----
I - I've never felt so - so scared and so... alone
Why are you alone?
I don't know. Yoko... she doesn't talk to me anymore...
---
Koutarou braced himself as Hiroko struck out. Masao wove around Hiroko's punches, but he was unprepared for the kick. The angel was sent flying, but he righted himself in the air and landed softly at the edge of the layer.
What's wrong? Koutarou asked himself This angel doesn't seem as strong as she did when Misakichi was facing her.
Ohjiro squinted at the layer.
"Ichiro-san," he asked his older brother, "Does Hiroko seem slightly... oh, I don't know... off, to you?"
"If you mean that she doesn't seem to be landing as many hits as she should be, then I'd say yes."
"Do you think the problem is with the angel itself?" His voice almost had a note of hope.
"I know you don't want this answer, but I think something is wrong with Yoko."
"But - but, why is it happening now? I mean - the accident was five years ago..."
Tamayo's eyes followed the female angel as she darted around the layer.
"Misakichi, is it just me, or does Hiroko seem slower than usual?"
"I - I don't know, I was following Masao. Why do you care so much about that angel anyway?"
Because she was in my dream, but out loud she said, "I dunno... just - she's interesting to watch."
"Shouko-oneechan, do you think that Misaki's friend has any chance?"
"I don't know, but it seems to me that something is wrong with both the deus and the angel..."
Koutarou didn't pay much attention to the angel's sudden lapse of strength. He was winning, and he needed all the help he could get, although he wouldn't admit to that much. Masao aimed a kick at Hiroko but missed. Koutarou couldn't help noticing that his opponent stumbled slightly as she dodged. He glanced at the deus. The teenager sat still, her eyes just barely focussed on the layer. He squinted at her, thinking he saw a tear glisten in the corner of one of the dark eyes. There was no tear, but her eyes seemed to be filled with unimaginable fear. What is she afraid of? Is she afraid she'll lose? But no, that couldn't be it. Why be afraid of a mere defeat?
"Tamayo-chan," Misaki looked at her friend, who had suddenly seized the arms of her chair, her hands so tightly clenched that the knuckles were white. "What's wrong?"
"Something... just isn't right," she whispered back.
"Tamayo, snap out of it."
"I just don't understand..."
"Tamayo!" Misaki stared at her friend. Something was upsetting Tamayo, and Misaki was sure that it had something to do with that strange angel.
"Ohjiro, you know that it had to come to this sometime," Icchan told his younger brother, "None of us can ever be ready, but we have to be able to deal."
"I know. But- she's still so young, and- and," Ohjiro stopped and dashed away the tears that had begun to run down his cheeks.
"I know," Icchan put his arm around Ohjiro's shoulders and tried hard to blink away the tears that were gathering at the corners of his eyes.
"It's time to end this, Masao!" Koutarou yelled, moving Masao into an offensive stance, but Hiroko was faster.
The angel rose into the air and unfurled her shadowy wings. Her eyes turned blood red and a large sphere of shadow grew between her hands. Just as she was about to unleash her final attack, she stopped and turned slowly in midair. The sphere vanished and her eyes returned to their normal colour. Her wings buckled and she fell, crashing onto the layer, where she lay motionless. The health indicator on the big screen flickered and died.
"MASAO WI-" the announcer stopped as Hiroko suddenly moved. The health bar remained at zero, but she got up all the same.
Hiroko didn't move to attack. Instead, she turned to face her deus, who was slumped in the chair in an unnatural position. At that moment, the crowd noticed and an eerie quiet settled over the stadium.
To Koutarou, everything happened so slowly. He pulled off his headset, ready to jump down and see what had happened, but Masao's power didn't shut off. The health indicator went to zero, but he was still moving. Hiroko slowly turned, darkness surrounding her. Anger was in the dark eyes and electricity flicked outward from her small body. Masao ran towards her, almost in slow motion, and flung his arms around his opponent. He held on tight, even as electricity pulsated through his body. His face twisted in pain, but he held on. Finally, Hiroko stopped attacking him. Masao's tight embrace turned to a gentler one of caring. He caressed her and gently rocked her back and forth until she was entirely calm, and then he went limp and fell lifelessly to the layer.
Tamayo ran towards the layer. She had jumped over the railing the minute that Hiroko had fallen and was running the moment her feet hit the ground. It took her an eternity to get there. She slid to a halt in front of Hiroko just as Masao shut down. She reached out to the small angel that sat forlornly on the layer.
---It's all over.
Then, goodbye.
Don't leave!
Sorry. But I must.
It's over. Over.
Don't say that.
Who are you?
I - I am a friend.
I don't need friends.
Why not?
Because my life is done.
No. No it's not.
I need Yoko, just as Yoko needed me, and now she's gone, and I can't live unless she lets me.
I'll let you live.
How can you? You don't understand this all. Yoko kept me alive.
And she's still inside of you. She made you live for a reason.
She made me live so I could be a companion to her.
She made you live so you could find life.
Maybe so, but it was her imagination that kept me alive.
I can keep you alive.
Can you dissolve the boundaries?
Together, we can do anything.
Thank you. Who are you?
My name is... Tamayo.
Thank you, Tamayo.
Interesting, no? I'll reveal everything in the next (and second last chapter)! Ta ta till then!
