The multiverse was a blur around them. Universes shot past in streams of iridescent color, a cosmic slipstream of glowing stars, dead worlds, and broken time. Haruna and Kikidori soared together, Heaven and Hell traveling faster than light through the layers of existence like sparks from creation itself.
Kikidori, arms crossed, was flying backward, watching galaxies unravel behind them with all the enthusiasm of a goth kid on a family vacation. Haruna, on the other hand, was beaming like someone who just found out puppies were real.
"You know," Haruna said over the rushing silence of the void, "Heaven really *is* beautiful. I wish you'd let yourself see it the way I do."
Kikidori groaned. "Oh no. No no no. I know that tone. If you start fucking *singing* I will—"
But she already was.
Haruna closed her eyes, spread her wings, and let the notes lift from her lips like golden snow.
**"In Heaven the clouds are soft as prayer,
The winds hum songs in the morning air.
There's light that dances on crystal seas,
And peace that lives in the quiet breeze."**
Kikidori winced, throwing his hands up.
"Seriously, what is this, a Disney fever dream?
You're one harp away from a musical meme.
Keep your clouds and peaceful winds,
I'll take fire, sin, and the screams of the damned."
Haruna just spun through the air, graceful and glowing.
**"The rivers run gold, the flowers hum,
The stars all sing where angels come.
The gardens bloom with endless grace,
No sorrow, no death, just love's embrace."**
Kikidori raised an eyebrow, keeping the beat with heavy sarcasm.
"Oh yay, sounds like a fucking bore,
No chaos? No blood? What's it even *for*?
You ever had a drink made of demon bile?
Now *that's* a real afterlife with style."
Haruna twirled past a comet streaking by.
**"The children laugh, the skies are blue,
The sun never burns, the hearts stay true."**
Kikidori rolled his eyes so hard, they nearly fell out.
"Gag me with a cherub's wing,
You sound like you're in a tampon commercial or something.
Please shut up, you heavenly brat,
Before I hex you into singing flat."
Haruna grinned mid-verse, still melodic:
**"The bells of light ring pure and clear,
Even demons might shed a tear—"**
Kikidori cut in, rhyming with a growl:
"Oh please, we cry from rage not grace,
Not over your cotton-candy place.
If Heaven's so grand, why leave it for Earth?
You followed me here. What's that worth?"
She stopped singing, floating beside him, hair billowing like golden fire. "Because I don't want you to burn forever," she said, voice quiet.
Kikidori stared at her. The void around them flickered with stars.
"…That's dumb," he muttered.
"Maybe," Haruna said. "But I still sang."
He turned back forward, kicking through a collapsing star system. "You sound like a church pamphlet with wings."
"Aw, you listened," she said sweetly.
"I was *rhyming insults,* not enjoying it!"
"Still counts."
"I swear I will drop-kick your soul."
"You'll have to catch it first, demon boy."
The multiverse widened ahead of them.
Heaven's gates were far off, glowing.
Hell's smoke was behind them, brooding.
And Kikidori, still grumbling, muttered in rhyme one last time:
"If you sing again, I'll bite your face—
And spit holy glitter all over the place."
Haruna laughed like sunshine.
The end of chapter 19.