(Echoes of Love, Part II)
The storm had lasted three nights.
Tokyo's skyline, usually dazzling with neon and noise, was drowned beneath silver rain and the hollow wail of thunder. Toshio Shinji stood on the rooftop of the hospital, drenched to the bone, his trembling hands clutching the charm Airi had given him—the one she'd said would "keep their hearts connected, even across lifetimes."
It had cracked.
The charm's faint pink glow had dulled, pulsing once every few seconds like the heartbeat of something dying. Beneath it, Toshio's reflection stared back from the puddle near his shoes—eyes bloodshot, a face that had aged years in weeks.
"Airi... why won't you wake up?"
Downstairs, her body slept in the ICU. But it wasn't a coma in the medical sense. The doctors called it "unexplainable neural suppression." Toshio knew better.
It was her soul.
The day Airi shielded him from that falling beam in the collapsing shrine ruins, a blinding light had erupted from her. Strange markings—ancient, divine—had burned across her skin before she fell unconscious. Since then, her heart beat, her body breathed... but Airi Hoshizora was gone.
And now, Toshio felt her slipping further away.
The Whispers of the Past
He stumbled back into the stairwell, chest tight, as lightning flashed outside the narrow window.
Something shimmered in the corner—mist forming the outline of a woman in a flowing white kimono. Her hair floated like silk underwater. Her eyes… gold, unearthly.
"Shinji of the mortal dawn," she said softly. "You called upon the light of the moon... and it answered."
Toshio froze. His breath caught in his throat.
"Who... are you?"
"I am Tsukiyomi's last shard — the remnant of the goddess Airi once was."
His world tilted.
"Airi... a goddess?"
The figure's expression was neither human nor cruel, merely sorrowful.
"She was sealed in mortal flesh, to live among men and learn love again. But now, her seal weakens. The heavens remember her name."
Thunder cracked above them. Toshio's heart slammed against his ribs. He wanted to deny it — Airi was just his childhood friend, the clumsy girl who blushed every time their hands brushed. But deep inside, fragments of memory flickered: her strange dreams, her ability to heal small wounds, her words — "Sometimes, I feel like I'm remembering someone else's heartbreak through you."
The mist-woman drifted closer.
"When she wakes, she will not remember you as she once did. The goddess... will awaken."
Toshio felt something break inside him.
"Then I'll remind her."
"Even if she no longer sees you?"
"Even if it kills me."
The spirit's golden eyes softened.
"Then prepare yourself, mortal. Her awakening begins tonight."
The Awakening
The clock struck midnight.
Down in Airi's hospital room, every monitor began to spike. The heart rate, brain waves—everything blazed with divine energy.
Nurses screamed as the lights shattered one by one, a surge of white radiance flooding the corridors. Toshio burst through the door—his hand over his face as the brilliance blinded him.
On the bed, Airi's body floated, hair drifting like a halo of molten gold. Her eyes opened—not the warm brown he remembered, but glowing silver, ancient and distant.
"Toshio Shinji," a voice echoed—not from her mouth, but from everywhere. "You should not have come."
He staggered forward. "Airi! It's me—Toshio!"
But the goddess within her looked through him as though he were nothing but dust.
"The mortal shell remembers your name, yet the goddess does not. You stand before the divine, and still you cling to a name that no longer exists."
Pain tore through his chest. His fingers trembled as he reached for her hand.
"I don't care who you are now. You saved me. You loved me. That's enough!"
A surge of light exploded between them, hurling him backward. The monitors melted. The air burned with celestial power. Airi—or the being within her—rose higher, her gown dissolving into ribbons of radiant energy.
"The one you knew is gone. I am Tsukiyomi's vessel reborn—the Goddess of the Silver Veil. And you, mortal heart... are my curse."
Her voice cracked slightly at the last word, as if two souls were fighting within. For a heartbeat, Toshio saw her eyes flicker—Airi's warmth breaking through.
"T... Toshio...?"
He lunged forward, catching her hand before the divine force could consume her. "Yes! I'm here! Fight it, Airi! Please!"
Her lips parted, trembling. "It... hurts... to remember you."
Tears spilled from her eyes—liquid light that sizzled on the floor.
Toshio pulled her close, ignoring the searing heat. "Then let it hurt. I'll take it all if it means you'll stay."
The goddess screamed—a sound that shattered the glass and tore the heavens. Her body convulsed, light and shadow intertwining around them like lovers at war. Then, with one final pulse, everything went silent.
Airi collapsed into his arms, unconscious but breathing. Her markings still glowed faintly—half goddess, half human.
The Prophecy
Moments later, the mist-woman appeared again beside him.
"The seal is broken halfway. You bought her time—but every awakening demands a price."
Toshio looked down at Airi's sleeping face, his fingers brushing her cheek.
"Take anything... just not her."
"It is not mine to take," the spirit replied. "The heavens have marked you now, Toshio Shinji. When the goddess fully awakens... one of you must vanish."
The words struck like lightning.
"What do you mean?"
"Only one soul may exist beside the divine. A mortal heart cannot walk beside a god for long."
She vanished before he could ask more.
Rain began to fall again through the shattered windows, pattering softly against the broken bed frame. Toshio looked up, drenched, trembling, holding Airi close as the machines around them sparked.
"I don't care what fate says. I'll find a way."
"Even if I have to fight the gods themselves."
Outside, the moon turned blood-red.
Somewhere, a whisper echoed—Aya's voice, faint and distant.
"The moment she awakens... your destiny begins."
[Quest Updated: Protect the Goddess — Time Limit Unknown]