Black words on white paper swirled through the air like a storm, yet every sheet seemed destined to land in Dyna's hands. But her arms hung limp at her sides, and in the end the papers drifted down to the floor instead, text facing up—as though they were making it easier for her to read them.
Cody's Wish did not speak. She quietly bent down, gathered up the envelopes, stacked them together, and held them out to Dyna.
"This is what they wanted me to see, isn't it?"
Dyna's voice trembled. The moment her fingertips brushed the paper, she jerked back as if she had been shocked. She no longer dared touch the stack in Cody's Wish's hands.
"I don't know…" Cody's Wish said softly. "This is the world inside your heart, but every word written here truly exists in the real world. Dyna, do you know? A powerful wish can break through any barrier, until it reaches the person it was meant for—or comes true."
Her fingers moved. She opened one of the letters and began to read aloud.
"'Big sister is such a wonderful person. Everybody likes you. You sing beautifully, your drawings are lovely, and your cooking is super delicious too. We all promised we'd meet again someday, but I think I'm going to break that promise. The director always taught me that breaking promises is bad, but this time I really can't help it. So I want to ask big sister—and everyone else—to forgive me.'"
Cody's Wish tilted her face up, blinked, and sniffed before continuing.
"'You're such a kind person, big sister, so I'm sure you'll forgive me. So please give my present to Xiaoya instead. She's the girl I like. I'm counting on you, big sister.'"
"Stop… please stop reading…"
Instinctively, Dyna clapped her hands over the places where her human ears used to be. But now that she was a horse girl, she could still hear Cody's Wish perfectly.
She didn't want to hear it.
So why was it that once Cody's Wish began reading, she could not stop listening?
Her heart pounded like a drum. In a dream, she should not even have needed to breathe—so why did it feel as though her chest were being crushed? Every single word Cody's Wish spoke struck Dyna square in the heart.
One letter after another.
Though each child's final words were different, they all ultimately led to the same place: they all hoped Dyna would "keep smiling every day, go out and meet other children who need her, and give them the happiest memories possible."
Every line branded itself into Dyna's heart, until she was gasping for air.
Then Cody's Wish fell silent.
She stopped opening the envelopes and said softly, "Dyna… haven't you understood yet?"
Dyna understood.
Of course she understood.
But that feeling inside her… she simply could not let it go.
"Miss Cody's Wish, I understand… but I just can't let those children go. They should have had futures they could create for themselves, but instead they just… they just left…"
For the first time, Dyna completely lost control of her emotions. After shouting at Cody's Wish, she became aware of her own outburst and sank helplessly to her knees.
Dyna's heart looked like stone from the outside, but in truth it was fragile beyond belief. The carefully constructed walls she had built around herself had been torn open with ease, yet she still could not face a past that, by all rights, had had nothing to do with her.
"If you stay trapped in the past, Dyna, it will destroy you," Cody's Wish said, sitting beside her and drawing her gently into her arms, murmuring comfort into her ear. "All those bottled-up feelings will burst out one day, at some point when you can't endure them anymore. It could happen over some trivial detail in daily life. Or it could happen on the racetrack, when you're facing Golden Orfe again. Have you thought about what would happen if you lost control in the middle of a race?"
"She treated me like that in my debut race—so why can't I pay her back in another one? Why can't I… can't I…"
Dyna's words tangled together in confusion, only making the storm in her head worse. But then, as though Cody's words had forced her to picture the consequences, her breathing suddenly halted.
Her face twisted in agony, and her voice echoed through the room like that of some monster slipping out of control.
Then warmth bloomed suddenly against her chest, and her mind cleared for a moment.
Dyna bit down on the tip of her tongue. It did not hurt, but the sensation was enough to make her stop.
She had to calm down.
Cody's Wish's embrace was working. At the very least, it gave Dyna the chance to think.
The letters the children had left behind lay piled beside her. Dyna gathered them into her arms and hugged them close, as though she wanted to press them straight into her heart.
"I understand what kind of person they wanted me to become. But I feel so guilty. I couldn't save them. So I kept thinking I had to save the next group of children instead… and that trapped me in a cycle I couldn't escape from, helpless and powerless… until I came here."
Her voice was hoarse. Even held in Cody's Wish's embrace, she spoke so faintly that the other girl had to focus hard just to catch the words.
"Miss Cody's Wish… you saw everything about me, didn't you?"
"…More or less. I can understand how you feel. After Cody died, I fell apart for a long time too."
At that answer, Dyna curled up even tighter.
"I thought I'd escaped the chains in my heart, but I never really did. Even so… after seeing these letters, I think… I feel a little better. Thanks to you, Miss Cody's Wish. Thank you."
"Th-thank me? This was all your own effort. You wanted to save yourself too. I didn't really do anything."
Cody's Wish stroked Dyna's hair. She thought she saw the faintest curve at the corner of Dyna's lips. At least it was progress. She let herself relax a little.
The children's words had already begun to work on this place, changing everything.
Cupping the bundle of letters in both hands, Dyna whispered, "I've received all of your wishes. Thank you for always staying with me… I guess the way I've been living lately has only made all of you worry, hasn't it?"
Then she took a breath.
"But you know… your big sister isn't that fragile. Since all of you said this much, then of course I'll keep carrying your wishes forward. There are still so many children here waiting for me, right?"
It sounded like she was talking to herself.
Yet at that moment, the tightly shut windows of the room creaked open on their own.
A fierce gust swept in and carried off every last envelope, erasing all trace of them.
Outside the windows was brilliant sunlight.
Dyna rose from Cody's Wish's embrace and looked at the now-empty drawer.
"Miss Cody's Wish… would this make them happy?"
"Maybe… they'll only be happy once you truly walk out of this darkness," Cody's Wish replied, watching the light spill across the floor. "But from what I can see, they do like this change in you."
"Then I really am awful," Dyna said with a weak laugh. "Even now, I still haven't made them happy."
She walked toward the window. The instant she turned her gaze outward, the dazzling light stole her consciousness away.
The crumbling, gloomy old house vanished in that light, collapsing and dissolving into nothing.
…
"Hah—!"
Dyna jolted awake in bed, drenched in cold sweat.
Pain stung from her tightly clenched right hand. When she opened her palm, she found the card that should have still been blank.
Now the image upon it showed Light Dyna kneeling alone in the dim room of an old house, holding up a bundle of letters.
Face your fears.
Break the cycle.
Embrace the past.
Create the future.
Perhaps that was what the children, now gone, had wanted to tell Dyna all along.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
Uma Musume: I Want All 35
I Can Copy Unique Skills 36
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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