"Tch! You're really pissing me off!!!"

Yui's roar echoed through the skies, shaking the very ground beneath them.

Her wings exploded outward again, gusts of mana erupting from her back like twin storms.

The feathers on the edges crackled with energy—

The energy was wild, untamed, and seething.

The air distorted around her, pressure compressing like a storm before the lightning.

And then—she launched.

A sonic boom trailed behind her as she vanished from view.

Kouhei barely managed to dive sideways before her sword came down like judgment from above.

BOOOM!!

The impact of her blade shattered the ground where he'd stood, rock and dirt erupting upward like a miniature explosion.

Shards of debris pelted his back as he rolled over uneven terrain, wincing from the sharp sting along his ribs—blood now freely flowing from the earlier graze.

He got to one knee, breath ragged, and lungs burning.

But before he could rise, she was already there.

Yui appeared above him like a shadow of vengeance, her blade raised high.

This time, it wasn't just light—it was laced with fury.

"Why do you keep fucking getting back up?!"

CLANG!

Her sword slammed down.

Kouhei narrowly twisted his body to the side, and the blade smashed beside him, digging deep into stone. T

he shockwave knocked him back.

He hit the dirt hard, back slamming against cracked earth.

She didn't let up.

Not for a second.

She pressed forward.

She was relentless!

Strike after strike.

Her blade danced like lightning.

Her wings became an extension of her fury.

She was slashing, stabbing, flaring to change direction mid-air as she assaulted him from every angle.

Each step Kouhei took was barely ahead of death.

Dodge.

Roll.

Duck.

His clothes were torn, arms scraped, blood dripping from his wounds, but he kept moving.

His muscles screamed at him to stop.

His lungs begged for breath.

His vision pulsed with red.

But he didn't stop.

He wouldn't.

Every time she came at him, he moved. Not to counter. Not to land a hit.

But to survive.

"STOP RUNNING!!" she screamed, eyes wild with fire. Her voice cracked from the weight of her emotions. "STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND ME!!"

She spun mid-air, wings arcing around her body like a cyclone.

Mana gathered in the air, heat rising with every beat of her wings.

And then—

BOOM!!

She fired a barrage of mana blades—shards of light forged from pure energy, dozens of them raining from above like divine arrows of judgment.

Kouhei's eyes widened.

No time to dodge them all.

He jumped forward, throwing his body into a roll, but several of the projectiles struck the ground around him—one hitting his shoulder, sending a jolt of pain shooting through his arm. He tumbled to the ground, coughing as dust and smoke filled the air.

He pushed himself up—shaking and eyes blurry—but still standing.

Yui landed before him, panting, wings spread wide, sword at her side.

Her chest heaved with every breath, her face drenched in sweat.

Her gaze was burning.

But beneath the rage was something else.

Confusion.

Desperation.

A fragile, cracking edge.

Kouhei coughed out blood, stumbling upright again.

His knees wobbled.

His side ached with every breath.

But he looked at her.

Straight into her eyes.

"I'm still here," he muttered.

"You're insane..." she breathed. "You're... you're a fucking idiot..."

"I probably am."

She screamed again and charged.

Her wings tucked, sword raised high.

Kouhei braced himself—no time to dodge.

She brought the sword down.

But at the last second, she twisted her grip—turning the blade mid-swing.

Instead of cleaving him in two, she slammed the flat of the blade into his side.

THWACK!!

The impact knocked him clear off his feet.

His body flew several meters before crashing against the wall.

He gasped out, the wind knocked from his lungs.

His vision spun.

His back screamed in agony.

Still...

Still... he forced himself up again.

Yui stood where she struck, arms shaking. Her sword trembled in her grip.

"Why... won't you just stay down?"

"I told you..." he said, staggering to his feet, "I'm not here... to fight you."

"You've already lost!" she shouted. "You've clearly lost!!"

"Then why haven't you finished it?"

Silence.

The wind carried her wings' soft flutter.

"You could've killed me ten times over. But you didn't. You won't."

Her jaw clenched. Her wings twitched.

"I'm not a coward," she spat. "I kill when I have to."

"But you didn't kill me."

"You're not worth killing!"

"Then why are you trying so hard to prove it?!"

CRACK!

Her sword slammed into the ground beside her, the force enough to leave a crater at her feet. Dust lifted in slow spirals around her as she stood frozen—hands clenched and shoulders trembling.

Kouhei walked forward, every step a struggle and every breath ragged.

But he kept his gaze steady.

"Because deep down... you don't want to fight me. You want me to see you. You want me to understand you."

She looked up at him then, eyes wide with something that wasn't fury—but fear.

"Shut up..."

"You're afraid."

"Shut the fuck up..."

"You're afraid of being seen. Of being understood. Because if someone sees the real you..."

He was now only a few feet away.

"...then you'll have to stop hiding behind all of this."

Yui's wings trembled.

Her blade fell from her grip.

And for a split second—just a breath of a moment—she looked like a lost child.

Confused.

Exposed.

Vulnerable.

"...You talk too fucking much, senpai," she whispered, voice breaking.

Then, with a choked breath, she lunged again—not with her sword, not with her wings—but with her bare hands.

Kouhei didn't move.

He let her slam into him, both of them falling to the ground, her body on top of his.

Her hands gripped his collar, shaking him. Her eyes burned inches away from his—but now they weren't filled with rage.

They were wet.

"You stupid... persistent... fucking idiot..."

Kouhei didn't resist.

"I'm here," he whispered. "I'm still here, Himeno-san."

And finally—

Her arms went limp.

Her wings folded.

And for the first time—

Yui stopped fighting.

***

Kouhei's eyes fluttered open.

The sky above was a murky canvas of deep grays and fading gold, the remnants of battle still lingering in the air like smoke that refused to clear. His body lay sprawled on the cold, cracked rooftop of the school, his breath shallow and misting faintly into the chilled afternoon air.

But something felt... off.

Yui wasn't here.

She was gone.

The warmth of her presence, the weight of her body, the voice that once echoed so clearly—it had all vanished. Faded like a dream.

Yet Kouhei knew—what happened between them wasn't some illusion spun from the threads of fantasy or delirium.

It was real.

They had fought.

If the wreckage across the school rooftop wasn't enough of a sign, then there was no way anyone could say that no battle took place here.

Kouhei slowly drew in a breath and exhaled with quiet weight, his gaze unmoving from the sky above.

Clouds rolled lazily overhead, uncaring and distant, and the wind whispered softly across his skin.

The reason why he did what he did like that wasn't without meaning.

Ever since the moment he was brought back to life, something had shifted. Something had entered him.

A fragment of Yui.

When she helped revive him, a part of her mana had flowed into his body—unknowingly, maybe unintentionally, but it happened.

And mana… it wasn't just power. It was emotion made real.

Not pure emotion, but something adjacent to it—something born from emotion and shaped by the heart. Like a shadow that mimicked feeling, but held substance.

What Yui had passed into him... wasn't just energy.

It carried something else—something deeper.

He could feel it, pulsing softly in the recesses of his soul.

Her mana was sad.

A deep, unshakable sorrow clung to it—like a wound that never fully healed.

And while he didn't understand the exact reason behind it, he could sense the weight.

The ache buried underneath her usual teasing and poise.

This last confrontation between them had shown him a sliver of who she really was—something fragile hidden beneath centuries of strength.

He wanted her to fight beside him.

To stand with him against Souichiro.

But... she refused.

She had her reasons, clearly. Maybe ones she couldn't even speak aloud. And so, he had to let go of that hope—of recruiting her to his cause.

The realization stung more than he expected.

With a quiet groan, Kouhei pushed himself up, his muscles stiff but already healing. Dust clung to his skin and clothes, his hair tousled from the wind. He began brushing off the grime from his arms and chest, feeling the sensation of grit against his palms.

Though he'd been wrecked just moments ago—battered, bloodied, and broken—now there were no visible wounds on him.

Not a scratch.

His body had changed.

It wasn't human anymore. Not entirely.

His healing had accelerated—fast enough to restore him in minutes, though not fast enough to keep him from dying again if he got careless.

He could feel that reality humming under his skin.

And now, with most of his preparations in place, the final piece remained—one last thing he hadn't completed.

The most important one.

Love Link.

That was their true weapon. Not fists. Not mana. Not swords.

Love Linking was what gave them the edge. What could pierce through the enemy and ignite power unlike any other.

And now, Kouhei was ready to use it.

Every ounce of strength he had left—he'd pour it all into this.

For her.

To reach Yuuna.

To bring her back.