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When Kiibo had broken through the glass dividing them from the outside world, none of them had really expected to survive it all. In fact, the three of them had been prepared to go down with the rest of the school and the killing game - but… They’d survived.
What they hadn’t expected was for it to come at a cost.
Pushing away the rubble atop them, Maki was the first to come head to head with the real outside world. Despite everything that they’d faced up to that point, she couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her as she gazed up into the sky, practically as red as her eyes or Himiko’s hair.
Surprised gasps followed from the other two as Himiko cried out in terror. “W-What!? I-I thought… I thought all those memories were fake!”
They all had. But, apparently, some were more real than others. What were lies and what was the truth? It was impossible to tell.
It wouldn’t get much easier, either.
As it turned out, surviving a killing game wasn’t the thing that would bring them closest together, unlike what Shuichi had expected. The real bonding experience, perhaps somewhat ironically, came from the survival that followed.
Realizing that they were going to have to find a way to keep going, even in the face of the world’s destruction, they started scavenging around the school for anything they could find. Food was the most important, but they found other things too that could be of use, like bags and blankets, though Shuichi had a feeling they weren’t going to have to worry about being too cold, as it was already getting hotter by the minute.
Regardless, they were able to gather a good amount of supplies, at least for three of them. They were quick to come to a mutual agreement, however. They weren’t staying at the school.
So, that same day, they left.
The journey would only get harder from there, finding entire buildings toppled over and destroyed, streets borderline unrecognizable, cars ripped apart… It was just one thing after the next, and it wasn’t particularly easy to get past obstacles when the only person among them skilled enough to traverse it well was Maki. Shuichi was beginning to wish that they’d done more training during the small amount of time they’d been in the school, not that it would’ve helped much.
On the other hand, they were lucky that they could breathe, even if the air was a bit uncomfortable. That part, at the very least, had been a lie.
Regardless, they pressed forward until the sun had finally begun to set. They found a relatively put together building to spend the night in before continuing the next day.
This continued for days.
To their disappointment, it seemed that almost nothing had survived. The wreckage were providing them with less and less the further they went, and while they were getting further from the larger cities that they seemed to be surrounded by, the buildings were just as destroyed as before.
Any people they ran into seemed hostile at best, but Maki had taken care of them with relative ease.
More days passed. They went through rations alarmingly fast. Himiko was growing more exhausted by the day, as was Shuichi. Maki was eating less and less… It wasn’t until they reached a small concrete building that was still fully put together that they finally stopped. It seemed like the best choice.
Unfortunately, that’s where they found it. A newspaper, sitting inconsequentially on a desk. Admittedly, when he first saw it, Shuichi just wanted it for entertainment. Something to do to pass the time, or maybe find out where they were. But then he saw it, printed in bold on the first page in big letters, and circled a few times in red for good measure by someone before them, words spelling out their doom.
“Large meteor headed for Earth! - The end of the world is here! Only a few day left…”
Hands shaking, he’d shown the paper to the other two. Surely it was fake, right…? It had to be. They didn’t survive the killing game for nothing!
And yet, the days passed. They grew closer, if not out of necessity, then because there would never be another chance to do so.
After a while they’d grown to accept the truth - the newspaper had been right. The end of the world was finally here. At night they could stare into the sky and see the approaching ball of fire approaching ever closer each passing night.
Himiko had a strange feeling that tonight was going to be their last.
Trying to sleep with this on her mind was… Well, impossible. She could help but stare up at the ceiling, her gaze trailing over to the windows no matter how much she tried to stop herself. The sky was always a strange red color now, even at night. It was almost like a constant sunset. She’d tried to place her hat over her face and eyes, but neither worked, it just made her uncomfortable.
Instead, she found herself tossing and turning as she struggled to find a comfortable position next to her friends (? Were they more than that by now? She really couldn’t tell… It was hard to judge where your relationships lay when you were seemingly one of the last few people alive.) unable to find sleep.
“Himiko…?” Shuichi muttered, turning onto his side to face her. It was easier to sleep in a pile these days - just right next to each other. It was more comfortable for them all. He seemed tired, not just from his voice alone, but his appearance, too. His hair had been messy for days (though she couldn’t really fault him for that. Her’s had been messy for ages, too), there were dark circles forming beneath his eyes, and his clothes were half off given the heat. He looked like he’d barely been sleeping at all, either. “What’s wrong?”
Himiko huffed lightly, expression falling. ‘What’s wrong?’ What wasn’t wrong these days? The world was practically ending before their eyes! Of course something was wrong. “Nyeh… I can’t sleep,” she replied instead, realizing that the overarching issues of ‘everyone is going to die soon’ was probably self explanatory.
Shuichi hummed thoughtfully, but his expression wasn’t one filled with thought like it usually was. Instead it was somewhat blank, gazing off into the distance just beyond Himiko. Slowly, he sighed, resting his head against the ground. “I can’t either,” he eventually admitted.
Sitting up, Maki startled them both. “What’s going on?”
“Oh-! Maki,” Shuichi stammered, also sitting up now. Himiko followed suit, albeit a bit slower as her bones seemed to pop uncomfortably. Sleeping on the ground for the past week and half or so had not been particularly enjoyable. “Uh, nothing, really… Himiko just can’t sleep. And, uh, I can’t either.”
Maki’s eyes stared, and to anyone else, she might have looked scary (although, to Himiko she still looked a little scary…) but to the two of them, they could see the hint of concern in the way her eyebrows lifted upward just a bit, or the way her eyes didn’t narrow in the way that they would when she was truly angry. Still, she didn’t say anything. She probably shared their concerns. None of them had been sleeping well the past few days.
Seeing that neither of them seemed to have any clear remedy for the situation, Himiko brought it upon herself to think. Suddenly, she stood, stretching her head back with a yawn. “Nyeh… I got it!” She exclaimed, though her exclamation lacked true enthusiasm. “We should go to the roof.”
Both of their eyebrows raised, surprised. “The roof?” Shuichi muttered, confused.
“Well… Yeah,” Himiko replied hesitantly. “It’s not like we’re getting any rest, right? We should admire the view while we can.”
They both paused for a long moment, but before Himiko could begin to worry too much about her suggestion, Maki stood as well. “I don’t see why not,” she agreed, motioning for Shuichi to join them.
Slowly, he lifted himself up from his place, taking the blanket with him. Silently, Maki led the way down the empty halls and up the stairs. Their footsteps echoed across the walls as they went, going relatively slow. Finally, red light filled the room as they reached the top and Maki opened the door. Outside it was warmer still, and the sky had turned ever reder, with hints of orange emerging at the base despite it being nowhere near sunrise.
Maki stepped to the side to let Shuichi take the lead. Bringing the blanket with him was a good idea, as he set it down on the ground for them as he took the lead by taking a seat before the other two followed. Maki took a seat beside him, and, almost neglecting the blanket entirely, Himiko let her body drape across the two of them as she stared up at the sky.
A long silence stretched out between them. The sky was a bit cloudy tonight, but just above stars could still be seen dotted across the sky even through the red haze.
Himiko couldn’t help it as Kaito crossed her mind. She hoped he was up there now, enjoying himself in the stars somewhere. She hoped, if just for the sake of the other two, that he wouldn’t have to watch them all die. Taking a deep breath in, she let her gaze fall back down to the faces of her two, now, closest friends. The red light and the soft glow from the moon reflected off of their hair, almost like some kind of demonic halo. And yet, it illuminated their faces beautifully, the way the light bounced off of their features.
She couldn’t help it, the thought crossed her mind before she could even process it. They didn’t have much longer anyway. Was this how Maki felt when confessing to Kaito? One last desperate attempt before the end of it all? “I-Is it too early to say I think I love you two?” She questioned quietly, her voice breaking the silence like shattering glass.
Suddenly, two pairs of eyes were staring at her with surprise. Maki blinking, half glancing away - it was hard to tell if her face was red from the light or if she was blushing. Shuichi’s expression, however, slowly formed into some kind of sad smile. If Himiko didn’t know better - and she supposed she didn’t - she’d almost mistake it for pity. “I, uh… I don’t- don’t know…”
“It’s never too late,” Maki suddenly interjected, facing Himiko with a serious expression. Fiddling nervously with her hair, Maki stared down, expression somewhere between intimidating and fond. “I-I know that’s not really what you were saying, but… These last few days we’ve had together, ever since Kaito…” She trailed off for just a moment before shaking her head to continue, “It’s just that- I’ve really learned a lot. About myself, and you guys. And… Well, I’m not still not sure if this is love, but it’s really close.”
Moved by her sudden display of affection, Himiko placed a hand against her chest, feeling her heart beat intensely. “Maki…”
Maki turned away, “M-Maki roll is fine…”
Beaming, Himiko nodded. “Maki roll!”
“Well-” Shuichi began, somewhat awkwardly, realizing that he had to follow up from that. “-I’m not really sure what this feeling is, either, but… Yeah, I think it’s something like love.” He agreed, offering up some kind of light smile. “I don’t think it’s too early, either. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
Finding herself suddenly laughing, Himiko held out her hand, and after a moment, the other two carefully accepted. She really hadn’t expected things to go this well. Sure, rejection would’ve been hard to face, especially at the end of the world, but… It was the end of the world. On the other hand- well, she didn’t want to think about that yet. “I feel like I’ve known you guys for years,”
If it were up to her, she would never want to leave this moment, just staring up at the two people she… Loved. It was a strange feeling, really. One she couldn’t explain in words, only in emotions. It was like they had experienced everything together, bonded by experiences no one could understand. It just felt right.
And then she frowned. No- no… This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right at all-
“Himiko?”
“No-! I’m… I want more time!” She exclaimed, suddenly sitting upright. “It- it isn’t supposed to end like this!”
All at once, it felt like the world was ending. And, in a lot of ways, it really was. Quite literally. If that newspaper was right, they probably only had a few days left. Maybe a week at most. That wasn’t enough! Not right after confessing!
Himiko gazed desperately between the two of them. She couldn’t seem to help it as the tears began running down her face before she could catch them. “I-I’m not ready to die!” She yelled, “T-That’s what we’re here for, right? For them-! They sacrificed themselves for us to survive… Kirumi, Tenko, Kaito, Kiibo- even Kokichi!”
“H-Himiko!”
But she wasn’t listening. Remembering Tenko’s words, she didn’t stop, balling her hands up into fists as she yelled into the sky, as if her voice itself would be enough to stop the meteor from falling onto Earth. “I don’t want to die! You hear me!?” She yelled louder, “Not after everything we’ve done!” Her breaths were short, having not used this much energy in days. “Not after- after…”
Her voice cut off with a sob, finding a hand placed against her shoulder as she was pulled into a tight hug. For a long while she didn’t stop crying. The world was ending. That was that. Hadn’t they lost enough? All of their friends? Was it too much for her to ask for just a while longer with the people she cared about most? Why did the world want them dead so badly?
“Himiko… It’s going to be okay…” Shuichi muttered, though he didn’t sound particularly convinced himself. Himiko herself, however, decided to ignore this fact because… Well, she trusted Shuichi. That’s what they always did. It was easy to let the other two take the lead. “We’ve been through a lot already, right? This is just one more thing that we’ll face together.”
“But- but… We’re gonna die,”
This time it was Maki’s voice that answered. “You know, they say that souls that die together go to the afterlife together, too,”
Himiko gazed up at her, eyes wide. Maki seemed doubtful, it wasn’t that hard to tell. She was a good liar, but not exactly when it came to emotions. “I-Is that true?”
Maki offered her the lightest of smiles. “I’m an assassin, right? I know stuff about death,”
“And, besides, we still have time, right?” Shuichi insisted softly, “There’s still some time for us to do things.”
“I guess you’re right…” Himiko relented, letting herself fall forward just a bit, letting the other two hold her up rather than doing it herself. “Nyeh… But I’m tired. Can we go to sleep?”
Shuichi chuckled, “Yeah. Sure we can,” he agreed. Gentle as could be, the two of them laid backwards, bringing Himiko with them. The blanket beneath them was soft, making the ground just a little more bearable. Although Himiko herself was grateful she wouldn’t have to deal with it, not with Shuichi and Maki as her ground, and herself as their blanket. She supposed this wasn’t half bad, all things considered. Sure, the world might be ending soon, but she was surrounded by her friends - or, well, whatever they were now. And she was comfortable, relatively safe, and most importantly of all, ready to sleep. That’s all she could ask for.