Before you read this, it doesn't take place in either the game universe or the anime one, but rather a mixture of the two, as Jiro has a crush on Kluke as he does during the game, and Andropov does as he does, or at least in my opinion, in the anime, as well as Shu. So this is technically Kluke x All of them, but its mainly as ShuxKluke, as he is the one this quick story is told by.
I fiddled with the golden ring in my hand. HER ring... I ran my fingers over the words I inscribed in it's inner ring.
'I'll always be there to protect you.'
I've never heard a bigger lie. Not from Nene. Not from Zola either... Not from anybody beside myself...
It was all my fault...
...
It all started on a day like any other, besides the fact that Jiro was out on some sort of training and Andropov was sleeping in for that day. That meant that it was Kluke and me alone for the day, unless Marumaro or someone else decided to come, which I prayed that they didn't. See, I had a plan that day. I'd do something amazing that would capture her heart.
No, I wouldn't use Blue Dragon to show off some fighting or anything because I know how much Kluke hates fighting unless its necessary. I was actually going to take her on a horseback ride. I managed to get a horse from Jibral's army, so it was perfect to show off some of my riding skills. A simple ride around across the fields and then a jump across a small cliff.
It was perfect.
Kluke arrived at around eight in the morning, wearing her usual blue shirt, but instead of her matching blue mini-skirt, she was wearing some capris, fully aware that we were going horse back riding. That's how we both ended up getting on the white horse with gray spots, with Kluke wrapping her arms around my stomach tightly to keep herself from falling off as the horse took off at a trot. Everything went good after that, with Kluke occasionally pointing out somethings that she liked; the waterfall, the flower field, and anything else that you could relate to peace really. It was about at the time when the small cliff was in sight that the horse we were riding started making hoarse breathing snorts.
"Shu... It looks hurt... Maybe we should-," Kluke started.
"No! Its fine! Just a little further," I shouted and slapped the reigns down, slightly increasing the horse's speed. Kluke probably knew better than to argue with me and hesitantly tightened her grip around me before burying her head on my shoulder.
She should have said more...
The horse continued it's snorts and rebuttals, but I would just keep slapping the reigns to keep it going until we got to the cliff. With one final slap from the reigns, the horse jumped. A clumsy jump, but still a jump. It's legs were flailing in the air and it was throwing its body around. I was too shocked to think of anything as the reigns were ripped out of my hands and the horse flew in a small ball to the other side of the cliff, clearly in pain from the jump. That left Kluke and I practically free falling. I did what came natural and quickly summoned Blue Dragon, allowing the large blue shadow to catch me and save me from the fall.
What Blue Dragon forgot was a certain brown haired girl who was also falling.
Unlike me, who's been in countless of life or death battles and adapted a quick sense of movement, Kluke didn't even have time to think of summoning her shadow, and was left falling.
"KLUKE!"
I started crying and screaming at the same time as Blue Dragon flew down towards the fading figure, as if it would help me reach Kluke in time.
It didn't.
There was a loud thud and Blue Dragon stopped moving. I stopped my screaming, if only to regain my breath before screaming her name over and over.
...
I continued fiddling with the ring in my hand, my false promise ringing through my head like the church bells from a few blocks down the road. They were... They were for her funeral. I slowly tucked the ring in my tuxedo's breast pocket before making my way outside.
I may have lied...
I may have not protected her...
But going to her funeral and honoring her memory was the least I could do, even if it meant putting myself in harm's way... Jiro and Andropov would be there, without a doubt...
"You," the blue haired ex-soldier shouted, his voice still hoarse from the sickness, wounds, or whatever it was that made him in his crutches.
"How could you! How could you let her die! What about your promise," Jiro shouted. Everyone else was silent, and the two boys who both had crushes on Kluke were impatiently awaiting a reply. Tears formed in my eyes, which I tried to rub away at first, but once I saw it was useless, I stopped.
"I'm sorry... I'm... I'm sorry..."
I'm sorry, Kluke... I wasn't able to protect you... Why...? You were right there... So why couldn't I...
I'm sorry.