Disclaimer: Are you seriously still asking me this?
Aiko "Anko" Tokosumi finished speaking, answered her father, and destroyed the enemy cockpit. She died moments later.
Her body went with her father, as he held it close, limp as he kneeled on the cockpit ground. Her soul fell back, almost as if it were falling out of her body, away from what tethered it to life.
It was a shell now.
Anko immediately looked down at her legs, relieved to see that they were in one piece. Her body had shifted when her father moved it, so she could see the bottom of her feet again, eaten at and pieced away. Her legs were pieces of cheese, holes through them, dissolved away at, rusted-
"Everyone," Papa was speaking. Anko looked at her Papa. "If there's anything I can do for you, anything at all, please don't hesitate to tell me." He held Anko's body closer as the inhabitants of the cockpit watched.
Papa loves me. It was a horribly light thought, and Anko, still on the cockpit ground, supporting herself with her hands, almost felt happy to know that.
The cockpit was silent, honestly, except for a few uncomfortable noises. Kana was starting to cry. Little Kana, she always cried. Anko was touched to know she still would. Kanji was solemn. Mrs. Tanaka was solemn. Mr. Sasami was solemn. Even Ushiro was solemn.
She looked at Machi. The other girl would be too, she knew.
"Machi...?"
What a surprise. Machi was crying too. She was, like Anko had been before, looking at the destroyed legs of Zearth's latest pilot. She was also looking at the destroyed chair that had taken the brunt of the acid, the chair that had belonged not to Anko, but to Machi. Still wearing the wig to disguise herself as Komo, Machi cried softly.
At that moment, Anko wished she'd gotten to know the other children better. The group of them were bonded in a way no one else ever could be. Still, she knew so little about all of them. She'd acted without a second thought, know if that acid had hit, Machi would have died. The fact that one of them was not in the contract was extremely prevalent. So had Machi been that person, then...
Well, one of them should be able to make it out of this alive. Even if that wasn't the case, Anko couldn't let anything happen to the rest of them. She was the pilot, so she had to protect them.
But she wished, very badly, that she had spent more of her last days with them. The other pilots. They could have all been wonderful friends.
"How long have you been here for?" She asked. That was a silly question. All of this had only taken less than a minute.
Anko turned her head to the side, where empty air should be, and standing next to her was the woman in black, impossibly pretty and casual. This woman was Death. She knew this woman was Death. Death extended a hand to her, and Anko took it, rising to her (very whole) feet.
In response, Death said, "You know how long. But I saw your speech. For a little girl, you've got great presence."
Impossibly, Anko laughed. "I only had that from mirroring Papa. I'm not that good when it really matters."
Death gave her a side-glance, her gaze on the cockpit wall. "But it really mattered then, didn't it?"
A silence lapsed between them, and Anko heard a murmuring. She turned her head to where Kanji, Ushiro, and Kana stood, and suddenly the tallest boy cleared his throat, his face caught between a smile and a grimace. "Guess it's my turn, guys."
Kana and Ushiro both looked at him, horrified and stunned respectively. Kana immediately grabbed on to him and cried harder. Helpless, Kanji patted her back in futility.
The light moment ended for Anko. She watched, eyes heavy, as the group started to gather themselves up. Machi had taken off the wig, and Mrs. Tanaka was talking to her now. Some of the acid had hit her cheek, after all, and that needed to be looked at. But none of them seemed to care about injuries or issues. Because now, there were only four of them left, soon to be three, and all the children looked tired. They all looked...really tired.
Just like Anko. "I don't think I want to be an idol anymore," she told Death. "You need to have so much energy, and the public's opinion can change too fast."
An arm slid around her shoulders. "What do you want to do instead?"
Die. But no. That's what she had already done.
"Maybe..." Anko looked at her father, standing now and holding her body. Somehow, she forced a smile. "I really liked talking to the world. Even if I'm dying hated and forgotten... I think I'd like to do that again."
What surprised Anko was when Death snorted. "You don't give yourself enough credit. 'Hated and forgotten?' Kid..." Anko felt tears prick her eyes. "That's the farthest you could ever get from the truth."
The cockpit emptied, leaving just the two of them, and Anko smiled up at Death, through her tears, and then the world grew so bright.
It was almost like looking at stars.
Author's Notes: The next chapters will come when I feel like re-reading Kanji's portion. That was a very long, emotional section. I can't do that again right now. I'm also starting to realize how disgustingly short the early chapters were in comparison to these later ones, particularly my first four following Kokopelli (who was intended to have a short chapter). I'm thinking of going back and embellishing them, but I'm not sure.