Archive of Our Own

Takumi probably wouldn’t ever understand art.

It wasn’t like he was totally clueless. He could, at the very least, determine what looked good to his eyes and what didn’t. But the deeper intricacies of art, the symbolism, the desperate emotions of the artist that pushed past the surface of a sculpture? They flew over his head.

He tilts his head, staring at an eye-catching sculpture of… something. It was jagged, like a chunk of wreckage from the ruins hurriedly jammed into a frame.

Seriously, what’s this even supposed to be?

Takumi sighs, turning away, and the rest of his search follows a similar vein. He wanders the ruins of the art gallery, filled with a strange sense of familiarity at each new exhibit as he looks for one of the distinctive Boxes. It’s uncanny, honestly. It all looks so similar to what he’s seen in the TRC, to what he’s seen lining the halls of the academy… it’s hard to believe they’re on a different planet at all.

He’s about to give up on the upper floor and try to find a shrine in the basement or something when he sees someone staring at a painting, totally motionless.

It’s Hiruko.

Takumi walks to her side without a word, not wanting to interrupt whatever interest she’s taken in the art. She always got weirdly animated about the statues back in the academy, too… so maybe she’s just more cultured than him.

He stands there for a while, taking in the painting. It's a cherry blossom viewing party, with groups of white-robed people scattered between the trees. Some of them look like families, and guilt digs its claws into his chest.

The worst part is, they look just like them. Just as human as all of them. In the spring, he’d visited parks just like these with his own family, chasing Karua around with fistfuls of cherry blossoms after she’d shoved loads of them into his hood and tugged it over his head. Had the children in the painting done the same? Did they run through the streets of the surrounding city, laughing and giggling before bombs came down from the Satellite?

Takumi doesn’t want to think about it.

“So this is it.”

He jumps. Hiruko’s been quiet for so long that he forgot she was even there. She turns towards him, clarifying at the confusion on his face.

“Futurum, I mean. I almost didn’t believe it, despite everything, but…” She reaches out, gloved fingers nearly brushing against the painting before she pulls back. “It’s undeniable, at this point. They’re people, just like us.”

She pushes up her glasses, looking pensive. “...I have to say, I have more than a few issues with what we’ve done here. With what we’re still doing, too. There’s limits to what war can excuse.”

Takumi turns towards the painting, a lump in his throat forming as his eyes linger on one of the younger robed figures.

“Yeah. I don’t… I can fight the invaders just fine, but… these are parents, children. They're families. I can’t break them apart.”

He tilts his head to meet her eyes, sporting a sad smile. “But it’s not like we can change it now, right? That’s… that’s why we need the boxes. To end this screwed-up war.”

She doesn't match it. In fact, she nearly scowls.

“And what does ‘ending the war’ mean, exactly? What will you even wish for, if we gather all the Boxes? Eradicating the rest of the Futurans?”

He squirms under her gaze. None of them had really discussed what they were going to wish for, but it was just… easier to hope. Easier to believe in the nebulous idea of the Boxes rather than to think about the full extent of the war.

“If…” He breaks eye contact, staring into the floor. “If there's any chance we can end this war without any more bloodshed… I’d take it in a heartbeat. I know that humanity’s done so much to this planet already that a peaceful solution probably isn’t possible, but…” He lifts his head, meeting her sharp eyes. “I want to try. To fix all of this, for the Futurans’ sake, and…” Takumi chuckles. “I guess for my own guilt, too.”

“Your own… guilt?” Hiruko sounds disbelieving.

“Yeah. From all the way back on Day 7. When Murvrum attacked.” She doesn’t seem inclined to interrupt, so he continues, reluctantly. “He told me that our power wasn’t ours, that he was supposed to be some kind of hero, and I didn’t even bother to listen. I just absorbed him. If I’d let him live back then, if I hadn’t listened to Sirei… maybe this war could have taken a different path. We could have found out the truth before anyone else had to die.”

He scoffs, clenching his fist. “...No, that’s not right. It’s not like I can blame Sirei for everything. It was easier to kill Murvrum, so I killed him. It… it was the same with Parmith, and Pakron, and Valla-Garzo, and Szanshin, and…” He trails off, the familiar sickness of regret churning in his stomach. They had a kid. And he didn’t even question it.

No, he didn’t want to question it.  Because it was easier to stay ignorant.

Takumi flinches, knocked out of his spiral by the weight of Hiruko’s hand on his shoulder. She looks… softer, somehow.

“I think…” She pauses. “I think that the fact that you’re thinking about it is commendable. If you wish to truly bring peace to this planet, then at the very least, remembering the names of the heroes is… a good start..”

“Hiruko…” He smiles, and she finally matches him with one of her own… albeit, a shaky imitation.

Then he frowns, looking closer at a wet patch in the center of her lip.

“Uh, Hiruko? Did you bite your lip or something? You’re… bleeding.”

Before she can respond, he hears a familiar shout from behind him, and turns to see Hiruko limping closer, clutching her stomach as red drips between her fingers.

It takes him all too long to realize the discrepancy, and where he’d seen that exact shade of starry, ink-black fluid before.

Takumi wakes up with a splitting headache and blaring klaxons digging knives into his skull.

He falls out of his bed with a yelp, an embarrassing whimper escaping his lips as the back of his head thumps into the floor and the pain there gets even worse. It’s less knife and more chainsaw.

He allows himself a quick, 30 second break to curse everything he knows, and then forces himself to his feet, shoving on his sneakers and making a mad dash for the War Room. Slamming the doors open, he breathes a sigh of relief. They’re not gone just yet.

“T-Takumi?” Nozomi brightens at his appearance, and he feels his face settling into an easy smile in return.

Takemaru grins. “Shit, man, you’re up! We thought you’d be out for a lot longer with how that commander knocked your lights out.”

“K-knocked my lights out…?”

The rest of the SDU clarifies, in a stilted recollection. The shape-shifting commander had ambushed and impersonated Hiruko to get close to him, apparently in search of the box they’d left behind at the school. When it couldn’t find it on either of them, it decided to cut its losses, knock Takumi out, and take its leave.

“You’re lucky that Miss Shizuhara got there in time, Mr Sumino. If that commander had been just a bit faster…” Ima winces. “Well, it’s best that you be more cautious in the future.”

He can’t bring himself to respond.

It wasn’t slow. It was just… talking. It was impersonating Hiruko, but…

The phantom warmth of a hand clasps over his shoulder, and that shaky smile comes to mind; so unlike Hiruko, with all her pragmatic confidence.

Was… was that really an act? What it said about the heroes, too?

“We don’t have all day to wait around for you, Sumino.” He jumps, and Sirei flashes him a dark smile. “And if you’re still feeling soft around the edges from your nap… a little revenge should wake you up, hm?” The robot points towards the screen, and his blood runs cold.

On the monitors, slowly approaching within a group of invaders that seep through the Wall of Fire, is him.

The commander’s his spitting image.

Gaku squirms. “H-hey, are we sure we got the right Takumi? They look like freaking twins!”

“I’ll thank you not to imply that I’d be fooled by such a pitiful imitation.”

Takumi almost reminds Hiruko that she’d already fallen for it once, but the scathing glare she shoots his way dissuades him.

She flicks out her hand, summoning her battleaxe in a swirl of cryptoglobin. “And besides, regardless of what they look like, they’ll bleed all the same. We’ve killed so many at this point that hesitating just because they look like us would be nothing less than pathetic!”

The rest of the students murmur agreement, sortieing out to the corners of the schoolyard to deal with the lesser invaders, and Takumi stands there, facing down himself and feeling sicker and sicker.

They really have killed so many of them. There’s hardly any commanders left from his original timeline. In fact… the one in front of him is the last, aside from the Supreme Commander. The last obstacle in the way of their happy ending.

Hiruko’s voice buzzes through his communicator. “We’ll leave the commander to you, Takumi. You’d know your fighting style best, after all.”

Takumi mumbles something vaguely affirmative, and takes a step towards himself. It mirrors it.

They’re 10 paces apart when they break into a sprint, as if they’d heard an invisible bell. And when they clash together in a shower of blue sparks, he can’t tell if the pounding in his heart is because of the idea of killing himself, or because of the idea of killing them.

“I suppose ending the war without bloodshed was just a pretty ideal?”

He’s struck dumb for a second, and his copy takes the chance to break the clash and jump backwards.

D-do I really sound like that?

“That doesn’t… you’re attacking us! You can’t seriously expect us to just lay down and die, right?”

“I don’t expect anything from you.” It lowers its sword, letting it scrape through the packed dirt of the Schoolyard as it circles him slowly. “Except to continue trampling the dignity of my people.”

Takumi takes the opposite rotation, keeping his katana low and balanced, ready to spring away if the commander decides to close the distance. “It sounded like you were expecting something from me back in the gallery.

It winces, and he takes a half-step closer in the interval.

“I was somewhat impressed that you remembered the names of the heroes… but that means nothing in the face of the atrocities you’ve committed. Keeping record of the hope you steal from us is no better than taking it in the first place.”

The copy leans forwards, its eyes boring into his own as it gradually closes the circle.

“How can you criticize us for ‘atrocities’ that we didn’t even do? We’re not the ones who bombed the planet, we just got sent here to defend the school!”

“And now you simply perpetuate your predecessors.. Should I congratulate you on your blind obedience?”

Takumi’s stomach twists, and his copy grins, closing the distance in a flash and sweeping a shower of azure sparks from the ground. He manages to swing his blade up into a hasty guard, hissing as the white-hot shrapnel burns through his gloves, but he’s off balance, and the commander presses their advantage.

It launches a furious assault, sweeping low to cut his legs, swinging high to try to gouge out his eyes, and it’s all Takumi can do to keep up with it as his muscles burn with tension. Every clash makes his heart drop, every step they take together forcing a staccato heartbeat into his ears. Blood starts to run down the heat scar on his forehead, dripping into his eyes, and with a single blink he’s behind their tempo, gritting his teeth as it forces him to his knees.

His grip slips, and its blade jumps forwards before he reasserts himself. “This brings me no pleasure, child of the stars. The hope that the boxes will bring… I cannot entrust it to the will of an invader, even one with ideals such as yours.” If he can take some solace in anything, it’s that the commander genuinely doesn’t look happy to do this.

It’s not especially comforting considering that it’s still wearing his face, but Takumi’s about to get his throat slit. He’ll take whatever he can get.

It presses closer, and closer, sweat stinging his wound as more dripping blood tints his vision with a rime of red.

He wants to say something. Something poignant, or quippy, or literally anything that might change the commander’s mind. But the only thing he can think about is how Eva looked when she was about to die.

Tears ran down her face, mixing with her wounds as she sniffled and sobbed, and he killed her. Even if Kako was the one who struck the final blow… he’d ordered it. He’d made the call. Regrets didn’t change a thing.

Maybe this was just karma taking its due.

Takumi’s grip slips from the hilt of his katana, and he closes his eyes… only to open them in shock as a spray of sticky wetness coats his face.

His clone falls back with a screech, holding a weeping wound on the right half of its face before it yanks its hands away, hissing as bubbling blackness and crimson eyes surge to cover the wound. Two people flank him on each side to haul him to his feet, and the rest of the SDU pounces, a veritable fountain of bullets and blades erupting and spraying down his copy.

It puts up a decent fight, all things considered. After fending off Hiruko and Takemaru’s weapons, it even manages to zig-zag through Tsubasa’s suppressing fire and make an attempt to cut down Kako as she cradles her overheated rifle. It’s slashed through by Ima’s razor-sharp wing before it can get far, and soon enough it’s on its knees, glittering crimson falling away from it as the mimicry fades. It’s almost strange to see its mask instead of his own face.

Gaku unhooks his minigun, tubes falling away from anemic skin as he groans. “God, that thing was a pain.” He turns back towards Takumi. “Hey man, you okay? You haven’t moved a muscle since we got that thing off of you.”

“I’ll thank you not to attribute my dear sister’s success to your own, Mr. Maruko. She was the one who hit the commander when it had Mr. Sumino in such a bind!”

“I-It was a team effort! You can’t let Kako take all the credit, dude!”

He can hardly hear the resulting bickering. Even kneeling in the dirt, it’s like the commander in front of him has taken up the whole world. He can see how Kako’s efforts pierced a hole through their strange mask, revealing a thoroughly ruined eye surrounded by a vicious burn, slowly weeping red. He thinks of Eva again, and a pang of regret passes through him.

“Takumi?”

He jolts, Hiruko sliding into view.

“It’s your call, team leader. Nobody will begrudge you wanting some revenge for your impersonation.”

Takumi looks back down at the commander, something cold and resigned looking back at him. Eva didn’t look like this. She never had this acceptance, the silent pride of someone who refused to beg to change their fate.

He didn’t know if the commander begging would make it better or worse.

Takumi looks up, meeting the eyes of everyone around him before wiping his forehead, cleaning blood from his eyes.

“L-let’s… let’s take this one prisoner.”

There’s an immediate uproar, and he waves his hands to get everyone to quiet down. “For intel! They’re already beaten, and they had one of the boxes back at the gallery. We have no idea where they might have hid it, so… I don’t think killing them is the right play. We can at least get the location out of them, and then…”

He almost wants to look back down, but he knows that if he sees the commander’s eye again he’ll get dragged into staring. “...Then, we can see how things work out.”

Hiruko stares at him, making him sweat, before sighing. “Well, I won’t disagree with our Team Leader. We have the cages in the Courtyard, so holding another prisoner shouldn’t be an issue.”

Sirei scoffs, the sound ringing through their buzzing communicators. “It’s a big issue! This is supposed to be a school, not a detainment center! But… if you can really get any info about the boxes out of it, I’ll let it slide.”

Everyone slowly accepts that, lowering their weapons and trudging back to the school. Kako lingers the longest, staring at the commander with something unreadable in her eyes, but eventually goes back. Takumi’s the last one there, and despite himself, he has to look down again.

He watches the commander stare at the school, the uncertainty from the gallery returned in full force.

Before she can catch his gaze, he turns away as Sirei’s buzzing drones approach, lifting her up and to the academy.

He doesn’t want her to see what’s in his eyes just as much as he doesn’t want to see what’s in hers.

Takumi doesn’t sleep very well that night.

The wrapped wound on his forehead isn’t exactly helping, since he didn’t take up Sirei on his suggestion to die and let the Revive-O-Matic fix him up, but the problem isn’t physical. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees the commander’s looking back at him. Feels the burning flesh around his own eye, the twisting, twitching sensation of otherworldly flesh spreading over it-

He rolls out of bed in a cold sweat, his chest constricting. He stumbles out the door, sucking in deep breaths of the cool nighttime air, but it doesn’t help. He still can’t breathe. He feels like he’s stuck, like the sky is pressing down on him as he scrambles to the roof’s door to get into the school proper.

He feels a little better, then, but not by much. Being down here helps, though. And even the thought of going back to his room, back to the heavy, constricting press of his sheets and that darkened sky… it makes him sick.

He’s practically on autopilot as he wanders through the halls, peeking into empty rooms and feeling the squeeze in his chest loosen as he takes in the calming silence.

It was probably inevitable for him to show up there eventually, but he still hesitates at the Courtyard’s doors.

I’m just going to… look. I just want to see whether they’re asleep, and then I’ll go to bed.

He pushes through, tension bleeding from his muscles at the rush of warm air, and freezes.
Eito was just as static as ever, a lump of blankets with the slightest fringe of white poking out. But the commander was already up.

And it was staring straight at him.

“Um.” Takumi fidgets, the single-eyed stare somehow more threatening than their grotesque mask.

“I was just going to… I couldn’t sleep, and I wanted to take a walk, so…” He trails off, the commander’s glare unchanging.

“I-I should just… uh, I should just go. I won’t wake you up again.” He starts to turn back, only for a sharp, muffled word to make him freeze.

“No.”

“H-huh?”

The glare eases slightly. “You did not wake me. I was just restless.”

“Oh.” He frowns. “Wait, but then why were you looking at the door when I came in?”

“All living beings yearn for freedom. Do you think me except from that?”

Takumi stammers for a bit, fumbling for a response, and he has the vaguest impression that she’s smirking under her mask.

“...Whatever. I don't even know why I came here. It’s not like you can break out without your hemoanima.” Despite his words, he finds himself taking a seat on a nearby bench, matching the commander as their legs hang off the edge of their cot.

“My what?”

He almost thinks she’s playing dumb, but she sounds genuinely confused.

“Your… your hemoanima. What you use to transform?” She’s still staring at him before she snaps her fingers.

“Oh, that. You mean our divine blood. Cryptoglobin.” She nearly snarls the last word. “Of course you invaders would even label our blood with your own names.”

He frowns. “You don’t sound too happy about using cryptoglobin as a name either.”

“Because our blood is divine! To call it by that name, to steal from the faith we hold in our heroes and put it in the hands of those abominations of science… it’s nothing more than blasphemy! Cryptoglobin, hemoanima… it’s all the same! Sacrilege against the will of the people, against the will of the planet itself!”

She’d leapt to their feet during the monologue, and Takumi finds himself more than a little unsettled at her sudan fervor. “If you’re a hero, can’t you just change the name if you don’t like it?”

She clicks her tongue, sharp and derisive. “If I could have, I would have. But not all of us are the same caliber of hero. Not compared to… her. Even if calling her a hero is an insult to the gods themselves.”

“You’re talking about the Supreme Commander, right?”

“Who else?” She kicks off of the bed, pacing around the tight confines of her cage. “She forces us to bring those filthy, sinful battle pets, she cannibalizes the divine blood of the heroes when you defeat them… I’m sure she was watching that battle and waiting for me to fail. I thank God that she never got the chance to consume me.” At that, she pauses, her steps slowing as she turns to meet Takumi’s gaze with newly accusing eyes. “...Though I suppose that my fate here is to be cannibalized as well. …From one butcher to another.”

Takumi gags. “W-we’re not going to absorb you! We just need to find out where the boxes are, and then-”

“Then you’ll let me go? Really? I find that unlikely.” She sits back down, legs crossed primly over the side of her cot. “Regardless of whatever techniques you use to solicit information from me, I won’t be able to tell you where I’ve hidden my box. And when you tire of trying, you’ll kill me and be done with it. But, a word of advice?”

He stays silent, and she takes the cue to continue. “When I die here, and you consume me to continue your quest for the boxes? God will curse you. God will exact retribution in my place, and your path will end in blood.”

A chill goes down his spine at the words, at the finality of her promise, and he steps back from the cage almost unconsciously.

She barks out a cruel laugh at his fear, and he almost leaves the Courtyard right then and there. But before he does, he digs his feet in place.

“Y-you’re wrong.”

“Hm?”

“I… I won’t believe that there’s only one way for this to end. I can’t. There… there’s a better way, a way that doesn’t need any more bloodshed. There has to be.”

She scoffs. “And, again, what would that way be? Is it anything more than an ideal?”

He stares down at his feet. “I don’t know. But…” His head raises, something burning in his chest. “That doesn’t mean I want to stop looking for it.”

The commander goes silent for a long while, until without a word, she lies back down, rolling onto her side and facing away from him.

He takes the cue to leave.

But as he walks out of the Courtyard, he can’t help but hope that the flash of understanding, of belief in her eye… that it isn’t something he just imagined.

“I hope I don’t need to remind you of the consequences of noncompliance.”

The commander remains stubbornly silent, staring up at Hiruko. The girl turns to Takumi, a ‘what did I tell you’ look on her face.

Takemaru doesn’t stop at looking. “This is a fuckin’ waste of time. They’re not gonna tell us shit if it’s going to lose them the box.”

Takumi coughs. “W-well, we can at least try to convince them for a bit longer, right?”

“Yeah, if we want to waste time. The longer this one holds out, the less time we’re spending looking for them, and the more chances that V’ehxness chick has to take em’ for herself. It’s a waste.”

This isn’t going exactly how I thought it would.

“We’re already splitting up the teams for exploration and defense, right? Since the defenders are staying behind, we can just have one of them carry out the interrogation while everyone else keeps looking. No wasted time.”

Hiruko frowns. “But that begs the question of who’ll carry it out. I don’t expect any of us to conduct a seasoned interrogation aside from Yugamu, and considering your bleeding heart…” She smirks at the revulsion on his face. “There’s no chance of that happening.”

They stand there for a while, silence filling the courtyard, before Takumi lights up, leaning in to whisper into their little huddle.

“I’ll stay behind.”

They look at him askance, and he quickly clarifies. “I’ll swap with someone who’s on the defense team, and I’ll try to talk her into telling us where the box is. I already spared her once, so…” He feels somewhat sick even saying it, but he swallows it down. “She probably feels like she owes me, even a little bit. That’s a better starting point than anyone else.”

They still look fairly skeptical. But soon Takemaru grunts, scratching his head.

“Well, whatever. I guess I can’t stop you if you wanna try. And not having to look for a box would make shit a lot easier.”

Hiruko hums lightly. “I’ll defer to our team leader, just as I always have. But at least try to interrogate her somewhat seriously. Being softhearted won’t be nearly as positive a quality here.”

He doesn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult.

Both of them filter out of the Courtyard, promising to tell Yugamu about the team shift, and he turns back to the cage.

She’s staring at him. Great.

He takes a seat on a nearby bench, crosses his legs and stares right back. If she wants to play the waiting game, he’s got more than enough time.

A minute passes, then another, and another. It takes about seven minutes for Takumi to realize that this is probably the stupidest idea he’s ever had.

Thankfully, it only takes eight for the commander to crack.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“…No?” He’s a bit flustered after the silence, and at the chiding tone to her words. “Why, worried I’ll get you to spill where you’re hiding the box?”

Her single visible eye rolls. Somehow, it’s even more mocking than if he could see both. “Hardly. But you’re in a war. Can you really afford to waste time on a useless interrogation?”

“If we find out where your box is, I wouldn’t call it useless.”

“I think you’re ignoring how big of an if that is.”

This is going nowhere.

He sighs, taking a look around the Courtyard in search of inspiration. Flowers, grass, ornate statues, Eito’s unmoving shape in the other cage. (seriously, he should probably check on him at some point.)

Takumi finally locks onto the central fountain and turns back to the watchful commander.

“What do you do? Like… outside of the war?”

She actually seems shocked for a second.

“…That’s quite a transparent attempt to build rapport, don’t you think?”

”It’s not that.” He can practically feel the disbelief radiating from her, and coughs. “W-well, not entirely that. I’m also kind of curious. I’ve never really gotten the chance to speak to a commander before.”

“And who’s fault is that?” 

He winces, but she moves on quickly.

“…I don’t think that there’s much to say.“

“You don’t have any hobbies?”

She scoffs. “We’re at war. I don’t exactly have much free time to think about them.”

The commander taps a prong on her mask, a repetitive, metallic tink echoing around the Courtyard. Then, she speaks, almost hesitant. “…On the rare occasion that I have time to myself, I tend to read.“

Takumi brightens. He’s not much of a reader, aside from manga, but this is at least something to talk about. “T-that’s interesting. What kind of stuff do you read?”

“Literature is difficult to come by, given the state of the planet. …But I prefer historical texts.”

“Oh.”

She tilts her head. “Is there something wrong with that?”

Takumi waves his hands wildly to dissuade her. “N-no! It just…” His eyes drift over to the other cage, and it’s unmoving occupant. “…just reminded me of something.”

Takumi’s lost in thought for a while, staring at the cage, so it comes as a surprise when the commander speaks up.

“And you?”

“H-huh?”

She lets out a long-suffering sigh. “What do you do in your spare time? Aside from wanton colonization, that is.”

He chooses to ignore the second part. “Oh, I usually…” He pauses. “Um.”

“…This can’t be that difficult of a question.”

“Y-you just caught me off guard! I like to…” He squirms under her gaze, wracking his brain for any of his… hobbies? Back in the TRC, he spent hours watching movies or just exploring the nooks and crannies of the complex with Karua. She’d always gotten lost, and he’d always have to ferry her home with her clinging to his arm. But outside of her, it’s strangely fuzzy. He had hobbies, obviously. What kind of person didn’t have anything they liked? But ever since coming here, it feels like all he does is prepare for defensive battles and sleep. Wandering around the school, looking at all the talents and quirks of the other SDU members… honestly, it makes him a little jealous, even if some of them freak him out. That’s probably why he spends all his time plying them with gifts.

“I guess… I like giving things to people?”

“W-wha- that’s not a hobby. What? I mean something that makes you happy.” She props her head under her chin. “I’m starting to think that you sparing me was less of an act of mercy and more of one of your eccentricities.”

“Please don’t slander me like that.” Takumi sighs, eyes flicking back to the fountain before brightening. “Oh! I like water! L-like… swimming, and sea creatures and stuff. I’ve always liked it. There’s some fish in the Cafeteria that I named, and-” He cuts himself off, blushing at the bemusement that radiates from her posture. “...That’s probably not much better, huh?”

“Hm.” She makes a noncommittal sound, turning away. “It’s an improvement, I suppose.”

Takumi gets the feeling she doesn’t want to talk anymore, so he pops up from his seat with a groan. It’s fine; he’s run dry on any new conversation topics. He turns away, ready to leave the courtyard and find something else to occupy his time, when he pauses, thinking.

“Hey…” She doesn’t respond, aside from a nearly imperceptible shift in her posture, but he presses forwards. “What’s your name, anyways? I can’t keep calling you ‘the commander’.”

She’s silent for so long that he almost thinks she's giving him the same silent treatment she gave to Hiruko.

“...Zen’ta.”

“Zen’ta?” He waits, hoping she’ll ask his name, or at least correct his pronunciation, before sighing again. “Well, you didn’t ask, but it’s Takumi. Takumi Sumino.”

“Hm.”

Great interrogation.

Takumi walks away at that, shoving his hands in his front pocket as he goes.

He can almost feel the prickle of a watchful eye on his back… but he doesn’t give in to the urge to turn.

He falls into a strange rhythm before long. Wake up, eat something from the Cafeteria, then slip away to the Courtyard. Sometimes he manages to strike up a conversation with Zen’ta—whether it’s about family (a grandfather), friends (none, really—she was never close to the other heroes), or just… ridiculous things, like their favorite foods (a strange, citrusy fruit that sounds vaguely like an orange). Other times, though, they just sit there. It’s never an uncomfortable silence. Honestly, it’s pretty relaxing just being able to slow down from the frantic search for the boxes and detach from everything.

He’s probably not doing a very good job of interrogating her, but he’s got the rapport building down to a science… hopefully.

It’s Day 62 when he finally touches on something slightly more vital.

“Can I ask you something about your mask?”

She raises a hand to it, brushing against a metallic prong. “...What about it?”

“I mean…” He pauses, thinking back. “I know that your masks are all super important to you. And that you’re not supposed to take them off unless you’re surrendering. But why do they all look like that?”

“…Like what?” Oops. She doesn’t sound happy.

“…Weird?”

Zen’ta’s eye narrows, and he squirms under her gaze until she finally relents, sighing.

“Well, at least you didn’t say ‘creepy’.”

Takumi thoughtfully refrains from mentioning that that was the first thing that came to mind.

“Our masks are an extension of us. From the day we’re old enough to understand our duties, we construct them and only take them off in close company. It looks ‘weird’ because it’s what I prefer.” He must look curious, since she sighs again. “…It’s a deer. They symbolize wisdom, intuition…“ She reaches up, tapping a spike-er, antler. “And I like how they look.”

“Huh. Wait, so… did you make it before or after you got your cryptoglobin?”

“Divine blood.” She hisses, before settling back on her cot. ”And after. All of the chosen receive the blessing when we’re born. Why?”

“I was just wondering whether you picked your name then, too. T-the Paragon one, not your actual name.”

She shrinks visibly.

“...Is something wrong?”

For the first time since the day they captured her, she seems almost hesitant to continue.  “...I did not choose my name. It was chosen for me.”

He doesn’t press her on it. He just waits, and soon enough, she continues. “All of the Paragons are foretold by oracles well before their births. I was no different. I… I was the Paragon of Harmony before I even became myself.”

Takumi doesn’t know what to say.

“…I’m sorry.”

She scoffs. “Your sympathy is misplaced. I have no desire to be anything but Harmony. As long as it serves God, I am content.”

He frowns. “But how does that even serve God?” The word feels strange on his tongue. “I get the point of Reverie, or Charity, but… what does impersonation have to do with Harmony?”

“Do you think I haven’t thought of that before, you-!” She stops cold, towering over Takumi as he hangs nearly off of the bench, having scrambled backwards at her sudden outburst. They stare at each other, Takumi’s heart pounding like a drum in his chest, before Zen’ta sits back down and folds her hands in her lap.

“Apologies. I simply intended to say that it is a question that has plagued me for quite some time.” There’s something brittle in her voice.

“I-I…” He gulps, but leans forwards. “If you want to talk about it, then-“

“I don’t.” 

He raises his hands in surrender and drops it. Unfortunately, she’s still not in the mood to talk, and the rest of his questions are met with stony silence.

He decides to cut his losses and try again tomorrow. Takumi rises, turning to the door with a silent wave goodbye, and he’s halfway across the courtyard when a voice stops him.

“Wait.”

He turns, and he flinches slightly to see Zen’ta grasping the bars tightly. 

“Could you bring… something to read, tomorrow? …I can only sleep so much when I’m not being questioned.”

Takumi beams.

“Sure! I’ll grab something historical from the Library on my way here!” He heads out of the Courtyard with a spring in his step, nearly slamming into someone on his way out.

“Sorry!” He twists, ready to levy a hasty apology and get moving, only to freeze.

Yugamu looks back at him, a smirk slowly spreading over his face.

“You’re in a good mood, Takumi. Did the interrogation go that well?”

“I-Interrogation…?” In a flash, he squares his expression. “U-um. It’s going alright, I guess. She still hasn’t told me where the box is, but she’s opening up.”

He claps his hands lightly, grinning. “Impressive! Nobody would know you were a total novice to the ins and outs of information gathering. I don’t even think I would have been able to get a prisoner to trust me that quickly.”

“…Then again…” He checks a nail, before turning his sharp eyes to Takumi. “I also wouldn’t be smiling like that.”

Takumi forces a shaky smile. “T-that was just… she almost let something slip about the location, and I was excited.”

“Oh? That’s great news! Then… you wouldn’t mind if I let everyone know how close you’re getting, right?”

He blanches, and Yugamu clicks his tongue chidingly. “As I thought. I don’t know what you’re doing with the prisoner, but… I’d advise you to take this a little more seriously. We’re on opposite sides of a war.”

The assassin sighs, low and melancholy. “No matter how much pity you feel for her situation, or for whatever she might have said, this battle will only end when one of us is dead. They’ve already taken Kyoshika from us, and your friend, Darumi. There’s no peaceful solution to this.”

He almost gags at the names, guilt lying like a lead weight in his stomach.

“...I hope you’ll take that into consideration, at least.” Yugamu walks away, looking more subdued than he’s ever seen him, but Takumi can’t bring himself to think about it.

He hasn’t forgotten about Darumi and Kyoshika. How could he? His decisions were what caused their deaths when they’d survived in his original timeline. But it was easier to distract himself, to focus on anything other than confronting his guilt.

If he can’t forget about everything weighing him down, then how is he supposed to avoid being crushed by his regrets entirely?

Sleep doesn’t help. He tosses and turns all night, to the point where he even considers going to see Zen’ta again. But Yugamu’s words ring in his ears, and he resolves himself to a night of bad memories.

The morning of Day 63, he asks Shouma to take over the commander’s breakfast duties, and for the first time, he notices the suspicion in the boy’s eyes. He still lets him do it with only a minimum of self-deprecation, but it’s worrying.

Has everyone been looking at him like this? Giving him sideways glances while he waltzed off to chat with a commander about useless trivia? He’s their leader, and he can’t even muster up the courage to do what’s necessary for the world. What's necessary for all of humanity.

He’s pathetic.

“...You’re staring.”

Takumi blinks, Zen’ta coming into focus as she clasps half of an egg between her chopsticks.

“S-sorry.” He turns away, staring at the other side of the courtyard before a sigh and the light clunk of the sticks clattering against plastic drag his attention back.

“If you keep moping like this, I’ll lose my appetite,” she hisses.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m just… thinking.”

“An unusual feat, I’m sure.”

He turns back, scowling. “Okay, what’s the deal? You’re not usually this snippy.”

“Maybe I’m just reacting to my environment.”

Takumi gives her a deadpan stare.

“...Fine. I don’t enjoy eating in front of you.”

“What? Why?”

She sighs. “I thought you already knew that our masks aren’t supposed to be removed outside of surrender.”

“Yeah, I knew that. But what does it have to do with you eating now? You’ve still got your mask on-” He takes a closer look, and for the first time notices the bottom half of her mask is split, a gap for her mouth opened to let her eat. “Oh. Wait, you’re upset about that? There’s barely any skin visible!”

“It doesn’t matter how much skin it is. It’s a matter of faith, of belief! It’s taboo to reveal your face to outsiders when you haven’t surrendered.”

He’d try to refute that, but there’s something strangely distracting about actually being able to see her lips as she talks, and he completely loses his train of thought.

“...You’re staring again.” This time she covers her mouth with a hand.

“I-It’s-!” Takumi sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. It’s too early for this. “Nevermind. I won’t stick around, if it bothers you that much. I really just wanted to give you these.” He reaches down to his feet, grabbing his bag and unloading six books in total. “‘History’ is pretty vague, so I just grabbed whatever seemed interesting.” That meant basically anything that wasn’t the History of Humanity. He didn’t need a second Eito running around.

He slips them through the bars one by one, trying to ignore the brush of Zen’ta’s gloved fingers over his own as they pass into her grip, and eventually, a respectable pile is stacked in the center of the cage.

She traces the cover of one of them; something about the history of flight before humanity was forced into the Complex, and smiles. Something bright, and earnest, and entirely disarming without her mask.

“...Thank you, Takumi.”

He still feels a little sick, a little uncertain about the future.

But as he finds it in him to smile back… he feels like his doubts and insecurities are slipping away. Like as long as he has this one moment… he might feel a little better about wherever he ends up.

Sirei’s found destroyed the next morning, sliced into bits and stuffed into a trashcan. Takumi feels more than a little deja-vu, but not much sympathy.

The other discoveries are much more concerning.

“W-whaddya mean, he escaped?!”

Kurara twists towards Gaku, spitting venom. “Can’t you use your eyes, you lowborn halfwit? The cage is obviously empty!”

Ima steps towards the cage, frowning. “But how could he have broken out? The cages inhibited hemoanima, and there’s no damage to the lock.” Kako brightens at that.

“Maybe he had a hidden trapdoor in the floor! And when Takumi locked him up, he used subliminal messaging to get him to stick him in the right cage so that he could break out later!”

Hiruko clacks her heel against a tile, silencing the mob. “It doesn’t matter how he escaped. What matters is that he did. There’s a fire extinguisher missing, so he’s likely far past the Wall of Fire by this point. Pursuing him, or his accomplice, would be a waste of time.”

At that, everyone turns towards the cage, and Takumi feels eyes boring into his back. He hadn’t even bothered looking at Eito’s cage. He’d rushed over to Zen’ta’s, heedless of how it might have looked, and felt his heart drop. She was gone.

He didn’t have any doubts that she’d be able to fight Eito off if he tried what he did with Eva in his first timeline… but the fact that she’d left at all hurt a bit. It was ridiculous; if she’d stayed, eventually someone would have asked about his lack of progress and called for her execution. But still, he would have… liked to talk to her for a bit longer. His eyes flick down, to the stack of books now scattered over the floor, and he smiles.

It’s a little smaller than it was yesterday.

“Congratulations, Takumi.”

It takes him a bit to realize that whoever it is is talking to him, and he turns to see Kurara’s burning glare.

“H-huh?”

“Your little commander friend got away without a scratch! So, congratulations! You wasted a ton of time on nothing, and now that psycho and another commander are on the loose. Congrats.”

Takemaru growls. “Hey, lay off him! Nobody knew Eito was gonna get out! And besides, it wasn’t a waste. He spent all that time interrogating her, so he’s probably got where the next box is! Right, man?” He turns to Takumi, and his stomach turns at the faith in his eyes.

He’s silent for too long, and Takemaru’s encouraging grin falters. “...You got the location, right?”

“...N-no, I-” He’s drowned out by a collective groan, and he waves his hands, trying to regain control of the conversation. “-I didn’t find out where the box was, but it wasn’t pointless! I… I found out other stuff!”

Gaku groans. “What could be more important than where a box is, dude?”

He can’t respond.

Soon, Kurara turns away, clicking her tongue. “Like I said, useless.”

Takumi shrinks at the word, and soon everyone filters out of the Courtyard, their accusing glares digging into him like knives. By the time he manages to pry his eyes from the dirt, there’s only one person left.

And it’s not who he’d hoped it’d be.

“Yugamu, what… what are you doing here?”

The boy stares at him, his ever-present smirk strangely absent, before he smiles, slow and genuine.

“I get it.”

Takumi just stares back.

“...Get what?”

“I get… doing whatever you need to do for someone you care about. I’ve seen some weird pairings in my line of work, you know. If someone makes you happy, if they’re someone you can trust… I don’t think any of us have the right to get in the way of that. And I, especially, won’t judge.” Then he shrugs, slow and casual. “But what do I know? Maybe I’m totally off base.”

“But by the looks of it…” He smirks, tapping his cheek. “I’m right on the mark, huh?”

Takumi turns to the cage, checking his reflection in the dark metal. He’s… blushing.

“T-this isn’t what it-”

“Hey, I said I wouldn’t judge!”

The search for the boxes continues, albeit in a much more subdued manner. The rest of the SDU isn’t especially talkative, aside from levying snide comments about his allegiances that he can’t exactly defend himself from.

It’s fine. It’s less than he deserves for deceiving all of them, so he’s just grateful it doesn’t go past spiteful remarks.

But… how did it come to this?

Takumi pants, barely holding himself up with his sword as his vision swims.

Golden light is washing over the Schoolyard, and the SDU is being demolished by a commander he’s never even seen before.

He watches, aghast, as Moko’s dragged by her flails‘ chain and flung across the battlefield, crumpling into a limp pile. A drone comes out to pick her up soon enough, but it still makes his heart drop. They’re down another fighter, and-

“-W-we haven’t put a fuckin’ scratch on him!”  Takemaru’s voice bellows through the communicator.

“We just… we just have to keep fighting.” Hiruko sounds more exhausted than he’s ever heard her. “We don’t have a choice. We’re so close… if we fall here, then…”

Then it’s the end. Of everything.

Takumi forces himself to his feet, and sees the stragglers of the SDU stepping up as well. It doesn’t matter if their enemy’s impenetrable. They have to do this. Giving up isn’t an option, not when they’ve gotten this close to their happy ending. He raises his blade, ready to rush in for the final time, when the commander tents its wings and disappears in a cloud of inky black smoke.

What?

He shares looks of disbelief with the other students, but before they can get any closer, a figure walks out of the smoke, tall and imposing.

“…I see.”

The commander leaves it at that, just standing there and staring at them. It doesn’t do anything to dispel the aura of pure killing intent, though.

Hiruko’s the first to find her words, clenching her axe in a white-knuckle grip. “…See what?”

The commander only tilts his head. “I’m an old-fashioned man. I need to fight someone to know what they’re about. And now… I know you.”

“Your determination.” His mask swivels to Takemaru.

“Your perseverance.” It turns back to Hiruko.

“And your ideals.” He finally turns to Takumi, and he tries not to shrink under the weight of his gaze.

“You fight to survive. But more importantly, you fight to live. To thrive.” He chuckles lightly. “I am… glad, that I chose to listen to that girl when she approached me.”

At that, Takumi‘s fatigue fades, and he steps forward. “W-wait! You don’t mean…?”

“You know exactly who I speak of, boy.”

A warm feeling spreads through Takumi’s chest.

She’s looking out for me even out there, huh?

“There is no need to prolong this battle. You will not see me again.” The commander raises his hand to his throat, ready to transform. “Find the rest of the boxes, and inherit the will of the planet. After this… I have no doubt that you will make the right decision for all-“

He’s cut off by the heavy shunk of a blade sliding into meat.

There’s a familiar, razor-sharp sword protruding from his chest, and in a flash, a swirl of cryptoglobin seeps from the wound and travels down the length of the blade, into…

“V’ehxness!” Takumi spits.

She doesn’t seem to notice. She stares down at the commander’s mummified corpse, uncertainty turning to sheer disgust.

“To give up against these vile invaders… to entrust the will of Futurum to them? You… you confound me to the end, Dahl’xia.”

She kicks the body, the ribcage caving in with a sickening crunch.

Tsubasa gags, clutching her mouth. “H-how could you? H-he was on your side!”

She levies a withering glare at the girl. “Be silent. As soon as he surrendered to you, he was of no use to my greatness. He was an obstacle. And soon…” She grins, hefting a pile in her free hand. “No one will stand in my way.”

T-the boxes?! How?

“While you were distracted by that doddering old fool, I took what was rightfully mine. So enjoy your last few days alive! I’ll reclaim the last of the boxes, and annihilate every one of you filthy invaders. And when there is nobody left to stand in my way…”

“I will truly become a god.”

She strides away, cackling, and nobody can muster the strength to stop her.

The mood in the War Room is somber. They come back to discover Nigou cleaved in two, and every last one of their boxes missing. It’s the worst case scenario.

Gaku’s the first to speak up, clutching his hat with a fearful expression. “S-so… what do we even do, now? Go out and look for the last box?”

Ima frowns. “What’s the point? We can’t make a wish without all of the Boxes of Blessings. And even that’s assuming the last one isn’t a Box of Calamity.” 

“What, so we’re just supposed to wait around and get killed?!”

“I’m saying that blindly running around won’t bring us any more luck, Mr Maruko. But you’re free to walk into an early grave, if that’s your preference-“

“Shut up.” Hiruko’s voice cuts through the argument, and everyone freezes.

She sighs. “There’s an easy solution to this that you’re all missing. All we need to do is get the boxes back from her.”

“…How?” Moko’s the first to speak up. “I mean, I’m all about impossible odds, but… V’ehxness is a whole different story. She’s like the heel of all heels!”

“Then we don’t deal with V’ehxness. We just sneak in, get the boxes, and leave. There’s one left, so she’ll be out looking for that one as soon as possible. And we already know about an invader base nearby.”

Kako hesitates, then raises her hand. “But what if they’re not there?”

“That’s where you come in. If they’re there, your precognition will sense it. If they’re not, we can use the school bus to drive around until you pick up on one.”

Kako’s eyes turn starry, and Hiruko turns to the rest of the group. “We’ll need to keep the group as small as possible. The only other members will be Tsubasa… and Takumi.”

His jaw nearly drops, and the rest of the SDU are just as shocked.

“Him? You really want to trust him after that stunt he pulled with the commander we captured?” Kurara snickers. “Did your brains fall out of your skull when Dahl’xia whacked you earlier?”

Hiruko smirks. “That’s exactly what I’m counting on.” She turns to Takumi in the resulting silence, and he straightens under her probing gaze.

“If the commander that escaped hadn’t said what she did to Dahl’xia, we would have been wiped out. That’s an edge that we desperately need. If we run into her at the outpost, or anywhere near, it’s your responsibility to convince her to fight with us, or to at least lead us to wherever the Supreme Commander is keeping the boxes.”

All he can do is nod, and hope the joy blooming in his heart isn’t too obvious.

“So… what’s the deal with you and the commander?”

Takumi jolts, turning away from the bus window. “What? There’s no… there’s no ‘deal’.”

“Oh, come on.” Her eyes flick up to the driver's mirror, skeptical. “You spent all that time with her, and now Hiruko thinks you’re going to be able to convince her to fight V’ehxness? You totally weren’t just interrogating her.”

“I…” He turns to Hiruko, but her eyes are glued shut. “I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation.”

“What the heck did you do that was inappropriate?!”

“Nothing! K-keep your eyes on the road!”

She scoffs. “Nice try. I could drive this thing in my sleep. But it’s a long trip to the outpost, and I don’t want to get bored. So spill!”

He fidgets, keenly aware of her probing eyes, before sighing. “Look, it’s nothing to gossip about, okay? I just talked with her about… stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Family stuff? Or just… personal stuff, I guess. What she did in her free time, what I did in my free time, favorite foods…” He chuckles. “I guess if I found out anything, it’s that I’m a pretty boring person compared to her.”

Tsubasa’s stare softens. “She has family?”

“Well, just her grandfather, now. She hasn’t been able to see him in a while because of the war, but she used to visit him when things weren’t as critical.  She said… she said that he has this huge pile of books, and when she was a kid, it was big enough for her to bury herself in. It probably isn’t as much as the school’s Library or anything, but it’s a lot more than most Futurans have.”

He loses himself in the memory for a second, staring up at the bus’s ceiling, before Kako pops over the top of the seat.

“Is that why there were a bunch of books in her cage?”

“Yeah. She asked me for some, so I took some from the Library. And… she brought some on her way out, too.”

Kako gasps dramatically.

“Takumi… don’t you know what this means?”

I get the feeling you’ll tell me whether I know or not.

But he is kind of curious, so he shakes his head.

“She’s accepted your confession of forbidden love! The next time you meet, she’ll give the books back to you and promise to never leave your side again!”

He nearly bursts out laughing. “I-I… Kako, Zen’ta’s not the type to do… any of that. Ever. She’d probably throw them at me before trying that.”

She pouts, pulling back, and he takes a little pity on her. “But I’m not, uh…” He blushes. “…Well-versed, in this romance thing. If you want to try and figure out what she’s thinking, I can tell you some more.”

The girl beams, and he spends the rest of the drive regaling her with the details of their conversations.

Eventually, when they arrive, the base is unrecognizable. It’s totally empty, with not a single invader to be found, V’ehxness or otherwise. 

She’s probably gathering them up for the final assault, huh?

Hiruko insists they move as a group rather than split up to search, and soon enough, Kako picks up something from the base’s interior. What they find there, though, defies their expectations.

“I wasn’t expecting much, but you could have at least been a little more punctual. Waiting on filthy humans like you was almost too much to bear.”

Everyone arms themselves in bursts of crimson, pointing weapons at Eito Aotsuki as he stands there, seemingly unbothered.

“E-Eito! W-what are you doing here?”

He eyes Takumi, a slow smirk spreading over his face. “I’d thought that would be obvious, wouldn’t it? I’m here to give these to you.” He taps a bag with his foot, and Takumi’s eyes lock onto the telltale red and black of a box.

“You…” His hands tighten on the hilt of his sword, and he scowls. “Don’t screw with us. You’d never hand the boxes over to us."

“Y-yeah! Didn’t you say that you wanted to exterminate us before?” Tsubasa slowly steps back, wisps of red forming behind her as she prepares to summon her Class Weapon.

“I know, right? The thought of giving self-righteous filth like you the ability to get whatever you wish for… it makes me want to puke. But…” He grimaces. “Being like you is even worse than helping you. I won’t break a promise. And if I’m lucky… you and V’ehxness will wipe each other out, and I’ll be able to pick up the pieces and wish for whatever I please.”

Takumi freezes. “...A promise?”

“Call it what you will. A promise, a deal, a bargain… but after I broke the commander out of her cage, she agreed to get me an audience with V’ehxness to work against all of you putrid freaks.” Eito adjusts his glasses, grinning at the panic on their faces. “Oh, don’t make those abhorrent expressions. I didn’t do anything. The Futurans are just as bad as humanity in all its hideous glory. But she did keep up her end of the deal, so I had to keep up mine; to hand over the boxes to you… if you showed up, that is.” He sighs. “I was so hoping that you’d be exterminated before I had to do that, but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.”

…I guess he hasn’t changed much.

“Wait, then does that mean-” Before he can finish the words, Eito kicks the bag over to him, and he watches in shock as a pile of boxes spills out.

“Spare me your feeble floundering.” He spits. “I only had to stick around to hand it over. That’s done, so I’m taking my leave.” He saunters off with a wave, the students splitting to the edges of the hallway as he slips through them.

“Have fun! And try to take V’ehxness with you!”

They’re silent in his absence, until Hiruko leans down, staring at the discarded bag. “Kako, is what you sensed coming from these?”

The girl nods, and Hiruko hefts the bag into her hand before tossing it at Takumi, who fumbles and barely catches it.

“Mission accomplished, then.” She strides away in the same direction as Eito.

“W-wha- why’d you throw it at me?!”

“It’s the only way you could possibly contribute on this trip.”

The morning of their final fight is tense, to say the least.

“You’re sure she isn’t coming?”

Takumi turns from the monitor, wincing as he sees the disappointment in Nozomi’s eyes. “I don’t think so. Giving us the boxes was one thing, but fighting V’ehxness is another story.”

Besides, I… don’t really want Zen’ta to be here for this. Not when I’m not sure we’ll be able to beat her.

…It would be nice to hear from her, though.

After hearing about Eito’s deal with the commander, and seeing the boxes that the team had brought back, the SDU had eased up on Takumi… and by extension, Zen’ta. They still didn’t trust her, but with V’ehxness coming at any moment, even a vague hope for support was better than no hope at all.

“Have a little faith, Nozomi.” Yugamu grins, holding a small set of greenish disks. “As long as we can get her to step on these, we’ll have a chance, commander or not.”

She levies a shaky smile, one that breaks down into a grimace as alarms blare throughout the War Room.

They don’t have time for platitudes, though. It’s the end of the line, one way or another.

As one, they insert their Infusers, transform, and jump out of the school, and they're greeted by a volley of golden javelins that pierce Gaku through the throat and Ima in his back as he flies over to shield his sister from the barrage. They land, sans two of their unit as their bleeding bodies are scooped up by drones.

And at that point, looking V’ehxness’s armored form in the eyes as golden soldiers and multicolored invaders flank her, Takumi realizes that they can’t win this.

They’re so close. So heartbreakingly close, but they just can’t push her over the edge. He dashes in with Takemaru, Hiruko sweeping in to flank the commander and push her towards the gas traps Nozomi and Kurara set up. Bat and blade occupy her attention, and he almost thinks Hiruko’s going to land a crippling blow with her axe. But with a casual flick of her sword, she ripostes the two of them and backhands Hiruko viciously. Then she turns to the two girls, and before Takumi can regain his balance, sends them flying with a torrential gust of wind.

She sighs, a haunting echo added to it from her transformation. “How disappointing. I expected more of a fight, but-” She flicks out her broadsword, and Takemaru falls to his knees, blood fountaining from a gash in his throat. “-I suppose any method to ascend to my greatness is necessary.”

She’d barely broken her stride.

Takumi grips his blade, bites down on his lip hard enough to bleed. He doesn’t even bother to use his communicator; the rest of the battlefield is just as much of a disaster. Kako’s collapsed where Ima fell, a frighteningly blank expression on her face, while Shouma and Tsubasa are slowly cut down by V’ehxness’s soldiers as they try to keep her safe. Yugamu and Moko try their best to rescue Nozomi and Kurara from the sea of invaders surrounding them, but the latter is unresponsive in Nozomi’s arms.

He turns back to V’ehxness, and in the brief seconds that he’d stolen to look away from her, she’d leapt forwards to close the gap. He can’t do anything but gasp before he’s lifted into the air, her bloodsoaked blade pressed point-first into his stomach.

“You seem to be the leader of this bunch of rabble, correct?” Takumi doesn’t respond. “Well, it’s no matter. Whether you’re their leader or not… I wonder how long the rest of them will last when one of their own doesn’t come back.”

She rears back, and Takumi prays for a miracle. To break free of her grip, for someone to come to his rescue, for… anything, really.

What he gets is a burning, agonizing pain in his stomach, and an icy chill that washes over his body as she raises him higher, and higher.

His consciousness swims, and he can vaguely hear people’s voices. V’ehxness’s maniacal laughter, the cries of the surviving SDU members as they watch him slide down the length of her blade, it all fills his ears. But nothing feels worse than looking over to the side of the battlefield and seeing Nozomi’s horrorstruck face.

The role reversal is almost funny, but he doesn’t feel like laughing.

The first eddies of cryptoglobin drip down the Supreme Commander’s sword, a crimson cyclone surrounding her wrist as strength seeps out of his body.

Until an explosion of azure flame envelops him, the blade slipping out of his stomach with a sickening squelch as she falls back with a howl of pain.

Takumi freefalls, barely conscious with the blinding pain in his gut until a familiar blur of red and blue wraps around him, gently carrying him to the ground. And when he looks up… he sees himself, and smiles.

Zen’ta scowls down at him. “Wipe that look off your face.”

“I-I…” He gags wetly. “I should… s-say that to you. I-It’s… my face.”

“Shut up. Don’t attract her attention.” Despite her words, she lays him down gently and straightens, clasping her hands together.

“God of the planet… hear my plea, and lend my strength.” She steps towards V’ehxness, who’s still reeling from the burst of flame.

“Blood of my bond, release!” She jerks her fingers across her throat, a faint line of red forming and bursting into a storm of her divine blood. When it falls away, her true form takes shape; a spherical ball of inky black fluid and blood-red eyes.

V’ehxness pulses with energy, the last of the azure flames fading away in a gust of wind as she stares down the smaller commander.

“Zen’ta… so, the coward finally shows her face. Did you wish to grovel before me as you did when I defeated that fool, Dahl’xia?”

Zen’ta’s surface bubbles slowly, like a pot about to boil over. “No. I came here, on behalf of God… and on behalf of myself, to end this. You are an abomination, V’ehxness. A taboo of the highest order. Your existence is a sin, and I will rectify it.” Suddenly, she explodes, gouts of purplish fluid spewing upwards and over the battlefield, forming into countless copies of Takumi. “In my name, as the Paragon of Harmony, I will restore this planet to its rightful rule!”

The Supreme Commander grins, as much as her crystallized form allows her to. “Don’t be foolish. I am beyond taboo. But if you wish to challenge me… Then in my name, as Paragon of Hope, I shall eradicate your own!”

The vanguard of the clones charge, defending the line of Takumis in the back that charge up their blades with azure flame, ready to launch them. V’ehxness cleaves through the first wave easily enough, splattering the ground with inky black, but a few escape death in the second wave, continuing to slash wildly at the commander.

“You… nnrgh!” V’ehxness pauses to utterly annihilate a clone who slipped through her guard, slashing her leg. “You have… improved, Zen’ta. It seems you’ve found your own path to power!”

Zen’ta doesn’t respond, but her clones seem to redouble their efforts, and the first of the backline Takumis begin to launch their flames, their bodies burning up and traveling down the length of the wave to empower it.

“But you still lack perspective. And most of all, you lack… conviction.” With those fateful words, V’ehxness rears back…

And hurls her sword.

It’s seemingly suicidal. She’ll be cut to ribbons by Zen’ta’s copies if she gets rid of her weapon. So why would she do it?

And why is Zen’ta drifting in front of him as every single clone falls like a discarded puppet?

It’s not until she cries out, an echoey, agonized scream, that he realizes what happened. And he still can’t react as V’ehxness’s blade impales her, her transformation falling away in a shower of crimson sparks as she soars backwards, impacting him as he lies on the ground.

They tumble together until they reach a corner of the Schoolyard, nearly rolling into the Wall of Fire, but Takumi doesn’t have it in him to be relieved. He forces his head off of the ground, sweeping it around looking for her.

“Z-Zen’ta?”

She lets out an agonized groan, and he nearly breaks his neck whipping it in her direction.

“A-again. I l-lost… again…”

She’s in a daze, and without thinking twice, he reaches out to take her hand. Thankfully, she squeezes back… but weakly.

And with the heavy, thudding steps of someone approaching behind them, he knows they don’t have much time left.

“How sad. How pathetic. Is this what spurred you to stand against me?” A blade pierces the earth between them, and his heart nearly stops until she yanks it back out.

“In my infinite mercy… I’ll let you die before I absorb the both of you. It’s the same honor I gave to Valla-Garzo and Szanshin.”

She walks away, and Takumi feels the slightest relief before he’s wracked with fear. She’s going to kill everyone. Every single one of his friends, and there’s nothing he can do about it. He can’t even muster the strength to stand.

“S-Szanshin… they…” Zen’ta’s mumbling something incoherent, and he squeezes her hand tighter, finding nothing to say.

But with a sudden burst of strength, she tightens her grip.

“T-Takumi.”

“H-huh?”

She shuffles at his side, and he turns away from V’ehxness’s retreating form.

“D-do… do you trust me?”

There’s only one answer, really.

“Of… of course.”

He feels, more than sees her satisfaction, and with an agonized groan, she pulls herself closer to him, interlacing their fingers and reaching towards the sky.

He doesn’t ask what she’s doing. As a second swirl of divine blood surrounds them, larger than ever… he knows exactly what she’s thinking.

Takumi opens his eyes, and he’s face to face with someone he’s never seen before.

The eyes are more than enough for him, though.

Zen’ta opens her eyes, and she’s face to face with someone she’s seen entirely too much.

She doesn’t regret it, though. Not even a second.

They open their eyes, and strength floods their body. They rise, their cloak fluttering behind them and spurring them higher and higher. Sticky strands of fabric-turned fluid stake into the ground until they tower over the battlefield. Over V’ehxness, over the school, over everything.

They raise their hands, and their cloak obeys. Weapons form; razor sharp boomerangs, an oversized, four-pronged discus, a spear with lightning crackling at the tip, missiles, and two particularly deadly-looking pairs of wings, one angelic, and one skeletal.

They take it all in; the blood rushing through their body, the scent of air not choked with blood and smoke.

Then, with a flick of their hand, a bright-blue blade extends, tracing a slow circle and lighting every single weapon and appendage alight… before they descend, razing the earth with purifying flame.

“You think they’re still alive?”

“Well if we wanna know, we can’t just sit here fuckin’ around. Someone’s gotta go down there and check.”

“N-not me!”

“What are you, five?”

“Wait!”

Silence.

“T-they moved! I saw it!”

Takumi groans, barely able to twitch a muscle. Every word feels like it’s going to split his head in half. He’s grabbed by each arm, lifted up, and guided up what seems like… a huge hole?

He opens his eyes, groaning again at the searing light of the sun, before his eyes adjust, and…

“Z-Zen’ta?!”

She’s being carried by Moko and Hiruko, and he nearly squirms out of his helpers’ grips in his worry. “Zen’ta, are you-”

“Shut up.” It’s barely audible.

…At least she’s acting normal?

She shakes off the other girls, stumbling towards him. It’s a little uncharitable, but it reminds him of a baby deer.

“...You’re lucky. I’m so tired that I’m not going to hit you for that.”

Oops.

He matches her gait, both of them slowly approaching each other until, as if on cue, they fall together.

“...I can’t believe that worked.”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

She shifts, slowly. “It takes… connection, and complete trust, to initiate a fusion. I knew Szanshin and Valla-Garzo could do it. They were inseparable. But… that was a gamble.”

He’s silent for a long while, and eventually, he feels the sensation of watching eyes turn away, going back to the school. They’ll probably have to deal with their wish later, to choose whatever they want to do to remedy the situation, to fix the war they’ve been unwilling participants in. But now, he reaches out his hand, meeting Zen’ta’s halfway.

He doesn’t really want to think about anything right now.

She shuffles again, and something solid and thin is pushed into his palm. He reaches over with his free hand, grabbing it, and brings it up into his field of view. It’s… the charred spine of a book.

“I thought it would be… symbolic, to give this back. But I showed up a little behind schedule.” She sounds almost sheepish. “...I believe it still counts.”

His hand clenches around the ruined spine, and he feels a stupid grin spread over his face.

“...Kako’s going to be so happy about this.”

Takumi laughs, and laughs, and laughs even harder when Zen’ta asks who Kako is supposed to be.