ch2

Ascensiune

As Yuu whisked us through Minato's abandoned streets with supernatural speed, the stark reality of our post-apocalyptic world was laid bare under the harsh light of day. Buildings that once stood as proud symbols of advancement now loomed as hollowed-out husks, silent testaments to humanity's downfall. The contrast between the architectural grandeur of the past and the desolation that now gripped the city was a poignant reminder of all that had been lost in the cataclysm.

The weight of Yuu's decision to prioritize my safety over all else was a heavy burden, compounded by my own deep-seated guilt. Memories of our childhood, marred by tragedy when vampires decimated our makeshift family, haunted me relentlessly. The guilt of having survived, transforming into the very monster we feared, and leaving Yuu to bear the scars of our loss alone, was a constant specter in my mind.

Approaching Tokyo Tower, its iconic frame now standing sentinel over a ghostly metropolis, I couldn't help but reflect on its symbolism. Once a pillar of hope and a marvel of engineering, it now served as a memorial of resilience in the face of overwhelming despair. Yet, for us, it also marked the beginning of a solitary path, one chosen out of desperation and a fierce desire to protect what little we had left.

As we came to a stop at the base of the tower, the silence of the city around us was almost palpable. The once vibrant streets of Minato, now devoid of life, painted a bleak picture of the world's current state. Yuu's decision to forge ahead, to keep fighting in a world so fundamentally altered by catastrophe, struck me as a continuation of our long history of sacrifice. Despite the love that motivated his choice, I couldn't shake the feeling that it might only lead us further into darkness.

Materializing outside of Yuu's consciousness, our bleak surroundings hit me with renewed force. the dystopian landscape of Minato and the looming figure of Tokyo Tower served as the backdrop for my tumultuous thoughts. Yuu's unwavering determination to save me, despite my own feelings of unworthiness and the immense cost of our actions, was both heartrending and terrifying. As we stood together, facing the uncertain future in a world that had lost so much, I was struck by the complexity of our situation—driven by a profound bond yet fraught with the shadows of past tragedies.

Suddenly Yuu began an ascent up Tokyo Tower. His actions left me in a state of bewildered disbelief. Without drawing on the power from either me or the recently absorbed Asamaru, he climbed with a vigor that belied our dire circumstances. "Yuu!" I called out, my voice laced with frustration as I reluctantly started to follow him up one of the tower's massive legs. "Yu!" I shouted again, hoping for some acknowledgment, some reason behind this sudden detour. But there was nothing—only the sound of our solitary climb against the backdrop of a silent world.

Despite not leveraging any supernatural strength, Yuu's physical conditioning from his time in the demon army was evident. He moved with an ease that spoke of his training, yet his focus was entirely on the climb, seemingly finding joy in this moment of pure physical exertion, utterly oblivious to my growing agitation. "How high are you planning to go?" I asked, a note of concern creeping into my voice as the ground began to look ominously distant. Still, Yuu remained silent, his attention fixed on the ascent.

"Why are we even climbing this, anyway?" My frustration boiled over into outright anger. This seemed like madness, a reckless pause in our flight that could very well allow Gurren and the others time to catch up. Yuu's response came only when we neared the summit, a brief glance back at me with a grin that bordered on insanity. Far from reassured, I was convinced he had lost his grip on reality. What could possibly justify this risk?

The idea that Yuu had chosen to scale a 333-meter tower in the midst of our escape was baffling. Had the weight of our situation, the enormity of his decision to betray everyone and consume Asamaru, finally push him to a breaking point? It seemed the only logical explanation for his seemingly irrational behavior.

Yet, as I observed Yuu's relentless determination and the unmistakable spark of excitement in his climb, a part of me wondered if there was more to his actions than mere folly. Yuu had always been one to seek perspective in the face of adversity, to find hope amidst despair. Perhaps, in his own unconventional way, he was seeking a standpoint from which to view the world anew, to reignite a sense of purpose in our quest to save what remained of it.

Still, this did little to quell my frustration. Every moment spent on this tower was a moment we weren't putting distance between us and those we'd fled. If Gurren or anyone else managed to catch up, we'd be cornered, forced into a confrontation for which we might not be prepared. Yuu's betrayal, his sacrifices—they would be in vain. As I followed him upward, the tension between my concern for our immediate safety and my trust in Yuu's often inexplicable methods strained my resolve. This climb, this moment of seeming madness, was a test of faith in Yuu's vision, even as it infuriated me with its apparent recklessness.

As Yuu eagerly scaled the final meters to Tokyo Tower's summit, his antics left me oscillating between frustration and disbelief. "Haven't you heard the saying that fools and smoke rise to high places?" I snapped, the apex of our climb now tantalizingly close.

"I guess I'm a fool then," Yuu shot back, his focus undeterred by my sarcasm. The absurdity of our ascent, given our circumstances, was not lost on me. Yet, as Yuu reached the top, his demeanor shifted. He stood there, gazing out over the city with a sense of wonder that was both infectious and maddening. "We're here, Mika!" His excitement was patented, his voice carrying a youthful exuberance that warped the gravity of our situation. "Look at this! Isn't it incredible?" he exclaimed, his jubilance reminiscent of a child's unguarded awe.

"What, the scenery?" I retorted, pausing my climb to survey our surroundings. The vast expanse below, once a bustling metropolis, now lay silent, a testament to the apocalypse that had ravaged it.

"Look at how high up we are!" Yuu continued, undeterred by my growing irritation. "We're super duper high up!"

"God, you sound so dumb right now," I couldn't help but remark, even as part of me was drawn to his enthusiasm.

"But this is seriously so awesome, come on!" Yuu urged, beckoning me to join him at the summit. Despite my frustrations, there was something in his fervor, his infectious smile, that I couldn't resist.

"This is Tokyo Tower, you know," I found myself saying as I joined him, a gust of wind nearly catching me off guard. "It's over 1000 feet tall."

"You know a lot," Yuu observed with admiration, his gaze following my final approach. "Do you like the tower that much?"

"It's common knowledge," I replied, finally floating down next to him, where he stood enraptured by the view. Together, we looked out over the city—a beautiful yet haunting landscape. The silence of the deserted streets, the empty buildings, all bore witness to the catastrophic event that had left the world in ruins. Yet, through Yuu's eyes, I could see something else: a beauty in the emptiness, a potential for renewal amidst the desolation. His optimism, though infuriating, was also deeply moving.

"Maybe people did like it." I conceded, my voice softening as I took in the panoramic view. "It was pretty famous. Once Japan's tallest communications tower."As we stood side by side, Yuu's belief in a future where the world could be restored, where humanity could rise again from the ashes of its downfall, permeated the atmosphere . "It is an amazing view", I admitted quietly, overwhelmed by Yuu's conviction.

"Right?" He smiled, turning to me, his eyes alight with a mixture of hope and determination. "It's the world where everyone used to live... before everything was destroyed."

" Yuu," I finally said, turning to face him, "you know we're being chased. So why climb all the way up here?"

His answer was quintessentially Yuu: "Because if I stand up here on the very top, doesn't that make me the tallest person ever?"

His childish glee, so stark against the backdrop of our grim reality, was both endearing and exasperating. As he celebrated atop Tokyo Tower, momentarily oblivious to our plight, I suppressed a smile, despite myself. But then, in a heartbeat, he stumbled, teetering dangerously close to the edge. "Mika!" he yelled as he fell, reaching out to me in desperation.

For a fleeting second, panic seized me, until I remembered—neither of us were bound by the frailties of our former human selves. The fall wouldn't harm him, yet the symbolism wasn't lost on me. What was the point of rising above the world if we were just going to plummet right back down to earth?

Shaking my head at the absurdity and the irony, I lept after him, a silent vow between us that no matter the heights we reached or the depths we fell to, we'd face them together, bound by a shared past and a hope for the future, however elusive it might seem.

As I fell from the tower, my gaze locked onto Yuu, who effortlessly landed on his feet with barely a whisper of impact. Emulating his grace, I floated momentarily before softly setting my own feet upon the ground. Yuu patted himself down, "I'm alive," he declared, turning to face me with a spark of realization in his eyes.

"I know," I responded, my voice laced with a flatness that masked my unrest.

Elation coursed through Yuu as he thrust his arm into the air. "I know what it was. It's called terminal velocity! Partway down, air resistance stopped me from falling any faster. So, I win, Tokyo Tower!" His victory cry, though spirited, only served to amplify my growing disquiet towards his relentless optimism.

"Wooo," I mocked, clapping with a sardonic flare, my patience wearing thin.

Yuu's green eyes searched mine, sensing the shift. "That's a 'listen to me' look, isn't it?" he prodded.

Rolling my eyes, I retorted, "Oh, you finally noticed? I've looked this way, oh, for a good 200 years now!" My exaggeration was a feeble attempt to mask the depth of my concern.

"Whoa, that long?" Yuu replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm, unfazed by my growing irritation.

"Why did you climb to the top of Tokyo Tower?" I pressed, unable to hide my frustration. "We can't afford to stick out right now!"

"Who wouldn't want to climb it? It's the tallest thing around," he reasoned, his naïveté grating on me.

"You're just dumb, then," I shot back, anger bubbling to the surface.

"Ha ha!" Yuu laughed, dismissive of my anger.

"Why Yuu? Really. I want to know." I persisted, my tone sharpening with seriousness.

"I just kind of figured I should look and really see, y'know?" Yuu fumbled for words, his struggle to articulate his thoughts evident.

"Look at what?" I pressed, unwilling to let him evade the question.

"Everyone. The world the catastrophe destroyed," he smiled earnestly, revealing a depth of emotion I hadn't anticipated. "And everyone who died in it."

His words left me speechless, my frustration clashing with an unexpected surge of empathy. I stared at him, torn between my own self-hatred and the need to acknowledge Yuu's feelings, however misguided I believed his actions to be.

"Hey, Mika?" Yuu's voice softened, as if sensing my internal dilemma. "This whole time, I was only ever thinking about myself and my family."

His confession struck a chord, yet I found myself at a loss for words, caught in the throes of my own frustration and the realization of his intentions.

"I just had to save my family. I just had to save you," he continued, his voice gentle, reaching for my hand. The sincerity of his gesture pierced through my defenses, awakening a commotion of emotions within me. Yuu's desires, his desperate ploy to save me, to be by my side at any cost, were almost too much to bear. My heart ached with love for him, a love so deep and sacrificial, it threatened to consume me.

"Akane... the kids... Gurren, Shinoa... as long as I can save the family that took me in, then I don't care about anything else," he confessed, intertwining our fingers, sealing our fates together.

"Me too, Yuu," I found myself responding, my voice barely a whisper. "If you're happy, that's all I need." It was a truth I couldn't deny; Yuu's happiness was my happiness, even if I disagreed with his logic, his choices, his actions. I was bound to him, compelled to support him regardless of the path he chose, even if it meant our ultimate demise. "My happiness is your happiness." But even as I spoke, a part of me yearned to convince him to let me go, to create a life for himself that would be fulfilling. "However, you're completely succumbing to greed." The thought of being with Yuu forever was tantalizing, yet I knew the reality was slim. He had to move on without me. If he could live and be happy, then even if I ceased to exist, I would have no regrets, for I would be leaving my most precious person in the hands of a promising future; a world saved, and a life filled with potential happiness.

Yuu's laughter broke through my reverie, his tone laced with unease. " So What? I should just Let you die and go on living?"

"Gurren is trustworthy enough," I stated, a newfound resolve strengthening my voice, urging Yuu to reconsider his choices. "Leave this to him; he likes you."

Yuu's expression darkened, he pulled back his hand, his patience wearing thin. He wasn't liking my tone or where this conversation was heading. He had made up his mind, yet here I was, challenging his decisions, attempting to renounce his sacrifices.

"And that Shinoa girl," I continued, pushing forward despite the resistance. "Do you remember what she said? Yuu, you may not realize it, but you like that girl….to some extent. Sure, it probably isn't love, but you could learn to love her. You could learn to accept her affections."

His once cheerful demeanor was now solemn, Yuu stared at me, his silence a testament to the weight of our conversation.

"Yoichi too, and Mitsuba, and Kimizuki, they all said they loved you. They begged you not to go. I know you heard them."

"I heard," Yuu responded quietly, his voice a mix of resignation and defiance.

"And this is how you answer them!" I exploded, unable to hold back any longer. " You need to be smarter than this. I'm not worth the world, and I refuse to let you ruin yourself for me. The one who killed our family, the one who ruined our childhood, the one who couldn't resist blood and turned into a vampire. The one who became a demon. I'm not worth it! How the hell can you say that this is what you want?" My voice shook with emotion, the intensity of my feelings rendering me nearly incoherent.

Yuu lowered his head, his voice quavering. "What if it was you?" he asked, his sadness now indisputable, a clear indication that my words were beginning to penetrate the wall of optimism he had built around himself. "If you were in my shoes, what would you have done?"

Closing the distance between us, I met his gaze, our eyes locked in a silent battle of wills. "What would you have done if you were in my shoes?" I countered, and he frowned, the tension between us swirling into a wild energy.

"I won't give in, Mika," he said darkly, his determination unwavering. "You are mine, and that's final. And nothing is going to take you away from me ever again."

""No, damn it, you need to let go!" I yelled, my frustration reaching a breaking point. "You already turned your back on me and left once. Now, go on and keep living!" Through our intertwined consciousness, I flooded Yuu's mind with vivid images of our past. I conjured the haunting memories of when we were kids, trying and failing to escape the orphanage that was really a human farm. The scenes played out like a tragic film: everyone perished, but Yuu somehow found a way to escape. He had survived that ordeal, and he needed to find the strength to do so again. It was crucial for my sake, for the sake of the children we once tried to protect. Letting me go meant the possibility of reviving those lost lives. Yuu had to understand that by allowing Gurren to sacrifice me, we could potentially restore the world and bring back the billions lost to the apocalypse. In weaving these images through our shared consciousness, I aimed to make him see the grave mistake in his wish to be with me.

"Mika!" Yuu growled, shocked by the harshness of my words, but also by the depth of my thoughts.

I was showing him the past, how he ran away before, and demanding he do it again! "As long as you're alive, you can build a new family! That's the simple truth!" Admittedly, the thought of Yuu being with Shinoa was unbearable, yet if a life with her meant happiness for Yuu, then he had to be with her. "Drop your stupid obsession with me already! Don't cling to the past. It's over, gone, it all ended that day," I implored, my heart aching with the need for him to move on, to stop loving me so much and think of his own happiness. That was why I had sacrificed myself in the first place, so that Yuu could live on; so that he could have a future. "That day, you chose to leave me behind and start a new life!" I accused, the pain of our shared past and the impossibility of our situation crashing down upon me.

It was then that I felt a fist fly across my face, so fast and sudden I barely caught myself and stumbled back a few steps. When I finally came to my senses and looked up, Yuu was enraged, breathing heavily, his fist poised in front of him.

"How can I start a new life if you aren't in it!" he screamed, his anger a mirror to my own desperation.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's over!" I snapped back, lunging at him and landing a punch across his face. Quickly, our confrontation escalated, fueled by raw, unfiltered emotions. We grappled and fell to the ground in front of the tower, caught in a whirlwind of rage and passion that defied control. It seemed the only way we could truly express our feelings was through the pain we inflicted on each other. Pain had been our shared language since childhood, and even now, it remained the sole medium through which we could communicate our deepest emotions.

When I finally grappled him into a submissive position, pinning him down in the dirt, I demanded, "Give up!"

"No!" Yuu refused, his voice defiant.

"GIVE UP!"

"NO. I WON'T!"

"Yes, you will. Please, just give up," I pleaded, my voice breaking. Yuu remained silent, his eyes, like beautiful emeralds, glistening with tears. I continued to hold him down, the weight of our shared history and my own despair pressing down on me. "Damn it," I began, my voice choked with tears. "Why? Why does nothing ever go my way? My whole life, nothing's ever worked out. I'm your demon! I eat your desires. I can feel how strongly you don't want to give up," I confessed, tears streaming down my face, unashamed.

Yuu stared up at me with deep empathy. "I'm sorry, Mika," he whispered, his voice laden with sorrow. "I'm sorry I left you behind."

"That's what I wanted. So please, just give up on me and live your own life," I tried once more to convince him to let me go.

But Yuu continued to speak, his voice tinged with sadness and anger. "You know, I could've chosen to die with you that day." He took a quivering breath. "It's not like I have a big reason to live now."

"Live anyway," I interrupted, my resolve unwavering. "Everybody struggles their hardest to live."

"I've lived enough," Yuu confessed, his admission catching me off guard. "After I escaped, I considered suicide every day. But I stuck it out, doing what it takes to live this long," he continued, his voice breaking. "You were gone, but I stayed alive and didn't die for this long!" His body began to tremble "I deserve a compliment for that!" He began to weep, and I watched in awe as tears streamed down his face and pooled in the dirt beside his head.

I hadn't realized how hard Yuu had been striving to live, and here I was, assuming he had it easy when he left me and the kids to die at the hands of the vampires. All this time, he wanted to die, barely holding on to any hope.

"If I was just going to give up on you," he continued, his voice faltering as I lifted myself off his waist, "I would have just offed myself that day and saved myself the trouble. But I didn't. I stayed alive, and because I did, I got you back. Now you're going to tell me to abandon you again?"

I could only stare at the boy in front of me, overwhelmed by the intensity of his emotions.

"Fuck that!" He laughed sadly. "That's not happening. That's like telling me to die."

As I slowly rose to my feet, Yuu mirrored my movements, pulling himself up with a resilience that always seemed to define him. "Then what are you going to do?" My voice barely hid the bitterness, "Sacrifice the world and bring me back to life? Exactly like the first wants you to do?" Understanding Yuu's feelings was one thing; fully accepting them was another.

He faced me, dust clinging to his features from our skirmish. His lips formed a straight, determined line. As he stepped closer, I tensed, half-expecting another blow. Instead, he reached out, flicking my forehead. "Idiot," he scoffed, his voice laced with a mix of annoyance and affection, "You're supposed to be the smart one. Use your brain."

Rubbing the spot he flicked, I could only muster a confused, "Huh?"

Yuu's arms spread wide, a gesture signifying his barriers were down. "We haven't decided anything yet," he declared, a clarity in his gaze that I hadn't seen before. "We haven't thought for ourselves one bit. We've only ever done what Guren or the first has told us to do."

His words, infused with a newfound optimism, began to resonate with me. "Guren's amazing," he continued, admiration clear in his tone. "He's making choices. He's even willing to become the bad guy if it means getting what he wants. The First too. You heard Asuramaru, right? He said that the first had abandoned him."

"I heard," I admitted, the pieces falling into place in my mind. Asuramaru's abandonment, a scene I had witnessed within Yuu's consciousness, highlighted the manipulations at play — Shikama Doji using everyone to achieve his ends, caring for no one but himself.

"The first is willing to do anything to bring you back to life," Yuu stated firmly. "He's thinking. He knows what he wants to do and the battles he has to win."

A thoughtful "Hm" escaped me as Yuu posed the crucial question, "But what about us? We haven't thought about anything. What choices have we made? We're just pieces in someone else's game."

That word, choices , echoed deeply within me, igniting a spark. Yuu's perspective, seeing through the chaos to assert his agency, made me question my own passivity. "What's a game we can play? Where do we stand?" Yuu asked, his posture exuding confidence, his question directed squarely at me.

"Before… you said you had a plan," I began, my voice hesitant. If I was to align with Yuu, I needed to know his strategy.

"Plan, what plan? I don't have a plan!" he retorted, his expression serious, a stark contrast to his earlier enthusiasm.

"What?" I gasped, disbelief coloring my tone. "Are you kidding me!?"

But Yuu quickly tried to clarify, "But there is one thing I understand. The two of us are still stuck in those days, Mika. We're still trapped and helpless. Just like we were when the vampires had us. We had way less power back then, yet you didn't give up. You came up with a wild plan to get us out," Yuu said, extending his fist towards me as a gesture of solidarity. "You're smart, Mika. I've always known that. And I believe that if you really focus, you can devise a strategy to save us again."

I lowered my gaze, absorbing his words. Yuu was entrusting me with the responsibility of devising a plan to navigate us through this labyrinth of chaos we found ourselves in. He believed in me, urging me to keep fighting, to choose our path forward. Deep inside, I struggled with the idea of making such critical decisions; I doubted my worth and my right to make choices. Yet, Yuu, with his relentless optimism and seemingly naive faith in me, was convinced I could turn the tide in our favor. He saw in me a strength I was blind to, a potential to reclaim our autonomy and chart our own course.

"So, your plan was to dump it all in my lap?" I asked, half-amused, half-exasperated.

"My job is to be the brawn, y'know. If any vampires show up, I'll chop them to bits!" Yuu's declaration, though simplistic, showcased his trust in our partnership.

"What would we have to do to win? Even if you don't have plans, you have ideas, right?" I probed, seeking some direction in his thought process.

"You bet!" Yuu exclaimed, pointing to himself. "I've got bigger ideas than Gurren or even the First! What I want is to bring everybody back to life. Including you."

"There's the idiot." I sighed, the audacity of his goal both endearing and ludicrous. "Neither Gurren nor the First can pull that off, but you think we can?"

"Yep, 'cuz I'm dumb. And did you know that smoke and dumb people rise to high places?" Yuu's attempt at humor did little to alleviate the gravity of our situation, yet it broke the tension between us, drawing a reluctant smile from me.

"Ugh, do I really have to do this?" I muttered, resignation creeping into my voice as Yuu's infectious energy and unwavering determination enveloped me.

"We're gonna save everyone, Mika. Not just our family, everybody!" His declaration, filled with vigor, marked a turning point in our confrontation.

"And you want me to think up how?" I asked, the weight of his expectations settling on my shoulders.

"Yep, think Mika. It's gotta be easier than getting a bunch of kids away from vampires," Yuu encouraged, his faith in me unwavering.

"You make it sound easy," I retorted, skepticism lacing my words.

"Don't worry," Yuu spoke with confidence, his belief in our success unwavering. "I know you can do it. And if we try it and it doesn't work, we'll both just die," he stated matter-of-factly, his optimism undimmed by the prospect of our mutual demise.

"If everything really did end back on that day," he continued, his reference to our past clear, "then what's wrong with dying?"

His smile then, wide and hopeful, encapsulated his entire philosophy. "We'll save everyone, or we'll die together. Either one is fine with me. It's the same goal we decided on way back when." Yuu extended his fist toward me again, a silent vow hanging between us. "I've zero intent to live all on my own," he said softly, his words a gentle nudge against my resolve. "So you'd better use those smarts of yours. Come up with a plan that lets us win." Our eyes locked, and suddenly, our minds were awash with vivid 'what if' scenarios—not memories, but visions of potential futures where Yuu, the kids, and I successfully escaped the orphanage. These images weren't recollections of the past but rather glimpses of what could have been, each frame a testament to the hope that had once guided us and could do so again. Yuu's gesture, offering me these visions, was his way of reigniting the belief in myself, in him, in the us that could overcome any obstacle. It was as if he was saying, without words, that we had been given another chance, an opportunity to rewrite our destinies. The acknowledgment that dying together might be our final fate if we failed added a solemn depth to our resolve, yet it was imbued with a dark, poetic grace. It emphasized the profound bond between us, a bond that transcended life and death. In this moment, Yuu was more than just family; he was my light in the night, leading and urging me to believe in the possibility of a different outcome, to harness the lessons of our past for a chance at a future. His belief in me was clear, a challenge to rise above our fears and to craft a victory from the ashes of our supposed defeat.