I can’t feel my legs. I can’t breathe. I don’t want to breathe. It’s over. It’s all over. I fought. It didn’t work.

I feel the sunlight burning into my back. I can’t turn around. Something in the water’s keeping my limbs down.

I’m sorry, Ikuko.

I’m so sorry.

I—

Huh?

Something grabs me by the collar, flinging my body in the air.

Everything spins.

I hit something.

I can’t taste any more water. I can breathe. But damn – my back hurts now.

I open my eyes. The sun still shines bright. I feel the sand between my toes. I feel my toes. That’s something. I guess. There’s still some water in my mouth. I spit it out. I cough. I blink. Everything’s blurry. The sand burns my skin. Being drenched in water so long, though… it kind of evens it out.

I can’t stop coughing.

“You did your best. For what it’s worth.”

There’s someone standing next to me.

Her blonde hair dances in the wind, shielding me from the sun. I know her. I know her eyes. I know her pain. I know what I’ve done to her. What the other ‘me’ has done.

“You should’ve made sure he died.” I tell her.

Her dress is all tattered. “Hey. I did my best, too, you know.”

She offers me her hand. I’ve lost. We’ve lost. Yet, she’s the one smiling.

Guess she’s got nothing better to do.

I take her hand.

I look around me.

I know this place. This beach.

“Oh, no.” I murmur.

“Where else did you think we could end up, Tohya?” she asks me.

I look up. The pleasant blue twists and muddles, like a disturbed reflection in the water. Slowly, the harsh noon dissipates. The sun becomes the moon. A purple night eats the day, and the blood spreads throughout the sky.

Somewhere in the distance, I hear the seagulls cry.