"I wondered what your angle was, bringing Shiroko-chan and me out here. But to confront "Black Suit" with such audacity... you truly never cease to amaze me." (Hoshino)
"I suppose I should have expected it. You are Natsuki Subaru, after all; you wouldn't come to Abydos without a plan. I don't know how much you've dug up, or if you had some prior connection to him, but..." (Hoshino)
"── Don't make me shoot you, Subaru." (Hoshino)
Hoshino silently leveled her shotgun at him. The only thing staying her finger from the trigger was the sheer boldness Subaru showed by disclosing his meeting with Black Suit. A sharp conflict between deep-seated suspicion and a desperate need for self-restraint was the only thing preventing her from firing.
Subaru stepped forward with steady, unfaltering strides. In this space, the heavy, tactile reality of the girl's shield and weapon stood in stark contrast to her delicate, almost ethereal frame. It was the kind of place where one could imagine a future riddled with bullet holes the moment they looked away.
Given his history, it was irrational for anyone to move toward a lethal weapon like that. He should have backed away. Instead, Subaru grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and pulled it flush against his chest, acting as if death were no longer a consequence to be feared.
"... What are you doing?" (Hoshino)
Then, he spoke a single word.
"──" (Subaru)
Just as Hoshino was about to demand what this man—who seemed so indifferent to his own end—was trying to achieve, Subaru pulled her close. He whispered into her ear, his voice so low that Shiroko, standing right beside them, couldn't catch a syllable.
The moment she heard it, Hoshino's iron mask shattered. Though she didn't drop her weapon, she shoved Subaru away with genuine force, stumbling back several steps.
"... Isn't that a bit cowardly of you?" (Hoshino)
Hoshino's heterochromatic eyes wavered like a distorted mirage. As Black Suit's car disappeared into the distance, she let out a long, pained exhale. She raised the shotgun again, though she had only just begun to lower it.
"… Subaru, what did you say to her?" (Shiroko)
"Sorry, that's something I can only tell Hoshino." (Subaru)
"Nnn." (Shiroko)
Shiroko stepped closer to Subaru, whispering as if trying to dissuade Hoshino from shooting, but he gave her no answer. She felt that since he had abruptly called them outside after returning from the roof to meet a stranger only he and Hoshino seemed to know, she deserved at least some explanation.
"..." (Hoshino)
"──" (Subaru)
Subaru pressed on, pursuing Hoshino with words while she could only muster a bitter, resentful glare.
"About Black Suit... I apologize for the surprise. I have no excuse for my actions, but didn't you hide things from Shiroko too, Hoshino? That makes us even." (Subaru)
"You really are a piece of work." (Hoshino)
"I've asked him to return Serika and Ayane. Three hours from now... no, I will be the one to bring them back. I will return those two girls here safely." (Subaru)
"That man isn't that naive or simple." (Hoshino)
"I know. And I'll be the one paying the price in his stead." (Subaru)
"..." (Hoshino)
"I won't ever let you face what you're hiding alone. I don't believe you can carry that weight forever, anyway. Even if you despise my presence, I'll cling to you like a leech." (Subaru)
"… I see. So that's how it is." (Hoshino)
He was a cunning man. The dark emotions boiling in her chest dissipated just as they were about to explode. If he had planned everything from the moment that outpost blew up, then he was a being made of pure logic and brilliance.
In front of her junior, Takanashi Hoshino did not want to pull the trigger. And simply because she "did not want to," she might finally be able to break the shackles holding her back.
Yet ──.
"..." (Hoshino)
She found herself completely unable to pull the trigger.
Everything this man said to her—the man who had once defeated her (even if it was a match governed by rules)—was a mere prelude to the meeting with Black Suit: 『Whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you, Hoshino.』
Despite her urge to close her eyes against Natsuki Subaru's blinding resolve, she knew the darkness wouldn't save her. She had no choice but to keep her eyes open and look him in the face.
"── I'm curious to know how much you actually know, but I'll let it slide for now. But... why did you come to Abydos in the first place? No doubt you've researched us, you know what happened, and the tragedies we've faced." (Hoshino)
"You shouldn't have gone to the trouble of risking your life to come here. Your life... is far lighter than ours, whether in reality or in whatever delusion you have in your head." (Hoshino)
To Hoshino, those whispered words were nothing more than something she had to grumble about. In truth, they were a poison that paralyzed her judgment.
"... You might be wrong about that. I don't know anything about you at all. In fact, it's only been two days since we met. I'm still in the stage of getting to know you, Hoshino." (Subaru)
"Ah, but... how should I put it? The reason I came here is a matter of personal conviction... and that is, I don't want you, Hoshino, to find "answers" through sadness or pain." (Subaru)
"Because I love you, Hoshino. Truly." (Subaru)
"── And I never want to see you suffer." (Subaru)
●○●○●
"Wake up." (Kaiser Soldier)
"..."
"Here's your food. Eat up and be grateful!" (Kaiser Soldier)
"──…"
Darkness swallowed everything. No light reached their world; it remained shrouded in eternal shadow, punctuated only by the crude laughter of mechanical-like men. Every so often, they tossed in something dry—supposedly food—and a little water.
Ayane swallowed what she was given with desperate haste; she knew survival depended on it.
"Serika-chan, here's some water." (Ayane)
"Thank... you..." (Serika)
Ayane continued to massage Serika's body, which trembled with rhythmic tremors. Given Serika's past, this place and this confinement were a hell beyond her endurance.
"..."
This is all my fault. I'm the one who dragged Serika-chan into the desert, only for us to end up stranded.
Ayane couldn't understand why she had done it. She truly believed her mind had failed her at the time. With their reality stagnant and their pleas for support constantly ignored, Nonomi-senpai had been on the verge of leaving the school.
──And for a brief, fleeting moment, Ayane's own heart had nearly surrendered to despair.
In that moment of weakness, a suspicious article she had seen took hold of her mind. It was an unsubstantiated report that she would have dismissed in any other state of mind—rumors of rare, priceless minerals buried in the Abydos desert. Looking back, she felt her mind must have been distorted; she had ignored Serika's attempts to stop her and made the decision alone, without telling Nonomi-senpai. A voice in her head kept insisting that she had to be the one to save Abydos.
She hadn't truly believed it would work. Her strength alone didn't exceed anyone else's in Abydos; she had only ever tried her best to be worthy of following her seniors.
And yet──.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Serika-chan..." (Ayane)
Ayane could do nothing but hold the girl, who could only shiver in terror of the unknown. Sobbing solved nothing. In this situation, where death could come at any moment, they could only wait for their seniors to save them.
But why... why is this happening?
"I'm... sorry..." (Ayane)
Today, like every other day, she slept in that darkness as if drowning in mud. Lost in an endless hell, her senses had degraded until she no longer knew how many days had passed. She just kept waiting for them to come and rescue them. Waiting, hoping, praying for salvation...
──But there was nothing behind that hope.
"...Ah." (Ayane)
──The truth waiting for you is a reality where nothing changes.
──The truth in your world will never shift.
"Ah..." (Ayane)
──Your world will continue to shine with a truth called "Suffering."
"...h." (Ayane)
"Oh... Aaaah..." (Ayane)
The days of weeping never ended, and Abydos could not escape its spiral of pain. The world remained indifferent, no matter how hard she—or any of them—resisted and struggled.
If nothing was going to change, then their resistance was meaningless. Serika-chan's current state, Nonomi-senpai's eventual fate, their ongoing agony—none of it mattered.
Is there no end to this?
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... ──Serika-chan..." (Ayane)
Using the last bit of moisture on her tongue, Ayane continued to whisper her regrets. Even if she apologized, the only thing running out was the water, and no one would give her more.
And, of course, no salvation came.
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
"Wake up." (Kaiser Soldier)
"Ag-heh!?" (Ayane)
"Follow us." (Kaiser Soldier)
They were released from the darkness. Released from behind shut eyelids, from that room with no exit, and from the thoughts that had besieged and tormented them.
A rifle muzzle jabbed Ayane in the back the moment she woke, and she scrambled to her feet in a daze. Serika woke to Ayane's panicked voice, and both found themselves staring down the barrels of Kaiser soldiers' rifles.
The shock was brief. The soldiers dragged them roughly into another enclosed space. They caught a glimpse of the outside for a moment before the soldiers shoved them into a heavy, armored vehicle.
They weren't treated like people, but like cargo. The vehicle lurched forward while their bodies still ached, the sound of sand particles pelting the metal hull echoing through the interior.
The terrifying part was the speed of it all. They were seemingly approaching a new destination before they could even form a question or grasp what was happening.
A small sliding window opened in the partition between the driver and the back. As usual, the soldier tossed in some dry rations and a single bottle of water with a curt remark: "Here's your food.".
However, eating in a lit space was far better than eating in that suffocating darkness. In the light, Serika-chan finally felt safe enough to put something in her mouth.
Serika, who had been gagged during her kidnapping, would vomit anything she swallowed in the dark unless it was water or liquid food.
Until now, I had to moisten the dry rations with water from our single bottle before feeding her. Because of that, our shared water supply steadily dwindled.
"Where... where are you taking us?" (Serika)
"..."
"What do you plan to do with us?!" (Ayane)
"──Shut up. I have nothing to say to you. We're just following orders; get that through your heads." (Kaiser Soldier)
""...""
The small window slammed shut, as if reflecting the soldier's irritation.
"Just following orders"... Did that mean they were simply changing our place of confinement? Or would they dispose of us somewhere now that we were no longer useful?
"...──I was losing my temper, but I just remembered I was supposed to speak with you both..." (Kaiser Soldier)
The small window slid open again with a slow, grating friction. The soldier sounded as if he were struggling to suppress his rage, his voice heavy with a sigh.
"You're going to be hostages... You finally have some value as leverage, so be happy." (Kaiser Soldier)
"Hostages...? Is it... for Hoshino-senpai...?" (Ayane)
"Don't get it twisted. Even with hostages, we have no intention of facing a monster like that girl. The Director will simply use you to invade and wipe out Abydos." (Kaiser Soldier)
"Invade... and wipe out──" (Ayane)
"All we care about is destroying the school building. We don't need to fight... once that's done, the focus will shift to the Director's declaration and his sovereignty. If you want someone to blame, don't look at us. Blame Natsuki Subaru; he's the one who forced our hand." (Kaiser Soldier)
"...…"
"By the way, you probably didn't know; a monster far more dangerous than Takanashi Hoshino has joined Abydos. You two will be the sacrifices needed to kill him." (Kaiser Soldier)
"In other words──from this moment on, you are being handed over, but you're also being turned into human bombs. If you have any last words, they won't reach anyone. Heh, what a shame." (Kaiser Soldier)
──Ah.
So, there really was an end to all of this.
Was "the end" the only way to escape this suffering?
※※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
The roar of the engine continued, along with the sound of sand churned up by the tires. Light impacts against the vehicle's hull increased, signaling that we were driving through the heart of the desert. Based on the route—which I caught a glimpse of when they dragged us out—I realized our options were limited. Ayane began to form a rough estimate in her mind.
Without a doubt, this path led toward the desert facing the high school.
The person in the passenger seat seemed bored, constantly opening and closing the window. This let sand into the front, prompting the driver to shout at him in anger.
If my calculations were right... if they were exactly right... the time was near. Soon, we would...
"All right." (Kaiser Soldier)
"Get out." (Kaiser Soldier)
It was ending... everything was ending.
A voice echoed in my head, growing so loud and intrusive it became unbearable. It was the voice of my heart beginning to beg for surrender—a voice wishing for this suffering to finally conclude.
After they forced us out of the car, the Kaiser soldiers wrapped our bodies in layers of adhesive tape. They carefully attached devices that looked like C4 explosives──a type I had never seen before──handling them with far more care than they showed for human life.
A sense of detachment took hold of me. As realistic despair piled up, I found myself strangely calm; the mere act of rigging these charges meant they had no intention of letting us leave alive.
As that realization sank in, my legs paralyzed with terror.
"Move it. Damn your slow movements..." (Kaiser Soldier)
"! Don't you feel any guilt?!" (Serika)
"None." (Kaiser Soldier)
"...──Ayane-chan, take my hand...──Ayane-chan?" (Serika)
Though she called my name, my mouth, my hands, and my entire body refused to move. The despair and surrender overflowing within me had crippled my ability to take a single step forward──.
"Ayane." (Serika)
"It's okay. The Senpais and the others will definitely do something to save us." (Serika)
Sudden warmth flooded my hand.
Indeed, if they were handing us over, Shiroko-senpai and Hoshino-senpai must have arrived as well. If I could just see them, we might still have a chance to survive. Yet, the true nature of this bomb remained a mystery. I had to find a way to ensure it wouldn't harm them...──.
"Serika-cha──" (Ayane)
『Nothing will ever change.』 (A voice in Ayane's mind)
"──" (Ayane)
『From now on and for all eternity, you will be bathed in the light of a truth called "Suffering."』 (A voice in Ayane's mind)
That was right. Even if the Senpais rescued us, what would happen next? Nothing would change. Everything would stay exactly as it was before.
"..." (Ayane)
Again, my body refused to move. If Serika-chan hadn't been pulling my hand, I wouldn't have gone anywhere—in fact, I no longer wanted to go anywhere. My steps were heavy, as if I were wading through thick mud, and I only managed to keep moving because of her.
"Move forward on your own from here. You're to be handed over to that car... Don't even think about running. We'll shoot the moment we see a suspicious move." (Kaiser Soldier)
"Humph. What kind of threat is that? Wouldn't losing us be a massive loss for you?" (Serika)
"Don't get cocky. Do you think an "adult" gets upset just because his "ammunition count" drops a little?" (Kaiser Soldier)
"Damn you... Fine." (Serika)
"Let's go, Ayane-chan." (Serika)
"... Right." (Ayane)
Step by step, we approached the black car. To break this psychological sickness haunting my heart, I had to at least keep these bombs wrapped around us away from the Senpais and the others. Knowing Hoshino-senpai's true capabilities, Kaiser wouldn't settle for a simple "human bomb." A terrifying trap surely lay within these devices.
Yes—if nothing was going to change, I didn't mind if things ended here, bit by bit. If ending the suffering meant escaping the cycle of a stagnant tomorrow, then I was ready to—
"I've been waiting for you, Ms. Ayane Okusora and Ms. Serika Kuromi." (Black Suit)
"So, are you the ringleader then?" (Serika)
"Hardly. Keke... no, no. I am merely a party to the contract." (Black Suit)
"You're like two monsters in one den. You're a revolting creature... So, are you the one taking us?" (Serika)
"Indeed." (Black Suit)
The being was not human; his eyes looked like flames floating in the middle of a void. This unsettling presence waited before the car. With a gesture of manufactured grace, he guided the two girls inside.
"Someone is waiting for you both inside. Please, go and meet him." (Black Suit)
""──!"" (Ayane and Serika)
Our Abydos comrades were the only ones who could spark the last bit of hope in my nearly broken heart. Serika, seeking help from the Senpais, and Ayane, wanting to protect them—they gripped each other's hands and opened the car door. What awaited them there was──.
"Huh?" (Ayane)
"Eh?" (Serika)
"── I've come to rescue you, girls." (Subaru)
""Who are you?!"" (Ayane and Serika)
A total stranger they had never seen before sat relaxed on the sofa, his features radiating an air of supreme confidence and pride.
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