19 - Never Let Me Go

Sakuto opened his eyes.

He found himself in a room he didn’t recognize, likely a further away hideout Ichika found. At least this one didn’t have any ruined walls.

It was still dark outside, the only thing lighting that room was a single bright light bulb barely hanging from the ceiling. The floor was made of old, dark brown wood, the limited furniture looked worn off. Sakuto slowly got up, sitting up on the creaky bed covered in pale white bed sheets.

Across the room, on another bed, was Ichika. She sat on the bed and slowly picked at her nails.

“You’re up...” Ichika said in a quiet voice, her surprise was apparent.

“How many were there? Felt like a cluster of soul presences...” Sakuto asked.

“The Heisei, Nacht’s allies, another group.” Ichika said. “I told them that you were in an altered mental condition and that you’d need to stay alone for a bit.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.”

They looked at each other in silence.

“You’ll explain to me how you have...this...later.” Ichika said, pointing at Sakuto’s shadow, which seemed a little too lively for a shadow. “I think we need to talk.”

“I saw plenty of things in that crystal.” Sakuto said. “But you’re right. We should just...talk now.”

“Yeah, let’s just talk.”

“Anything specific you wanna talk about?”

“No idea. I’d appreciate it if you helped me out.”

“I’m awful at starting conversations.”

“Haha, I guess that’s true...”

“I guess we could talk about the war first, or what happened after, or me almost destroying a whole university trying to find that creature.”

“Right, I forgot you had to go to class...I can imagine you didn’t like it a lot.”

“It was boring, but I guess it worked out in the end.”

“Did you have to do homework like everyone else?”

“Nah.”

“And did anyone find out who you were?”

“One guy did after I told him. Every soulful got traumatized once I used my acclamation as a radar there.”

“Yeah, I can imagine...”

“One guy even made friends with me, and he ended up getting killed by that thing...”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s like nothing ever changed. Just us talking about stuff. Just me enjoying a conversation with another soulful.”

“I feel like I haven’t eaten in ages...” Sakuto said, getting up. “Do you want something?”

“Are you gonna get mad at me if I try cooking?” Ichika asked.

“Did you burn my house down?”

“I don’t think I did...” Ichika said. It’s like she realized Sakuto was trying to leave, and instantly stood up.

“Hm?”

“Sakuto...don’t leave, okay?”

“Okay...” Sakuto nodded, a little confused. He suddenly felt guilty for even trying to leave her field of view. “I’m right here.”

“Your wrist...” Ichika said, holding Sakuto’s hand for a few moments and caressing the bandages. “How long ago?”

“It’s nothing-”

“How long ago?”

“Not too long ago.” Sakuto replied. “I tried to heal them up but this is as far as I could manage.”

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“I see.” Ichika said. “Yeah, it’s like that with these types of wounds...”

They stood face to face. Sakuto felt strange, a way he’s never felt before. His heart was beating fast, his stomach felt strange. And Ichika wasn’t any different. And she looked so damn beautiful at that moment.

“Should we keep talking?” Sakuto asked. His hand started twitching a little.

“Your hand...”

“It’s been like this since the war.” Sakuto continued. “Please, let’s just keep talking, okay? I really missed hearing your voice.”

Ichika was taken by surprise by that statement. She approached her hand closer to her mouth, and soon, took a step forward.

“I don’t think we need to talk anymore.” Ichika said, approaching Sakuto. Sakuto, at first, felt threatened by that advance, so he stepped back. He also felt threatened by those words, although he had no reason to.

She hugged him.

She held him closely, wrapping her arms around his neck. She rested her head on his shoulder. Parts of her cheek and her hair grazed Sakuto’s face. Her body felt surprisingly warm, and Sakuto didn’t know how to react. He felt the weight of her limbs on his shoulders, it felt strangely nice.

He tried to return the gesture, wrapping his arms around her body and squeezing her back. And they both squeezed a little harder, as if clinging to one another, desperate and scared of letting go. Sakuto felt warm and comfortable, and most importantly, he felt safe. He felt that right now, at this moment, nothing would cause him any pain. Not even his own mind.

“So this is what a hug feels like...”

“I promise...” Ichika whispered. “I’ll trust you, and I want you to trust me too.”

“I know it’s hard...”

“But please, I don’t want the bad stuff to make me feel content anymore.” She said, her voice sounding a little shaky and scared. “I want you to be there for me instead of the abyss...”

“Ichika...” Sakuto said. “It happened a long while ago...”

“...huh?”

“I was at the park. I was with the people I considered my friends back then. I wanted to stay there, but we had to keep going. I think we stopped because the two of them kept arguing over something.”

“And I remember, in the corner of my eyes, I saw someone. I think she saw me too. It was a girl with pretty bangs, and I remember her eyes...they were so beautiful. They were green and they looked so nice. They seemed cold and hateful, but I found them to be so profoundly beautiful.”

Ichika gasped.

“I hoped I was never around those people.” Sakuto continued. “Because they’d mock me if I approached you. I hated myself because I thought I wasn’t worthy of you. But the moment you returned that gaze to me...something told me that you were the right person.”

“You remember...that day?” Ichika asked, her voice trembling.

“Of course I do.” Sakuto laughed a little. “I never forgot the way you looked at me. I never forgot the depth in your eyes. So when I saw you again during the school incident...”

“It hurt, didn’t it?” Ichika said, smiling, holding Sakuto tighter. “It hurt me too. And everything else hurt me too. But seeing that I’m like this with you...”

“I don’t regret anything.” Sakuto said. “And I hope you don’t either.”

“I don’t.” Ichika said. “And I definitely don’t regret choosing you as my soulmate.”

Those words cracked something in Sakuto.

“Your heart is racing.” Ichika said. “Are you okay?”

There was no response.

“Can you ask me that...again?” Sakuto said.

“Ask you- ah...I see.” Ichika smiled. She teared up. “Sakuto, are you okay?”

“I...don’t know.”

“Are you really okay?”

“No. I’m not okay.” Sakuto finally said. “I haven’t been okay for a long time. The war, the election season, this past time...and...everything in my life...”

“Hey, it’s alright.” Ichika shushed him. She raised one of her arms a little and placed her palm on Sakuto’s head. “Everything’s gonna be alright.”

“We’re not alone anymore.”

Sakuto had no reply. He started to slowly cry.

“I’m no longer scared of saying those words to her.”

“Ichika...”

“Hm?”

“I feel safe when I’m with you.” Sakuto said. “I want to be there for you. I trust you. And...I love you. I want to be your soulmate.”

“I love you too, Sakuto.” Ichika said. She was close to crying too. “And I don’t want us to ever be alone again.”. The pitch black sky regained its stars...

And Sakuto held onto that embrace, as if his life depended on it.

"To think..."

"That I'd actually get to this point..."

They remained like that for some more time. Unwilling to let go, collapsing into one other’s embrace, and at last, getting the privilege of saying that they’re not alone. The dream with the scent of a lonesome strelitzia flower finally bloomed, as its frozen petals became part of its beauty.

...

...

...

“You couldn’t retrieve him?”

“No. I’m sorry, Lady Aizawa. He was unsealed. If we attacked him, we would die for sure.” Nightseer explained.

“And Nacht?”

“Dead.” Katya proudly announced. “He was the one caught up in...that thing.”

“I see...” Aizawa said. "I've gotten all I need from that experiment." She thought. Her pitch black iris shone in the darkness.

“Then so be it.”

“Our next point of interest will be the Naja stronghold.”

The end of Part 6