Changelog /
19/06/2024 - Changes have been made to a minor detail of a major plot point to reduce contrivance.

Nagazora City was as lively as ever at night, though this particular street was rather empty.

Kiana had parted ways with Rei and Mei quite some time ago, as her place of residence was on the other side of downtown. The Raiden Estate and Rei's apartment were relatively close to each other, so they continued to walk together, holding hands as they did.

Rei heard a bunch of distant sirens begin to wail, and a few police cars began rushing past them, their lights and sirens on. He thought nothing of it, but then he noticed that an unusual amount of police cars were moving past them, heading in the general direction of the ME Corp headquarters.

"Mei, I feel like something isn't quite right," he whispered.

"You noticed it too?" she whispered back. "They look like they're all heading towards the headquarters…"

Suddenly, a heavily armored truck emblazoned with the Anti-Entropy logo passed by. Then another. Then some more. The sky was now littered with dropships and helicopters, and they were all headed toward the tallest building in Nagazora City.

"What is going on…?" Mei was getting more and more worried as time went on, seeing more police and Anti-Entropy vehicles on land and in the sky all converging toward the ME Corp headquarters.

Then the lights went out. The city was suddenly plunged into darkness, and they now had to rely on the headlights from cars to see what was around them. Fearing that something was about to go horribly wrong, they decided to run away from the scene as soon as possible before they got caught up in something worse.

As they ran, Rei noticed a lone vehicle in the distance that was heading away from the headquarters. It seemed to be an Anti-Entropy truck, but it was accompanied by the crack of gunfire.

He quickly grabbed Mei by the arm and ran into an alleyway as they watched the truck get closer. Other Anti-Entropy units seemed to be chasing it, firing at the truck when they got the chance. They both ducked as the vehicles got closer and closer.

The back doors of the truck being pursued were suddenly broken open, and a single person stood there, holding a light machine gun. He quickly aimed at his pursuers before squeezing the trigger with reckless abandon, letting out a flurry of bullets in an attempt to ward off the Anti-Entropy units chasing him, not caring for where the bullets were actually going.

As the truck passed by them, Rei suddenly screamed in pain, and Mei felt him go limp.

"Rei!? What happened?"

He couldn't reply, only letting out pained grunts. At this moment, the lights flickered back on as power was successfully restored to the city. Mei was now able to see what happened to him, and she was horrified by what she saw.

Blood.

A lot of blood.

Rei was shot in the right shoulder, and it unfortunately hit him right in the artery.

"REI!" Mei yelled as she instinctively went to apply pressure on the wound. Blood continued to leak out as she did so, completely covering her hands. She frantically looked around as she tried to think of a way to save him. She didn't want him to die.

…

There was a sign that indicated the direction of a nearby hospital. She didn't know if emergency services would even respond at a time like this, and this seemed to be the only hope of saving him. It might have been an extraordinarily stupid decision, but she felt like she had no other choice.

She removed her hair ribbon and quickly wrapped it around his wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding, before picking him up.

She then ran. Carrying him was difficult, not to mention that she was already exhausted after a full day of walking. But she had to keep going. She didn't want to stop. She couldn't stop. Everything around her became a blur as her legs became more and more weak and painful, and she became more and more breathless. Cruelly, time seemed to slow down the longer she ran.

And at the worst possible moment, she tripped. She instinctively stretched her arm out to break her fall, but that proved to be a horrendous mistake and she broke her left arm. She brought him to the floor as well, and there she was, lying on the ground, her left arm broken, and her immense pain and exhaustion began to eat away at her consciousness.

Time seemed to slow down even more as he looked at him. Rei was unresponsive, and he was still bleeding out. Blood continued to pool on the ground below him. It would not take very long for him to bleed to death at this rate. She looked at her hands, which were all covered in his blood. It all seemed hopeless. It seemed like she was doomed to lie in pain on the floor, helpless to do anything but watch as her lover bled out…

…

No…

No… I can't…

I can't let him die… I can't… I can't stop now… I won't…

I won't let him die…!

I REFUSE TO LET HIM DIE!

Her eyes suddenly glowed a faint purple. With renewed vigor, she stood up again, and, ignoring her broken arm, she gently picked up Rei before running even faster than before.

…

Finally, she arrived at the hospital. With zero hesitation, she barged into the emergency room.

"SOMEONE! HELP! SOMEONE HELP HIM, HE'S BLEEDING! He's bleeding, he's… he's… ble…"

The exhaustion finally caught up to Mei, and she fainted.

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"Sir, ambient Honkai levels have spiked above typical levels after last night."

"Is the amount above or under regulatory tolerances?"

"Well, just about under, but-"

"Then ignore it."

"Wha- Why? Don't you find this concerning?"

"I do, but we can't afford to give a reason for the public to panic any more. We have to stay silent on this. AE's already on shaky ground with the Japanese government. If this gets out, we're dead."

"Okay… But isn't this spike going to cause problems?"

"Relax, it won't. Probably."

"Very reassuring."

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He fell from the skies above Nagazora City. He was too weak to do anything, the flames within him having been extinguished. He knew that a fall from this height would kill him, and he closed his eyes, bitterly accepting his fate.

He felt someone reach toward him. He felt someone grab his hand, and slowly but surely, he wasn't falling anymore. He opened his eyes, and a small but noticeable smile formed on his face.

"Mei…"

She slowly pulled him up and carried him as she floated towards the rooftop of Chiba Academy. Tears were in her eyes, regret weighing on her heart.

"I'm sorry, Rei…"

…

The first thing Rei felt was a dull pain in his right shoulder that got progressively worse. Next was the ominous beeping of a heart rate monitor, and the stinging smell of antiseptic that was typical of any hospital. His sluggish mind slowly figured out that his eyes were closed. He opened them, and he was immediately greeted by the harsh white fluorescent lights on the ceiling. He couldn't remember why or how he ended up here.

He faintly heard a news broadcast, presumably from a TV in the room.

"Last night at around 22:30, alongside a sudden power outage, three unknown assailants broke into the Massive Electric Corporation headquarters in Nagazora City, causing immense damage to the property and resulting in at least 39 casualties and 15 injured, including various police and Anti-Entropy units. Despite the rapid response of Anti-Entropy and their swift deployment of their heavy weaponry, the assailants managed to escape in a stolen AE armored vehicle. The police and Anti-Entropy are currently performing a highly extensive investigation around the immediate area. The government has enacted a non-essential travel ban within downtown Nagazora City, and…"

Realizing that happened on the day they went to HOMULand, he tried to remember what had happened that got him here, but all he could remember was the lights in the city going out, and nothing else beyond that.

As he was deep in thought, a familiar face entered his blurry field of view. He could just about make out a worried look on her face.

"M… Mei…?" He managed to let out, despite feeling every inch of his mouth and throat resisting the impulses to move. He could vaguely feel that he was being hugged.

"Rei!"

"W… What happened…?" He groggily asked.

Mei didn't reply, and he was too tired to press further. "How… long was I… out for…?"

"You've been out for an entire day…"

"R… Really…? I see…" He looked down and noticed that his entire right arm was covered in a cast. "Did I break my arm…?"

"No…"

"Then… what happened…?"

Mei didn't want to tell him the answer, but she felt like she had to at some point. "Someone… Someone shot you in the shoulder…"

"W… What? I got shot…?"

"Yes… I don't know who… but someone did…" She couldn't help but start crying. "There was s-so much blood… I…"

She buried her face into his shoulder. "I d-didn't know what to do… but I had to do something… I h-had to… so I picked you up and ran toward a hospital… I even b-broke my arm…"

He finally noticed that Mei's left arm was covered in a cast. His heart sank.

"It hurt," she continued. "It hurt a lot, carrying you with a broken arm… but I didn't care… If… If I had to lose my whole arm j-just to save you, I would gladly do it… because I… I love you, R-Rei…"

"Mei…" He weakly hugged her with his only free arm. "T… Thank you… I love you too…"

…

The door suddenly slammed open. "MEI-SENPAI! REI-SENPAI!"

"Kiana? How- oof!" Mei was interrupted by Kiana hugging her and Rei, the latter feeling a sharp pain in his shoulder. "Ow… Kiana, that hurts…"

She withdrew immediately. "I'm glad you're both okay!"

"I… I guess…" he replied.

"What happened to both of you after I left?"

"It's…" Mei sniffed. "It's a long story…"

"Did it have something to do with the news?"

She nodded, and Kiana seemed to get angry. "Hmph! I can't believe they got away with hurting both of you!"

"Eh… it's whatever…" Rei yawned. "It's fine… the police are doing their thing, at least I hope. Let's not worry too much about it…"

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Large sections of downtown were cordoned off after the assault on the ME Corp headquarters as the police and Anti-Entropy made their investigation and tracked down the assailants. While a lot of manpower was allocated for these tasks, progress was rather slow at first. However, as the investigation continued, the police were able to pin the blame on a well-known terrorist group, which was the same group that kidnapped Raiden Mei about 10 years ago.

School was suspended for a whole month during the investigation, mainly out of safety concerns. Thankfully, or unfortunately for a few people, the wrapping up of the investigation meant that school would be back in session soon.

It was still a few days away, however.

…

It was springtime, and it was the season for cherry blossoms to bloom.

Rei and Mei were in a nearby park, a park that Mei liked to go to whenever she felt down. The park contained a rather large amount of cherry blossom trees scattered throughout, with a larger one located in the center. The flowers were of a beautifully vibrant pink color, and the smell was no less impressive.

Mei held her hand out as a petal slowly fell, gently landing in her palm. "Every spring, I would always collect these petals with my father. We would preserve them in glass jars using salt, so they would always look as beautiful as they are right now, and we would admire them at any time of the year…"

She turned toward Rei and smiled. "And… I would like to share this hobby with you."

He nodded. She took two empty jars from her bag, one for him and one for herself. Rei tried to catch a few petals while holding the jar, but it proved to be an impossible task when his right arm was still immobilized.

"Uhm… Mei? A little help?"

"Oh… Right, I forgot. Sorry about that… Here, I'll help you hold the jar."

Mei took the jar and held it beside Rei, freeing his only available hand to catch the petals that fell from the cherry blossom tree. The petals were soft and delicate, and after collecting enough in his palm, he let them slowly fall into the container. No words were exchanged as he continued to collect the petals. They didn't need to.

After some time, the jar was full, and he sealed it before Mei set it on the ground. Rei helped her take the other empty jar from her bag and hold it as she took her turn to collect the petals. They remained silent as they watched petals slowly float towards her palm, with the occasional chirping of birds being the only thing that broke the silence.

A moment later, both jars were filled with vibrant pink petals.

"They're beautiful…" was all Rei could say.

"They are…" Mei replied.

"But still not as beautiful as you…" he accidentally said his thoughts out loud.

"H-Huh?" Her face went red, and so did his when he realized what he had just said.

"Oh… uhm, I… I meant it."

"Really…?"

Their faces were now close, and they gazed into each other's eyes. The temptation was there, and they couldn't resist the urge to kiss.

…

"You know, Mei… it's been quite a while since we confessed our feelings, and we hadn't really spent some quality time with each other…"

She nodded. Being in the hospital wasn't something they considered 'quality time'.

"So…" Rei continued. "I'm glad that we finally get to do that now. I love you, Mei…"

"I love you too, Rei…"

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It was another early morning in Nagazora City.

Rei, Mei and Kiana walked to school together as usual. But something was off when they arrived in the school courtyard. Everyone who was in the courtyard was sneering at them when they walked past. The trio felt uneasy, feeling like it was a repeat of what happened around a month ago.

When they arrived at the classroom, things did not get any better. A group of their classmates surrounded them the moment they stepped through the door.

"Well, well, well, looks like it's the criminal again," someone within the group spoke.

"Criminal?" Rei was confused. "Who are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Raiden, of course."

"Why? Why are you still accusing her?"

"Haven't you seen the news?"

Someone else in the class took their phone out and showed something to him, and his blood ran cold.

New allegations: Raiden Ryoma was accused of inviting foreign mischief, unethical human experimentation, as well as increased fraud numbers totaling 19.1 trillion yen

It was worse. Way worse. Ryoma wasn't just being accused of fraud now, even though that number has shot up to twice the original amount. He was being accused of things that could potentially land him in jail for life, or worse, capital punishment.

"W… What…?" Mei stammered. "H… How… No…"

"So what?" Kiana snapped back. "This doesn't mean Mei-senpai is guilty!"

"And these are still accusations!" Rei added. "He could still be innocen-"

"That's enough! I'm sick of you trying to defend that bitch and her worthless father!"

The boy threw his fist toward Mei, and out of pure instinct, Rei jumped to take the hit for her. He felt the fist connect with his face, and he was knocked backward. Unable to regain his balance in time, he fell onto a desk, rolled off of it, and hit his forehead on a chair before lying on the ground.

"REI!" Mei yelled, running over to check on him. She was thankful that he was indeed still conscious, and she helped him get back up. As she did, he glared at the boy who punched him.

"You little shit… How dare you try to hurt her… How dare you-"

Someone outside the classroom cleared their throat very loudly, and everyone turned to look. It was the principal, and he said nothing as he inspected the scene, but his silence already told them that they were all in deep trouble. Everyone silently sat down at their desks and said nothing else.

Rei clenched his fists to the point that his knuckles turned white. He had never felt this furious before. He felt like a fire had ignited inside of him.

I dare them… I dare them to hurt her again… I will make them pay… I will make them fucking pay for wronging her… These bastards don't deserve to live…

Mei looked at him, and a shiver ran down her spine when she noticed his eyes briefly and faintly glowed red.

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The accusations were a step above. It wasn't just something as simple as fraud. Ryoma was now being accused of having a hand in the recent ME Corporation HQ break-in by funding the terrorist group involved, and he was also accused of committing acts of unethical human experimentation. This not only attracted the ire of normal people but also the Japanese government and even Anti-Entropy themselves. Everyone involved except for Ryoma was eager to start the trials.

…

Rei stepped into the living room of the mansion in the Raiden Estate. He had received an invitation from Ryoma himself to meet with him and talk. He saw him sitting in a chair. His hair was almost the same purple color as Mei's, though the color was a bit faded owing to his age.

"Hello, Mister Raiden," Rei began, a bit intimidated by Ryoma's presence.

"Please, skip the formalities. You can just call me Ryoma. Pleased to meet you, Rei."

Rei sat down on the chair facing him. "Is this about Mei?"

He nodded. "Yes. You are currently in a relationship with her, correct?"

"How… How did you know?"

"She told me about it."

"I see…"

"I want to thank you, Rei. My daughter has been much happier since you met her."

Rei scratched the back of his head. He wasn't exactly sure how to respond. "Heh…"

"I would like to ask you for a favor." Ryoma sighed before continuing. "You already know about my current situation, yes?"

Rei nodded.

"My daughter has been through a lot, but this… Suffice to say, the road ahead for her will be very difficult to walk down. She doesn't have any relatives, and… Did she tell you about her mother?"

"No… She didn't."

"She died of cancer when she was young."

"Oh…"

"So yes. Very soon, I can't take care of Mei anymore, and she will be alone. So… Rei, the favor I want to ask is this."

He leaned forward a bit. "Please… take care of my daughter when I'm gone."

"But… Why do you trust me?" Rei was doubtful of himself.

"Because I have faith in you, Komeiji Rei. My daughter often told me that she felt alone in school even when everyone wanted to be friends with her. She always felt that they only ever cared about her because she is my daughter. And that turned out to be true when I got accused for the first time. But you were- no, are different from all of them. Mei often told me that you were the first person she could truly connect with. Even when I got accused the first time around, you stayed by her side and defended her from her classmates.

"So yes, I have faith in you. I have faith that you will take good care of my daughter once I'm gone, and that you will stay by her side even in her darkest times."

A period of silence passed between them before Rei spoke.

"…Okay. I'll try my best."

Ryoma smiled. "Thank you."

\\\

Rei stayed in the mansion for a while longer and decided to watch Mei do some kendo training with her father. He cheered her on as they crossed swords. Unlike every other session, this time, Mei managed to best her father more than he could best her. She never looked more happy, and he never looked prouder.

The brief moment was interrupted by an aggressive knocking on the door, and a solemn look immediately formed on Ryoma's face. He knew what was coming next. He wordlessly stepped towards the door and opened it. There was a large prisoner transport van parked outside, and a few police officers stood outside.

"It's about time for your trial, Raiden Ryoma," one of the officers said.

"Yes. Yes, it is," he replied.

"You know what you've done." His bias against him showed.

"I will not comment."

"I hope you're ready for what's next."

"I am."

"Enough chit-chat," another officer interjected before audibly opening the handcuffs he was holding. "Hands. Now."

Mei ran over to the scene and saw handcuffs closing around her father's wrists. Her heart sank. She didn't know what to do. She screamed. Out of impulsiveness, she raised her shinai, seemingly poised to attack the police officers. Rei ran over to stop her from doing something so reckless.

Ryoma turned around and looked at her before shaking his head.

"Don't do anything foolish, Mei."

He then walked away, following the officers to the prisoner transport van. An officer behind him closed the door for him, and that was it.

Mei stood there, not moving. Her hands were shaking, and she dropped her shinai onto the floor with a loud bang. Tears flowed like a river out of her eyes. She fell to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

All Rei could do was hug her in an attempt to comfort her.