I hate her. I hate her. I hate her.
Yukari Takeba's heart was screaming out in anguish. It had only been a few days, but it seemed like an eternity to her.
Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.
He fell asleep… he just fell asleep. So how?
The first thing Yukari did when they arrived back from the hospital was attack Aegis. Thinking about it now, she probably owed her an apology. Aegis didn't do anything wrong, she was just looking for someone to blame.
Junpei Iori and Akihiko Sanada had to physically restrain her from going after the 'living' anti-Shadow weapon. Man, that was hilarious… she was actually trying to beat the crap out of a weapon.
Yukari locked herself in her room that day. She remembered feeling like this when she found out the truth about her father, that he had somehow played a role in the coming of the Fall.
If none of this ever happened, then maybe... he would still be here with us. Makoto… would still be alive.
He fell asleep on Aegis' lap on graduation day. It was unbelievable that she'd forgotten to meet him there… Mitsuru-senpai, Akihiko-senpai, Ken-kun, Koro-chan, Fuuka and Stupei - they'd all forgotten. But he didn't forget, and neither did Aegis.
They were waiting for us on the rooftop that day.
Yukari remembered how they skipped out in the middle of Mitsuru's graduation speech and ran off to the rooftop at full speed. She saw him, his eyes wide open and looking at his friends… at her.
He closed his eyes and fell asleep. As it turns out, he would never open them again.
Yukari hated that Aegis was the person he would spend his last moments with. Hell, she wasn't even a person - she was a decade-old anti-Shadow weapon, and it was unfair that she loved him, but Makoto had chosen to fall in love with that dumb robot.
"You jealous, Yuka-tan?" Junpei had tried to joke with her. Yukari choked down a laugh as she recalled how she almost bit his head off.
Hot tears rolled down Yukari's cheeks as she remembered how panicked they were when Makoto just wouldn't wake up.
Mitsuru-senpai arranged for him to be taken to the hospital immediately, and the doctors who took care of him were just confused. They said they couldn't find anything wrong with him at all. Useless.
He just… died.
"I don't understand," Yukari sobbed into her pillow. I didn't… I didn't even get to tell him…
She realized she had always been so mean to him - whenever she felt embarrassed, or didn't know how to express what she was feeling. Her default was to act like a bitch - and just look where it got her.
Yukari hated how she didn't realize until it was too late and-
"Takeba, it's me… open up," Mitsuru-senpai knocked on her door.
"I'm not really in the mood to talk, Senpai." Yukari answered. Her voice was soft; she didn't want them to know she was still crying. Still hurting.
"I have a few things from Yuki that…I'll leave them outside your door, Takeba."
Mitsuru-senpai understood. It was the same for her when her father died.
Yukari opened the door when she was sure no one was outside, and saw that Mitsuru had left a small box of trinkets. These were things Makoto had made with that foreign exchange student. Why is Senpai giving me these?
A phone strap with little pink hearts caught her eye. It had her name on it. Yukari. This was… a present for her. From him.
"Makoto, you asshole," Yukari was crying even harder now. She knew what she had to do… what he would have wanted her to do. To honor that sacrifice he made and keep living… keep moving forward.
Her hands clutched onto this little pink strap like her life depended on it.