable with doing to her Yuina Shirakawa she trusted, but whatever it is, at least just assure her as vague as it was. Anything to kill this uneasiness stewing in her gut.

She wanted her to trust her, if not all else.

Yuina… stood silent as she slowly—slowly exhaled. “Kura. I’m… I’m about to do something foolish Kura.”

“Foolish?”

Yuina didn’t answer with words.

The blonde’s pale hand moved to her own pristine white uniform, her fingers steady, an inner peace of acceptance for her dream. She slowly unfastened the clasp with a sharp click—and her blue cloak slid from her shoulders, falling to the damp soil below. Then her hands went to unbutton the uniform.

This was her choice. This was her dream to follow. A foolish, stupid dream of a selfish squad leader. So she let Kura see the choices she had made, the steps she took for this dream that had become the center of her world.

Click.

Yuina tugged her clothes slightly open with her right hand… and Kura’s light amethyst eyes saw it all as it slowly widened. Her lips trembled—opening and closing like a startled goldfish at a loss of words, heart drumming rising into a prestissimo.

‘What…’

‘What am I…… seeing…?’

“…Shirakawa…chan…?”

It took an eternity before Kura finally spoke. Doing no justice to the heavy horror that gripped her soul as she raised her hand slowly.

Uncountable marks were etched in pitch-black ink, sprawling across her skin from her neck to her shoulder, and trailing down her arm. Dark lines criss crossed her once-pristine body, spiraling and curling like inky tendrils of a venomous curse. The marks were too precise, too deliberate, it wasn’t done by a third party. She knew the strokes, the lines, and the subtle imperfections etched on her skin.

It was done with a clear head. With intent. Knowing Shirakawa—she did it for a reason. For this ‘dream’.

“What... what did you do to yourself...?”

But Yuina only stood there, her gaze unwavering and her choice laid bare. For she had already written it in stone. “This was the choice of my dream, to see it become a reality even if I had to crash and burn on the way.”

Crash and burn. The moment Yuina said those words, Kura’s thoughts snapped into action as the panic shot up straight into her brain. “W-Wait! Shirakawa-chan! What do you mean?!”

Yuina didn’t elaborate, not anymore… not when she had finally understood and regained her fire. She reached for her broken black ink marker and pointed it at a vacant space in her neck. Her lips curled into a smile.

“I promise… everything will turn out alright.”

‘I promise, I’ll save you.’

Squeak.

The marker crossed the final inky pitch-black lines on her skin as it clattered uselessly, down to the dirt, its purpose fulfilled as the world fell into a hazy blur.

“YUINA!”

Kura’s high pitched scream of horror echoed across the clearing, and inside her skull, but Yuina didn’t move. She kept smiling as time and space distorted once more. Before everything fell apart—coming together and folding onto itself—Yuina raised her hand. Waving goodbye for her friend, her dream was for.

Then it all fades away.  Spinning, intermingling, woven into a chaotic sense of order.

This was Yuina Shirakawa’s last leap to the future-past.

This was Yuina Shirakawa’s 300^th leap in time

This was Yuina Shirakawa’s conviction to chase a foolish, stupid dream.

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

“Huff... huff… huff…!!”

“SCREECH!!”

“GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

SLASH!

 CRACK.

CRASH!

The hurried clicks and steps of her soles echo, harder and harsher. She was over exerting herself without reason—faster and faster as her breathing and steps grew labored. The clouds swirled in the darkened skies as the tower shook, the dark omen inching closer and closer towards those that she cared about.

She couldn’t stop now. She couldn’t stop running.

Even if her legs gave out, even if her muscles screamed in protest, and even if the monstrous cancers surged to block her path, screeching and screaming incoherently—they were all nothing. Unimportant white noise in her ears as they all fall the same. Fitting in her plan and narrative.

‘Up the stairs, just a few moments longer.’

Huffing and puffing as her lungs burned and  her heart pounding a violent rhythm against her ribcage. Just up there. Right ahead. Just a few more turns and twists and steps. Her hair was a wild, tangled mess, whipped by the furious wind of her sprint. Her body was a wreck of sweat and streaks of dark ink seeping beneath her sweat-stained uniform.

‘I’m so close.’

Her vision blurred, but she forced herself forward, refusing to falter, refusing to fail. She just needed to hang on for just a few more minutes. She just needed to run and climb the last flight stairs as it stretched far and high, mere inches from reaching infinity itself.

But even infinity itself couldn’t stop her ascend, not now.

A low growl left her lips before it came to a yell.

“I’m… NOT GOING TO FAIL AGAIN…! I PROMISED…!!”

An insectoid low threat cancer came to halt her charge. Its legs raised to crush and maim, but Yuina wasn’t having it. “SCREECHHH!!”

SLASH!

CRACK!

This meaningless distraction, the small fries rising to stop her ascent as she cut down another as it shattered into a thousand pieces. She could see it, keep pushing, just like her first leap through time. Right around the corner, through the hallway mere seconds before the bottom floor collapsed, and it fell down to the pitch black void underneath.

CRASH! CRUMBLE.

Without hesitation, she threw herself forward, her body moving before her mind could catch up as with one last desperate leap— just before the floor crumbled beneath her—Yuina rolled into safety before the ground broke apart. Just like so many times before… she had reached the point of convergence. The center point of the singularity before everything turned to dust—before the world had crushed her with its rules.

“Haa... Haa... Haa...”

Yuina’s chest heaved as she gasped for air. Her body felt heavy, her legs burning like fire, every muscle screaming in agony as she slumped down, and collapsed against the icy wall of the Aegis Tower. Her shaking hand raised to hold her chest—even if everything ached and burned, Yuina couldn’t help but to smile pridefully at her small victory. She could hear her kouhais shouting as they bolted out from the room as the tower shook and crumbled around them. Right on time. Precise down to the very seconds.

“What’s going on?! Did the floor beneath us collapse or something?!”

“You’re back? The path has been…”

Wiping her lips and brow with trembling fingers, smearing old dirt and grime across her sweaty face, the time traveler laughed heartily with relief.

“...I made it.”

The far-away trio froze mid-conversation. Not because of the mysterious tremors or the crumbling of the building, but because of an unexpected fourth voice echoing through the chaos. The gentle laughter—then the low whisper.

“Wait... Did you guys... hear that?”

Tama spoke out first in a low shaken whisper, her thoughts snapping to the supernatural first. Kura’s head snapped toward the source as she raised her hand, ready to call her seraph. That was when her eyes widened in disbelief, locking at the  familiar figure slumped against the wall, chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. Her blonde hair, long and disheveled,  uniform and face, stained with dirt and grime. She was a mess, a heaving mess of a person as if she had just gone through hell and back. Yet there was no mistaking the figure slumped as she slowly raised herself up.

“Shirakawa-chan?”

Kura said, and in an instant, all heads whipped around eyes to the messy figure standing tall as her gaze in return met their eyes.

“E-Eh?! Yuina-senpai?!”

“Shirakawa-senpai?!”

“30-G’s squad leader?!”

“Yuina Shirakawa?!”

“S-Since when d-did she…?!”

Their voices came out in unison, mingling with the shock of her being here in the first place like they were children caught with their hands inside a cookie jar. Yunia looked exhausted and battered—but she was here—the squad leader of 30-G, standing right before them in the flesh ready to land her own brand of disappointed judgement.

Until they—Kura realized that they were decorated soldiers and veterans, not a naughty girl pocketing cookies. “What are you doing here?”

Yuina made their way to them, forcing back a rising smile that threatened to crack her lips back, tucking it away into the very corners of her heart as the mask of usual neutrality snapped, clicked, and tightened with steel.

She wondered if Kura or her juniors would notice that almost crack on her lips.

“I’m helping my comrades.” Yuina said as she stood mere inches from them, close, but a respectful distance away. Before anyone could react to the unexpected revelation, the building trembled violently, sending even more falling debris as it rained down around them.

“Whoa!” Ruka stumbled back as a chunk of concrete crashed down, landing between her and Yuki with an ear-splitting THUD. Grounding them back to the present of them standing here inside a crumbling, shaking tower.

“There’s rubble falling everywhere! We’ve gotta get out of here!” the hacker shouted immediately, and Ruka agreed immediately.

“Where’s Mona-nyan?”

Kura dodged falling debris herself with a jump to the side. “She’s off over there trying to find an exit!”

A figure dashed in the distance, weaving through the debris as she moved swiftly, glancing left and right, with a tense look upon her face until she was interrupted by Ruka’s voice.

“Mona-nyan!”

“Ruka?” Monaka turned to face her junior with the faintest of smiles. “Good. Everyone’s safe—hm?” her smile froze and came down in a thoughtful surprise. “Shirakawa’s here?”

The person in question simply nodded, her neutral, stoic, and usual serious expression still remained. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?”

“We’ll talk about this later!” Ruka’s voice broke through the odd tense boiling in between them to the threat they were in. “She got caught up in our mess! Are we trapped here?!”

“Yes.” Monaka nodded. “As far as I can tell, the escalators won’t be of any use.” Monaka sighed and crossed her arms in frustration.

“Then we’re going to have to use the elevator.” Ruka concluded immediately without missing a beat.

“Are you insane?!” Yuki protested. “If the wires snap while we’re in it, we’re all heading straight to he—”

CRASH!

The building shook again, dust and debris raining down from the ceiling as cracks formed like spiderwebs with their own trail of thoughts.

“Eek!”

“Whoa!”

“Ah!”

“Gah!”

“Kuh!”

Ruka clenched her teeth, her body trembling as she fought to keep her footing. She knew full well that it was a massive risk, but there was no other choice to be made. Staying means death, trying to find another one also means death. This was the only way. Safe or not. “If we stay here, we’ll just end up crushed! We’re moving out!”

“I agree. We’ve got no other option,” Yuina responded calmly, steadily, as if she were reciting lines from a script she had practiced a thousand times. There was no urgency in her tone, only a calm sea as if she had seen the future—their choice was already made for them as more debris rained down around them. Sharp shards of stone and metal crashing to the floor and breaking them apart.

She stood unshaken, unbothered.

Not when violent tremors shook the very floors beneath their feet as the foundation of the tower groaned and creaked in protest, and not even when they entered the elevator as the doors closed tightly, protecting them from the chaos outside.

Her face was a mask of eerie calmness, serene and composed. Like an unyielding visage of tranquility against a raging storm.

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

The elevator moved down with a slow hum and rattle from the shaking, lights flickering in and out as if it was breathing—dying a slow and painful death with them inside it. Going down in their descent towards the burning gates of hell.

No one made conversation for the first few minutes.

Yuina reached for her MePad, her fingers moving swiftly as she swiped across the screen. Her eyes narrowed, analyzing something indiscernible before she slid the device back into its place. A few curious glances were cast her way, but none spoke. Basking in the hum, the rumble, the quiet until the charged—heavy silence enveloping the cramped elevator was broken by Monaka.

“Why did you come here, Shirakawa?”

Her heavy—gruff voice carried an odd feeling of suspicion, but at the same time, an unbroken trust between them as life long comrades—one that was forged through countless battles and shared struggles.

Yuina raised her head, and answered without missing a beat. “To help you.”

Her declaration didn’t bring peace, instead it brought more questions to the already charged atmosphere. Monaka shifted her stance lightly, as if she was a little uncomfortable. “Do you even understand what we’re trying to accomplish?” the strongest soldier asked once more to her squad leader, and Yuina answered again before another silence could be made.

“It doesn’t matter. I simply came here to do what I must.”

“That’s... very unlike you to butt in without fully understanding the situation... or to say something like that.” Kura chimed in immediately, with a small quirk of her eyebrow. Her voice carried the same doubt and confusion shared with Monaka, and the questions 31-A had.

‘Yet, why does it feel... familiar?’ A nagging sensation gnawed at Kura. A strange feeling of déjà vu, as if she had seen this version of Yuina before. This impulsiveness… the way she seemed to carry a feeling of untouchable mystique. Different, yet the same of their untouchable confident leader in the field.

“Indeed.” Monaka agreed as she slowly closed her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak again, but—a sudden violent BANG reverberated through the elevator, followed by a CRASH that shook the entire building, and stopped Monaka right in her words.

Everyone yelped in surprise, their hearts leaping into their throats—except for Yuina as she stood tall and steady.

The lights flickered wildly as small sparks of dying electricity spat out from its falling wires, holding itself on loose threads to keep itself shining until it couldn’t do it anymore. Flicking one last time, before it cast them into darkness—followed by a thousand painful, horrific creaks of the groaning steel wires as it froze mid-descent.

“Dammit, it stopped!” Ruka cursed as she clenched her fists.

“It would seem the worst has come to pass.” The awakened Tojo said with a hint of some dark amusement in the way she spoke.

“You could say that again!” Megumi shouted to the blonde in her squad.

“Just leave this to me.” Kura raised her hand to call her seraphim, but Yuina interrupted. “No. Let me handle it.” In an elegant burst, her seraph came to be and gripped tight  in her hand without waiting for any permission from anyone

“Wait, Shirakawa-chan?!”

Yuina didn’t reply. With a single elegant swing of the blade the elevator door broke apart and fell down with a THUD  to the dark floor waiting for them outside. “Will this work? Yuina said as her weapon disappeared in a blink.

“SO SMART!” Tama shouted, eyes wide in a sense of awe for her senior, “Despite the cramped elevator, she didn’t so much as nick us!” followed by a compliment as Yuina replied Tama with a small nod before walking out first—and the others following closely behind.

“Whew… we’re finally out of that mess…” Megumi let out a tired sigh as she stroked the back of her neck, wincing slightly from the strain and adrenaline.

“Um… Yukkie,” Ruka turned to the white haired genius hacker. “do you happen to know where we are?”

A huff left her lips as Yuki shook her head, her expression deep in thought before she let it go. “Sorry, I don’t have any info to work off of. I’d say… we’re somewhere in the middle-ish part of the tower.”

“Over there.” Yuina said, catching the attention of the others as she pointed towards a gaping hole in the wall with her index finger.

“You’re right.” Kura said in approval, raising her head to get a clearer view of the outside world. “It’s brighter. You can see the sky, even.”

“So… this is what all that shaking came from… damn.” Yuki followed up as she took a slow step ahead to inspect the hole.

“The shaking was… from what now?” Tama turned to face the white-haired hacker curiously, asking the obvious.

“Clearly it is from something out there that could bite a chunk out of the wall.” Yuki pointed with a small sigh, turning to give Tama a tired sarcastic look.

“This is convenient,” Monoka took a few steps close to the opening, standing right next to Yuki. Her gaze laser focused on the rubble and space below. “We may jump out to escape.”

Ruka sighed, weighing her choices—their choices, and the odds.  “I guess every option available is going to be dangerous…” she took a deep breath, before nodding. “Okay, let’s do it.”

“If you go there, someone will die.”

Yuina of the past would’ve said that, she would’ve warned them, and she still would from habit and reflex. No matter how many times she had jumped to the past. But today, here at this moment, Yuina swallowed the words before it spilled from her mouth. Pushing down the want and habit wanted to warn them one more time. She already knew that their choices had been made and written in stone.

She could only agree and move. Time waits for none. Always moving unapologetically, like a ball down a steep hill.

“Have you forgotten what a cruel world we’re living in?”  

“Then it’s settled.” Yuina spoke, and followed the script to a tee. Her footsteps tailing them closely behind as they leap down with a streak of blue light. The orcale watcched as eyes widened in horror at the heart of the storm—rising slowly as it climbed up and up to meet its foe.

Hearts thundering in unison as the beast stared down at them. Pale skin, crimson eyes. Their nightmare manifested—their worst-case scenario.

“Crap what is happening! They didn’t tell us that it’s going to be two!”

“UEAHHHHH!!! IT-IT’S LOOKING AT US WE NEED TO RETREAT!”

Ruka’s shout, and Tama’s bloodcurdling scream. The script had moved, the timeline as well and Yuina’s calm voice cut through the panic with her calm. “Everyone. With the second Flat Hand here, retreat is not an option.”  her tone echoed,demanding attention as it cut through the uncertainty. “There’s only one thing to do.”

She stepped forward slowly, staring at the eyes of the monster. She had failed too many times, forged too many flawed plans only to watch the universe laughed as it tightened its noose. Her last gambit was already in motion, all that was left was to cut it loose.   “Kayamori, take command. I’ll act as the vanguard and bring this enemy down.”

“Yuina-senpai... are you sure?” Ruka half whispered, worried for her safety as she worried for herself and her friends all the same. Yuina turned to meet Ruka’s gaze, her eyes burning with the same determination, unyielding and unshaken—as a tranquil smile graced her lips.

“Who do you think I am?” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper that carried so much unforeseen weight. In another timeline... she would have been burning with fire. Driven by reckless passion and scorching determination to save everyone she truly kept dear. While in truth, that determination didn’t bring heat to the coldness of the dead, she merely burned herself within the flame. Sending her to a desperate spiral, down to the depths of the earth.

She was different back then, now her flame burns differently—tempered by time and experience.

“Let’s hurry it up, Ruka.” She continued, her voice firm but gentle. “The sooner we can take the enemy down, the faster we can go back home safely.” Her words were simple, yet it was enough for them as it held a promise to keep. A small real dream for them to achieve.

“Okay.” Ruka mirrored Yuina’s smile, trusting her in full. “We’ll support you with everything we got!”

Their weapons came into their palms, gleaming with the otherworldly might to cut down the Cancers that pushed humanity to the brink of extinction.

“Come on girls!”

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

As expected, they were a well-oiled machine that Yuina could be proud of. With each cut and slice they marked on the beast. Blue scars marred the monster, its hard outer shell broken apart and shattered.

“It's going to swing, right side!” Ruka took command as naturally as breathing, “Tojo, give us some boost! Mona-nyan, Tomi! Right side is open! The rest of you, focus on its left eyes!”

Yuina dodged its burning laser as she swung her blade in unison, and before long the beast screeched and transformed as a large bulbous thing erupted from its arrow-shaped head.

“What’s going on? Did that thing’s brain pop out?” Kura commented with a small gasp.

“I’ve never seen such an oddity…” Monaka followed.

“Hey, now’s not the time for the peanut gallery! That thing’s transforming, and I’ve got a bad feeling about this!” Ruka snapped as she tightened her grip on her twin swords.

“Crap... talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire!” Yuki gritted her teeth, her fingers trembling as she aimed high once more with the barrel of her smoking seraph.

“All we can do is keep fighting!” Ruka shouted as they burst into action.

The beast quivered, its grotesque body convulsing as it split apart, ripping itself open with a sickening squelch. The tumorous growth bursts from its growth, spreading themselves across the chaotic battlefield as it throbbed and twitched, and bursting disgustingly—revealing sharp, writhing tentacles, wet with deep indigo mucus and ready to defend their grotesque mother.

“Keep them at bay and focus them down one by one! Prioritize speed so that we don’t get surrounded!” Ruka said, spinning her blades and snapping into immediate action. No matter how many times Yuina had seen this side of Ruka, she would never get tired of it, the way her confidence shows, her inner fire so bright it pushed away any fear and doubt from her peers.

‘Truly… you’re the light that would save humanity from extinction.’

She would miss this sight. This side of Ruka.

“ORAHH!”

Out of her thoughts, Yuina came back to the present. Matching Ruka’s speed as she tore apart two of those writhing tentacles at once sending them back to ichor and shattered glass.

CRACK!

“Nice one, Yuina-senpai! Come on!”

Each swing connected as they came raining down mercilessly for the second time, each strike driving deeper into the grotesque flesh of the monster. Slash after slash, gunshot after gunshot. None missed their marks. The beast screamed—a guttural, horrifying wail that echoed through the battlefield as it lashed out wildly, its colossal limbs swinging with a mighty force without any pattern at all but its own rising desperation.

A swipe that the blonde oracle barely dodged, the wind from its massive digits slicing through the air inches from her face, and a searing burst of laser grazed her deflector, and scorched its surface with a hiss. It recoiled and hissed, swipe after swipe, at a hopeless attempt to get its attackers away from itself. Cracks formed, and the beast's veins popped in blue. Its layer of protection decimated—leaving only the flesh to be destroyed.

“NOW!”

Ruka shouted and one by one, their most powerful attacks in their arsenals were unleashed upon the Flat Hand.

Tama unleashed an array to strengthen their deflectors tenfold. “Hyaah!”

Tojo spread a shockwave to strengthen their seraphs, crackling with a humming crackle of orange energy. “Hum!”

Karrie spun wildly, matching her moniker as a serial killer, slicing a thousand times at its weak spots. “KYAHAHAHAHA!”

Ruka combined her blades as they burst into flames, swinging it down for a wide, scorching arc.”Here goes!”

Yukie’s cannon glowed bright as it hummed and fired a massive force of energy, racing to pierce the pale flesh of the cancer. “I got it locked!”

Megumi swung her emerald great sword in a powerful wide arc, cleaving through the air. “HYAHHH!”

Monoka screamed at the top of her lungs as her blade burned in a bloody crimson, unleashing a fraction of her overwhelming strength. “Hm!”

Kura danced through her swings, slicing again and again akin to a farmer cutting through acres of nature’s bounty. “...HMPH!”

And Yuina charged forward, her seraph blazing with golden light as she thrust it into the center of the beast, driving the blow that would end it all.

“TAKE THIS!”

An array of faded gold lights bursts forth from her blade, igniting the insides of the beast as it explodes powerfully. Cutting through the pale muscles of the beast like ravenous, burning knives through butter.

CRACK!

CRASH!  

“SCREEEECHHH!!!!”

The creature let out one final, agonized shriek before its massive form curled back painfully. The nightmare seemingly had ended even for a moment. This… this was it. Yuina exhaled peacefully, knowing full well… she had reached this point in the timeline.  Her body ached and she was grasping at straws holding to her consciousness. In another life… she would push her body to the limit to do the hopeless.

Just a little more. Her final gambit was going to take form. She lowered her weapon and let it disappear as a breeze fell upon her, an ill omen to others… but a feeling of acceptance for Yuina.

“Did we do it?!” Megumi exclaimed with pride in her voice until Yuina shouted back in the tone fitting of her title as squad leader. Calm and authoritative.

“Not yet. It’s going to transform.”

Just as she said, the bulbous head of the beast ripped itself apart as it burst into a dark shade of crimson. Bleeding the skies as it was being ripped and distorted into a million uncountable pieces.  A deep velvet  gaping gash in and space, ripping and bending it to its will. An impregnable shield, unmatched by anything that ever exists in the world.

“Wait, you know it would?!” Kura said as she snapped her head to her squad leader. As if the oddities aren’t piling enough.

Yuina did not answer.

Not when everything was reaching its climax, not when she just needed to do her part.

Yuina clamped her eyes shut. Her heart was beating a million times per second.She then snapped her gaze at the key to finish this fight. “Tsukishiro.” Yuina turned to Monaka instead of Kura catching her the strongest soldier’s attention.

 “That thing distorts space all around it. What we need… is a barrage of mindless attacks.” Her heart ached, her lips quivered lightly in hesitation, but she knew that this was the right choice. The part of the script—the play the universe wanted them to continue. “Use it. I grant you my permission.”

Monaka immediately caught what she ordered her to do, her eyes drifting away from Yuina and then to the monster standing right in front of her under a bleeding sky. There was no other choice to be made except for this.. All she had to do… was to take a deep breath—and close her eyes. Steeling herself as she tightened her grip on her mighty weapon.

When she opened her eyes, she was ready.

“…Kura.”

Kura shifted her focus immediately to Monaka. There was no time to hesitate… only action. She needed her—and in a way, Kura needed her as well, her choice was already made when she followed her to this hell—for a one sided love she could never say.  “I understand. If Shirakawa-chan said it…” She puffed her chest lightly with a faint smile.“then the situation is already dire.”

“Mm. I’ll need your support, as usual.” Monaka nodded.

“Wait, wait. What’s going on? What are you three talking about?!” Ruka asked, fear and uncertainty mixing in her tone as she studied their iron clad determination.

“Tsukishiro-chan… is about to become the strongest, right before your eyes. We actually shouldn’t be doing it in a place this precarious.” Kura explained with that fond smile.. “Since she’s so powerful… we’re definitely going to get caught up in it.”

“She’s right.” Yuina added. “Ruka, everyone. Stand back and do not engage, no matter what..” a slight pause as her tone fell gentle.

“Tsukishiro…”

Yuina exhaled, and  placed a firm, comforting squeeze on her friend’s shoulder. Lingering for a second far too long before she let go. “Go right ahead.”

Destiny stretched right in front of them as Monaka nodded, and marched forward with the little warmth of Yuina’s hand leaving her shoulder—seraph gripped tightly in her hand as her knuckles turned white with resolve.

“Tsukishiro-chan. Like always, I’ll take care of it.” Kura mirrored Monaka’s conviction, her own trembling hand gripping her sharp scythe. With one last nod of acknowledgement from Monaka… the strongest solder plunged her blade into the ground as the black steel reverberated and slowly peeled itself away.

“Then… I WILL RELINQUISH MYSELF!”

A surge of pink and crimson enveloping her like a swarm of crawling, burning spiders. Scorching and cracking the earth underneath—super heating the air as she grit her teeth, holding the line between beast and man.

“TO… OBLIVION!”

With a newfound bestial rage driven by rage and instincts of an apex predator, seeking to destroy anything right in her eyesight.

The script continued, and the script changed with a flip of a page. Monaka’s booming furious roars and howls shook the world itself as the seal holding her back torn apart—leaving just the apex with the power to rend the world asunder—unleashed to destroy the pale monster standing right in front of her.

Without hesitation and without fear, Monaka screamed at the top of her lungs as she became a blur of a brilliant burning crimson mad with rage—turning what should’ve been the greatest evolutionary trait of humanity into nothing more but footnote within her own psyche. Just rage and nothing more.

She swung, she cut and she slashed—for all she knew right then, lost in her world was to kill and in the urge—need to rip and tear until it was done. It doesn’t matter if the monster could distort space around it, for the wrath of humanity had burned harder and brighter than what cosmic horror could make..

Yuina knew that well as she watched Kura with the same awe and focus—even if she had seen it technically over a hundred times. Every brutal and mindless cut and slash tearing the distorted space all around the monster, torn apart by an overwhelming force of Monaka Tsukishiro.

“GRAHHHHH! ORAHHHHH!!!”

Hundreds, thousands, millions, and billions of cuts made in a mere-minutes as she roared at the world. There was no stopping her as she continued to burn her body to the limits—and the rest of them could only watch her work in action, spinning her blade with one last earth-shaking roar as she cleaved the Flat Hand in half.

There was a scream of pain pounding on their ears as the Flat Hand’s form cracked, and exploded and broke apart into a heaven piercing spire, parting the swirling clouds above, and showing the great blue sky above them, and with that, Monaka slowly descended and fell with a thud.

“We won…”

“You… did it…!”

“That thing put up quite the fight…”

“So… this is the power that makes her the ‘strongest’…”

“Hot damn…”

The murmurs of 31-A filled the aftermath as Yuina and Kura watched on silently, they already knew what was needed next.

“That was quite the display. However, we’ll be in trouble if the other Flat Hand catches up to us.” Tojo broke through the peanut gallery with her pragmatism. Her mind already moving two steps ahead to route a path down safely.

“Yeah, we need to get out of here quickly… thankfully, I think we can use this second Flat Hand as cover why we disobeyed commands.” Yuki agreed with a sigh.

“We need to get Mona-nyan too!” Ruka raced towards the fallen senior, but a firm grasp stopped her from doing so.

“Hold on.” Yuina shook her head and tightened her grip around Ruka’s shoulder. Her gaze was not on the junior, but on the still form of Monaka.

“Yuina-senpai…? What do you…?” Ruka asked, but before she could continue or for anyone to give an answer—a low rumble of the throat filled their ears as what once was Monaka rose from the ground.

Her burning energy still surrounded her form, shimmering with the leftover unreleased pent up rage that once was for the Flat Hand. “Grr… guh…” She gripped her pale white and red greatsword as she held her head… followed by a blood-lusted scream.

Now, without a target, that rage was aimed right  at them, at friends that stood by her side.

“OGRRAAAAAHHHH!!!!”

The strongest lunged towards Ruka and Yuina—but Kura was faster. She swung her scythe and parried the deadly strike powerfully, sending Monaka tumbling back and fueling her rage.

“Wait, wait, why is she still rampaging?! Is she… unable to turn back to normal?!” Yuki shouted in disbelief. “What’s going on?!”

“After she surrenders herself to her rage, she wouldn’t go back to normal unless she literally collapsed from exhaustion...” Yuina explained as her eyes drifted to the pink-haired chef standing right in front of them. A shield against the storm, the deadly matador of an apex predator. “…Or until she was subdued. Out of all of us, Kura knows her attacks best out of everyone in here, and in 30-G.”

She kept her intense gaze locked on Kura’s back as her posture softened from the familiar  trust and praise.

 “Kura. Can you bring Tsukishiro home?”

Kura quirked a smile and a shrug as she turned to Yuina. “Hehe. Shirakawa-chan, with a praise like that…I couldn’t say no.” Kura said, still with that confident grin. She was on her last legs, but she couldn’t leave Monaka alone, and she never had the plan to do so. Her heart shouted that. Yuina and the plea of her juniors merely boosted that confidence.

“I’ll leave you to take care of these kids. Stand back and feast your eyes. ” With that smile still on her trembling lips, Kura spun her scythe and marched to meet the strongest soldier for this dance—as Monaka regained herself, her rage now focused towards a single point instead of the many.

“Wait, wait! Yuina-senpai then we should..!”

“Ruka!” Yuina raised her voice and stopped Ruka’s words before it left her mouth followed by a firm squeeze on the rockstar’s shoulder. “We’re just going to get in the way.” She said as her shout came down to a calming tone. “I promise, they’re going to go home safe. Trust me… trust Kura.”

“She’s right, Ruka.”  Yuki followed up in the argument. “We couldn’t keep up with her speed, we’ll just only be a burden.” It left no room for debate, just the cold hard facts staring back at them. Without choice… Ruka let it go with a single nod. 

“Hehe. As positive as ever, Shirakawa-chan.”

Kura said—and met Monaka’s rage head on. She wouldn’t wait for conversation, nor the world. And Yuina let go of Ruka’s shoulder… and she slowly closed her eyes.

“GRRAAAAAHHH!”

CLASH!

“Strong as ever, Tsukishiro-chan!”

She counted every second, counting down as sparks flew from the clash of seraphs.

“GRRAAAAAHHH!!!”

CLASH!

“But, I’ll jump into your embrace anytime!”

Her heart drummed in her chest.

“GRAAAHHH!!!”

CLASH!

“Remember? I’ve always been the only one able to parry your strikes!”

Her digits curled into fists, nails dug crescent shaped bite marks on her palms.

“AUUUUGHHH!!!”

CLASH!

“And I’ll do it right this time, too!”

Her breath shuddered, as a plump bead of sweat trickled down from her chin.

“GRRAAAAAHHH!!!”

CLASH!

“I’m going to make sure you make it out of this alive!”

She counted down.

“GRRAAAAAHHH!!!”

And she opened her eyes.

She leaped and spun through the air, the clash of metal resonating for the very last time as a burst of power engulfed Monaka in its electrifying rage.

She became a blur faster than the eye could see. Boiling with relentless wrath and bloodlust, the blade aimed and poised to turn everything she saw into oblivion.

Kura was too slow, she was exhausted beyond measure.

There was no time to dodge.

Crash!

And the silence rang in the world.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

A guttural echo as the sound of scraping metal was replaced by the sound of flesh being torn apart, and life sprayed across the ground like warm summer rain.

None dared to move a finger, none dared to make a sound.

Eyes wide, mouth open, and their legs frozen to the ground.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Except for one as a bloodied smile came to her lips.

‘I did it.’

‘I… did…

  It.’

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

Yuina’s stomach churned as she emptied her stomach down to the same toilet bowl, heart drumming and eyes wide in horror. She couldn’t—she shouldn’t have seen that. The 285^th leap where she saw the truth of an unfair universe. The very last words… and act from Satomi Kura as she was impaled by the sword.

Form melting like wax into a thick, viscous blob of otherworldly light, and pale white eyes staring back at the world.

She felt her bile rising back to her throat.

287^th

“UGH!! GEEHHH!”

290^th

Why do you still push yourself?

When the world is a lie?

Was it even Yuina Shirakawa’s dream?

Do you even know who Yuina Shirakawa is?

You’re not even her.

You’re just a fake, desperate to save another fake you don’t know.

How can you fight for Satomi Kura when you don’t even know her?

How can you fight for humanity when you’re a lie?

So, let me ask you, why do you still fight?

Just.

Give.

Up.

“I can’t.”

Why?

“Not when I still have my foolish dream.”

“...Not when I finally had found the piece.”

What good can your foolish delusion do?

What does it matter whether you got whatever information you’ve been missing or not?

You can’t even dream. That was Yuina Shirakawa.

Not you.

A fake.

“I don’t care if I’m a narby, if I’m a lie,  or if I’m something else.”

“All I know is that I am Yuina Shirakawa, even if I’m not.”

“I know that she would’ve given her blessing.”

“I know that she would’ve given me the permission to use her name and chase this dream of mine.”

“And that is enough for me to accept my life and continue dreaming.”

…

“To save those that I cared about. Even if they were narbies, humans, or whatever they were.”

“They were still my comrades.”

“I love them all. I wish to see them live long and well even if they’re narbies.”

“That is why, I will never stop.”

Fine. Continue on living and chase that impossible dream.

Continue on, “Yuina Shirakawa.”

"Thank you."

She raised her MePad and tucked it away.

1. Kura would go with 31-A.
2. Flat Hand would go to the tower.
3. Monaka would go berserk.
4. Kura would die in the tower. Someone must die in the tower.
5. Kura would die by Monaka’s hands. Someone must die by Monaka’s hands.
6. Those in the tower must see the truth of their existence.

With a plan in mind made, Yuina made her last confident leap, and tore the original ripped in half.

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »

“SHIRAKAWA-CHAN!”

Kura’s bloodcurdling scream echoed through the tower as she lay sprawled on the cracked floor, eyes wide with horror—staring at the figure standing before her—the one who had pushed her aside from the pale white blade of the strongest soldier alive. She couldn’t rise, she couldn’t think, she just stared.

Stared at the wound that shouldn’t have happened, at the death that never should’ve been.

“ Y-YOU…! YOU! Why…?! WHY?!”

Her demands for an explanation come not from a rational mind of a soldier, but from a friend caught in a crossfire that she had no place to be in.

“...Shira…kawa?”

“...Welcome back, Tsukishiro.”

“...Why…?”

“...Why are you… skewered… on my blade?”

Thud.

Yuina… simply kept her smile, blood trickling from the deep wound piercing her vital organs or at least—that was what it felt like.Trembling  as she leaned against Monaka—her strength fading away with each painful second.

“…I promised… to bring everyone home…”

“This… this wasn’t… I… you… you weren’t supposed to die here… you weren’t supposed to be h-here!” Monaka's voice cracked, breaking under the weight of both horror and guilt, as she held Yuina through her trembling hands.

“ALL OF YOU, HURRY! SHE NEEDS MEDICAL ATTENTION!” She shouted to 31-A who were pale and struck with horror all the same. Standing frozen, their thoughts a scramble.

“...It’s no use… both of us already know that, Tsukishiro.” Her hands reached and slowly gripped the strongest’ arms.  “...I don’t… regret anything… Kura… Tsukihiro… everything… all of it.”

“SHI-SHIRAKAWA CHAN, HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?! YOU—YOU AREN’T MEANT TO… TO BE HERE!” Kura found her voice again, shouting those desperate words through tears and rage.

“...You don’t because… you knew from the start, didn’t you, Yuina Shirakawa?”

It was the appraisal of the awakened genius. Connecting the dots even if the dots are utterly impossible to be the truth. Biting through even the uncertainty within her psyche. Monaka’s breath hitched along with Kura as their eyes snapped away from their squad leader skewered on the blade—towards the impossibility their junior had theorized.

“You’re acting strange from the start. Something that should’ve been shocking, it was like you had been expecting it to happen. Every step you’ve done, every single act…” Tojo clenched her fists as even through her calm, this impossibility had broken through her bright mind.

“You know how it begins and how it ends… you knew about the Flat Hand’s transformation, you knew that only Monaka Tsukishiro could kill it—” she took a calming breath. “...And you knew that Satomi Kura would die by Monaka Tsukishiro’s hand. You came here to take her place.”

“Oi, oi…! Tsukkie... what you’re implying is…!” Ruka said in realization as her gaze, shaky and horrified, turned to her “It's… no way it's…!”

“…Hehe…” But Yuina’s chuckle stopped it all. It was the chuckle of someone having their cover blown and having nothing else to lose. A chuckle of someone that was utterly content with their choices and the road they had walked. “I should… expect you would… catch on… Tsukasa… Tojo.”

“N-No way… there’s no way…” Ruka denied it all. She couldn’t believe it, what was there to believe? The impossibility—the sheer—magnitute!

“...Then do you know, Yuina Shirakawa?” Tojo continued on with her question about the truth waiting to be revealed.

And Yuina’s reply was that same chuckle and a nod. “...I know.”

“Tsukkie?! What are you talking about?!” Ruka snapped the shock condensed into a burning rage as hot tears fell from her eyes—lashing out towards the source of the unsaid truth.

But Yuina’s words continued on flowing, even through her weakening heartbeat. “…I’m sorry. I couldn’t…” she took a deep, painful breath. “ I couldn’t accept… it. So… I came back… to save… you.”

Kura’s breath hitched and the words registered immediately. “Came… back? I- you…?!” she found her strength once more, scrambling to raise herself up from her position. “But to take my place, Shirakawa-chan?! You… you shouldn’t have done that! YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE DONE ANY OF THIS!” Kura shouted with justified anguish and anger towards her leader.

 “IF I HAD KNOWN…! I WOULD’VE… I…”

“…I wanted… to see you…alive”

“BY THIS?! IF YOU WANT TO SAVE ME, YOU SHOULD’VE FOUND ANOTHER WAY SHIRAKAWA-CHAN!”

“No, it’s the only way.” Tojo spoke up, even if she had just been shouted at by Ruka as the final pieces came with a click, the truth of the world laid bare. Cruel and unjust. “It’s the only way… to save you, Satomi Kura. The rule of equivalent exchange, I’m guessing that’s the way the universe works.”

“Shirakawa-chan… don’t tell me that she’s saying that…”

“I tried… so… so many times… but you… you’ll die every… time…”

“WE’RE SOLDIERS, YUINA SHIRAKAWA!” Kura couldn’t accept this fate. She couldn’t accept this kind of a sacrifice. “Ever since we’re a seraph squad… we knew that we’re going to die eventually! I… accepted that, Tsukishiro-chan accepted that! We’ve seen… friends and comrades come and go! So why…? Out of everyone, you should be the one that…”

“Because… it’s… my dream.” She answered simply as her grip weakened, and her eyelids felt heavy as if they were tied by a thousand tons. “I… wanted to see all of us… safe… and well… I wanted… to save everyone… even if it was… foolish, stupid… and selfish…”

Her grip tightened as her eyelids slowly closed inch after inch—and another bloody chuckle came out from her closing throat. “I wanted… to see the world without Cancers with… you... with all of us.”

“…Stupid. Stupid…!” Kura clenched her fists as she choked a rising sob.

“Don’t… weep for me.” Her grip slowly lost its strength. “Because… I'm just... going to... wake up”

Her eyelids came closer and her breath… went slower.

“Yuina Shirakawa... is still alive.”

Slide.

And her hands fell limp.

“Shirakawa…?”

Yuina Shirakawa no longer moved.

“Shirakawa-chan?”

There was no heartbeat.

“…Yuina… senpai?”

Her eyes were closed permanently.

“SHIRAKAWA!!!!”

“YUINA-SENPAI!!”  

And she had breathed her last.

Finally, after all of her struggles, after all of her heartache…  at the end of it all… Yuina Shirakawa had fulfilled her foolish, stupid dream.

She had seen how this dream of her ends.

She could finally rest easy.

And as her body dissolved slowly to fulfil her newfound role in this new script—somewhere else, a girl with a dream opened her eyes.

«  ━━❪ ❁ ❫━━  »