Not suddenly, but like a shadow at the end of the day: shorter and shorter, harder and harder to reach. When I finally found her, she was sitting in front of a broken mirror in an abandoned building.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Remembering," she replied. "What she doesn't want."
I sat down beside her. The mirror reflected fragments of us, distorted.
"Hikari spoke to me today," I said.
Kuro closed her eyes.
"I knew it."
"She says to stay away from me."
A dry laugh escaped her lips.
"She always does."
"Why?"
Kuro looked at me, and this time there was no harshness. Only weariness.
"Because if you accept me... she ceases to be necessary."
Before I could answer, a light flooded the place. Hikari was there, breathing heavily.
"What are you doing with her?" she asked, looking at me as if I were the one who had changed.
"Telling her the truth," Kuro replied.
"You have no right!"
"Right to exist?" Kuro stood up. "You took that from me a long time ago."
I watched them, uncomprehending, but I sensed the conflict wasn't new. It was ancient. Deep-rooted.
"Jaika," Hikari said, "let's go. This place isn't safe."
"Neither are you," Kuro replied.
The silence was brutal.
Hikari looked at me, pleading.
"She just wants to drag you into her pain."
Kuro looked at me afterward.
"And she wants you to never feel it."
My chest burned.
"I can't disappear," Kuro said softly. "But if you keep choosing her, I'll break."
Hikari shook her head.
"Always so dramatic..."
That was what broke something in Kuro.
She didn't scream. She didn't cry. She just took a step back.
"Choose, Jaika."
The darkness didn't ask me to save her.
Only not to deny her.
- Protect Kuro
- Take Hikari's hand
"Jaika," Hikari said, "let's go. This place isn't safe."
"Neither are you," Kuro replied.
The silence was brutal.
Hikari looked at me, pleading.
"She just wants to drag you into her pain."
Kuro looked at me afterward.
"And she wants you to never feel it."
My chest burned.
"I can't disappear," Kuro said softly. "But if you keep choosing her, I'll break."
Hikari shook her head.
"Always so dramatic..."
That was what broke something in Kuro.
She didn't scream. She didn't cry. She just took a step back.
"Choose, Jaika."
The darkness didn't ask me to save her.
Only not to deny her.
- Protect Kuro
- Take Hikari's hand
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