Naoi sought to forget his bygone days and opted to live a false life. Those around him accepted him as second next to his brother, and in turn, he felt like he had no place in the world, no identity. With his brother around, feelings of inadequacy and redundancy began to take shape within his psyche, but even with all of these regrets weighing him down, he still managed to come to terms with his earlier life, and discarded the lies in exchange for the truth.
The fact that I exist in this sphere means I must accomplish the same.
All my life, I've been waiting and wishing for someone to set me free from my boring existence because I lacked the courage to do it myself, but that kind of mentality will only be to my detriment.
I never knew where I was going, where I yearned to go, even now.
Yuri Nakamura.
Certainly an excellent leader, but ever since I joined the SSS, I've never really known what her goal was.
I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. What have we actually done and been doing this whole time?
Before I knew it, I found myself face to face with the principal's office doors… and before I knew it, I got vehemently launched several feet in the air after smashing through a window and landing on solid ground like a pile of bricks.
I slackly open my eyes to see another pair widen in astonishment.
"Oh! you're awake already? That's a first. Usually when someone gets hit that hard it takes them a while to recover."
"Ugh… what happened?"
"Sorry! I forgot to inform you about the trap door, it totally slipped my mind!"
I slowly incline myself forward to assess my pain.
"By the way, the password's 'No God, No Buddha, No Angel,' memorize it."
"Oh, I will!"
I get up to meet her gaze.
"By the way, did you need something from me?"
"Um, I wanted to talk for a bit, but if you're busy I can leave it for another time."
"I'm free right now. So, what did you want to talk about?"
I adjourned for a split second.
"It's about what we're doing with these operations, what are we aiming for?"
She examines my question "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what have we done, really? This whole time all we've been doing is causing trouble and breaking one or two rules here and there…" I take a breath to articulate my thoughts. "I just want to know where we're heading, you know."
"...You sure do love to ask a lot of questions, don't you." She shuts her eyes in introspection. "...To be honest… I'm not really sure… "
She turns to look at the sky," If I disappear from here, can I start over? If I lost my memories and changed my personality, I'm sure I could. But what does it mean to be born again? I would no longer be living my life. It would be someone else's." She turns back to me.
"I only have one chance to live my life, and it's right here." She embraces her heart.
"It's the only one I have. This is my life. I can't give it to anyone else. It can't be stolen."
Her head subsides, "I can't force it on anyone, or forget it, or make it disappear, or trample on it, or laugh it away, or beautify it. I have no choice but to accept this one cruel, meaningless life. Do you understand?"
Her stare grew fiercer, it was as if the very concept of resoluteness dwelled within her eyes.
"That's why I will fight. I will continue fighting. Because this kind of life… is unacceptable… Do you get me?"
A life for a life.
We discard our old memories for a chance to make new ones. That's the price we have to pay for a redo.
To lose ourselves and become anew, to forget about everything we've been through, to live without ever knowing of the cruelness that was unfairly thrusted upon us.
Nakamura breaths out with relaxation," Sorry, I didn't mean to talk your ear off… Listen, if you don't want to get involved with us anymore, I won't force you to."
"That's not it! I was just curious about your motives, that's all! I was never thinking about leaving or anything!"
"Oh, that's a relief! We need all the manpower we can get!"
"Aha, Oh! Yeah, that's all I wanted to talk about."
"Good! No more questions out of you, mister!" She playfully flicks me on the nose.
"Sorry!"
"And stop apologizing for every little thing!"
"Oh, I'm sor- I mean-"
Her hysterical cackles envelop my face in every shade of red.
"Right then, let's head back!"
"Roger."
Rapid healing, weapon summoning, mind control, I stopped questioning things at this point.
This world is so interesting, it's like a fantasy.
I've always wondered how Tachibana's abilities worked.
Why does everything here remind me of a videogame? and why is it in the afterlife? It's like someone put us in a simulation of some sort. I still have so many more questions that I'll probably never get the answers to.
My daydreaming is cut short by the swishing of rusted, creaking doors. I turn to see Nakamura's mildly startled expression.
"Goto? What are you doing up this late?"
"You're up too."
"Mm! You got me there."
She walks up next to me, "I come here every night, I love gazing at the stars from here."
"Yeah, you can kinda get lost in the scenery, it's a good thinking spot too."
"This is where I come up with all of my devious plans, you know!" She throws me a devilish wink and leans on the rail.
Burning butterflies ravage my stomach.
"U-um, so what's the plan for tomorrow?"
"Well, first things first, we'll have Naoi use his ability and see if he can help you guys regain your memories."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, don't have amnesia anymore!"
She gives me a bewildered face, "Really? What triggered it?"
"It was back when we were fighting Naoi, I had these headaches… then I started to remember…"
I tighten my grip around the rail bars, "You told me about your old life, so it's only fair if I talk about mine too."
I brush my barren head, "I served in the military during an ongoing war, got drafted… the details are still fuzzy… heh, or maybe I just didn't care about what was going on around me… I… never really had any friends growing up, nor any goals, not even something I could be proud of. I felt sort of irrelevant. I thought I could find fulfillment if I gave my life to someone else..."
A brief stillness engulfs us.
"Uh… S-sorry for ranting like that, heh."
"No, it's fine. I kind of get where you're coming from… After my siblings died, I didn't really know what to do with myself. I was just living life on autopilot." She lets out a smirk. "It's funny, I thought the only reason I had for working so hard was because I wanted to rebel against God, but to tell you the truth, I think of everyone in the SSS as my little brothers and sisters, so when I let them down, I feel like a failure all over again."
"But you're not a failure! I really admire how confident and forward you are, and whenever you lead us, I feel like everything's gonna turn out okay."
"Aaw, thanks! That means a lot coming from you!"
"Hey, what about me? Do you think of me as your little brother too? Hehe." I jokingly ask.
She exaggeratedly straightens up with a frisky yawn, "It's getting late, we should go to bed!"
"...Ah, yeah, you're right…"
Naoi really doesn't know how to hold back, especially when it comes to Hinata, but at least he did some good with Yuzuru.
Today's operation is about fishing, which was a first for me.
I was on my usual morning walk when I found Tachibana and Yuzu having a conversation near the school garden. Yuzu wanted to bring Tachibana with us for our fishing trip. Luckily, Nakamura didn't object.
I've always wanted to give fishing a try, it seemed like a relaxing way to spend your day. Though with these guys, it was anything but calming. The highlight was Tachibana managing to detain that giant fish "monster stream." Everyone had rushed in to help her yank it. The scene was too chaotic for my taste so I sat that one out. I wasn't the only one though, Nakamura was quietly staring at them struggle. I walked up to her to see what was up.
"You okay?"
"Huh? Oh, Yes, I'm fine."
"You don't wanna join in?"
"They can handle this without me."
"I guess they're doing fine…"
Nakamura strolls away from the excitement before I notice her heading for a road that leads to the forest.
"Oh, Nakamura! where are you going!?"
No reply.
I trail behind Nakamura.
"Hey, wait up!"
"Do you need something?"
"No, I was just wondering what's wrong."
"Everything's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"It's nothing to worry about, you should get back with the others."
"N-no, It's cool… Hey, wanna hang out somewhere? I can buy us drinks!"
"...Sorry, I'll have to decline, but thanks for the offer."
"… Are you avoiding us or something?"
"Of course not… I'm not avoiding you guys, I'm just…"
"...Are you afraid you might disappear if you...?"
We simultaneously cease our walking, her back still turned to me.
"I mean, I'd understand if you don't…"
She shakingly cuddles her arms "...Listen… I kno-"
A tremulous rustle shatters our dialogue.
We swivel in the direction of the trees to discover Tachibana with weapons drawn.
What? Why? Why is Tachibana here? And why did she activate her powers?
"Look out!" My arm gets pierced with a heavenly blade as I move Nakamura out of the way, "AAAH! Guh!"
"Goto!"
I snatch her blade and hurl her to the side as it rips out of my upper arm, "AH! Ugh…"
"Let's run!"
We sprinted away from the incoming threat and arrived at the school's courtyard.
There, we came across an angel watching us at eye level, and a devil judging us from above.
A clash of angels.
One fighting for conformity, the other, for freedom. Their conflict, as swift as their arrivals, resolves in a tie.
Tachibana had been placed under hospital care after that battle. Nakamura hypothesized Tachibana's Harmonics ability as the culprit for her dark half. We were instructed to attend class in hopes of stalling the other Tachibana while Nakamura inspected her computer for a program that could destroy the clone.
Upon our return to the infirmary, we discover a vacant bed alongside a messy room. Tachibana was nowhere to be found. Our investigation led us to believe she had been taken inside the headquarters of the guild, and so we ventured on a rescue mission.
Although the traps had been damaged, we still found ourselves in grave danger when we stumbled upon another evil clone that wanted to prevent us from proceeding. We barely managed to escape.
We eventually figured that the original clone had used Harmonics to multiply itself, so much for this being a simple rescue mission.
Now the plan was for each of us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of stalling the clones long enough for the rest to move forward.
After finally reaching the Epicenter, Nakamura, Yuzuru, Yui and I were the only ones left… That was until we had to slide down towards the bottom of a crater where Yui inexplicably vanished.
Nakamura probes the area, "Huh? Where's Yui?"
"I kinda felt like I heard a really short scream…" Yuzuru was just as confused.
"Did she fall prey to Angel? Poor thing. We'll save you soon."
Bleakness and rubble welcomes us at the finish line.
"Once again, we're the only ones left."
"Yeah. Just like last time."
Despite our circumstances, Nakamura remained as collected as ever. "You don't seem as bummed out as last time though."
"Everyone tried their hardest to make it here, we should do the same."
"You're right."
Red eyes blink at us like sirens.
"Is this the last one now?" Nakamura scans the neighbouring area.
"I sure hope so" Yuzuru seems eager to release Tachibana from her captivity.
We come to a halt.
"Hey, don't just stand there, go find the original."
"Oh, yeah!"
"Goto!"
"I'll cover you!"
I ran around the side where Yuzuru went off to pinpoint Tachibana's location so as to prevent Angel from following.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Our bullets were bouncing off Angel's energy field like ping pong balls, "I thought so."
Even in direct range, our bullets were easily deflected, even grenades had no effect on her, "Damn, she's tough."
Angel raises her blades which begin glowing a perfect white.
"Cover your ears!"
"Guard skill: Howling."
A deafening sound wave crushes our hearing!
Nakamura, unfazed by this bolting pressure, presses on and ends the fight with a stab to Angel's chest.
Angel is left flabbergasted, "You're not… Injured?"
"Huh? What was that? My ears are plugged, so I can't really hear you!"
That Nakamura sure is riveting.
Angel wrestles to get up.
"Come on, give it up. If you really want, I'll use my other knife to slit your throat."
"Relax…" And extreme…
Harmonics.
Because Nakamura programmed a timer for when the skill activated, a reset would occur that would allow Tachibana to absorb the clones, but the question is, will she be able to retain her true self after absorbing so much malevolence?