Intro Song: https://youtu.be/PiNdcBg3xC8 / Tomorrow Comes Today - Gorillaz

A single footstep is made, the dirt and the grime beneath it mixing in with the snow it's already walked through... with all of the blood all over the area along with it... creating this cluttered and messy look, panting is heard from what sounds like one man, but then suddenly in an instant-

Multiple footsteps are heard, the snow being stepped on creating this somewhat muffled but still discernible sound because of the quantity of the numerous people this man brought, Rushiko's eyes slowly open but with a blurred smear in his vision...

Multiple lights are all turned on one by one, with all of them surrounding both Rushiko and the Insurgent's current positions after the aftermath of the devastating but equally just as fast clash they had, his eyes are blinded as he slowly covers them with his trembling arm. The figure in front of him slowly squats downwards as he gives out a reaching hand to Rushiko, after squinting for a bit and feeling the figure's aura, he finally recognizes who this was... The somewhat lightish blue hue and the familiar warmth of his aura calmed him...

It's Suzushii!

"Rushiko! ...are yo-" Suzushii quickly sees the giant hole in his chest, his eyes widening, Rushiko faltering in his current state, quickly falls to the ground as Suzushii holds him around his arms. Rushiko still losing a lot of blood and in turn, coughs up copious amounts of it, his blood splattered on Suzushii's face and all over his suit.

Suzushii's face growing paler by the second...

"Get somebody here! We're about to lose him! Now! Medic!!!" Suzushii shouts as he applies his aura unto him, it only stops the bleeding but Rushiko doesn't have enough blood in him for him to be able to breathe, let alone maintain his body's condition along with his aura. Another agent gets nearer to him checking his body's status, he mutters into Suzushii's ear about the situation.

"He's lost a lot of blood sir... if we don't do a blood transfusion in here right now, he won't even make it to the ER! He'll be dead on arrival for sure (!) by then..."

"But like can't we give him my blood? is there anyone here that's his blood type?" he mentions this as he pulls out his sleeve, raising his forearm.

"I'm really sorry sir... but you're not his blood type... and if check him here-" the medic searches around him for something... the medic searches for-

"If I check here clearly on his ID's information, he's an AB... he's got a pretty rare blood type... and checking if everybody's got his blood type might take some time... he needs the blood transfusion now! And if he doesn't get it in the next 5 minutes or less... he'll surely die!" the medic warns him, with the time running and it clearly running out of it, he clicks his tongue and bites his lip, but then suddenly-

He gets an idea! A surely easy way out of this! but not for Suzushii... not for him... the big question is... whether he's willing to or n-

"Alright... good god alright... this is the fastest way to get him to tip-top shape..."

"Umm... what is it sir?"

"I have to do it... I have to do THE sacrifice..."

"Wait you don't mean?!?-" The medic looks at him shocked, with Suzushii giving out a determined but also somewhat reluctant and nervous look towards the medic and then Rushiko who is wrapped around his arms, his voice weak as his lips slowly move, forming these words-

"Don't do it " Rushiko faintly says, but Suzushii in turn shakes his head multiple times

"I've got to... I'm willing to do it for you... I'm not ready to lose you yet... or ever... just let me do this (for you)...-"

"Son " he firmly and proudly says this while his body faintly glows by and is growing by the second, both Rushiko and the medic are shaken by this, the medic looks directly at Suzushii as he slowly nods, Rushiko in disbelief over this, looks downwards towards his feet, clearly upset but deep down inside... he's moved by him and his actions... especially with what he called him... he lightly smiles...

The medic slowly backs away as the other agents around them stare in awe over what Suzushii is doing for him... what THE Reckoner is doing for him... The light of his aura gradually becomes a lot brighter until it completely blinds everyone, with all of them covering their eyes with their respective forearms.

And then... there is only silence... the thick fog covering everyone everywhere, they struggle to see what exactly happened... until the fog slowly clears up and they finally see him-

Suzushii looks downwards with blood coming out of his face, it is then smeared all over Rushiko's face, with his vision finally coming back to him, and Suzushii's arms still supplying the needed aura for him to still stay in a relatively stable condition. But as the picture of his eyesight clears up... he sees a terrifying sight before his very eyes...

Suzushii's left eye is completely gone...

And all that is left is nothing... but a black void filling in its place... and as the blood of where his eye that was once there before leaks before him... Suzushii is unfazed by this... atleast from the looks of it... Suzushii still continues to smile even though he literally sacrificed half of his eyesight for him... he is happy and completely overjoyed to see Rushiko, alive and breathing and not dying instead...

Rushiko is all he has left...

So he continues to smile even at his own expense...

"Medic! Come on over here and patch him up! He still has a giant hole in his chest after all!" The medic nods in return, grabbing his kit and bandaging up Rushiko, Suzushii looks at Rushiko and embraces him even tighter than before, his warmth continuing to spread all over Rushiko's body

"Don't worry! My aura has been settling inside you for a bit now! You'll be alright! It'll be slow but atleast my aura will slightly boost up your aura and your body's regenerative skills, though you still can't move after all of that... so you'll need to hold onto me still... but hey! Atleast you're not dying anymore! Good god! I was literally almost about to lose you there!" he says all of this as he sighs in relief afterwards, Rushiko continuing to stare at his eyeless socket with it still bleeding all over and looking (like) as if he were crying red tears...

"Ummm yeah... Uhh, Medic! Can you please patch up Senpai's eye over here? Ummm- literally?" Rushiko says out of concern for Suzushii

"What were you thinking?!? I know you wanted and needed to save me there... but you literally used the riskiest technique and sacrificed your eye for me! And I'm really grateful for what you did... but still! How are you gonna fight now? You're literally down on one eyeball left's worth of eyesight!" he says in an understanding but still upset manner with Suzushii giving a look of desperation in turn, the medic finishes up patching up Rushiko's injuries and just as he is about to get nearer to Suzushii, Suzushii raises his hand and the medic stops dead in his tracks...

"I know... I knew the risks... but I couldn't just watch you die like that! Especially around my arms Rushiko! I had to do something... you're all I have left... please don't leave me... please... just like how all of them did... when I've done all I could for all of them..., especially for him..." Suzushii pleads explaining his reason for doing it in the first place... Rushiko shocked at this, looks downwards at his feet once more before facing Suzushii once again

"Suzu-Senpai... D-Dad... you know I won't leave you... I didn't mean it like that... I really don't actually want to die... I'm sorry... I still love you... you know?" Rushiko replies, sympathizing with him, he runs over to Suzushii, grunting in pain in doing so... but not caring about it anyways and just embracing him regardless, Suzushii looks surprised but relieved once more, he hugs him back... glad he hasn't failed Rushiko as his mentor... as his father (figure)... well just yet that is... (?)

"But you need to take better care of yourself too! Senpai! Uhh, Medic- I think you can patch his eye up now" Rushiko says as the medic nods and comes closer to finally close up the black hole that's been out in the open in front of them, surprised that Suzushii isn't reacting badly in losing one of his eyes at all!

As Suzushii slowly stands up, with the fog getting thicker once again, he stares at the mist-filled sky, with the eye patch of where his left eye once was, being colored black instead of red, the strange black liquid slowly filling in the once white patch until the black blots have completely filled in the white space. He continues to gaze upwards, his melancholic look filling in an empty silence that seems to last for decades... lasted decades... the black liquid slowly dripping downwards from where his current injury is.

Suzushii sighed.

"Anyways! Let's get back to work! Secure everyone inside the school and have all of them be evacuated, have forensics collect the bodies and identify them! And most importantly of all!-" he says this as he looks at Rushiko-

"Arrest this woman right here! Since this is the escaped fugitive and traitor of the ICA and the nation of Japan!- Kokko Yano! A former comrade of ours!" Suzushii shouts out, with all of the agents here gasping or are in shock at hearing this news, Rushiko shakes his head several times and looks away from Suzushii... Ko-San was someone they could trust back then... but now-

"Rushiko! You know we can't trust her anymore... after all this time... she shows up like this! Torturing small children and young students! Killing them in the process! Stealing all their aura and energy to take for and as her own! After all this time... after who she was and had stood for... she was taken from us... from her... and now... she has turned into the enemy! She has betrayed us all, and joined the Insurgents! I know that the both of you were looking for her for years now... but this is what happened to her... this is who she's become and is now... truly fucking disappointing!" Suzushii scoffs, breathing deeply to sigh even more... Rushiko continues to look away... ashamed and disappointed... but most of all worried... at how she would react...

"Use a dimension to transport her! But only the higher-ranked agents will handle her! Anyone weak to not be able to enter a dimension, let alone a captain of the Insurgents... are better suited to help around here! Got that?!? Move!" Suzushii shouted once more, all of the agents replied in unison saying "Yes sir!" while saluting him, they started doing their assigned tasks, Suzushii comes closer to Rushiko, hooking him with his arm and grabbing his shoulder

They started to walk away from the school campus: full of corpses, destruction and blood and into the school building

And what they say when they came in... it was such a horrible sight...

Crying people mourning the casualties of her sadistic and murderous onslaught, and those who had died out that couldn't handle her aura being pressured inside their bodies, let alone having her aura leech off of theirs... there was blood everywhere... Multiple agents performed first aid on those badly injured, as cracked glass filled the empty and sterile floor: full of snow, blood and trash...

The once peaceful and momentous day of joy and celebration... their graduation day... was ruined because of her... and because of her... many lives were lost... many were injured... and now many are traumatized for life... The Insurgents were moving quickly... their actions have started to increasingly target more of the civilian populace... And now they have started making their moves here in Tokyo... the Capital...

Both of them knew it... the Final War is nearing close... whether the Ishiins were prepared or not...

"Ko-Chan is gone... Rushiko... they took her humanity and replaced it with nothing but just an unsatiable lust for power... for control... a friend we once knew... the Senpai you once knew, who had taught you... who saw the preservation of future generations... of teaching them... of nurturing them... of protecting them... as important and her very duty to uphold, just like many others in the ICA... the Insurgents have perverted her very essence! And now... I don't even know who she is- no! Who that is even anymore... she's no person... she isn't one of us anymore, that's for sure!" Suzushii ranted, showing his great dismay at seeing her like that... especially for how Rushiko and how ------ must feel about this...

"So how's Jisei so far? Did he agree to becoming an Ishiin? And if he did... Did you use the Modified Protocol on him? But from the looks of it... He was either about to turn Berserk and you were able to stop him from losing himself... Or he didn't have any problem accepting your aura at all!" Suzushii exclaimed as they passed through the main hall and towards the hallway leading to the staircases, the likehood of Jisei and Manaka fighting through here apparent over how little the casualties are here, if they were any at all!

"Well... The former was what happened, he was close to turning Berserk until I was able to stop him from almost turning, by calming him down and all that... He's a nice kid! He really is determined to not only protect his family and friends... to protect others... But to also find his dad as well... In fact... As soon as I mentioned you and Atsushi-San, he instantly grabbed me! And asked me if I knew where was! He definitely seeks to become an Ishiin! He has the innate instinct and great potential to become one! He was even able to turn back even in the verge of almost just becoming Berserk! He was able to accept my aura, and in turn was also able to awaken his Ishii Abilities right there and then! He has the true spirit of what an Ishiin should be! But it wasn't just him who I was able to recruit... A sort of friend of his (?), Manaka Yukinari! Also wanted to become an Ishiin! and even though she had no Ishii Abilities and wasn't even able to exert any aura at all... She took one of my blades and was willing to help fight off the foreign aura of Ko-San being forced upon most of the students here! I am convinced they have what it takes to become great Ishiin Agents sometime in the future! ...They're definitely still somewhere around here... They're probably mostly done at this point... Though I fear what might've happened to them... Since they're still newly appointed Assistant Ishiins... and are still rookies after all..." Rushiko said, worrying over both Jisei and Manaka's current whereabouts and states... He had a bad feeling about what had happened to them... In seeing this, Suzushii pats his back as Rushiko looks at him in response, they continued to search each floor in this specific building for the both of them... Until they reached the top floor, with the bridge leading into the second building in sight.

Suzushii spoke.

"I'm sure they're both fine! Besides... If anything happened to them... they have a Grade S Agent (which is me) here to help them right now if need be... I mean all they're mostly fighting are literally immobilized infected young students who can't even do anything to them... They're probably fine! ... unless..." Suzushii hesitated to continue further into his statement... Rushiko taken aback with this... Replied saying-

"Unless?" Rushiko asked him... Suzushii kept staying silent as they walked further and nearer into the hallway of the bridge... The unnerving and instant awkward silence filling in, as Suzushii kept walking with Rushiko somewhat behind him, still confused at what's gotten him so tensed up.

And as they neared the end of the bridge's hallway...They saw multiple cracks on the walls and lots of debris and shattered glass all over the ground... the floor is mostly covered in multiple pools of blood... a fight definitely took place here... They saw more students on the ground... But they were extremely injured... Like someone abused and beat them up really badly... And from looks of it... All of the are Senior Students! It is likely that... Another Senior assaulted them, because of a grudge... Most likely a long-held grudge... Because of how badly their current states are... Well it's either that or it was done as a whim... Or even both...

"Shit... It's definitely her..." Suzushii muttered under his breath... He grabbed the cord of his Comms clipped on the front pocket of his coat, speaking unto it...

"Attention everyone! There are (also) a lot of casualties here on the top floor of the second building! Please get over here immediately to tend to all of the injured here! They are in dying conditions as we speak!" Suzushii ordered all of the Agents gathered here all around the school, including the newly arrived EMTs and Police force just a few minutes ago... Rushiko, worried over the current predicament... Looked further into the distance, and saw... what he feared to be true...

A young female student that looks old enough to be the suspected senior that caused all of this turmoil over here, she crawls slowly all across the messed up floor, avoiding all of the cracks, debris and broken glass on the floor, with her movements moving ever closer to both Suzushii and Rushiko's positions.

But...

She's also dragging two other students behind her, one of them is groaning in pain, for what seems to be a female voice, and for Rushiko... It was a very familiar voice... It was Manaka Yukinari! And on the other unconscious student, who had the worst injuries out of all of them... Was Jisei Suzuto!

He had an absolute fatal wound by his stomach, which looks to be stabbed over and then pulled out... Manaka also had a lot of moderate injuries, which included a lot of seeping and open wounds all across her body... But from the looks of it... Manaka has finally learned how to exert her aura! As she is sustaining its output to continue to stop the constant bleeding from all over her wounds, all across her figure... Jisei also had the same moderate injuries, deep and seeping cuts which looks like stabs of thrown sharp objects, but Jisei is completely unconscious! Which means the clothes they put over as temporary coverings for his wounds are only absorbing the blood... But not all of it...

The senior female student had the least amount of injuries, as they are only bruises, though there are a lot of them. Definitely from the fight that the three of them had...

She's the result of why Kokko Yano even did any of this in first place...

"Senpai! Over here!" Rushiko exclaimed, pointing to the senior pulling what once were her enemies...

"What do you think happened here... Suzu-San?" Rushiko asked as the both of them went closer to assist them further, Suzushii bending over to carry Jisei and Rushiko for Manaka... The senior student sighs in relief over seeing the both of them...

Until...

She suddenly collapses on the floor... She fainted...

"Rushiko you carry her! Just put umm... Manaka! Yeah... Manaka on top of her since she has the least amount of injuries anyways!" Suzushii says, Rushiko nods in response... Complying with his orders... They proceeded to carry all of them towards the main emergency response area filled with temporary medical tents by the front of the school itself

"I think the senior was convinced to stop from killing the both of them... Since she doesn't have that many injuries to begin with... She was just too much for them to handle... She kicked their asses... But it wasn't the senior herself who did it... It was her... She did this... And if this is what it looks like... They're trying to make super soldiers out of the populace... They're trying to cause pandemonium... They're not making them to use as their own... They're making them to use them against us... To make us more vulnerable... When they finally start their assault... This is it... I know you've also already suspected it... The Final War is nearing us..." Suzushii stated, with Rushiko looking over the frost covered windows of the hanging and haunting bridge. His look indicating his feelings of complete and absolute despair... But also hope... He- no they finally have a team! If the senior that is, agrees to join them... It's his job to be their senior... To guide them... To lead them... Especially the one with the most potential out of all of them... With his near to death condition and experience staying with him...

"Jisei Suzuto... He has it... He has the potential to surpass Atsu-San... Don't you think? Suzu-Senpai?" Rushiko muttered, with Suzushii looking over the same horizon as Rushiko, the orange hue beaming and pushing through the clouds and the mist, the light warming their eyes

"Yeah... He does... And with this team... And many others... It's our generation's duty and responsibility... To finally stop this age-old conflict of ours... To finally end this once and for all... For our sakes... And the following generations before us..." Suzushii said, their footsteps ringing all across the bridge leading to the end...

The end of all times... The end filled with certain death and pain... They push forwards...

Fighting to finally end it all...

.

.

-A Few Minutes Ago-

The blood continues to drip... Her blood... The multiple blades that are all around her body, still connecting to the holes they've punctured in her... The wires of the blades creating this gigantic metallic ball, along with the smaller spikes still stinging the front parts of her body...

But she doesn't feel any pain... At all...

In fact...

She relishes in this supposed "pain" she's supposed to feel...

She's finally found a worthy opponent... He's finally grew up to be a capable plaything for her to have lots of fun with...

"I can't wait to see the looks on their faces... Especially his and her faces..." Kokko said while licking her lips full of her dripping blood... Her right eye with a blade right in her socket... She slants the both of them... Giggling mischievously and uncontrollably... Her constant laughter ringing over the vast and hollow space of the humongous steel ball she's in... Her deadly cage and prison... But that's what they think...

The sides of her lips curling up for confident smirk... Her weak and defeated body not shaking even once... She murmurs...

"They don't even know what's going to happen next! It's fucking hilarious! To think they've caught on... this late... To think this is our first attempt at trying to do this... Oh how naïve of them! Oh how pathetic! Oh how... Delicious!" She exclaims... Her eyes widening in the continuous pleasure he's given her... Her eyes fixated on her thoughts... On what will definitely happen...

"All of these pathetic slaves were at least useful for something... since she's all mine now... She's so far... The most promising subject I've found... So far... She's the most... Broken... And the easiest to manipulate..."

"Perfect..." She giggles more intensely with her hands breaking off from the blades and the wires trying to trap her... She makes a clicking sound... Disappointed over how easily it was to break apart his so-called "deadly trap"... Yeah sure thing...

"Oh Rushi-kun... You've still got a lot to learn haven't you? I can't wait to rip you wide open and fully apart... When the right moment comes round... But that's surely near... Isn't that right? Mutsu-kun?" she laughs hysterically as her voice is muffled by the vast volume of the huge metallic ball. The sirens of the police cars and the private vehicles of the Ishiins blaring; as they arrived to assess the incident... The fully capable Ishiin Agents have arrived... They're the best of the best... Under the Grade S Agents, of course... The top of the "Grade A Agents"... They better put up a better fight... Cause they sure look like it... But they always break in the end...

"Don't disappoint me now..." She murmurs one last time... Before they shipped her off to where they keep their Insurgent POWs and Captives...

Tsutomu Saidai Penitentiary... an aging facade of an institution... because this is where no prisoner ever comes back... Alive... Ever...

Only the most important Insurgent POWs are "kept alive"... for... only "negotiation" purposes of course... That's because mercy is a word that doesn't exist in there... and nobody ever seeks to change that since its inception for the many decades, it's been in existence...

But not for long... That's for sure...

.

.

-A Few (?) Moments ago-

Multiple loud footsteps can be heard, with the flashing whitish blue tint emanating from all over Jisei's body, especially all around his hand... The somewhat lightish and glowing transparent 1911 is in clear view and his power is in his very hands... Manaka looks at him as the both of them nod together at each other...

He's definitely ready... but...

Is she?

With each footstep and the closer they get to the main entrance hall... she takes a long deep breath... with her heart pouncing with each passing second... she hasn't done this for a very long... and she means- a REALLY LONG TIME...

The whitish and surely blindingly strong currents of lightish almost azure-like aura in its appearance, Rushiko's aura... emanates from the very tip down to the very bottom of the blade, her neck twitches instinctively... with the power of something she's only ever seen in screens and only ever heard about... and now it's in her very fingertips...

This power... this excitement...

This insurmountable amount of responsibility...

She suddenly smirks... this rush... this feeling... it overwhelms her...

She never knew it... but after living a whole life of nothing happening to her...

She knew it now... she felt it building from the very bottom of her bones...

She was always meant to be an Ishiin...

And now... she's enjoying it... realizing it...

Finally... it overtakes her... like a rush... like... like how...

Like how a fix would...

Her heart sinks in these newfound feelings and realizations... it's like a forbidden pleasure for her...

She knows... how much the consequences of the lenghts she would go to... once she's completely addicted... in this rush... of considerable and overwhelmingly dangerous emotions...

But all it does... is just make it all the more desirable for her...

She shakes her head, and with the both of their shoes about to take the final step... they're finally here...

From this moment on... they're involved in this... no matter what...

Jisei snaps his fingers at Manaka's face... her spacing out moment all put out to a halt... her body was moving on its own... without her input... since for a moment there... she was gone... she wasn't in control of her body...

Nothing was...

"Uh... You ok? Yuki-San?" Jisei asks her worryingly, her entranced look and her face showing him all these feelings of bliss she's most definitely feeling at the moment...

"hmm hmmph-" she shakes her head once more, her lips making a sort of humming sound. She looks at him and says-

"It's nothing..." she replies-

"Well... it is something... but... let's talk about it later..." Manaka says retracting her previous spoken words... she stares at Jisei... Jisei then looks away for a bit... and then he looks back and nods...

And with that...

Jisei cocks his pistol and holds back the slide and in releasing it, he aims the pistol right at the Infected Students, just as Manaka squints her eyes... her vision and focus coming back to her... the main hall coming into clear view...

There are lots of Infected Students everywhere, with just a few (if any) Ishiin Agents present, with all of them preoccupied with dealing with the overwhelming amount of casualties currently present and also the ever increasing droves of them also arriving with the a lot of them being escorted to the main and front campus of the whole school.

The both of them look at each other once again, and in nodding-

They proceed to shout out the next following words:

"We're both Assistant Ishiins! We got this!" they both exclaim loudly, with Jisei powering up his aura output, he fires his first shot just as Manaka bends her right knee forwards, with Rushiko's blade surging right in front of her face.

She slahes the first infected she sees, the current Ishiin Agents present communicating to each other and saying:

"The Modified Protocol is a go! Repeat! The Modified Protocol is a go!" they all said to each other... to all of the Ishiin Agents on comms... this phrase means... anybody who accepts the offer given to them to aid others by an Ishiin... will always stay involved... no matter what...

No matter what... they stay as Ishiins... no matt-

The second shot is fired, the yellow and foreign aura from the Infected shot, surely and most definitely dissipating, Manaka continues to sprint all over the area, her movements being just as agile as the electrifying streams she is wielding, she slashes all of the Infected Students in the main hall, one by one, the yellow aura being imposed on them exploding and being completely obliterated by the blade of its original owner, its surging aura flowing freely but also surely being depleted even when not being used let alone being inflicted on others...

Her limber movements being so impressive, a certain someone would be most definitely proud... and she isn't even using any aura to enhance her bodily motions... it's all in her... her impressive actions... her aching will... to k-

Jisei keeps shooting from a distance, consecutively firing his aimed at targets one by one, with the people around them staring in wonder and at relief at the newly arrived "suppport" dealing with the current crisis...

And as he fires his last round, he releases the magazine as it falls to the ground making a clacking sound, just as it disappears... he forms another one with his right hand, sliding it in, and cocking the pistol in the process, completing the reload...

He aims with his pistol's iron sight, firing his last shot at the final affected student as it seems, the aura bullet completely shattering the yellow and constricting aura surrounding and painfully being inflicted on his body...

Jisei lowers his pistol from the Infected Student, with Manaka sprinting right next to him, also seemingly having and being finished, as well with her... "rush"...

They both face each other and just as they had their backs on each other-

"Al-" Jisei says-

"Alright! That's the main hall done!" Manaka said, finishing his sentence as she spun the blade with its electrical currents flowing less (if even noticeable) strongly than before... she notices... The both of them look at the hallway in front of them... knowing they're job isn't done quite yet...

Little did they know... will it ever?

Jisei looks at Manaka, with her hands shaking... but he looks up at her face... and they're not shaking because of fear or nervousness... she's... she's fully smirking...

She's completely enjoying it!

Jisei stares at her for a moment, while the both of them space out in their "newfound" emotions... he then shakes his head multiple times and forcefully grabs her hand... she then suddenly snaps out of it once again... her face looking surprised at his face full of concern...

"You sure you're fine?" Jisei asks her, his face clearly disturbed and uneasy over her "newfound pleasures" over the sudden happening a few minutes ago... she quickly loses her smirk and therefore her feelings of bliss... realizing how much Jisei feels... so distressed over it...

"Well... umm... you know how I was like before... I was trying all sorts of things... to feel somewhat of a... something? ... I'm alright! Just give us time to process everything... with you... err... I mean us! ...just deciding to become Ishiins and all!" Manaka reassures him, with her also still new to it all... except for the... "fighting"... Jisei gives her a look of understanding... with also a hint of hesitation... with the both of them understanding where events might lead to... if they do it... in a certain way...

"Well then! Umm... let's then deal with the rest of the floors here! And then let's move on to the second building! Since we still have a lot of hallways and rooms to check up on... And we still have to make sure we're doing our jobs right here! Because we are not only helping our fellow school mates but even our fellow and dear friends too! ... Don't look at me like that! I can't help but to be... polite! When I'm nervous! Alright?!?" Jisei states, with Manaka giggling along at his state, Jisei smiles at being able to atleast somewhat lighten up the mood... unaware of the... "future" events they're about to transpire into...

"But before that... I'd say you've gotten better in both your movements and your... umm... "blade wielding" skills! Even though... I don't think you should have ever needed to when we were together... umm... anymore that is... was..." Jisei observes this, she nods in return and says:

"Yeah well even if we did fought back then... at each other... and then together... You haven't seen the rest of what I can do! I've been practicing whenever you weren't with me... just in case... it ever happened all over again! ... But enough about all that! I never really saw you as the sharpshooter type! Like I mean- you clearly knew how to shoot! And you did it pretty well, not gonna lie! (it was pretty smooth hehe)" she remarked at him, he nods and smirks at this... as the both of them moved on and went about doing and continuing their so-called "new positions" as Assistant Ishiins... so far... for now?

They both held their weapons up, moving from hallway to hallway. Checking up on in every room in the current building they were on, shooting and slashing their way through the affected students they found (when they did)

As the both of them went about from the ground floor, slowly making their way up till to the upper most floor of the bulding, they both stop to catch their breaths beside the windows... near the bridge leading to the next building... with the atmosphere ahead of them slowly choking them up inside... clearly there was something most definitely wrong up ahead of them...

And the both of them were right...

Multiple distant screams are heard just up past the bridge all the way to the next set of hallways and rooms at the end of the connecting bridge... followed by what sounded like... a sudden and loud thump... and then... hysterical laughter...

Both Jisei and Manaka looked worryingly and in distress over what they had just heard... they both look at each other whether to keep going... if at al- they both nod with multiple senses of alertedness and precautions firing up inside their minds and bodies like warning signs... with the both of their hearts pumping nervous exhilarated energies all over...

They both ran towards and beyond the bridge... connecting them to where their lives will finally be truly changed... forever...

They went in...

An affected student is thrown right in front of them as Manaka caught the girl gasping and whimpering with her hands... Manaka feels something wet all over the girl's body... With the dim shading and lighting all over the hallway... she can barely see what it is... she squints right at the weird unknown liquid... she gasps herself... and then she looks right at the ground... there is a whole huge pool beneath the girl... she's completely covered in it...

Or should she say... it's hers...

It's her blood!

Jisei squints his eyes at what seems to look like a distant walking silhouette... but because of the very dim lighting... he can barely make up what it is... who it is... But then the distant silhouette walks right underneath the spotlight of a broken bulb's blinking light... the broken bulb suddenly explodes... with the face of the silhouette being slightly shown if only for just a few seconds... Jisei widens his eyes at the prospect of who- no- what he just saw...

He then instinctively twitches his arm to aim at the "person" he just saw... the blood on her face... her creepy eyes and smirk, tinged in it... it's full of violent lust... she's clearly enjoying this... he looks all around... seeing multiple Infected Students all around them, covered in the seeping and gathering mist and fog... but he can hear all of them groaning in pain... and with how sticky the floor is... it might as well just be their blood he thought...

He aims his pistol right at her... with Manaka doing the same as she held Rushiko's blade on the back of her palm... Jisei not believing in what he just saw... his hands shaking at the possiblity of it really being her... he should have never left her at that state... no matter what... considering how she was and still is right now... it's gotten worse... she's turning into what he never wanted her to become... ever...

The intensifying and flickering sparks of Rushiko's blade illuminating the figure as she didn't stop laughing hysterically... her putried and sadistic laughing ringing in all of their eardrums... Manaka not believing what her eyes were seeing either... she recognized who this girl was... Jisei talked about her a lot back then... the mysterious girl who always had thoughts full of resentment growing inside of her... he said... until her bottled up feelings just blew up right in front of his face... her face...

It was...

It was...

It was Koyo Nayumi!

Jisei's old friend from a long long time ago... years ago... his ex-girlfriend... the girl- the person he failed to save... to understand... to fix...

She was dragging another female student as she tosses her aside forcefully right up against the wall, the girl coughing up tons of blood... Koyo steps right at the girl's face, licking up the blood completely covering her face... she spits it right at the bruised and battered face of the girl beneath her...

Both Jisei and Manaka recognized her face... and in finally taking all of this in... all of the faces all around them... they both knew all of them! They all were in the same grade as them... as Koyo... They were all Grade 12 students! Koyo is beating up all of them and enjoying it... because all of her bottled up feelings of... bitterness... she did all of this!

Koyo then shifts her head and her eyes stare at Jisei's... with eyes of unrelenting pain... cruelty... with not even a bit or hint of sympathy for any of her victims... not even for what she's about to do to the both of them... to Manaka...

To Jisei...

Her eyes digging in right into his soul... her slowly forming grin of pleasure in seeing him... sending chills down his spine...

"Miss me? Oh, love~ ... Do you miss not being able to see me after all of this time? ... Cause you failed so spectacularly! In trying to fix me! But admit it... Jisei... you've always been mine... your life is mine... your soul is mine... you've always been mine... the very day you decided you wanted to be my friend... my lover..." her quiet unsettling voice asks him, her disturbing words brushing up against up his fear... of what he always knew to be the truth...

His mind is shook... up to his very core...

He clenches the hand grasping his pistol... tightening his grip on it... his hands still quivering and shaking...

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The deepest fears he's been hiding for years... finally coming... to knock up on his front door...

Ready to take him... ready... to claim him whole...

Jisei gulps, Manaka looking over at him... knowing... but not understanding the repercussions... of Koyo coming back for him... to have him again...

He looks straight at the aura emanating all over her body... it's the same aggressive and thick yellow aura that all of the affected students had... but there was one thing, that kept on bugging him... Because she spoke in a way that could not be anyone else but her... she still had "some" of her consciousness intact! Because the other Infected Students never even spoke a single word to anyone... they were all either groaning and screaming in pain... or already long gone... none of them could handle it...

Except for her... apparently...

There must be something about her... that makes her special from any of the affected around here...

"Jisei-Kun! Watch out!" Manaka screams at him, as the both of his eyes were fixated and staring right into her space... her empty space... -?

He then suddenly snaps out of it, his blinking eyes seeing a blade sparking right in front of him, moving in such a slow motion, at that moment... he might as well have been watching it all play out frame by frame... Manaka flashes right into his position, raising her blade, parrying the sudden attacks of Koyo as she slides on the ground, her aura glowing a deeper and more intense yellow...

She laughs at their pathetic attempts at fighting her off... somewhere down and deep inside her... she knows that she's stronger than the both of them combined... she stretches the both of her arms wide open, right as multiple forms of familiar items started to materialize in front of them...

Koyo starts to drool while grinning maniacally, with multiple school supplies starting to show up on each of the gaps of her fingers... numerous sharp pens, scissors, precision blades, and metal rulers are curled up in between her fingers, she points them at Jisei.... with her back faced at them, she bends it backwards, her face staring right into his soul...

Koyo licks her lips as she powers her leg to propel herself to Jisei's current position... Jisei then fires multiple bullets, she swiftly cuts the aura bullets in mid-air with her sharp school "items", Jisei sweeps his feet instantly to dodge Koyo's multiple slashes, his feet and her hands slashing right at him, locked in a sort of hypnotic movement... like as a sort of abnormal dance... Koyo continues to keep her forceful advances at him, with his defensive movements being the only thing keeping him alive... He runs faster trying to keep his distance away from her, but she just won't let up

Manaka backs him up with her blade interrupting her non-stop slashing, the both of their weapons clashing intensely, causing visible sparks to form in front of them... Manaka grits her teeth as Koyo hacks at her parrying, she then catches Koyo off guard by slashing her using the lightning charged up inside the blade, the powerful currents meet her yellow aura of a barrier... it completely cracks and breaks it cleanly... like butter with a bread knife...

But Manaka missed her attempt at slashing her, as Koyo instinctively dodges her blade... her mind not thinking... but her body moving on its own...

With Koyo's eyes widening and realizing the current situation, she instantly cuts her; nearly cutting Manaka's right eye wide open... just missing the mark nearly by a few centimetres... she instead just cuts and inflicts a large wound by her cheek... and with the electricity from Rushiko's blade travelling downwards... towards the pools of blood on the floor...

Jisei then flashes to her position, grabbing her and tossing the both of their bodies right into the windows of the nearest classroom... with the glass shattering.. the both of them hit multiple desks and chairs at the same time because of their... sudden landing... the electrical currents escaping from the blade's tip, hitting the pools of blood beneath Koyo... it then hits and electrocutes her entire body... the intense energies causing a huge flash of light to reflect from its direct impact on Koyo...

Jisei and Manaka then cough and groan in pain from the suddenness of the landing of that defensive and instant reaction... of his... they both look at each other and then on and at where Koyo was when they heard and saw what the impact supposedly did on her...

Manaka then suddenly carries Jisei by his back (just like a bri-)

And dodges the instantaneous appearance of Koyo's presence right at their (former now) positions, her aura-enhanced weapons, causing the floor to completely crack down causing a crater to form beneath her... she bends her neck instantly, to look at their current positions. With Jisei blushing at what Manaka just did to him, Manaka winks at him and then runs past him, and right towards Koyo's position. With Rushiko's blade still emitting a lot of lightning, Jisei covers her by attempting to shoot and blast through Koyo's newly formed aura barrier, but... his bullets are easily sent ricocheting all around the classroom, and in turn, creating multiple dents and bullet holes all over the walls and the windows all around them... he sighs as this...-

Manaka jumps right in front of Koyo's position, with her blade being grasped by the both of her hands, she directly shoves it on her aura barrier, the lightning struggling to go through at all... the blade then completely shatters into smaller shards... Manaka's neck is grabbed by Koyo's hands... with her hands tightening as she stares right into her eyes...

And from the looks of it... with the fight halted up to a standstill... with both Jisei and Manaka finally processing the extremely fast and sudden intricacies of what had just happened... Koyo is unaffected... the aura barrier supposedly broken by Manaka earlier? It's already been formed in just a few seconds... and the lightning of Rushiko's blade travelling through the pools of blood all over the floor earlier... supposedly electrocuting her? The aura barrier already deemed that move insignificant...

Koyo's hunches were right... she is stronger than the both of them... together even...

Manaka tries to squirm and resist her choking, resulting in her punching Koyo... but... her attacks deal no damage whatsoever to her aura barrier... Jisei then instantly flashes towards their positions, he powers up his fist, the aura gathering up in one place... all in his fist... but it then completely dissipates... his eyes widen at the shock of it not working... all over again... just when he was able to connect it to her aura barrier...

Koyo scoffs at this... throwing Manaka right up at Jisei, as the both of them are sent hurling towards the blackboard of the classroom behind them... they both start to look for her frantically, with their very beings panicking over this... with their very souls... fearing how drastically this bad situation could turn for the very worst...

They both fear her... and rightfully so-

She then suddenly flashes right next to him, blocking and pinning him towards the blackboard... her hands clearly glowing as the gaps in between are filled in with her "weapons"... she looks at him with a clear look of hostility and pleasure... she came closer to him... their foreheads basically connecting because of this... she said-

"You think I forgave you? Did you think I could forget what you did to me? Suzuto?!?" she shouted at Jisei, his face completely drenched and full of her spit... he gave her a look of total fear... delicious fear for her to gobble up... completely... with Manaka punching and continuing to assault Koyo's aura... her hands bleeding because of her repeated attempts, but she still doesn't give up... even though there might be no point in trying to break her barrier... if at all, at this point... she just won't let herself let up... for her sake... and for his... for Jisei's... Koyo starts to smirk at Jisei, she starts to laugh frantically-

"Are you scared, little boy? Are you finally regretting what did? hmm??? Well... too bad~ I don't care about "getting you back", quite frankly...! I don't care about your life!... I just want you to feel what I felt... when you let me slowly... slip right out of your life... when I didn't matter anymore to you!... Oh, don't give me that look! You knew just exactly what you did to me... what all of you did to me... and now... you're life is mine for the taking!" she coldly whispers with her sweet and aching voice filling his ear... the voice he's missed for sooo long... the memories of her voice speaking those last few words, when she left him... all alone... was all that he had left from her... and yet he's already moved on from her...

But she hasn't...

She suddenly stabs him in the stomach, her sharp weapons breaking down his flimsy "aura barrier", his eyes drooping and becoming mistier... he looks down at the hand that did him in... the consequences that led him here... at this- his moment... of being sent by the winds... Koyo smiles at him, but the look she's giving him... doesn't look quite satisfied... it looks like-

It looks like-

It looks like she's crying...

Her tears falling by her bloodied face, her drops of an unexpected sadness mixing in with the life force that was somebody else's... at this moment... he understood what was happening... she didn't want this... she never did...

This isn't her speaking... it's somebody else...

They are her words... but not her intentions... no...

This is what she felt deep down inside... but she didn't have the nerve to ever do this, in her whole entire lifetime!

Somebody is pushing her over the edge... somebody is pushing her to-

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

It's not just somebody- well it might be too, but... but it's her!

It's her other self...

It's her other self that's doing this! It's-

She grabs him by his cheek, and... and...

She kisses him... her lips impacting upon his... their blood mixing in with his... she stares right at his eyes... but her eyes... it's not the same cold ones he's seen so far today... no... it's her! It is her! Her gentle eyes, if only for just a short notice... he gets to see the eyes he's loved for so long from such a long long time ago now... the last thing he saw before she left him... her gentle eyes... conflicted with her ever-growing and apparent misery and coldness... she lets him go... with her hand still grasping the reminders of what he didn't and wasn't able to for her... back then...

She forcefully rips it out of him, his mouth coughing up tons and tons of blood especially his giant and gaping open hole and wound by his stomach, the suddenness of it all... reminding him of what she wanted him to feel... it isn't gradual and as painful as what she felt- no no...

It's done purposefully to just give a smidge, a little peek of what she had felt back then... and what she's still facing to this day... if he was brave enough to truly stop her from breaking them off and insisting that she meant the world to him... maybe just maybe... it wouldn't have had to end like this...

"I'm sorry... Jisei-kun... I'm sorry... my darling... I'm sorry it had to end this way..." she just plainly states sadly... implicating... she didn't want this... neither of them wanted any of this... but this is where it led them to... uncompromised and unsuspecting ruin... their undoing... just beneath their noses this whole time...

As everything began to blur and turn and meld into one... Manaka came crashing to the ground, breaking down in disbelief over what had just definitely happened... her screaming beginning to haunt him... her eyes so full of rage towards Koyo... he didn't want to see Koyo hurt... let alone die... despite what she's done to him right now... but even so... he says... not Koyo...

Anyone but Koyo... he thought...

Manaka proceeds to crash and bang her head onto the floor, the air around them proceeding to get more dense and packed... visible gushes of wind coming and moving all around her... visible bright lights of an orange hue begin to flash before their very eyes... she's emanating aura! And she's exerting an overwhelming amount of it too! And pretty soon, she will be-

Jisei then screams in extreme agony, his tears flowing like endless waterfalls from his eye sockets... his blood gushing in exorbitant amounts by the seconds... all of his painful memories and regrets started to flood his mind... in his eventual time of...

Possible passing...

His mind started to break, with the both of his hands grasping it, tightening all over it... wishing for the pain to end... wishing he could just forget... wishing... he never let her get away in the first place... wishing he wasn't one of- or THE reason... Koyo started to fade away from this world...

His life had just started to flash right before his very eyes...

Multiple voices had started to leak one by one into his mind, as the screaming continued to ring and reverberate all around his brain... but it wasn't just their screaming... no... it was the screams of an entire city... an entire nation... a likely probability of future events still yet to happen...

And it is an inevitable outcome... because of the many mistakes and decisions made... that led all of the people involved in one way or another... to intersect at this point... where everything is swallowed whole by the consequences of those who were either unaware or very much aware of their actions... either way... everyone intersects here...

In the Final War... to end all wars...

"I'm sorry it had to end this way..." Atsushi sadly states, fading into the great unknown depths of facing what he should've confronted and finished a long long time ago... his stature and figure slowly becoming tinier, being completely swallowed by the cold, harsh and neverending winds of-

"I..."

"I'm all yours..." Manaka softly whispers unto his ear, her reassuring words... of her staying for him... no matter what... ringing true... and is held close to his heart... and also near to his sleeves...

"I... don't-"

He lies there silent... he couldn't stop it from happening... no matter how hard he tried... it was inevitable... he kneels beneath the floor... where he left him... his tears still falling... reminding him of how he'll always fail... he failed to save her... and now he failed to-

It doesn't really matter now... does it?

.

The whole house is illuminated by their laughter... but nothing can fill an empty space left behind... quite like getting it all back... he has barely, if ever home... what he thought was the bare minimum, was the extent of all of what they'll ever get... you can't miss something that wasn't there in the first place... but you can yearn for and mourn the loss of the possibility of having said thing even ever happen... at all...

A lone figure stands wobbly with a child holding its hand... the figure slowly starts to be swept by the winds of-

A bright white light shines above them, forever present... forever left lingering... forever left hanging...

.

"I-"

"I won't let us down..." Jisei says gently... just standing there in an infinite white and open space... his words echoing and leaving him by the considerable and neverending distances present... with no end in sight...

"I know you won't..." a voice replies to his spoken words... but it's unclear whose it is... it's unclear where it came from-

Jisei is then suddenly embraced from behind... the warmth of the figure lingering all around his body... the figure slowly dissipates into a thick and gradually filling fog, the mist chilling him... the figure then embraces him in front, the face was Manaka's... and then Koyo's... and then-

A bloodied lamppost appears in front of him, and then a dark alleyway... but the walls suddenly reach unfathomable heights, with every direction Jisei faces... he was completely trapped... he looks downwards beneath his feet... it looks like blood! And it's rapidly flowing and filling in the cramped little space that Jisei is in currently...

He tries to climb the walls... but there is no possible way out, because of the smoothness of it all... the bloody waters rise upwards, his whole body being submerged in it... he tries to swim upwards... but he loses the energy to do so, seeing the gigantic hole in his stomach... he tries to scream underwater, but nobody can hear him... and nobody can save him... he raises his head, multiple bubbles rising and coming out from his mouth, he struggles in sheer vain... until he runs out of breath and drowns in his well-hidden sorrows and conflictions...

He then ends up on the shores of Odabai Beach... of Tokyo Bay...

He gets up weary and fragile... his eyes dilating at the panoramic view of this... of this...

Huge battlefield all over him... Tokyo has been decimated to bits... skyscrapers have fallen... buildings are barely left standing... he looks at his surroundings near him... gigantic chunks of destroyed debris litter the beach, multiple dead corpses are filling the shores near him and reach an unspeakable amount of distance... as far as his eyes could see...

But the most unsettling thing about all of this was... the screaming stopped...

There was this unexplainable empty silence all over the air... no life could be found in the entire city... only death and destruction... there is no salvation at the prospect of this finally ending... this "Final War" is nothing but a ruse, an excuse to have both sides give it their all... to leave nothing and to take... EVERYTHING, in return... the chances were always soo low... it's just nothing but a pipe dream... all of this will never end... it's stupid to think anybody's got a fighting chance to survive any of this...

Nobody wins... and nobody loses... it doesn't really matter...-

When you're all DEAD...

.

"I-"

"I-"

"I DON'T WANT HIM TO DIE!" Jisei loudly shouts, shattering his mind's mental breakdown... his screaming echoing and travelling into nothingness... his heart still hating the truth he's always known all along...

His dad is never coming back... no matter how hard he tries to change that... he'll never get what he wants most in his entire life... for his father to always be a constant in his life... and not be an anomaly whenever he does get back home...

To have him be a part of his life... their lives... their family...

And not having it when whenever he does come returning... always be a miracle... always...

.

he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone-

.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!!!!!!" Jisei screams at the top of his lungs, as the blood from his huge gaping wound started to leak faster, with his guts falling alongside even more pools of his blood rushing outwards, he desperately tries to cover it completely... with his hands shaking and trembling in absolute distress... Manaka raises her head slowly, her raging brows etching a never leaving and burning look straight at Koyo... who looks back at her, giving her a playful smirk... she opens her school jacket, revealing even more school supplies including paper clips, staplers, pencils and sharp compasses...

Manaka proceeds to charge her aura, with its spread and radius only growing in size, with the thickness of the air getting denser by the second... her hatred for Koyo is overflowing... and Koyo is just eating it all up, getting off from it...

Loving it...

But this isn't her... it's somebody else she's been able to suppress for all these years... until now...

Jisei sits by the blackboard, trembling and quivering... with his hands still covering his exposed insides... his eyes start to wane... and his vision begins to blur out... with the last thing, he remembers seeing... is the both of them clashing it out against each other...

His droopy and misty eyes finally gave him some sort of closure... from seeing all of this pain...

He loses consciousness... with his head facing downwards... with his current fate left hanging on purpose...

.

.

-5 Years Ago-

In an empty classroom... when everybody has left for lunch... lies a certain loner...

With the ringing of her constant everyday soundtrack filling her ears...

The quiet and silent room covers her emotions...

With her head on her desk... a pool of tears formed...

Her eyes were all tired and misty... her gradually lingering headache constantly pestering her...

She kept her head down for the rest of the day...

With her eyes and face all hidden... she kept it that way...

There's nothing she can do now to change anything anymore...

After all... she made the worst decision of her life... a few days ago...

And now she's all alone yet again...

Forever suffering... forever with the burdens of her mistakes and regrets...

He.... wanted to help her... but she was too impatient...

And now... she's left alone in fear once again...

Oh, who was she kidding? She'll always be lonely... no matter how much she tried to change for the better...

In her mind... she deserves this... she deserves to stay like this...

Cause in her whole life... nobody had stayed for her... and now that somebody had... she let him go...

She let her happiness go...

And now he's left, to haunt her till the day she died...

Now she's left to die alone...

Now...

.

They finally came back from their "lunch dates"...

Koyo's whole body was trembling from her continuous sobbing...

But...

She kept her voice down...

She didn't want let them to hear her...

Not that it would matter...

All of their voices started to gradually merge into one blob of noise... of pain...

Of what she'll never ever have...

In her entire life...

Consistent peace of mind... consistent happiness...

A place to belong... a place to finally be accepted...

Was all she wanted...

Like she always knew... she knew it wouldn't last...

And how he's been lately...

Why would it last?!?...

Just when she thought she could finally start getting used to all of this...

Something... something always goes wrong...

Their giggling and laughter were starting to break her open...

The trembling in her hands was getting worse...

She had started to scream regardless of whether they could hear her...

Her voice ever ringing... her voice... starting to fade...

She finally snapped...

.

Multiple footsteps can be heard... Koyo walks by the hallways leading to the main entrance, with her hands on her jacket's pockets... her ears still covered by the music she so desperately loves... she keeps her head down... not wanting to see the people she's come to loathe and hate for the rest of her life here...

She walks out from the main entrance hall leading to the front campus of the school...

With her figure slowly being swallowed and becoming obscured by the many crowds of students, teachers and families heading out... the same as her...

She raises her head up, her nonchalant way of walking, fitting in with the crowd all around her... she goes by doing the same routine as usual for the day...

She was on her way to see her...

Her mom...

Her school shoes' heels clacked on the sidewalk she was currently on...

.

And then... it was clacking on the floors...

It was clacking... on the sterile and white plain floors... of a hospital...

.

She slowly opened the door to her assigned room... the same room she's been dying on... for so many months now...

She never liked seeing her in this state... she instantly grabbed her phone to pause off her playing music... and for the first time today... she took off her earphones and left them hanging on her neck... she grabs a seat near her mom's bed... with Koyo placing her palm on her chin, bending her body and arching her back...

She tried to do it again today... just as usual...

She tried to talk to her... with her parched lips and her barely speaking voice opening up...

She said-

"M-mom... c-can you hear me?" she says hesitatingly to her... her shaking lips and her trembling voice overtaking her... she keeps persists onwards-

"Well... as usual... today was terrible! B-but... I guess you could say I'm doing fine... atleast better than you are... I've been listening to the music you gave me... y'know? ...y-your taste... I'm really surprised I really like all of them! ... Tame Impala... Slowdive... Joy Division... a-and New Order... Interpol... and for some reason... you like Car Seat Headrest?!? hahahaha..." she stated, softly giggling and covering her mouth in the process

"Hmmm... y-you... you said you wouldn't leave me alone... ever... we still have a lot to do... remember? l-like... going to that Pink Floyd cover band concert... or watching that new Sherlock TV special that's on cinemas right now... Or just going out, and eating shawarmas again... like I miss eating them a lot! D-do you?" she asks her, knowing she won't get an answer... but she tried to anyways... as usual...

"I-I just miss you a lot! I just want everything to be normal again! I just want Jisei back... I just want to be talked to again..."

She looks at her, with her lifeless eyes having not moved an inch... let alone blinked... despite of this indication of her literally looking dead... she isn't dead, but she really is dying...

The last time she saw her as her usual cheery and joyful self... loving and caring... which was what she needed the most... right now... was months ago... they both didn't know... that this mission would be her last... and because of that mission... she's turned into this... because of those Insurgent assholes!

Because of this goddamn war...

And even though she was literally one of the strongest in the country...

Even fighting with the Omega Grades and the Grade S Agents in the infamous Osaka Conflict...

But even she... even she couldn't survive for long... and with this illness... which even the doctors didn't even know how to treat... let alone cure... they said something was eating away at her aura... that they couldn't cure it as they didn't know where or what was taking her aura away...

Reduced to an empty husk of herself, she couldn't even think... she didn't even feel the pain as her body slowly deteriorated...

As she laid there on her back... having not moved an inch from the exact position from when she was put there by her nurse...

Koyo grabbed her hair and stroked it... brushing it... her scent was still on her... but...

She really was gone...

It's only a matter of time... before-

She touches her face... with her dying mom's apathetic and empty look staring back at her... her eyes still staring right at the ceiling...

Koyo's eyes watered up...

Her vision blurring...

She put her face on her chest... sobbing... and breaking down... all over again...

"Please... don't leave me... you promised me... you wouldn't ever abandon me... that you wouldn't die on me!!! that... you wouldn't leave me... all alone..." she cried onto her chest... which was what she usually did as a kid... and her mom... would calm her down... she would reassure her... that even if she didn't make any friends... ever...

That she'd stay for her... till the very end...

But this was too sudden! ...she thought...

They still had a lot she wanted them to do... they still had a whole life ahead of them to live...

That this... this was too unfair...

Just... just when she thought her life was looking up on the brighter side, a few months ago...

And now... now it's all falling apart... right before her very eyes...

With her mom's face... still surely empty... with nothing but a filling void... taking her life from her...

Taking her mom's life... from her...

She continued to sob onto her chest... cause deep down inside of her...

She had a rather terrible nagging feeling... that this... this would be the last time she'd ever even see mom... forever...

She knew it...

And that... that made her sick to her stomach...

She couldn't leave her chest... in fear of losing her... in fear of truly being alone...

Forever...

She had stayed there... But even she knew... that this wouldn't last...

That this... this is it...

One way or another... she's fucking losing her mom...

Whether she liked it... or not...

She looks at her mom one final time... and sees... someone who truly cared for her... someone who was the first and probably the only person to ever truly understand her... if Jisei didn't back then...

But... he did...

And now... all she sees now... is an empty body... her soul isn't there, and if it was... it isn't being shown... if she was still there, if at all!

She was losing the fight... to regain consciousness...

And in Koyo's eyes... to regain and get her mom back...

She sits back down again in her seat... and she put all of her weight on her back... arching it backwards...

And staring unto the ceiling...

Her tired and overflowing eyes, still spilling her true emotions...

Her tears leaked from her sockets all the way to her cheeks and chin...

She closes her eyes... hoping to be saved...

Even though she knows...

She doesn't deserve it...

That all of this suffering... was always meant for her...

From the day she was born... until the day she dies...

That all her thoughts, were always meant for her detriment... and for nobody else is to ever hear of it...

Because the only person who'd ever insist on staying with and for her is dying... right before her very eyes...

Why would she ever bother to try...

When even her mother is being taken from her...

When she is all Koyo has left...

She wondered... what else is even possible to be taken from her...

When all she knew... is being taken...

She thought... there's nothing left!

And in a way... she's right...

Because... she literally is dying...

It didn't matter if it was her... or her mom...

Because she might as well just be like her...

Except...

She's stuck with all of these emotions and feelings...

She thought it was a strength for her not to keep lying to herself... to ever suppress her feelings...

But if all it does was remind her... of how truly alone she is in this world...

If all it does is keep haunting her...

Why would she bother? in continuing to keep living...

If this pain... is all she had left in the end...

If this pain... is all she'd ever truly know in this world...

Why bother?

Why bother living?

.

She didn't know it...

But she couldn't suppress her true self from crying...

Not when it actually happens...

Even when she tried so hard to deny it...

It's all she is and will ever be in the end...

A lonely broken soul... whose mother couldn't even save her...

She's truly gone...

And there's nothing she can do to save her in return...

To show her how grateful she was for her... in the end...

And now...

And now...

.

Her beating heart... finally stops...

And her lifeline... her life... is put to a halt...

She's...

She's...

She's now dead...

.

She pushes the call button to summon the nurses and doctors to the room... but... she knows it's too late...

As they flood into the room... she is coerced to wait outside, as their loud noises of checking her status and also trying to restart her heart... lasted for minutes on end... with her heart falling deeper and deeper, hoping... even though it's low...

That maybe she might still be alive...

That...

A miracle would happen... today...

But alas...

"Ma'am?" she hears two deep voices... with her defeated eyes, she looks up, and sees two older male Ishiin agents... they look like they're about the same age as her mom's... but... she already knows what they're about to say...

And that is-

"Omoi Nayumi... your... mom... has sadly passed away today..." one of the agents said, with both of their faces, already mourning her loss...

"If... it brings you any solace... she was among the greats! (but even she couldn't become one of the Grade S agents just yet...) And without her... I wouldn't be alive today! ... just know that... she's cared for all of us, and she's even made sure that we Ishiins would have and because of her... we do! ... have better working conditions and-" the other agent was interrupted by the first one... shaking his head in protest, as they both look at Koyo who hasn't changed her look since... with her empty silent eyes still lingering...

"Sorry about him... he's too obsessed with his job, to even try and be considerate towards... umm... we'll leave you now... we're both sorry..." the first agent said, with the both of them walking away... she finally bursts into tears, she grabs her eyes and pushes them strongly, covering her face and grasping her temples...

She breaks down and in bending her neck backwards... stares into the blinding white light of the fluorescent lights, being tranced... and feeling emptier because of it... but her depression still stands...

It will never leave her...

It will never stop haunting her...

.

A bell chime is heard, as both of the doors of an elevator open up...

The orange and relaxing hue of the apartment hallways fills her eyes... with her music still blasting around her ears...

Koyo slowly walks up to her apartment door and fumbles around with her keys, till she finally opens it...

Hoping yet again... to atleast see her... dad...

But alas...

https://youtu.be/VpLXxFhy7s4 / It is Not Meant to Be - Tame Impala

"It is not meant to be..." she muttered under her breath, grasping her phone and reading the current track's title playing, with the slow and lumbering distorted guitar and wandering bass playing... along with the beats of the drums, swaying her heart... causing it to fall deeper... and deeper...

And deeper...

And deeper...

And deeper...

And-

She just stands there, as Kevin Parker's psychedelic and reverb-drenched vocals drown her in so many defeated and bittersweet emotions... her tears instantly started to keep flowing... soiling the carpet of their hotel-like apartment...

With her music... she is never alone... but...

But...

She is always reminded of what she doesn't have... and what she lost...

...

She hangs her head lower and lower and-

Downwards... her clenching fist shaking... as if she crushing her own heart...

She changes the song...

To something more... her mood...

https://youtu.be/FRbDkPsj0wk / Keep on Lying - Tame Impala

She slams open their balcony, moving forward... but looking downwards... at the streets below her... even at this height... she's always reminded... of how fucking alone she is in this world... and even in her time of mourning... of losing her own mom...

There's nobody here to comfort her and to stay by her side...

She's... she'll...

Always be alone... and lonely...

With the trancing synths luring her in, making her... it describes her feelings... better than she could ever describe... nor express...

Her curse... her fate and destiny... is to be stuck in this looming and looping depression of hers...

She wants to change it all... and yet...

She keeps failing...

She keeps... on lying...

To herself... and others...

As the voices in the song, capture what her place in this world is...

To be choked up...

To be thrown aside...

To be useless...

To be unwanted...

...

To be left alone...

To be... so fucking lonely...

All of the time...

The voices in the song get louder... the distorted lead guitar whose playing was wandering earlier... suddenly bursts into this aggressive and fast-paced solo...

Koyo grasps her heart by the fingertips... tightening her grip on it...

Her neck and foot slightly twitch... she moves forwards...

But before she knew it...

She instantly wakes up from her trance...

And in looking downwards...

She sees how easy it would be to finally disappear from this world...

With the strong wind consuming her... blowing and swaying her...

A familiar faint voice speaks to her... in the very back of her mind... it- no-

She says-

"Why did you let go too early? ... and now... now... you're left all alone..."

She shakes her head... and closes her eyes...

Placing her right foot in mid-air...

She falls...

Deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper-

.

.

- A Few Weeks Ago-

In an empty classroom, with the hue of the afternoon sunlight over their heads...

Two figures are laughing... and having a good time...

This was before she ruined it... this was when she still thought... she could handle it...

Koyo giggles along with Jisei...

Her best friend for a few years now... and only recently... have they started to date...

But she knows deep inside... that this will not last... that...

That...

She looks over her seat...

And she sees a reflection of herself... from the past...

Her head facing downwards on her desk, with her face pressed on it... a pool of tears drenches and forms all around her...

Her clear tears slowly turned into blood...

She is shaken by this... staring right into her seat and spacing out because of this...

But she shakes it off and looks straight at Jisei, who notices this...

"You ok? Nayumi-San?" Jisei softly asked her, trying to figure out what was suddenly on her mind...

"hmm hmm... it's nothing..." she says while shaking her head in the process... reassuring him she's fine...

"Are you really sure? cause you know, you can just open up to me you know?" Jisei insisted, trying to see, if he could pester her about it... but her melancholic look... wandering over to the distance... her delayed response...

Made him doubt if he could even get her to open all of herself up... if at all...

If he can get her to trust her...

Koyo looks right back at him... her eyes... her face... giving it all away...

If he can't let her trust him... to reveal what's troubling her... what's always on her mind...

What's... always haunting her...

They wouldn't last... atleast...

Not like this...

"Yeah... I'll keep that in mind... alright? ... Jisei-kun..." she replies aloofly... Jisei nods weakly...

This awkward silence... is slowly choking up the both of them...

Even though they have so much they want to say to each other...

Even though... they love each other... so much...

They just can't seem to push themselves to trust each other...

Even though...

Deep down...

She wants him to pester her about it...

She wants him... to show her how much he cares...

.

Time moves on...

Koyo does her usual everyday routines... without her dad... without her...

She wakes up... staring at the ceiling... moving to her side... without no one to wake up to...

Without anyone... to wake her up... to...

Motivate her... to keep going...

She prepares herself for the day... taking a bath... preparing breakfast... along with her packed lunch and snacks... with nobody to eat them with...

She brushes her teeth... and changes into her school uniform...

She grabs her phone and puts her earbuds in...

And in putting her school shoes on... she looks up towards the door...

She sighs...

Not wanting to go to school...

To suffer...

And to be reminded... of just how much she'll be so lonely... and how little she matters...

To anyone...

Not even Jisei...

Has any time for her...

She opens the door... knowing just how much she'll cry for the day...

And just how much... she will always be pushed over to the edge...

She doesn't really have any reason to live... to keep going...

But her mom might be nearing her mission's end... hopefully, it's her last...

Hopefully...

She doesn't have to be so alone and lonely in this world...

Cause she thought... just how much can be taken from her? ...

...

She goes on with her day...

Seeing her classmates talking with each other... having banter with each other... having drama and most of all... having soo much fun...

While she just sits there... so silent and so awkward...

Nobody ever gets close to talking to her about anything!

Anything!

Nobody trusts her...

Nobody wants her...

And from how little she even sees Jisei... these days...

He says he's busy... it's been like that for so many weeks now...

But she knows... he's lying to her...

He doesn't trust her... he doesn't want her...

Has he ever even loved her at all?

She wonders... and ponders...

She's starting to forget just what it felt like to be so happy before...

And if her memory serves her right...

It's never been a constant for her...

And in seeing so many people living their lives to the fullest... right in front of her...

She just can't help... but be reminded... always...

Of just how much she doesn't have it... and just how much she's been so happy before too...

Of just how much it hurts to compare and contrast both experiences and feelings from each other...

Of just how much... it hurts...

To see herself in such a state... to be so self-aware about it...

But not having the strength to change it... to trust others... to let them fix her...

If they'll just hurt her in the end anyways...

What's the point of trying?

If she'll just be more hurt in the process...

There is no point in trying... she muttered inside herself...

"That's right... there is no point... in pretending..." her other voice says and whispers inside her ear...

It rings and rings and rings and rings and rings and rings and rings and rings and rings-

She starts to think...

She started to think...

Just how much Jisei and everyone around her... just sees her as a liability... as an outsider... as useless... as...

As...

"That's right..."

"You're nothing to them..."

"You're useless"

"You're undesirable"

"You're boring..."

"You're so fucking anti-social!"

"You're unattractive and ugly as hell! No wonder nobody wants to talk to you... let alone even attempt to be your lover for longer..."

"You're so damn pathetic..."

"It's hilarious! Honestly! HAHAHA!" the voice in her multiplies, more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more that...

That...

She's starting to believe it... no-

She always believed all of this...

"Well, you should... because it is the truth!"

"Cause your whole life... from your birth... all the way to your death..." the voice coldly whispers sweet nothings into her ear...

It faces her... face to face...

Then it kisses her... with her lips glistening from this... the voice stares right into her...

Just like the black abyss... always forming inside of her...

This is her true self...

This is who she is...

So broken and...

And-

"You'll always be alone... and lonely... forever... you might as well just accept it..." the voice states... just as it smiles... just as he smiles...

"My love~..."

...

Was the love she even got from Jisei... even real?

And even if it was...

What if it... was just a fluke...

A cruel joke from fate...

And now... that he's starting to see her true self... in how hesitant she is to open herself up... to him...

Or to anybody for that matter... in that manner...

Maybe... maybe... he's starting to secretly hate her...

Cause it sure as hell makes sense if he "didn't have any time" and is "too busy" for her anymore...

She's...

She's all alone again... all over again...

Just when she thought she could love...

Will she ever be able to again?

Does she deserve to be loved?

Even though she can't even trust the person who's willing to literally fix her...

That's willing to literally stay by her side... if she did...

But she just can't...

She's just too much of an introverted coward to do so...

It's in her nature to be like this...

It's in her nature to-

To...

Always be cursed... and be so messed up inside...

Who can even love her... truly?

Who?

Who?

Who?

Who?

Who?

Who?

Who?

Who?

Who?

Cause she always avoids everyone who does... no wonder... no wonder nobody even tries to anymore...

And when she wants to speak... she always chokes on her words...

Nobody can even hear her... let alone... let alone...

Be with her...

She grips her head and tightens her fingertips all around it...

As the darkness worsens and gets more relentless all around her... because of them...

Because... of her...

Everyone leaves the classroom... for lunch break yet again...

Until... she's all... left alone...

All over again...

She breaks down and sobs, placing her forehead and face on her desk yet again... forming a pool of tears...

She proceeds to punch her head over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over-

Until...

Until-

The day is finally over...

And she goes back to bed...

To do it all over again tomorrow...

No wonder she hates it...

No wonder she'll always be cursed...

As she lives and breathes... until the day...

Until the day...

"She" died...

.

A tall figure stands before her...

It seems... that she's crying here...

It seems... that...

This was when she was younger...

And that tall person... was...

Was her mom...

"It's gonna be ok, alright? ... Koyo-Chan..." she gently said to her younger self... with her face sobbing on her mom's chest, as she squats downwards, to her smaller height compared to hers

"Even if you feel lonely... I'll always stay here for you, no matter what... I'll be always here for you, I promise..."

Young Koyo cries out, whimpering on her chest... clinging to her mom's words...

Hanging on to it... even till now...

These words meant so much to her then... and now...

Even after everything that's happened to her... she still believes, deep down...

She can still be loved, and she herself... is capable of loving someone else...

This is evident, because of her mom's love and care for her...

Too bad she's... she's...

Her mom's figure slowly disappears as Young Koyo falls to the ground, hurting her precious head...

She wipes her eyes and face, trying to look for her... calling out her name...

She willingly waits for her return... in this white limbo of an empty space...

Inside her pretty head...

She finally hears something!

She hears the rolling of little wheels, scooching over to her position... she gets up and looks all over the place...

And what she saw...

Made her heart stop and skip a beat- no-

It made her die inside...

It was her mom, on a hospital bed... dying and lying there... motionless...

Emotionless...

That isn't her mom... it can't be!

"It can't be..."

"Mom!"

She tries to reach her, but... the further she tries to get closer to her mom...

The more distant she is from her... the more she realizes...

The more she realizes she really is gone...

She forcibly kneels on the floor, turning into her current, older self...

She screams in a regurgitated voice... that she never knew, that she was capable of doing...

She never knew... just how much she's been suffering truly... deep inside of her...

She coughs up blood, and in falling down towards the floor... with her face flat upon it...

She sobs intensely... her face covered in her own pool of tears, she screams out:

"LIAR!!!!!!!!!"

While her tears start to flood her empty space... inside her own mind... inside her own soul...

She is completely and suddenly submerged in her own fluids...

She sees a light above her... blinding... but comforting at the same time...

It sends her into a deep trance...

But just as she tries to swim upwards... towards it...

She completely falters and fails to do... drowning in her own tears... in her own sadness...

In her own cursed and overwhelming depression...

With her curled hand and fingertips slowly losing life...

She doesn't wake up from this dream... or whatever you may call it- a nightmare...

She's...

She's finally decided...

To let go...

To let go...

To let go...

To let go...

To let go...

To let go...

To let go...

To let go...

To let go...

...

To finally let go... of her...

And him...

But deep down she knows she'll never ever get over them... but she's tired of fighting it...

Her longing for more is dying...

Just as she's finally giving up- given up...

She's finally changing... or is she really?

...

.

A movie reel is flashing right before her eyes... seeing what she has had before... seeing... just how much... she doesn't trust anybody anymore...

And just how much... Jisei... really doesn't want to stick around and wait for her to open up anymore...

Their laughing voices... having fun... they were so young then... they were so peaceful...

But now the only silence left... is their distrust for each other...

Whether or not they could even last as just friends... let alone actually still being in a relationship together...

They- no-

She couldn't take it anymore...

Remembering it all... it's all too much for her...

How much she did confide in him... and just how much she could just take one step forward... even if she was hesitant and wary of what might hurt her... if she messes it up...

But she knows... she knows just how much she could throw it all away, all of her insecurities, her worries, her negative thoughts... and finally open up to him... to finally confide in him truly...

To finally trust him...

To be vulnerable towards him... and maybe even others...

But the prospect, even if it's so minuscule compared to how much she could succeed. If she just took one step forwards, towards the abyss, of not knowing the outcome...

Of finally taking a chance...

But she's too tired to try anymore... to live in fear of what might happen to her...

She's too hurt to try anymore...

Their colourful memories start to slowly become 35 mm black and white film...

All of their time spent together is captured into smaller snapshots... as it's slowly caught on fire...

Burning up and fading out...

And finally...

Turning into ashes and being blown by such strong winds...

She's made up her mind...

She's-

She's letting go of-

.

"Jisei-kun... I'm sorry... but- I want to-" she hesitates in trying to say it, Jisei looking confused, gives her the benefit of the doubt in hearing her out... not aware... of just how much her next few words... would hurt him... and especially her... for years on end to come...

"I'm letting go of you now... I- I'm done!"

"I'm tired of you! I'm tired... so tired..."

"Of living like this..." she said.

But before he could even say anything to her...

She rushes out from the scene, her heels clacking on the school corridor's floor... her tears silent...

Her body language... apparent...

While she finally leaves him behind... she grips her head once again and rustles it... sobbing in the hallway, not giving a damn whether anyone could see her crying at all... because this time... even though someone was willing to stand by her... and hear her out...

She closed the door on them, one final time...

Closing off her heart and soul for years to come...

She's... she'll...

Always be broken...

And even though, she's always had many chances and opportunities to change that...

Her sense of self just won't allow her... to ever be happy...

To ever finally be... free...

Jisei just stood there... left alone just like her...

She isn't aware of this...

But he's suffering just like her... he needs her... just as much as she needs him...

But now...

But now...

It's all over...

She willingly killed their relationship right there and then... right in front of him...

And now... he's left to suffer too... because of it... because of... her...

He sobs silently, walking away from the scene, hoping to find a corner... just like she had...

This darkness is killing the both of them...

Even though they could've been so much more together...

It just... isn't meant to be...

Not like this...

Not anymore...

She had failed him... and he had failed her...

.

She left the school building... and walks near the park of the main campus...

The scorching sun burning brighter than ever... she kneels on the hot afternoon pavement...

With her knees burning up, her tears fall and simmer as it drops towards the pavement... causing them to slightly steam up...

She sobs loudly, as she starts to punch the lamppost in front of her repeatedly...

Until both of her knuckles bled out, and the lamppost's base is coloured red...

With her regrets and disappointment... in doing what she just did...

In making the worst mistake of her life...

She thought it would free her... but all it did was hurt her even more than she was expecting...

If she was tired before this... now... she's all spent and sucked dry...

She might as well just be a ghost, who nobody cares about or can see...

She muttered: "Why the fuck did I just do that?" as the hot and humid wind consumes her...

She looks at her bloodied knuckles... and in finally being freed from the numbness of her solitary pain... in calming down...

The sharp pain rushes towards her being... in literally fucking up her hands...

Her scream cracks under the sun turned orange...

Her blood spilt over her kneeling position... she falters on the ground... laying on her own pool of crimson fluids...

She calms down after a few minutes... and just sighs in utter shame and defeat...

This isn't anything new for her... it's just another day... of long-lasting pain and weight for her to bear...

She grabs her phone and earphones... and in wearing them... she plays the song that the both of them always enjoyed together... she and Jisei...

And Jisei and her...

He gave her this song...

And now...

It's all she has left... from him...

Now...

He'll always be in her mind, haunting her... reminding her...

Of just what she did to her... and to him...

...

She walks home... in solitary shame...

Her shadow, looming and bigger than her...

But what she doesn't know...

Is just how much things can change in 5 years...

Even she...

Even she can change...

She just doesn't know it yet...

How could she?

...

https://youtu.be/Pnd0yk0SW0k / Under Supervision - late night drive home

-To Be Continued-

Ending Song/s:

https://youtu.be/sHhZcL-FwUs / Maud Gone - Car Seat Headrest

https://youtu.be/PD1REpFsivg / The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know (Alternate Version) - Panic! At the Disco