Chapter Twenty-Five: Last Day
Returning to school felt like stepping into a world both familiar and alien. The halls buzzed with the usual chatter of students and teachers, life going on as though nothing had changed. But for T.LAC and Yozora, everything had. They moved through the crowd like shadows, eyes rimmed with the weight of sleepless nights, grief clinging to them like a second skin. The laughter around them sounded distant, hollow, like a melody they no longer recognized. Less than a week had passed since Mara was killed, but her absence already felt like an eternity—a void that neither of them could find the words to express.
T.LAC couldn’t stop replaying the moment he found out, the sharp sting of loss still fresh. It wasn't just that Mara was gone; it was the way she had been taken. A sudden, cruel twist of fate, yes—but he knew there was something darker behind it. Jezebel had killed her, and the sinister reason for it haunted his every thought.
Yozora’s mind was trapped in the last moments of Mara’s life, her death replaying over and over. He could still see her face, the pain in her eyes, the way she had been tormented. Was there something they could have done? Had there been signs they missed? A way they could have saved her? These thoughts churned endlessly, tormenting him with every passing minute.
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As they sat in class, the teachers' voices became nothing more than a dull hum, unable to pierce the fog of grief that enveloped them both. Every tick of the clock seemed to stretch into an eternity. All they could think about was Mara—the argument they had, the guilt of what followed. The memories of their last moments together haunted them: the promise they had made to go to college together, the bond that had once seemed unbreakable. And then, in a single, violent heartbeat, that world had shattered.
"Yozora," Ms. Morn's voice cut through the haze, pulling him back to the present. "You’ll be graduating as valedictorian now. I’m so sorry for your loss. I know how close the three of you were."
Yozora barely looked up. His only response was a quiet, detached, "Yeah, sure."
Ms. Morn paused for a moment, her expression softening. "Tomorrow your class graduates," she added gently. "Try to enjoy it, even just a little."
The words hung in the air, feeling both distant and impossible. The bell rang, signaling the end of the day, but neither T.LAC nor Yozora reacted. Silently, they rose from their seats and walked out of the classroom together, the weight of tomorrow’s graduation pressing down on them like a storm cloud.
It was supposed to be a day of celebration, a day where everything they’d worked for culminated in one final moment. But all they could think about was Mara—what should have been, and what was now lost forever.
As they made their way home, the familiar streets felt different, as though the world had shifted in a way only they could feel. Tomorrow, they would graduate. But nothing would ever feel the same again.