Bang!
The sound caused her ears to ring, barely holding on from turning around.
For a moment, she felt the nuzzle of the gun moving away from her head, but Saori simply thought that it was a warning move.
After all, holding a gun so close to the target makes the advantage a gun hold into a simple decoration.
Bang!
Once again, her ears rang and another bullet shot out.
Bang!
Saori's heart began to beat faster and faster as she realized that this could also be an opportunity.
Kasuka was wasting her bullets, she'd need to reload soon if she kept this up.
Bang!
Before every single shot, the nuzzle would move away from her head.
Saori was wondering what Kasuka's doing, could she be shooting warning shots?
If so, it was quite useless since she was being held at gunpoint.
'They should be in position by now. Now, all I need to do is bring out an opening.'
Saori thought of her friends, the ones she had just sent off to get into their set space.
'After she shoots her gun one last time, we strike!' Using her fingers in the air to signal to the rest of them, Saori waited with bated breath as she thought of more things to say.
"When we get back, how about we play Old Maid next? Last time you lost, you were seething. But if you learnt to keep a blank expression, then..."
Bang!
"Now!"
Saori slapped a hand on the nuzzle, turning quickly to catch Kasuka off guard.
If she did this perfectly, Kasuka would be disarmed and would lose access to her only firearm.
After that was done, the rest of the Arius Squad could help restrain her. If any more signs of resistance still remain, a couple of bullets should be enough.
But what she didn't expect was the fact that Kasuka had pulled back the moment Saori turned around, almost as if she was expecting such a move.
"..."
"!" Chills erupted immediately as Saori made eye contact with Kasuka.
At this point, she was suddenly reminded of that time she had made a slip of tongue, causing Kasuka to look at her as if she was a dead man.
"If we were to suddenly lose contact one day, let's make sure to at least attend each other's funeral, ok?"
She said it as a joke, of course. After all, Saori herself would make sure everyone would stick together.
Saori took a step back as she realized that the atmosphere had gotten eerily silent.
Her inner concerns were quickly answered.
Hiyori, Misaki, Atsuko, Azusa, they were all laying on the ground, unconscious.
"....Ah."
As it turns out... Those weren't warningshots.
Kasuka had been taking out the rest of the Squad Members one by one without her knowledge.
"Good night."
Bang!
---
Kasuka watched her friends fall unconscious around her by her own hands and felt a lick of satisfaction.
Seeing that there's no one else looking at her, she pointed the tip of her nuzzle at the sky and exhaled on it, imagining the white smokes of the gunpowder being absorbed into thin air.
She looked cool, didn't she?
Heh.
Fortunately, that fight wasn't quite as useless as she originally thought as she had obtained a ton of points as a result.
Looking at her brand new reserves, she suddenly felt enlightened.
Remaining Points: 726,200
Each one of them dropped more than 100,000 Points. It could be said that her investment had been paid out immediately after she invested.
Truly, there's nothing more satisfying than seeing immediate results.
Flicker
...Oh? Is that a Halo I see? No way, someone actually woke up after being shot? Is it Saori?
Never mind, it was Atsuko.
Well, seeing that she's alone with her now, it isn't really a bad idea to just turn her halo back on to show that she had regained reasons.
But whether or not Atsuko was willing to believe that this was Kasuka? That's up to Atsuko to decide on herself.
To be honest, Kasuka was also interested in what kind of conclusion Atsuko could come up with at this point.
Plus, she could actually claim the seed she had planted back when they first met. Perhaps, there's no better time than now.
---
Atsuko's eyes fluttered slightly as she tried to regain her bearings. The memories before she lost consciousness suddenly played out quickly.
This caused Atsuko's body to tense up before she heard a voice calling out to her.
"Hime." It was a cold and distanced tone, almost as if the person that said it was a stranger that had only heard of her.
But the voice itself couldn't be hidden, there's no doubt that the person who had said her name was Kasuka.
It seemed like she couldn't pretend to be unconscious anymore. Lamenting, Atsuko slowly stood from her spot, rubbing her forehead which had turned extremely red.
The pain was still stinging, almost felt like it was being burnt by a piping hot iron which had just begun to stop melting.
But that's not enough to deter her will.
A small trickle of tears escaped Atsuko's eyes, even the determination inside her eyes were a bit dimmed.
But she stood.
"Hah..." Panting slightly against her own will, Atsuko tried to catch her breath.
After all, it all happened in an instant. Atsuko was trying to make her way to the rear side of Kasuka's body, but in a single swipe of Kasuka's hand, she suddenly fell over.
She almost didn't hear the gunshot echoing in the distance.
Finally, her gaze turned upwards.
It suddenly felt like her legs went weak.
In fact, it did. Atsuko fell on her rear as her breathing became ragged again at this image of someone she doesn't know.
It had already shattered.
Kasuka's halo, it wasn't in shape anymore. Like a broken piece of mirror, millions of pieces floated above her head, illuminating a state in which wasn't capable of being explained.
But for some reason, she was still standing here, alive.
She doesn't know the reason, but her hopes weren't extinguished.
"K-Ka...Kasuka!" Atsuko built up the courage, the courage to stand against someone who looked very much like a family she held dear yet doesn't emit the sense of familiarity she should have.
Even as an adult, this chilling sight would've caused anyone to feel like they're being hunted.
It was almost as if a blade was unsheathed, the sharpness was simply grazing against their neck. A single movement could cause blood to splatter all over the place.
The coldness of the air suddenly felt like it burnt. Sweat trickled down uncontrollably.
Atsuko has yet to mature.
She's still extremely young.
By the time the main story started, Atsuko was simply 15 years old, an age young enough to still not know of any pain and suffering the adult life would bring.
But at this moment, she was forced to witness it.
"It's me. I-I'm Hakari Atsuko." Introducing herself was the first step in knowing another individual.
Bond: Karumi Kasuka
Hakari Atsuko: 73
"I am your family."
"Please, I'll tell you stories again until you get sick of me."
"Until the day you get tired of my voice, I will keep on speaking."
"You... can trust me."
"The adults, they won't touch you anymore."
She lacked the eloquence required to have a proper conversation, yet she's trying her hardest to make do with what she knows.
"We'll protect you."
Suddenly, Atsuko's vision began to blur.
Tears had begun to subconsciously trickle out even as the pain of the bullet on her forehead had disappeared.
But for some reason, this one... she couldn't prevent it from escaping.
After all, she knew. There's only one reason as to why a halo could shatter, and there's also only one reason as to why Kasuka was still standing here without an issue.
Her body had gone through injuries that even the Halo couldn't absorb.
And yet, she seemed to shine as brightly as a star. She still wasn't satisfied with the life she had lived.
And for that, she rejected destruction.
The halo was being held on together through a simple reason.
"I never knew 'Hope' had such an addicting flavor."
Hopes.
The tears weren't stopping, instead, more and more seemed to escape their enclosure.
"I-I..." Atsuko begins stumbling on her own words, she no longer knows what she's supposed to say to convince the girl in front of her to not give up on 'Hope'.
"Hime." After what felt like an eternity, Kasuka's voice began to vibrate the place.
And suddenly, a small smile tugged the lips of her face.
'Ah... how bright you are...' Atsuko couldn't help but imagine such thoughts in her messy state.
'But...'
"I am Karumi Kasuka." Kasuka exclaimed, her eyes void of any visible emotional fluctuations. "A student under the care of Joumae Saori."
'Student.'
"A friend of Imashino Misaki."
'Friend.'
"A friend of Tsuchinaga Hiyori."
'Friend.'
"A friend of Shirasu Azusa."
'Friend.'
She paused for a bit before continuing.
"A friend of Hakari Atsuko."
'Friend.'
"They are friends of Karumi Kasuka."
'Friends.'
Every single word said by her stabbed Atsuko's heart. To her, they were simply... her friends.
"Yet, Karumi Kasuka had never once truly accepted the fact. Due to that, there was an invisible barrier that separated the rest of them from her."
"But no one had ever noticed it."
"She simply saw them as 'Beacons'."
"And she thought simply, 'I want them to shine brighter.'"
"For that, 'I' exist."
Not a Family.
Atsuko wanted to get closer, but her body wouldn't move. Her throat was filled with unknown knots, preventing her from speaking what she truly wanted to say.
Kasuka, she had never seemed so bright before. But at the same time... she had never seemed so dimmed.
Suddenly, a faint memory of a conversation she once had with Kasuka floated at the top of her head.
And realizing the meaning of those words.... Atsuko became speechless.
It suddenly felt like she didn't deserve the fondness of such a person.
As it turns out, Kasuka had already foreseen everything since the beginning.
"What do you call a weak source of light?"
It sounded like an innocent question at first. But now that she had experienced it first hand, she finally realized that the question had multiple layers of meanings.
And the answer she finally came to.
"微か(Kasuka)"
---
Author's Note: 微か(Kasuka) could mean many things. For example: 'faint', 'dim', or 'vague'