"ASUKA!!"
I turned around to a familiar voice calling out my name. It was my girlfriend, sprinting towards me, her footsteps echoing against the cracked rooftop tiles. The setting sun bled across the sky in streaks of red and orange, casting her in a glow that felt both beautiful and cruel against the chaos beneath us. How I was so glad to see her. I opened my arms and embraced her as my voice shook, "Where were you? When I saw that you weren't home I thought...I thought you were..."
My heart ached so much that I wasn't even able to say the words. I gently pushed her out of my arms and looked at her. Her eyes washed in an indigo-reddish tone as sparkles of tears danced around her cheek. The wind tugged at her hair, carrying with it the faint stench of smoke and something fouler, something rotting, rising up from the streets below.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
She sobbed, her voice trembling as much as her hands, "I was looking for you. When I heard what happened at the school, I thought you were there so it made me think that...mmph?" Not allowing her to finish her sentence, I pressed my lips against hers. I could feel her body trembling. I then pulled away and hugged her tightly as I ran my fingers through her soft black hair, trying to anchor us both in something human.
"It's okay. I'm right here," I softly spoke next to her ear.
Suddenly, a loud bang split the air, making us both jump. The hospital rooftop shuddered under our feet as we whipped our heads towards the sound. Smoke rose in jagged columns, lit orange by the flames licking skyward from somewhere in the distance. We staggered to the edge of the rooftop, the concrete railing cool under our palms, and our breath caught in our throats as we looked out over a city tearing itself apart. Cars burned like scattered torches, their alarms blaring in uneven shrieks. Dark figures ran frantically through the streets—some chasing, others fleeing, all swallowed by the rising tide of screams.
Following the first explosion, many came after it, each one rolling through the skyline like the city itself was convulsing. The sounds of crumbling glass and twisting metal blended with the voices of thousands, screaming, wailing, begging.
I felt her grip tighten around my hand as she asked, her voice breaking, "How is this happening, Asuka?"
I looked at her and then back at the tumultuous city, the horizon painted in fire and shadow. Although I knew the answer, I couldn't give it to her—for the only question that echoed in my mind, louder than the chaos around us, was How did it all come down to this?