Mio could barely take any more of this.
She could barely stand it now, and wondered what it was that still held her up.
At first it had been Mayu. Then getting out of that village. Then they would go home and everything would return to normal.
Her mind flashed back to her own hands around her neck, strangling the person she had been trying so hard to save.
It had been so simple and she shuddered at how easily she took it.
"Mayu!" She tripped and fell, but that did not slow her down. She found herself crawling and tumbling until she was on her feet once more. Branches tugged at her clothes and hair. The jostling upset her already existing wounds. The hands of ghosts she could still feel in her skin, a touch so cold it felt it was burning, scars no one else would ever be able to see.
She chased the butterflies even after they flew high into the sky, screaming her sister's name, an arm stretched.
She had to keep running. If she stopped, that would be it. She'd have to accept that she had actually killed a human being. She had killed her own sister, and in the end, it had saved everyone. Everyone, except for her.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Exhaustion pulled at her but Mio kept running.
She didn't notice the sun rising beyond the trees, the first light rays she had seen in days.
The trees grew thicker with life, a familiar path she followed subconsciously.
It was terrible, how the day taunted her with beauty when all she could feel was rotting hope.
Mio continued to scream, tears running down her face until they ran dry, forcing her to dry heave.
She never noticed the person in blue standing there, a shocked look on his face when his eyes settled on her.
She never noticed she had run further away from the forest and closer to the public, where the trees were thinner and easier to go through, and where a few red and blue sirens could be seen if you looked through the right areas.
Mio was forced to stop and collapsed to her knees. Her hands gripped into the dirt, shaking her head back and forth. "She's gone…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"
The man grew frantic, speaking words through a walkie talkie. Words she couldn't comprehend. Right now, everything felt so cold. Like she had no heat left. Like nothing held her together anymore.
Everything blurred her vision, hazed from the crying and lack of sleep. The world was suddenly much too bright for her liking.
Her gaze flew to the man, a police officer, whose eyes were wide as he took in her appearance. "Mio Amakura."
It was a statement, not a question, and he knelt down next to her. "Everything will be fine."
It took her a long time of staring at him before it registered. It was a person, not a ghost. Or at least she hoped. She honestly didn't know anymore. Mio felt her breath hitch, eyes widening as her thoughts caught up. The realization that hit her would have knocked her off her feet had she not already been grounded. A police officer. He would find out what she had done. She could already feel the bruise forming on her neck. She had killed her sister, and no one knew except for her. She was a murderer. A killer. Someone who had took away a person's life.
"Mayu is…Mayu…" The words were soft and hushed. She grabbed her head, trying to ignore the voices bouncing everywhere.
The voice of her sister, of Chitose, Sae and Yae, Mutsuki and Itsuki, and many other broken thoughts.
No, everything would not be fine. Nothing would ever be fine again.
He was entirely wrong and she couldn't bear to think that everything would simply be fine.
"No…it's…Mayu. I'm so sorry…We were meant to be together. We were supposed to, but I…"
She fell over then. Everything felt all too strange. She felt out of place, suddenly returning to this normal world, where nothing would ever be normal again.
A world without her sister; a world where she knew more than anything that ghosts did exist.
The police officer rushed over, yelling something, but she couldn't hear him. Mio could hear nothing anymore and was thankful for it. She simply wanted to cease to exist. Then, maybe that pain in her chest would go away. Or, perhaps she would wake up from this terrible nightmare.
