Tokyo: Magical Girl Shatters My Dream of Going Public

Chapter 131 Past or Future? (February 8th, March 5th)

The battle is over.

Exhaustion felt like a deep sea, instantly engulfing my limbs.

Kurokawa's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down.

He mustered his strength, bent down, and picked up the crystal core from the ground.

The crystal core felt slightly cool to the touch, yet it also felt somewhat heavy to him.

It wasn't that the crystal core itself was very heavy, but rather that he simply couldn't muster any strength for it.

But he gripped the crystal core tightly.

We cannot fall now.

On the other side of the playground, the connection to Yukimura was lost, and he knew nothing about Chika and Kaoru's situation.

We must get there immediately.

He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the tearing pain in his chest.

The breathing beneath the crimson mask was incredibly heavy and scalding.

He turned around and staggered toward the hole in the teaching building.

Every step felt like walking on a knife's edge.

The edges of my vision were turning black intermittently.

Just as he was about to step out of the teaching building, hum!

A pure white beam of light shot into the sky from the direction of the playground without warning!

The light was pure and holy, even carrying a certain—chilling coldness.

It instantly illuminated half the night sky and pierced Kurokawa's blurred vision due to exhaustion.

Kurokawa abruptly stopped in his tracks.

The pupils suddenly contracted.

What was that beam of light?!

The agreed-upon twenty minutes have clearly not been reached yet!

Magical girl support?

No—this aura is completely different from the energy of justice and even the energy of the Scarlet Cherry.

That feeling only gave people a sense of coldness and holiness!

Like frozen aurora.

"What on earth happened over there?!"

Kurokawa gritted his teeth, forcibly squeezing out the last bit of strength, and dragged his almost broken body towards the direction where the pillar of light was rising!

The pain aggravated his wound, causing him to feel dizzy and his vision to go black.

But he can't stop.

Let's rewind to a few minutes ago.

The playground, at the edge of a giant pit.

A gray arrow pierced through Yukimura's thin back.

The arrowhead stopped less than an inch from Xun's eyes.

Xun's pupils dilated, and her breathing stopped.

She stared at the arrowhead protruding from Yukimura's chest, watching its grayish color rapidly seep into the surrounding fabric and skin, and at the strangely viscous "blood" slowly oozing from the wound.

It didn't even look like blood; it was more like—melted, dull wax.

"Yukimura—Teacher—?"

Xun's voice was stuck in her throat, and for a moment she couldn't even process what was happening in front of her.

Tears rolled down her cheeks without warning.

She reached out her hand tremblingly, but dared not touch the arrow, nor touch Teacher Yukimura's rapidly cooling body.

It's because of her.

It's all because of her.

If she hadn't impulsively run to her sister —

If she had been just a little more vigilant—

Teacher Yukimura wouldn't do that—

"I'm so sorry—" Kaoru's voice was broken, tears mixed with the dust on her face, "I'm sorry—it's all my fault—Teacher—I'm so sorry—"

Yukimura felt his consciousness being pulled away from his body.

My vision was gradually swallowed by the grayness, and the sobbing sounds around me grew fainter and fainter.

But it's strange.

The fear I had anticipated did not materialize.

Instead, it was a kind of—almost empty—calmness.

It felt like we had walked a very, very long road, and finally we could stop.

She saw tears streaming down the faces of the students beneath her.

what----

Really.

I rushed over here myself.

She smiled bitterly to herself.

My body is getting heavier and heavier, and my strength is rapidly disappearing.

With her last ounce of consciousness, she raised her heavy hand and gently touched Xun's tear-stained cheek.

It feels cold to the touch.

"Don't cry—"

The sound was so faint it was almost inaudible.

But Xun heard it.

She bit her lip hard, trying desperately to stop her tears, but she cried even harder.

As Yukimura looked at her, in his blurred vision, Kaoru's face and a more desperate shadow from his memory overlapped for a fleeting moment.

That inexplicable sense of relief welled up in my heart again.

strangeness.

Why would I think that way?

She doesn't understand.

But the words had already been spoken, carrying a tenderness and a sense of relief that she herself did not understand.

"This time—we've finally saved you—"

"This is... wonderful!"

Xun's crying stopped abruptly.

She stared blankly at Xuecun, unable to understand what those words meant.

Xuecun himself was also taken aback.

What am I saying?

Why did I say "finally"?

But she didn't have a chance to think about it further.

His last bit of strength was exhausted.

His arm hung limply at his sides.

Just before her vision went completely dark, she seemed to see Xun open her mouth wide, as if she was shouting something.

But the sound—can no longer be heard.

Yeah.

this time----

I did it.

And so—that's it—

Consciousness sank into the deep sea.

However, just as the all-consuming darkness was about to completely close in, a glimmer of light appeared.

Suddenly, it appeared before her eyes.

That was a crystal core.

The size of an egg, its entire body shimmers with a dreamlike, iridescent halo.

It floated there silently, as if it had been waiting all along.

Waiting for the moment when it is about to go out.

What is that?

Her consciousness gradually faded, but she could feel it calling to her.

Instinctively, I "reached out my hand".

That might not be a real hand, but rather the last instinct of a fading consciousness.

The fingertip gently touches the surface of the crystal nucleus.

In an instant, a massive amount of fragmented memories surged into her nearly dormant mind!

The screen flickered, the sound was chaotic, and emotions surged.

That was—the life of another "self"?

No, that's not right.

There are familiar classrooms, running students, and sunlight filtering through the gaps in the cherry blossom trees—that's Chenghua College.

That is her life.

She saw herself carrying lesson plans down the corridor, saw Chinatsu laughing carefree during PE class, saw Kaoru frowning as she organized documents in the student council room, and saw Saki Hikari secretly hiding in a corner fiddling with her camera.

Warmth, peace, day after day.

"—Is it a revolving lantern?"

Yukimura whispered among the fragments of his consciousness.

Yeah.

Finally, what we see are these precious everyday moments —

However, the torrent of memories suddenly turned!

The screen suddenly went dark.

Screams.

Bloody smell.

She "saw" herself kneeling on the familiar playground, no, on the ruins of the teaching building.

The ground was stained dark red.

Chika lay not far away, her tracksuit soaked in blood, her usually bright eyes staring blankly at the sky.

Xun was curled up a few meters away, with a pool of blood spreading beneath her, her fingers still weakly outstretched towards her sister.

Saki leaned against the broken wall, her camera shattered beside her, a twisted steel bar stuck in her chest.

The students she cherished, the children she vowed to protect, lay lifeless in pools of blood.

"No----!"

Consciousness screamed, but no sound came out.

Why?

What is this?!

The image refocused.

It was still that seven-colored crystal core, hovering above "that self's" blood-stained, trembling palm, its light dim, as if it might go out at any moment.

Crystal nucleus —?

What is this?!

Before she could figure it out, her memory suddenly jumped again, pulling her consciousness to another completely unfamiliar scene.

The sky was an eerie dark purple.

Eleven "stars" of different colors and sizes hang high in the sky, arranged in the air.

One of them had its light flickering, as if it were struggling.

Shift your gaze downwards.

In front of them was a stone wall with a prominent sign that read "Kurokawa Group".

A man sat in a pool of blood, his back against a cracked wall.

He was wearing tattered combat gear, his face was covered in blood, and his hair was disheveled.

It's Kurokawa Yoru.

But he looked much older, his eyes were tired, and there seemed to be a hint of a mocking sneer on the corner of his mouth.

He was injured; he had a large hole in his abdomen, a very serious injury.

"Mr. Kurokawa!!!"

Yukimura screamed in terror in his mind.

Are you alright?! What happened?!

But she couldn't open her mouth.

She couldn't make a sound.

She was merely an observer trapped in fragments of memory.

Then, she saw "herself" move.

"That self" slowly lowered its head and looked at its hand.

What he was holding was not a crystal core.

It is an arrow.

Gray, dull, and exactly the same arrow that was now stuck in her back.

"etc"

An ominous premonition hit me like a bucket of ice water.

No!

Through the reflection of the puddles on the ground, she saw "herself" raising an arrow.

His arms were frighteningly steady, and his eyes were terrifyingly empty.

The arrowhead was aimed at Kurokawa, who was leaning against the wall and seemed powerless to move.

"No—no! Stop!!!"

A silent scream exploded in my consciousness.

puff.

The dull thud of a sharp blade piercing flesh was so clear it was nauseating.

The arrow pierced deep into Kurokawa's chest.

His body trembled violently. He raised his head and looked at the "perpetrator." In those eyes that always concealed calculation or helplessness, the last thing that flashed was understanding.

Or something deeper?

The scene abruptly ended at that moment.

"What is this?!"

Yukimura's consciousness was trembling violently.

This is my memory!?

Or is it my future?!

Confusion and fear nearly tore her remaining consciousness apart.

However, just as everything was about to engulf her, the perspective suddenly snapped back!

warmth.

An indescribable warm current surged into her from the fingertips that touched the crystal core!

Like parched earth receiving sweet rain, it instantly washed over her cold limbs and bones!

The gray arrow that pierced her body, radiating the rule of instant death, rapidly melted away under the impact of this warm power!

The cold, sticky aura of death at the wound was forcefully dispelled.

Flesh and blood began to twitch, body temperature began to rise, and strength returned—

Little by little, it returned to this body that was on the verge of collapse.

Xuecun suddenly opened his eyes.

Deep within her pupils, lingering fear and bewilderment reflected her tear-streaked face, instantly replaced by shock.

She carefully felt the changes in her body.

I'm not dead yet?

Moreover, this force is...

Magical girl?