A/N: Good morning! I am happy for no particular reason, which is fun. This part, as well as the end of the last update and this one, came out of nowhere. I have no clue why it's going on but I went with it because it looked like fun. Tomorrow's update is the last part of arc four... which I don't know why that is either. The story is now officially writing itself folks. Good luck and enjoy the ride!


4-11

"You're almost here. Don't give up!"

This voice...

"Hurry! Please hurry!"

No, these voices...

"You're so close!"

Who are they? They sound like they know... but who are they?

"Please keep fighting. You are the only one who can."

Fighting...? Fighting what? Fighting who? Why should she be fighting?

"I thought you were stronger than this! Get over here! You're making everyone cry, you idiot!"

Crying? Why would anyone be crying? Why would she make someone cry? How could she? Her body throbs and Hikari opens her eyes to see water and a dim light. Around her, the water is gray, and she can breathe. She floats below the surface, staring at the light above her. The voices... are they coming from there? Is that where she is supposed to go? She moves to push her arms up and swim, but a hand clutches at her ankle.

No, her own hand clutches at her ankle.

It is her, isn't it? But the eyes are too blue and her hair is black. The eyes are wider than they used to be and the face is too blank, too young.

"Are you sure you want to go?" her small self asks. "Do you really want to go to that place and fight and kill? Why do all of that? Why do that for people who think you're crazy anyway?"

It's scary. The high voice is scary, but it is true. They will have to kill, they will have to so much. And the others probably think she's not okay, Takeru has even admitted to knowing she's not.

But...

Even so.

"Please come back... I'm scared."

"I want to," she says. "They're calling me."

"They won't call you forever," Hikari sees the small girl say. "They'll hate you soon enough."

"I'll accept that when it comes," Hikari murmurs. Because they might, and denying won't make the possibility any less feasible. "Why do you care?"

"Because if they hate you, they might kill you," the little girl says and smiles, fangs and all. "And I'm a part of you now, so I can't let that happen ever, okay? You're going to die when I want you to, and you're going to hurt whoever we want to hurt and get rid of whoever you want to. And you won't care, because I don't care."

The little girl releases her ankle with a giggle. "And you've never cared."

Unrestrained, Hikari floats up into the light and for some reason, it makes her cringe, squeezing her eyes shut.