"Huh?"
"Kill ."
"i, what are you talking about?"
"Kill ... kill ... Kiana..."
i kept repeating the sa words, and Kiana seed to have short-circuited. Except for the trembling hand holding the gun, she didn’t move a muscle.
"Please... Kiana... while you still can, kill ..."
i’s voice gradually shifted from wavering to firm, her tone changing from a plea to a command.
Kiana finally snapped out of it, but... but how could she accept this?
She had fought her way here to i, only for i to keep begging her to kill her?
What was the reason?
No! What reason could there be... no, no, it’s... no matter the reason, how could I... Aaaargh!
Kiana’s ntal defenses were shattered by i’s "kill ." She had no idea what to do.
Calm down, Kiana, calm down... i must be in so kind of trouble. Comfort her first, help her calm down... Wait, how do I calm her down?
For so reason, Kiana thought of Michael.
A jumble of images flashed through her mind: Michael patting i’s shoulder to comfort her, Michael ruffling i’s hair to encourage her...
At this thought, Kiana lowered her gun and slowly reached her right hand toward i’s shoulder...
"Don’t!"
i’s sudden rejection startled Kiana. Her hand froze in mid-air, unable to advance or retreat.
"Kiana, please, don’t do this... Listen to , kill , quickly!"
i’s trembling body gradually cald, but a fire of anger ignited in Kiana’s heart.
"i! What on earth do you an? Asking to kill you out of the blue, how could I possibly do sothing like that?"
i didn’t answer, just bit her lower lip, her narrowed eyes filled with a purple glow.
Kiana took a deep breath and continued to persuade her, "i, I know you’re scared, but..."
"No! You don’t understand anything!"
"..."
So... there was no way to communicate?
Kiana silently tightened her grip on the baseball bat. She would never leave i here, but i seed to be in so kind of shock. If all else failed, there was only one last resort—knock her out with the baseball bat and carry her away!
But she wanted to try one last ti:
"i, I don’t know what problem you’re facing, but... think about it, we still have Uncle Michael. He’ll definitely have a... hey, i, don’t cry..."
Her eyes could no longer hold back the tears that had been building up for so long. Two thin streams of purple light stread down i’s cheeks.
Kiana didn’t know what she had said wrong, but it seed like she had to go with her final plan. Wait!
"i, no!"
While Kiana was distracted, i suddenly reached out, snatched the Tokarev pistol from the ground, and pressed it to her own chin.
She gave Kiana a sad smile and was about to pull the trigger. Kiana’s mouth was still wide open, unable to react to the shock.
"Don’t, i!"
She reached out in despair, trying to snatch the gun away. But just then, a dazzling purple light erupted from i’s pupils. Kiana had just raised her hand when a black shadow flashed past her. When she ca to, the muzzle of the gun was pressed against her head.
"Sigh, I told you to kill . Why didn’t you listen?"
Kiana had never seen this side of i.
Her long purple hair floated up, strand by strand, her pupils reflecting the flashing lightning in the clouds. But most importantly, her eyes—no longer gentle with a hint of weakness, but filled with an indescribable madness.
"i, you..."
"Ugh—"
Kiana’s heart almost skipped a beat, but before she could say anything, she heard i let out a pained grunt. Then her hand trembled, and she slowly turned the gun back on herself.
Kiana’s gaze found i’s eyes again, and they were now filled with gentleness once more.
But the next mont, that gentleness was replaced by deep despair and helplessness.
"i!"
i pulled the trigger.
But the gun didn’t fire.
Both girls froze, until Kiana suddenly slapped her head and pointed at the gun in i’s hand, explaining in a low voice, "Um... I think I ran out of bullets..."
i was still staring at the gun in a daze. Kiana quickly snatched it away.
"i! What are you doing?!"
Kiana didn’t understand. She hadn’t understood from the beginning why i had suddenly asked her to kill her. Why did everyone only tell her the result, but no one ever gave her a reason?
"And, i, just now you..."
"Don’t say it!"
i covered her face in pain, trying to cry without making a sound.
Kiana opened her mouth several tis, but she didn’t know what she should or could say—she still didn’t know what had happened to i.
But...
Kiana silently tightened her grip on the baseball bat in her left hand and suddenly said, "i, do you... really want to die?"
i’s sobs grew quieter and finally stopped.
Kiana replaced the magazine, chambered a round, held the hamr with her thumb as she pulled the trigger, then released so of the pressure, letting the hamr rest at half-cock. After doing all this, she pressed the muzzle to i’s forehead.
"i, do you know what death ans?"
i trembled, but didn’t answer.
She was a girl not yet seventeen. What did she know of death, what did she know of life?
"When I was with my stinky old dad in Siberia, we faced death almost every day. You never knew if the white bones half-buried in the snow were from an animal or a human. i, when people die, there’s nothing left. They just beco a cold corpse, then they slowly rot and decompose, and finally, all that’s left is a pile of bones that can’t even prove they were once human. i, do you really want that kind of death?"
i’s hands slid down from her face. That’s right. They were both teenage girls. She had grown up under her father’s protection, while Kiana had struggled to survive with her father in Siberia, which was still a dead zone. So, her desire to die must seem ridiculous to Kiana.
To soone who had been through that kind of hell, being alive must be more important than anything else. And to not cherish one’s own life, to seek only the release of death, must seem like a shaful escape in their eyes.
But... it was different, it was really different...
i slowly turned her head and looked at the devastation she had caused. Kuzuki’s voice echoed in her ears:
"Otherwise, just like now, the entire Chiba Academy, the entire Nagazora City, the entire Far East, and even the entire world will have to pay for your and their womanly benevolence!"
"Hehe... hahaha... hahahahaha... ahahahahahaha..."
i suddenly burst out laughing, her body convulsing with her laughter, filled with a neurotic air.
This whole disaster started because of . Only by killing ... only by killing ... I must be killed to end all this, to...
She wanted to tell Kiana this.
It wasn’t that they didn’t have ti. She could have told Kiana from the beginning, laid out the whole story. Then, between the world and her, Kiana would surely make the right choice.
But she didn’t dare. She couldn’t bring herself to say it.
She hoped Kiana would make the right choice, but she was also afraid of Kiana making the right choice.
Even though she hoped Kiana would kill her with her own hands, she was also afraid of her learning the truth. Perhaps this was the contradiction of being human.
She hoped the last impression she left on her best friend before she died would be that of a gentle and introverted girl, not a monster nad a Herrscher who had brought calamity upon millions in Nagazora City.
And, she didn’t want... heh, she knew it was selfish, but she didn’t want to watch Kiana choose the world over her, even though the voice constantly whispering in her ear told her that soon, she would no longer be "herself."
"In that case, there’s only one choice... Speaking of which, Kiana still chose to point the gun at in the end. It’s a little... forget it, I’ll forgive her this ti..."
She smiled weakly and once again raised her hands to grip the gun Kiana was holding to her head.
"Farewell, Kiana."
As she pulled the trigger, she slowly closed her eyes.
It was all over. Her vision was dark, her body instantly turned cold, and there was only a faint tingling sensation, as if her neurons were still faithfully transmitting her brain’s final command.
Was this the mont before death? Just as many people imagined, ti seed to stretch out, long enough for one to review their entire life.
But for those people, with decades of life, there were too many things to let go of and rember before they died. But for i, with only a short dozen years, how much was there to recall?
The first scene that flashed through her mind wasn’t from her childhood, but from this morning, waking Kiana up in the back seat of Little Black.
After that, the scene in her mind went dark, as if all the light had been extinguished.
Was it ti? Ti to welco death?
A dazzling beam of light shone from behind her. She turned around. Little Black’s headlights were too bright, and her eyes watered involuntarily.
So, it’s a reverse replay?
More and more mories flooded her mind, but few of them ford a complete picture. Most were just fleeting afterimages that couldn’t even stay for a mont.
But suddenly, an inexplicable palpitation shot through her body, and all the mories vanished. At the sa ti, a voice identical to her own, but with a hint of madness, echoed in her heart:
"You useless fool, have you forgotten? You—have already experienced death."
i rembered.
Yes, she had indeed experienced death.
It was eight years ago, and it was a completely different feeling from now.
Her consciousness and body gradually blurred and collapsed. At the end of that road was nothingness. She couldn’t feel her hands, her body, her existence. She couldn’t feel anything, only a slow but unstoppable decay.
i clenched her fists—*"No, I don’t want this feeling... No... I can’t die... I don’t want to die... I don’t want to die!!"*
"Hey! You useless fool, you don’t really think you’re dead, do you?"
The tears that had almost overflowed were held back halfway. i gradually ca to her senses. If she were really dying, how could she still feel her hand trembling from the excessive force, and how could she hear the other voice in her head so clearly?
i’s expression suddenly beca very strange. With a unified thought, she effortlessly opened her eyes and saw Kiana’s slightly smug smile.
"The safety’s not off!"
Kiana pulled the gun from i’s hand and waved it triumphantly, then her expression beca incredibly serious.
"I won’t ask you ’why’ anymore, i. No matter what your reason is, I won’t kill you. Besides..."
She then showed a cunning smile that was completely opposite to her usual clumsiness.
"i, do you still want to die now?"
"Heh..."
i let out a long breath. Just as she was about to close her eyes, that feeling of everything disappearing, that sense of powerlessness, welled up in her heart, followed by fear and despair.
"No! I don’t want to die!"
She threw herself into Kiana’s arms, shouting, venting.
"I don’t want to die... I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!"
She still had to see her father, still had to see Michael. The fantasy of enjoying two fathers’ love had just begun to show a glimr of hope. How could she give up just like that?
And the girl in front of her, her first true friend. She wanted to live with her, or at least not die at her hands—if that happened, Kiana would never be able to forgive herself.
But what about the other voice inside her? What about that monster called a Herrscher? She had destroyed the entire Chiba Academy and was now destroying the entire Nagazora City. Did she still have the right to live?
If she continued to live, she was afraid the whole world would also be...
"You useless fool think a lot. Alright, I admit it, I can’t completely control your body yet."
"You... why are you telling this?"
i hugged Kiana tightly, her consciousness imrsed in the conversation with the other voice in her head.
"You! What’s with that tone? Hehe, you useless fool, are you this polite to your enemies too?"
"I..."
"Hmph! It doesn’t matter to . I can’t completely control your body right now, but don’t get too happy. It’s only temporary. You should hurry up and run with that idiot nad Kiana. Run as much as you want, enjoy your last monts as Raiden i... It won’t be long before I take everything from you, your father, Michael, Kiana, and the whole world! Hahahaha... hahahahahaha!
"And before that, just live on pathetically. Let enjoy your final struggles, enjoy watching you search for hope in despair, enjoy your contradiction of wanting to die but being afraid of death, and also enjoy being betrayed by this world you’ve hurt... hahahaha... After being restrained for so long, before my full descent, I’m really looking forward to you bringing so fun, i.
"Hurry up and struggle, hurry up and run with that girl nad Kiana... hahaha... Entertain with your aningless efforts! I’ll be very—happy!"
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