"Yeah, when you want to leave the Tower, sure she wants to kill you, but most of the time? She just wants to eat a good roasted octopus, or play with her nightmares."
"You—"
Shun let his words linger before continuing. "Look, I won't pressure you to do this or that, and I'm neither your teacher nor your parent to scold you. But I'm here to remind you: she's no different than the rest of us. Talk to her and look at her in the eye."
He then turned around. "Maybe you'll understand."
And he walked away.
Akira turned her head to see his back. It seemed broad and burdened with many responsibilities.
Unaware of Akira's gaze, Shun returned to his seat.
"How's the talk?"
"It's up to her." Shun shrugged slightly.
"You don't have to do that."
"And let it happen again? That is the last thing I want." Shun motioned his hand to the left in refusal. "I already have a lot of drama in my hands. Decreasing one would help tremendously."
"You could've just left her."
"Are you serious?" Shun looked at Micchan with contempt.
"What? She didn't really give you anything, and in fact slows you down. It's bewildering to me why you two are still together."
"I made a promise with her."
"That's it?" Micchan sounded shocked and looked at Shun as though he were a madman. "You went through all of those troubles because of one promise? Further more, you two just met. That doesn't make any sense, you need to check your head. Why do you go so far?
"Are you in love with her?"
Shun was caught off guard hearing those words and quickly said, "What! No, of course not! I'm doing this because I want to."
"That's quite absurd."
"Absurd or not, I've made my decision. I'll help her leave the Tower, no matter what."
Micchan scoffed lightly, "When the time comes, don't cry."
"I won't."
After that, they spoke once in a while about mundane and small things. The night thickened in the process.
Micchan then fell asleep after a yawn, leaving only Shun and Akira. Both watched the fire casting a soft orange glow, crackling once in a while. It felt oddly soothing.
"I'm sorry," Akira suddenly said.
"About what?" Shun threw in more twigs.
"Her." Akira eyed the sleeping Micchan and continued, "But I'll need time to accept her."
"That works."
"Thank you."
In the stillness, the cricket rubbed its wings. Its noise echoed throughout the area. As though it were a cue to start an orchestra, the fog roared and the nocturnal birds followed with melodious chirps.
In a few seconds, the area became loud. This bugged Shun for a moment. The way it grew louder was wrong. The area had been quiet the entire time, you see.
Then again, it might just have been his imagination, so he ignored it.
Shun said, "After this, we're going to the mountain range to retrieve a treasure. It allows you to leave the Dream Realm as one wishes."
"A treasure?" Akira repeated. "How dangerous?"
After that, Shun began to share the information he had gained from Micchan.
"Seventy percent chance of survival, huh?"
"That's right. It's not bad, is it?"
"Somehow I've got a feeling this will be our graveyard."
"Don't jinx it!" Shun exclaimed. "What makes you think that anyway?"
"We defeated Shepherd with enough preparation time. I don't believe we'd have that there. I doubt those beasts would wait for us."
"Excellent argument, but—" Shun pointed at Micchan with his thumb.
"I suppose it would be much easier, yet the way you're using her as much as you can leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"I thought you hated her."
"At this point I feel pity."
"Okay, you're making me feel like I'm forcing her to do things she doesn't want to do, which I am not, by the way."
"You are shameless," she commented flatly.
"Wha—shameless? What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing." She paused, then continued, "When this is over, are you going to leave the Tower?"
"No." Shun shook his head. "I need to conquer it."
"You must be insane." Her voice filled with disbelief. "You're going to die."
"Small price." Shun shrugged his shoulders.
Akira looked at him for a while. "May I know why?"
"Family drama, that's why." Shun grabbed a twig and started to draw doodles on the ground. "I don't have a good relationship with my family. We went our separate ways, but yesterday, I received some news that my grandma is dying.
"I wanted them to visit her yet they refused. Well, to be frank, I understand. My grandma left my mom when she was young and only returned after forty long years.
"When she returned, she soon got sick and my family didn't want to take care of her. So I took care of her, since she taught me a lot about many different things.
"Naturally, my mom was mad about that, and she forced me to make a decision. Her or my grandma." His eyes flickered with sadness and grief.
On the ground, Shun drew two stickmen and circled one on the left. Akira caught a glimpse of the drawing and turned her gaze to Shun.
"Sorry for making you recount the past."
"It's alright. I wouldn't choose otherwise anyway."
Shun then added bitterly, especially how Ma treats me after Kaoru gained a special class.
"Is it worth it? Risking everything for this?"
"It is."
Akira shifted her eyes slightly. They flickered for a moment as she said, "Yet you still want to help me."
"What can I say, but you're welcome."
"I will reward you greatly once you successfully conquer the Tower, Shun."
Shun chuckled. "There's no need. Oh, never mind. Treat me to that trendy pizza place that just opened."
"Sure, but I'll still reward you." Her voice carried a resolution that unsettled Shun.
"Thanks, I guess?"
Akira nodded, satisfied, as she said, "You will not be disappointed."
"Right…"
Shun then turned his line of sight to the sea. It was unknown what was going through his mind.
As time went on, he heard something. He perked up his ears and got up slowly, focusing on the noise.
It was distant, and with the sound of waves present, it was hard to discern. But after a few moments, he picked up a soothing tone of a lullaby.
"Did you hear that?" Shun asked Akira, who was sitting next to him. Without really looking at her, he suddenly heard a light thud from her side.
Looking toward the sound, he saw Akira collapse to the ground with her eyes closed, unconscious.
This naturally heightened Shun's guard as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
Then, his feet felt wet. Looking down, he noticed the water was gradually rising, devouring slowly the land.