Chapter 172 - I Will Be The Last One

Sumire stared at him for a few minutes. 'I wonder why he decided to stay.' There is still a chance for Yuhi to abandon her just like anybody else. But, so far, he has remained. Even though she showed him plenty of her weak side, he remained by her. Her gaze fell on the arms wrapped around her waist.

'Stupid. What good will it do?' His actions seemed meaningless to her, and yet it made her heart feel warm.

She remained like that for a few minutes before she eventually got up. She picked up her coat on the side when she spotted something else. 'Yuhi's coat…' She didn't hesitate and slipped it on. It was a bit bigger for her, but it felt comfortable.

Sumire exited the room quickly and walked down the corridor. It was quiet and dark. 'Well, the hospital needs to save energy at night.' She wondered how Yuhi managed to convince them to keep the lights on.

She quietly made her way across the hall and made her way up several flights of stairs.

It did not take long before she reached the rooftop. A strong gust of wind blew the moment she opened the door. Sumire shrugged it off and walked over to the railing. A memory from the past appeared in her head.

…

20XX

'That's the kind of person I want to be.'

'You already know what you want to do.'

Everyone around her doesn't hesitate to say what they're thinking in front of her, huh? Or maybe they do hesitate, but her actions are making them act. In the end, all of this is still one big spiral that's difficult to comprehend. It's that kind of story.

Her thoughts broke off when she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. This led to her halting her in her tracks. "Ru?"

"It's dangerous, and you'll fall."

"It's fine. I always do this." Sumire reassures him, yet he took her down anyway. She noticed the distressed expression on his face. "Is something wrong?"

The maroon colored haired boy buried his head on her chest.

"Ki, you don't have to keep suffering for my sake, you know? Aki-san told me about it, what you've been doing as of late. You don't have to do that much. Your road of atonement, stop it already".

So that's it. It seems like he couldn't keep it a secret for long. Aki-san isn't usually a person to blab secrets unless somebody forces him. But when it concerns Mamoru, he's not able to say no. That's true if it's in front of Mamoru. No one can disagree that easily, that's how it's always been. He's always had that sphere of influence after all.

"I'm sorry. I can't do that, I already said it once before. Although it was a long time ago, you know full well that it's still the same now. I don't like myself and let's face it who would? A person like me who's rude, violent, and not cute at all. There's not a single person in this world who will truly like me."

That's right because people will always hate her, that's how it usually is.

It's already too late to change things.

Mamoru looks up then. "If that's true, then why are you crying?"

Indeed once again, she could feel the crystal tears falling from her eyes at a rapid rate like waterfalls. The maroon colored haired boy lifts his hand, wiping them away before pulling her into a hug.

Ah, really once again, this person. He's always like this. How come he's able to tell? Not even she will ever be able to understand it. Why was it always this person? Out of all the others, she's met, it's always been him.

"You know Ki; you're a huge contradictor. You're the kind of person who doesn't hesitate to say what's on their mind - and you're always honest. That's the kind of person you are; you stood out to me being like that. However, despite how strong you were, I could tell that you're just as fragile and even weaker at the end of the day than all the others. That's why..." He tightened their laced hands.

"That's why I'm afraid of leaving you alone, even though you now have others. I don't believe that anyone can truly understand you and care for you in the same degree as I do."

Sumire managed to laugh despite her strange mood. "That's a huge compliment for yourself."

"I'm that kind of guy. But ....you agree, don't you?"

His hands - no, his whole body shook. Sumire knew the reason why this was, and it was because of her.

"I'll be okay, Ru. I managed to survive this many years without seeing you after all....that's why this won't be any different...." Sumire said, struggling to keep her voice proper. Yet it was useless since her tears rapidly feel.

"Don't lie in front of me," Mamoru muttered. "Ki. There is no need to pretend when you're in front of me; you know that full well."

Once Mamoru said those words, she didn't hold back the tears any longer and said all that was going on in her head. Everything, everything she was feeling. She didn't hesitate to say them all. She couldn't hold back anymore. There's no way she could.

"Ssh Ki. I am sorry...I really am. For now, I'll stay by your side."

….

Sumire snapped her attention back to the present when she saw something from the corner of her eye. Not too far from the hospital, she saw a mini-explosion in the forest.

All the signs are appearing now. The signs he told her.

He was so kind and gentle. But in the end, he also left her. There is nobody who will stay; in the end, they all leave. The only one that remains is her. In this place, she will be the last one.

But isn't that what she saw from the beginning? In that place, she saw it, a future - a destroyed world. In that lonely world, only she remained. The people she cared for all disappeared, and she was the only one there.

She wonders if that was the future. Was that her 'power?' Could she see things people couldn't? Yet occasionally, she would feel something else. Something was burning across her right eye, her dry throat craving for something.