Kamigami no Asobi
Loki/Baldr/Yui
Transience
"Yui, you have to eat something." Apollo entered Yui's bedroom , carrying a tray of dishes, in concern of his classmate's deteriorating health.
It had been days since Loki had stopped Baldr's vacuous rampage, while in the process, he had sacrificed himself to reawaken Baldr's true dormant self. Yui, who had gotten together with Loki a few weeks before the incident, had refused to accept the truth of her love's death, consequently changing into a stoic and impassive person.
Yui shook her head, her face was pale, drained of her usual rosy blush, she had looked gaunt and sullen. That radiant smile of Yui had never appeared after Loki's heroic death, and she was no longer the bubbly and cheerful young girl she once was.
Although Yui knew that Baldr was not to blame, but in some parts of her heart, she had detested and resented Baldr's very existence. She would learn to forgive, eventually, but she knew she could never forget.
"Even so, you must eat something. Loki Loki would be upset if he knew that you are acting this way." Apollo scooped a spoonful of omurice and placed it before Yui's lips.
Yui shook her head once again, her hand trembling as she pushed the spoon weakly away. "Yui, it has been a week." Apollo reprimanded her gently, "You have to eat. You have to live. Only having a meal a day would cost you your health, Yui."
Before Apollo could further launch into a lecture, there was a quick knock on the wooden door. The guest revealed to be Baldr himself, walking into Yui's room brazenly, a mixture of guilt and sorrow on his face as he determined to rectify and make up for his wrongdoings.
"Apollo, can I have a word with Yui?" Baldr asked, his eyelashes quivering in pain upon Yui's depressing appearance. Apollo took his leave soon afterwards, indicating that he would be nearby in the case of when Yui needed him, after all, Apollo was protective of his fairy, however treating her much like a younger sister instead.
Baldr didn't take the seat that Apollo vacated, and instead, he had squatted down next to Yui, gazing up at her with that soft look of his.
"I am sorry," Baldr started to speak, a murmur barely audible, "I know that no words could ever make up for Loki's loss and I know that it is my entire fault. But I want you to know that… I will take care of you, like I had once promised a long time ago when we had just enrolled into the school and of course, to keep my promise to Loki."
"That is why, please, you have to eat." Baldr grasped Yui's hand, feeling her weak cold hands.
Baldr's dedication to Yui and his daily companionship to her had gradually reduced the hostility Yui had felt towards Baldr initially. Their relationship has almost gone back to as what it was. But both Baldr and Yui knew that it would be impossible for the two to be together, not at all.
"Yui, look." Baldr smiles while pointing to the blooming plum blossoms trees in the school garden. The petals litter the school ground in shades of pink.
Yui brightens up momentarily, gazing at the plum blossoms wistfully. "They are beautiful." If only Loki is here beside me, Yui's heart aches painfully at the thought of her deceased lover.
Days have passed, seasons have changed, Yui has recovered mostly from the wounds in her heart, she has been eating, speaking and she is well. But there are times when Yui will simply just stares into the distance for no apparent reason, flashes of pain on her face and although she has begins to smile once more, she is only a mere shadow of her former self. She is there, but yet she isn't.
Yui has also never forgotten about Loki even once, and he is constantly on her mind. Yui has also forgiven Baldr, after all, she knows that it isn't his fault entirely to blame and that she knows Loki is equally important to Baldr as well.
"Do you know what happens when… gods die?" Yui asks, choking on her question slightly, breaching a taboo topic by her very self. Her eyes are full of sorrow as she carefully plucks a blossom from a branch. Her slender fingers graze the soft petals, noticing that the flower is so beautiful yet so fragile.
Baldr watches her for a while and looks at the sky before replying quietly, "… I wonder."
Baldr knows every well though, after all it is a common knowledge amongst the Gods themselves that when a God dies, they disappear into ashes, forever scattered in the breeze, lost in void. Of course, there are also legends that a good God will turn into a constellation, honored and remembered by the people in its place in the grand blue sky.
"Do you think we will meet Loki again?" Yui's melancholy voice pierces Baldr's heart painfully and he knows she still holds hope to be reunited with Loki.
Baldr nodded, "Of course." Baldr touches Yui's head and gently strokes her long raven locks. "Loki will never forget about us, I am sure."
Yui smiles and turns to beam at Baldr, "Of course. He is such a silly boy."
The two starts to reminisce about the past, feeling nostalgia from the memories they holds. Thor appears, joining them but keeping silent at a side, a small smile on his lips as he looks upon the two affectionately.
One day, Yui finds herself unable to stand up properly, bending over the edge of her bed, holding onto her chest in pain. Yui groans, sweat dotting her forehead as she struggles to walk, her heart is burning agonizingly.
Melissa jumps up in fright, summoning Apollo and Baldr quickly to Yui's side. A diagnosis by the school's doctor has shown that Yui has contracted a terminal illness, an unknown disease that will eat away life rapidly by the sudden degeneration of organs. It is incurable, even with the help of the Gods.
Yui doesn't say anything but understands and has accepted too easily that it is her time soon. Takeru and Tsukito appears, the two siblings have offered to send Yui back to her world, back to her home in Japan for the last moments of her life.
Yui rejects the idea, deciding to spend her limited days with the Gods in the school, and has cheerfully asserts that her happiest days were actually the schooling days with them and she wants to be with them until the end.
Even Hades who has stayed away from Yui, for fear of his misfortune, Dionysus, together with Thor and Anubis have come over to accompany Yui, thanking her for what she has done for them, her patience and guidance for the Gods to learn about humans.
Baldr eventually breaks down from remorse, he kneels on the floor beside Yui's bed in the hospital, apologizing for everything he has done. He has firmly believes that it is actually his fault, suspecting that her illness has occur as a side-effect from his rampage previously when he had released the many light beams to destroy the world, and calamity as well as diseases were being liberated as well.
Yui simply tilts her head and smiles kindly towards Baldr, assuring him that is only her own weak resistance that is to blame.
Over the days, Yui falls sicker as time passes by, becoming so fragile like a glass doll, as if she is going to break at any moment soon.
"It's snowing." Yui murmurs, looking out of the window, at the falling snowflakes that has form a layer of pure white blanket.
Baldr nods, feeding Yui with a spoonful of porridge. "Snow that comes once in a year, so beautiful and so rare, just like you."
Yui giggles, before coughing from the lack of oxygen, "You are still the same as always, Baldr."
Baldr takes her hands in his, rubbing some warmth onto her frigid hands which are no longer capable of moving. "Yui."
"Yui, I," Baldr whispers urgently, his voice quivering from misery, wanting to confess the truth that he has kept in his heart for a long time lest there is no time, "I love you. I have loved you for a long time. I can't deny that I had felt jealousy towards Loki initially when the two of you had gotten together but please believe me, I have given the two of you my blessings from the depth of my heart then and now. I love you and I love Loki too. So please, forgive me for everything that I have done."
Yui doesn't reply but her silence has been taken to mean tacit understanding. She tries to summon whatever little strength she has left and cups Baldr's cheek weakly, and simply mouthed a thank you, before her eyes begins to close from fatigue and exertion.
"Goodbye." Yui says, the last word she utters before falling into a deep sleep.
"Yui!" Apollo yells, after Melissa has summoned everybody once again, but this time to her deathbed. Hades looks away, praying for a good judgment for Yui in the afterlife. Baldr is crying, tears streaking endlessly down his porcelain-like cheeks, his eyelashes wet and his cheeks flushed.
Tsukito stares at Yui's lifeless body and holds Usamaro tightly to his chest, an unknown pain throbs in his heart. Takeru pats Yui's forehead gingerly, surprised at how cold she had felt, speaking to her once last time, "You have done well, Weed."
Thoth takes a quick glance and leaves, ushering a sobbing Anubis to follow him. Zeus sighs, before bowing a little, "Thank you for your hard work."
The Gods are inconsolable, but they know full well that Yui has endured her illness with fortitude and courage.
Yui lies motionlessly in a glass coffin, the design intricate and beautiful, and her eyes are closed, looking serene and pure. Her face is void of the usual blush but she has looked like she is merely sleeping, her long fingers intertwined at her chest. Yui's long purple hair is braided sideways, smooth and shiny under the glow of the orange light of the hall. Her eyelashes are long, her lips are full and she has a placid smile on.
Yui is wearing a white dress, courtesy of Baldr and Thor, a native costume from Asgard and the sword necklace dangles at her neck, together with the choker that belongs to Loki.
Baldr's eyes are red and swollen, much like some of the Gods, and he says his final goodbye. "Yui, be happy." Baldr touches Yui's cheeks last time before the lid on the coffin is lowered down.
Takeru sniffles slightly, standing at a pillar near the coffin, watching from a distance. Tsukito touches Takeru's back carefully, not speaking but both sharing an admiration and adoration for the human girl's tenacity and resilience.
Apollo sits in a chair, forlorn and pensive, his usual radiant self disappears as he mourns for the loss of yet another of his friends. Hades and Zeus start to discuss about the disbandment of the school with all of the Gods eventually deciding to return to their homeland after the final sendoff of Yui, having gained a better understanding of human beings.
They have learnt that human are persistence and very strong in their own little way.
After Yui's ashes are scattered into the Sea of Japan, Baldr and Thoth are walking along the cold path of soft snow in Asgard, walking silently side by side.
"…Aurora." Baldr murmurs as he notices those rare and mythical lights dancing in the distant sky.
Thor stares before answering thoughtfully, "I hope Loki will no longer be lonely." Baldr nods in hopeful agreement, the two continues their way back home.
EXTRA:
"Have you missed me?" Loki asks, bending down to kiss Yui on her lips.
Yui tilts her head, confused, "Where am I?"
Yui has opened her eyes to find herself sleeping on a soft silk bed in a different plane, in a mysterious land. She has found Loki beside her, stroking her hair tenderly and gazing at her with those loving eyes of his.
"You are home."