She stared at the edge of paper peeking from beneath her phone case.
Pinching it between her fingers and pulling it out, the folded slip revealed, through the thin layer of paper, a string of numbers written inside.
What kind of face am I supposed to have when calling her?
The thought crossed her mind.
But there was no hesitation.
She didn’t care if she was despised.
If it meant saving his life, she’d gladly throw away something as worthless as pride.
Without a second thought, she pressed the call button and brought the phone to her ear.
This time, the woman’s cold mechanical voice, one that had rejected her again and again, didn’t come.
Instead, only the steady tone of a ringing line echoed in her ears.
Akari clutched the phone in both hands and stared at the ground, her body tense with anxiety.
The pounding of her heart thundered inside her skull, forming an unpleasant duet with the monotone electronic beeping in her ear.
Then.
The sound cut out abruptly.
In its place, she heard footsteps, feet stamping firmly against the ground.
「H-Hello?」
『Why are you outside?』
The firm, almost scolding voice jolted her, and Akari finally remembered to breathe, letting out a deep exhale.
She could feel the tension easing just a little.
『What’s happening right now? Your brother… no, where is Sazanami Aoi?』
Before Akari could even figure out how to begin explaining, the girl on the other end, Saotome Rui, cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Even though she had to be in the same battlefield, her voice was completely devoid of fear.
It was a kind of steel nerve that didn’t seem possible for someone their age.
「Ah, um, well… Aoi is… Kokujou, they’re… fighting, and then…」
『Calm down. Take your time.』
Her words tangled in her throat, thoughts colliding on their way out.
But Rui’s composed, steady encouragement grounded her, helped her force the mess of information into something coherent.
She brushed her bangs out of her eyes, stumbling here and there, but managed to explain everything to Rui.
It seemed Rui already understood Aoi’s circumstances to some degree.
Thanks to that, Akari didn’t have to fully spell out the truth about Kokujou. Rui understood, even without her finishing the details.
That Kokujou Lilia was in this town.
That within Kokujou, there was someone Aoi used to know.
And that, to save her, Aoi was about to use that forbidden power, again.
As soon as Akari finished, she could tell Rui’s footsteps had stopped.
Only the heavy sound of wind filled the silence on the other end.
「Please… I want you to be his strength.」
She forced the words out, strained, yet solid, as if to make sure they reached.
A dull sound rippled through the distance.
But it wasn’t from the phone, it was from around Akari herself.
『……Understood. Thank you for telling me.』
Hearing Rui’s response, Akari let out a deep breath.
Her whole body seemed to ease along with the tension, and the stiffness in her face relaxed naturally.
Footsteps once more echoed through the speaker, Rui had started walking again.
…Down the avenue ahead, a writhing shadow came into view.
「Don’t thank me.」
She muttered under her breath as Rui’s pace picked up audibly.
The distant, blurred silhouettes began to take on clear form.
A hulking, jet-black mass unmistakable in its identity.
Wherever it was headed… Akari was certainly in its path.
There was no doubt they had already spotted her. She could make out even the seams in the armor.
『You are in a safe place, aren’t you?』
「…Yeah, I’m fine.」
Akari forced a chuckle into the line.
She couldn’t afford to burden Rui any further.
Of course, she had no intention of dying here.
She knew the terror of being left behind in the world of the living.
If even one person still cared about her, then that was reason enough to stay alive.
With every rhythmic strike of a spear shaft, water, fire, and lightning surged like serpents.
A sinister wind crawling across the ground lifted the black hair covering one of Akari’s eyes.
「—That’s not what it looks like at all.」
Crunch.
Gravel shifted right beside her.
Akari slowly raised her head.
Brilliant blonde hair blazed under the high, cloudless sky, a banner of light allied with the sun itself.
Twin tails tied tightly danced boldly, like battle standards planted in the heart of a battlefield.
The wind blowing from behind Rui carried those tails forward, sweeping away the ominous air.
「Ah…」
It wasn’t just her imagination.
For an instant, Aoi’s face overlapped with hers.
The world seemed to return in vivid color.
Heat began to fill Akari’s body again.
And in those confident eyes, brighter than the canopy of blue overhead, burned the same unshakable resolve as his.
Leave a Reply