One last effort
It's cold. When I regain consciousness, I feel a warm wind coming from a breach in the wall of the interrogation cell. The strong officer has died from his wounds, the dust prevents me from breathing properly. Once outside, I contemplate with amazement and desolation the completely transformed District 25 of the city of Tokyo. Ashes litter the ground, flames rise at every street corner, buses overturned. A nauseating smell floats in this setting straight out of a post-apocalyptic film.
"Four high school students - Kirigaya Matsushita, Aria Nichisawa, Misaka Fujiwara and Kaguya Chitoge - are suspected of having organised this massacre on a scale never seen in more than 30 years."
There's only one thing on my mind. Where's Hina? Where's Hina? How can I find her in all this chaos?
"It's nice to meet you, I hope we get along well. I'm counting on you. »
I'm not comforted by the exaggerated dramatic voices of the media mixed with the alerts looping through the loudspeakers. It's an unspeakable disaster.
"This is all my fault. »
Where are you, where the hell are you!
I see a familiar silhouette under a collapsed road sign.
"Don't worry, everything will be all right. Everything will be all right. »
- HINA! I scream with all my might.
Her body is lying unconscious on the ground.
- Please, wake up! Come on!
First aid is proving ineffective.
"It's all over"
The landscape turns grey, the buildings take on angular shapes. I can no longer see anything, the crackling of the flames is becoming more and more rare. All my senses have disappeared, gone. My muscles no longer respond to me. How did it come to this?
Hina :
"I mean, what's that thing I missed seeing? »
Lodaka :
"Not much. Don't worry about it."
If I'm worried, I want to know! What's happened to you?
- What can I do? What can I do?!
We're going to get through this. It's not going to end here. We don't deserve to end here. I'm going for it all. My senses are slowly coming back. One last try. I slowly approach the girl's body, put my hands covered with dust on my head, take a deep breath. My lips make contact with hers. I try as best I can to revive her. It was you who changed my perception of the world, who gave me back a taste for life! So, please, please. You up there, if you exist, make sure you save her!
- Onegai(1) !
A drop of water falls on my cheek. Then one second. Then dozens. A torrent falls from the sky, thousands of living creatures move towards the flames that are gradually extinguished. Fresh air replaces the toxic odors. Suddenly it stops raining. I raise my head, without any particular expectation, and I witness the most beautiful event I have ever seen in my entire miserable existence. The sky clears, the sun's rays split on the reflective walls. It is as if the city is dressed in its best summer clothes. Hina takes my hand, and almost makes me jump.
- Glad you're here, Lodaka," she said with a slight smile, her voice very faint. I was speechless.
Help rushed to the stage.
- Are you all right? A fireman is called in the middle of our reunion.
- We're taking him!
- No, wait, you-
- Don't worry, she'll get over it. In the meantime, go...
I stop listening to the firemen and watch Hina go off on a gurney. The ambulance pulls away, I chase her out of sight through the rubble. It hurts. A terrible pain runs through my body. But we will meet again, I'm sure we will. The rain is falling, and it won't stop.
1 " Please! / For pity's sake! " Implore