Just binged watch this entire anime. Good stuff all around. There was some plot holes and bad writing here and there, but I liked it overall. I think Yuki x Yuno is definitely in my top 5 OTPs. Still, as I was watching the final three episodes, there were certain things that just didn't add up as I was watching it. I knew I had to immediately write a fanfic addressing these concerns while giving us (what I believe) is a more wholesome/positive ending.
(Starts around the 8 minute time stamp of episode 25)
As Yuki walked through the wreckage of his school, he knew that there was no longer room for hesitation in his heart and that he needed to act now if he was going to convince his beloved to abandon her plans to murder her third world self. To him, the solution was readily clear; even if it cost him his life, she needed to become the god of the 2nd world.
"Enough is enough, Yuno", he said, gazing up towards the pink haired beauty, who appeared to have the dwarfish Murmur hovering at her side. "You have to stop chasing me."
But in Yuno's mind, the time for talk and negotiation was long past. "Shut up."
Eyes still focused on his beloved, he thought to himself, "Only one way to make this work. Get that damn phone away from her and the future will be a clean slate. If she's helpless, she can be persuaded." Mind and soul full of resolved, the determined young man immediately ran towards her.
To which Murmur boasted while using the tip of her index finger to telekinetically hurl a large ball shaped object in Yuki's direction, "Just come at me bro! Queen Murmur specializes in taking out idiots."
"My dead end comes by Yuno's hand. The imp's got nothing." Although the massive object appeared to smash everything in the determined Yuki's vicinity, much to the imp's surprise, like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, he emerged from the additional wreckage unscathed. "YUNO!"
Surprised by her love's boldness, Yuno quickly raised her knife in the air. "Damnit Yuki! Why do you always have to interfere?!"
"Because I love you you crazy bitch!", he yelled, quickly seizing the opportunity to continue dashing towards her by running up some incline shaped wreckage. Though as he drew closer, he realized that she had already thrown her knife at him. "Oh no. I thought she'd do it close range."
Despite having a clean shot at Yuki's throat, Yuno's knife somehow only succeeded in grazing the boy's neck with a minor flesh wound. "How did I only graze him? Did his words throw me off? No . . . I . . ."
Murmur quickly came rushing forward with another massive object ready to be hurled. "Maybe try this on for size!" But before she could follow-up with her planned attack . . .
"Not on my watch!", Menene yelled before drop kicking the impish demigod out of the air and continuing with their battle.
Using the surprise of Menene's sudden appearance to his advantage, Yuki leaped towards his pink haired soulmate and tackled her to the ground. And before she could even inspect her future diary again, he had already pinned both of her hands to the ground as well. "Time's up sweet heart! My dead end's a no-show!"
Finding the entire situation hilariously absurd, Yuno could not help but let out a crazed laugh.
But Yuki was not discouraged in the slightest. "Listen to reason, Yuno! Go back to the second iteration and rule it! The sky's the limit!"
"So that's your big strategy, huh?", she smirked with a conceited look on her face.
"It's so obvious", she remarked, with a hint of sudden realization in her voice. "I didn't see it. Denial runs pretty deep I guess."
At that very moment, Yuno's diary not only revealed Yuki saying he loved her, that she was so happy she lost control of her knife throw, but that Yuki died inside the sphere she made. She finally realized what she would need to do. With a heavy heart, she said, "I love you too Yu-"
But before she could finish her sentence, her diary flashed again in that same moment, much to her surprise.
"Hold on a second, Yuno", the young man remarked, his eyes looking as if a lightbulb had just gone off in his head. "I don't know why it didn't occur to me before, but I just thought of something."
The pink haired beauty was caught off guard. She had intended to seal her beloved in an illusory world to his liking just then, but something about his sudden demeanor made her curious. "What is it?"
"You already became a goddess, right?"
"Yeah . . . so?", she asked with a confused look in his eyes. She could not conceive any reason Yuki would be concerned with such an obvious fact at that moment.
"And . . . you have the ability to travel between different universes?"
"Yeah . . . where are you going with this, pookie?"
"Nothing . . . it's just that . . . if I have also traveled from one iteration of reality to the next . . . why are you trying to kill me again?"
"I'm afraid I don't follow, my love."
Sensing curiosity rather than hostility from his crazed girlfriend, Yuki proceeded to get off of her, instead opting to sit right next to her indian style. "Think about it. If you're already a goddess and we can both travel through space and time, you really don't need to kill this world's version of you."
"Wait a minute . . .", Yuno said with sudden realization in her eyes, taking the time to sit next to her boyfriend indian style as well. "Are you suggesting . . ."
"That's right", Yuki smiled. "Lets just go back to the first world where you've already won the game where Deus is already long gone. You can rebuild the world there and we won't ever have to worry about killing each other ever again."
Yuno's eyes widened. She had been so determined to simply kill her third world self and restart the game that the thought of other options never even occurred to her. "But . . . Murmur said . . ."
"Who cares what Murmur said?", Yuki said after dismissively shaking his head. "You're a goddess. She's not. Last time I checked, goddesses make the rules, servants follow them. The only reason her and Deus even put together that stupid game was to keep themselves entertained. They never had to decide who becomes god by making people kill each other."
Yuno gazed upon her boyfriend for several moments as various thoughts raced throughout her mind. She tried to think of an explanation for why his plan would not work. But alas, the more she thought about it, the more sense he was making. And the more sense he made, the more she began to realize something else. With tears suddenly flooding out of both of her eyes, she threw her arms around her beloved. "OH YUKI!"
"Hey now, it's gonna be alright", he said as he reciprocated her hug and patted her back. "Everything is gonna be fine. Trust me."
"No, you don't understand! The solution was right in front of me the entire time. And yet . . . I've done so many horrible things. And to top it all of, I nearly killed myself again. And I nearly killed you. I was willing to do so over and over again. I'm a terrible person!"
"Yuno, it's alright! I'm here now. And I'll never leave you again!"
"Oh Yuki", she continued to sob.
Hearing the loud sobs of her partner in crime, Murmur quickly ceased her battle with Menene and flew back towards the 1st world's goddess, much to the one eyed terrorist's annoyance. "Hey! Where the hell are you going?!"
Murmur dropped down right behind Yuno, amidst her tearful embrace. "What do you think you're doing?! Didn't you say you were gonna kill him? Time is a wastin'! Kill him now so we can get back to killing this world's version of yourself!"
To which Yuno replied, still holding Yuki ever so tight. "There's . . . been a change of plans."
"The heck there has!", Murmur retorted, stomping her impish feet on the ground in annoyance. "We're running out of time!"
Yuki glared at the imp with a furious look in his eyes "You've been manipulating her the whole time, haven't you? She would not have had to go through all of this crap if it wasn't for your desire to see us play this stupid game."
Mumur looked like she was about to panic. "Damnit 1st! You're gonna ruin everythi-"
But before the imp-like demigod could finish her sentence, Menene had elbow dropped herself out from the sky and onto Murmur's small back, completely subduing her in one fell sweep. "No one gave you permission to leave!"
"Hey Yuno . . .", Yuki remarked while slightly breaking away from their embrace. ". . . I almost forgot something."
"Yes, my love?", she asked, her cheeks flushing with the pigmentation of a rose.
The young man took a moment to gaze into his lover's cherry blossom pink eyes. With a loving look in his eyes, he caressed her right cheek with his left hand before leaning in and planting his lips on hers. Yuno not only closed her eyes but wrapped one of her arms behind his back and one her arms behind his neck as he did this, pulling him in as close as she could muster. As the moments passed, Yuki pulled her in closer as well, practically causing them both to gravitate towards one another, to unite, to become one. Tears of heartfelt joy ran down both of their cheeks. And unbeknownst to the both of them, the message that had flashed on Yuno's future diary was precisely the same as the message that had flashed on the very day the survival game had begun: July 28 - Yuki and Yuno become one. Happy Ending.
. . . Epilogue . . .
With that, everything ended up working out for the best. Thanks to Yuki's interference, the lives of the various participants in the first two worlds' Survival Games changed for the better this time around. And it wasn't just the participants, but their families as well. Yuki's parents lived and never got divorced; Yuno's parents never perished and instead became more loving and kind. Menene settled down with the third world's world's version of Nishijima and even managed to begin a loving family. And with a Survival Game off the table, Deus begin pondering on alternative ways of determining who would be his successor. And fortunately, the first world's murmur had been safely imprisoned for her previous treacherous antics and was no longer of any concern.
All the while, upon wrapping up some loose ends, Yuno and Yuki did not hesitate to make good on their plans to head back to the first iteration of reality. Fortunately, that reality had never actually been destroyed, thus making Yuno's task of fixing it more straightforward than she might've thought. Within days of arriving there, the first thing they decided to do was make good on a promise they had never been able to get around to doing in the second world.
"So that's what a black hole looks like", Yuki remarked as he gazed upon the entire milky way galaxy from the comforts of what appeared to be . . .a picnic blanket resting on a patch of grass hovering out in deep space.
Yuno sat next to him with her head leaning up against her lover's chest. "Do you ever wonder what happens to everything that gets sucked inside?"
"With your new powers . . . I guess we could find out if we wanted."
"Not just my new powers, pookie", she said before quickly pecking him on the cheek.
"What do you mean?"
She giggled. "I promised the second world's Murmur not to spoil the surprise, but third world Deus is thinking about appointing his successor directly this time and lets just say you're pretty high up on his list of candidates. There was technically never a winner to the second universe's Survival Game, but everyone agrees you were obviously the real winner."
"So I'm gonna be a god too?"
"I promised I wouldn't spoil the surprise, so lets just say you never heard it from me, okay love?"
"Do you know what this means?", Yuki smiled.
She leaned towards her man before landing an unsuspecting passionate kiss. "Nothing will ever be able to tear us apart. We'll always be together."
"Then till the end of time, I will always love you, Yuno."
"And I will always love you, Yuki."
With a sudden blush forming on his cheeks, an idea had occurred to the young man and soon to be deity. "Stargazing is great, but I know it's something I like a lot more than you do. Why don't we take a break and do something you like doing for a change?"
She blushed, sensing the true meaning behind her lover's words. ". . . you mean?"
Yuki merely nodded his head, having no need to express it in words.
To which she giggled once more before grabbing Yuki's hand and using her divine powers to fly them both away from the scene. "Lets go someplace quieter."
"Considering there's no sound in space, this is probably the quietest place available."
"You know what I mean", she giggled.
"Come to think of it . . .", Yuki remarked, as if suddenly just having remembered something. "Even though we were brought together due to the Survival Game, I can't help but wonder what will happen now to our third world counterparts. There's no Survival Game going on there. I can't imagine any version of reality where we don't end up together.
"Hmm", Yuno answered with a playful wink and nod, "I wouldn't worry about it, sugar-bear. I'm sure everything will work out just fine!"
. . . The Epilogue of the epilogue! . . .
It was another day in the otherwise ordinary and mundane life of Yukiteru Amano. School was such a drag to him, but there was no use complaining about it. As he sat in the classroom listening to his homeroom teacher ramble on and on about some school festival of some sort, he suddenly heard the teacher utter the words, "Holy cow, we'll need enough stuff that it looks like one of you will get to go on a shopping spree. Actually, I need two people. Gasai. Amano. You're up!"
Yuno looked up at the teacher's announcement, butterflies fluttering around in her stomach as she heard her name being paired with . . . that Yuki kid. She barely knew him, but for some reason, she had found herself watching him from afar as of late. "What is this feeling?"
To which the teacher replied, as if suddenly having recalled something, "Oh wait. Never-mind, Ms. Gasai. I forget your parents like you home after school. Can I get someone else to help Yuki with the shopping?"
For some reason, Yuno felt her chest pounding. "No . . . why do I feel like this all of the sudden? What's going on?"
"I'm happy to do it, sir", another girl with glasses and long brown hair remarked while raising her hand. "My folks...ugh"
"Ms. Wakaba?", the teacher asked with a concerned look in his eyes. "Is there a problem?"
The girl began to cling onto her sides all of the sudden. "Ugh . . . must've been those free brownies some secret admirer put in my locker earlier. I'm think I'm gonna...ugh" Before another moment could pass, the whole class heard a loud flatulence sound coming from this Moe Wakaba girl. And not only was there a loud sound, but an extremely foul odor as well.
"Ms. Wakaba!", the teacher yelled as he heard the other students begin to laugh. "What is the meaning of this?"
With tears flooding her eyes, the Wakaba girl promptly got up from her seat and ran out of the class room.
The teacher shook his head in confusion. "Yeah . . . I don't really know what to say about that, but Mr. Amano will need someone to assist him with the shopping."
Sensing an opportunity for some reason, a passionate fire unlike any other swelled within the pink haired beauty and she promptly raised her hand. "I'll do it!"
"But Ms. Gasai . . . your parents are-"
"As long as it regards an extra-curricular school activity, my parents won't have a problem!", she said with a cheerful smile on her face.
"Okay. Then it's settled. Amano and Gasai will be responsible for doing the shopping."
Surprised at the entire exchange, Yuki shot a quick glance towards Yuno only to blush upon seeing her smile in his direction. He then looked down towards the envelope he had already prepared for the other girl. "This is weird. I've had a crush on Moe for the longest time. And yet it almost feels like I'm . . . relieved . . . relieved that she won't be the one with me on this shopping assignment."
A/N: lol. Sorry guys, but this is why I always recommend writers to NEVER use time travel in their stories unless there are SEVERE consequences for using it. It doesn't matter if time travel is simply a matter of using different universes. Anytime you introduce time travel as a plot device, there are ALWAYS going to be solutions to the problem that protagonists/antagonists are having that are utterly devoid of consequences. And there's no exception with this series. Don't get me wrong. I like my ending better than the original, but I get what the original mangaka was going for. His vision, however, is rendered moot should Yuno sit down and seriously think about her new abilities. I was also miffed at the implication that third world Yuki hooked up with Moe Wakaba, so I fixed that crap while simultaneously giving 1st world Yuno a permanent happy ending! Hope y'all liked this fic! Thanks for reading!
P.S. It did not occur to me until AFTER I wrote this fic, but no matter how you slice it, there were plenty of ways for the Survival Game to end with both 2nd World Yuki and 1st world Yuno alive. For pete's sake, Menene NEVER died in both the anime/manga, but the game still ends with Yuki being the winner? THAT'S BS! I'm sorry, but that's BAD WRITING. I'm half tempted to write another fic mocking the absurdity of this, but upon seeing that Menene is still alive, Yuno's automatic reaction should immediately be to stop fighting, figure out how Menene survived and do the same trick on Yuki. Bada bing bada boom, she does the same thing on Yuki, ends the survival game (doesn't matter who wins as long as one of them automatically survives upon using the same trick Deus used on Menene) and they both get a permanent happy ending. lol. That's it. I consider my ending the canon ending. The anime/manga ending (though good with respect to Yuki getting to be with 3rd world Yuno) is just too silly when I think about it. I'm just gonna chalk it up with the explanation I gave in the fic here and conclude that Yuno did not realize alternate possibilities due to Murmur manipulating her for the sake of keeping the Survival Game going. =D
