Chernobyl

"Good bye, halcyon days…"

She was (not) mesmerized at the sight of skeletons. The air was opaque, and he had to squint to see her face, pretty features surrounded by a halo of lavender hair. It was almost funny how her bare hands were bloodstained, crimson against porcelain white skin. "Nagato," he called, and those pure and innocent eyes looked at him.

His speech faded out when the twilight turned into another mass of red hue, ornamented by the glory of black orbs scattered around the peripheral vision. It was poison, Kyon somehow knew; within those orbs contained enough radiation to harm him, possibly kill him. It glowed in the dying sunset, evaporated from the cesspool on the ground, being truly fascinated to build another pile of corpses.

He knew well that his body was perishing— and hers would stay the same. Time was no longer on his side and he would no longer be there. It was painful to imagine her being here alone. With the skeletons…

"I won't," she said. "I'm now the last integrated data sentient entity in the world. I can no longer manipulate data, and my body can't recover again. As the headquarter had actually been destroyed by the explosion, the only thing I can do is waiting for my body to eventually disintegrate."

Kyon didn't really know what to say. The explosion was omega to the world, and everything was reduced only into two teenagers that were waiting for their own ends. At least she would no longer be alone. He thought of the paradise; the place where children always smiled and the sky was ever-blue. If he could choose where to live in the afterlife, it would be the answer.

And he hoped that… he could meet her again there. Everything would be perfect.


Kyon could barely make his way through the roads anymore, because they were choking with flesh and bones. He wondered if this empty city… was how the world supposed to be. It was too eerie and hollow, almost too ghostly that he ever thought of the resurrection of the death, terrorizing them into no end and he was forced into the battlefield with all the fear and clothes he couldn't wash the red out of.

The world was solid in deterioration. Everything started becoming black, black, black, and he thought that he would be insane. Wind indeed moved occasionally, creating pattern in the atmosphere, like artwork, like death.

But he still managed to smile, only around the time when Yuki Nagato was back and sat by his side, hoping for the tomorrow that would never come, so at least— they could escape from the torment and be free.

Then they would wake up, coughing.


The porcelain angel was away almost everyday to find the trace of humanity that might still be exist. It was not so futile; she could still find everybody— in pieces though. It was various; from Koizumi Itsuki's identification ID, Tsuruya's math book, and even Taniguchi's heap of eroge (torn, and only the titles were seen). She couldn't find anything about Asashina Mikuru; perhaps she had escaped. To the future.

If the future still stood at the doorway, presumably…

When his vision was nothing much but a blur, she came to face him, holding a what-seemed-to-be-yellow ribbon in hand. Kyon was not so surprised; merely chuckled at the thought that the culprit of the entire catastrophe didn't make it too. The God was gone, so there could be no hope anymore. He couldn't cry. Tears couldn't come out again; he was nothing, just a hollow shell of man, an echo of name in an empty cave.

Nevertheless he still hoped that everything was just a dream. He dreamed that he would wake up tomorrow and face whatever Suzumiya Haruhi had decided, or maybe even go to the library with the company of Yuki Nagato. Everything— wasn't even real.

He never did.


His left eye couldn't see anymore, and his tongue almost couldn't taste the molded bread that was still left. It was okay for him though. Acidity and bitterness of the bread could only hinder the process of eating; they also started running out of food. Taste bud was no longer needed around this time.

Yuki Nagato called him just around the time his skin littered on the ground (was it really his skin anyway?). Her tone was still flat, but the message was too shocking that he almost caught a cardiac arrest (maybe in an hour).

"I found a tree. It is maybe cedar, with peach flowers, and lavenders circle it," she said.

He escaped a dry laugh; pessimism was the only thing that could comfort him and he didn't believe anymore to good news. But then her dainty hand grabbed his, tugging him endlessly and he couldn't do anything but following the call. Yuki Nagato rarely showed her wish, so he would regret everything if he didn't fulfill it.

When he saw the scenery right in front of his eyes, he wondered whose wish had been fulfilled.

It was peach flowers, he could tell just by looking at its pink hue blossoming, strengthen by a bark which seemed almost too similar to cedar. This sight was now mesmerized his wounded eyes and he almost forgot to blink. The tree was isolated from everything else that it appeared demanding the dead passerby to look at it. And the fragrance, the mix of peach and lavender, captivated him so much and he nearly fainted because of it.

"This is the cause of mutation," Nagato explained. "In this world, the chance of mutation benefiting human is low, but it is not impossible. I calculate that there is around one out of ten thousand of useful mutation that can happen. This is the cause of it," Nagato ended her explanation.

He actually could only understand the first six words, but he was too exhausted to listen for more.

Nonetheless, a little tingle of happiness crept from the deepest heart of him; at least, the world still had hope.

Not for them though.


He felt like a ghost of cedar now, like his body could evaporate in any minute.

And she too... was more like a ghost than him. After five days of no food, it appeared that she couldn't maintain her presence much. She was fading; her body was much similar to the translucent glass, just waiting, waiting, and waiting to disintegrate, and so was he.

"So this is it, right?" he panted; leaning on the cedar with her at the end of his life was not so bad. He had known death for too long, anyway.

A nod.

"It seems... this is a good bye then," he continued.

Out of the blue, the peach and lavender flowers suddenly fell from their resting places, brought up by the turbulent of wind, and circled them with their utmost beauty. This caught their attention, and Kyon wondered, whether he was imagining things again or not. Miracle was oh too late to show up, and they had no hope again anymore.

Or maybe it was just an illusion; illusion from the dead. Perhaps he was dying.

Indeed.

Yuki Nagato suddenly stood up, facing him with all the glory of rich and pure eyes. They were more translucent than the last five minutes, but deep behind that, he was warmed by the aforementioned gaze. "It's a good bye for me too. I can't maintain my presence again anymore," she said flatly, and what he saw next... he just couldn't believe it.

She cried— still in her poker face, and buried her face into his bare chest. He knew that it was disgusting and creepy, knowing that the surface of his skin had almost been ripped from its original place, but it appeared that she didn't care.

"Thank you for everything," she said, and those words made him smile. he almost forgot every pain that was spreading throughout his body, and when she looked up, Kyon swore that her mouth curved into a sweet candy smile, lip the color of roses. For that, he thought that they would have a certain future. Together.

But not here.

"We will meet again, Kyon," she said, and those words were the signal. All the floating flowers that circled and watched them began wrapping their bodies. But he was not afraid at all; what he was thinking about was only the porcelain angel, Yuki Nagato that still had her face on his chest.

In a minute, he closed his eyes, and never woke up.


So well guys. I'm sick... and National Exam is next week. Please pray for my health and such, please? This fiction was finished last week, but I haven't posted it. So please review? I still don't know whether this Nagato is OOC or not.