The story we started

[Hikigaya did not move at all, but one of the mirrors floating around him moved in front of Zaimokuza and displayed the scene inside.]

[The warrior in blue armor faced the enemy that was rushing forward like a mighty army, and the huge shadow behind it. Without the slightest fear or hesitation, he drew the weapon at his waist and rode his mount to charge at the enemy...]

["Mr. Kosaka..."]

【Zaimokuza looks at the scene in the mirror and murmurs the name of the warrior.】

[“He has always believed in you, and believed that you will definitely surpass yourself... Now it’s your turn to respond to his expectations.”]

[“It’s already dawn… Zaimokuza.”]

[After the words fell, at the end of the sky, the golden red sun began to rise gradually. ]

[The fiery red light pierced into the darkness, mixing with the pitch-black color to form a dreamy deep blue rainbow. Everything began to be illuminated, and ink-like light spots rose above the earth toward the sky.]

[This long night that seemed to have no end finally ended with dawn. ]

【“…”】

[The mirror in front of me turned into dust and melted into the morning light, revealing the smiling face of my best friend. His eyebrows and eyelashes all looked so beautiful in the light.]

[Even though it was just a dream, Hikigaya Hachiman finally smiled again and offered his blessings to his friend. ]

[“It’s time for you to go and write your own ending for this story.”]

【“…”】

【Listening to his best friend's advice, Zaimokuza gritted his teeth, held the story tightly in his arms, and lowered his head. 】

【Then, he raised his head and smiled at Hikigaya. 】

[This smile is not false at all, it is sincere and pure, with the softness and gentleness of the rising sun. ]

[“I will, Hachiman…”]

[“Can we… meet again?”]

[In response to Zaimokuza's question, Hikigaya gave a non-answer:]

[“I will keep watching you until your story comes to an end.”]

【“——”】

[After receiving this answer, Zaimokuza smiled once again, with crystal tears sparkling in the corners of his narrowed eyes.]

[He looked at Hikigaya, smiled, and slowly turned around, looking at the sky where the sun was rising in the distance.]

[It's already dawn, so...it's time to wake up from the dream. ]

(BGM: Da Caop.)

【Zaimokuza took his own steps toward the world where the light was rising.】

["——Taimu Seat."]

[The voice behind him made him stop, but Zaimokuza just stood there without looking back.]

[Because he was worried that if he turned around and saw his best friend's face, the tears that he had been suppressing for so long would burst out no longer.]

[——At least, we should say goodbye with a smile.]

【“Go forward boldly and don’t look back.”】

[Looking at Zaimokuza's back, Hikigaya spoke softly.]

[“Also, I hope that every smile you make from now on…will be genuine.”]

【Zaimokuza said nothing about Hikigaya's words.】

[He just took another step forward, walking towards the direction of the rising sun. This time he did not pause, and gave his answer with his actions.]

【“～”】

[Looking at Zaimokuza like this, Hikigaya's mouth curled up slightly. ]

[Then, without any hesitation, he took steps towards the town behind him that was still shrouded in darkness, and walked in the opposite direction of Zaimokuza.]

[At dawn, the two who were once close friends went their separate ways. ]

【Hikigaya Hachiman returned to the darkness; Zaimokuza Yoshiteru stepped into the light.】

[One stayed in the past forever, while the other had already passed the long night and walked towards his own brand new future. ]

As if we had just met

【“——”】

[A blue light flashed across the tear-stained face, and Zaimokuza's eyes trembled, but he did not look back.]

[Even though he knew that the figure that was walking in the opposite direction to him was gradually turning into light and dissipating between heaven and earth, and would never be seen again.]

[Because the words of farewell have already been said, all we have to do now is to move forward, not to stop. ]

【But tears flowed out of my eyes uncontrollably. 】

[“Thank you, thank you…!”]

[Zaimokuza choked up as he spoke, bathed in the blue light that flew past him like fireflies.]

[Even if our story doesn't end beautifully, thank you for appearing in my life. ]

【Meeting you started our story. In this story, we cried and laughed, and imagined our future together.】

[I have imagined it, both good and bad.]

[But I never thought that you would leave before the story even began, leaving me alone to start this story that should have belonged to us.]

[But I will always remember this story because of you and will never forget it. ]

[——Meeting you is a unique treasure in my life. ]

[After the blazing sun rose completely, endless light shone down from the sky, illuminating the entire world and turning it into pure white.]

[In this world illuminated by the light, Zaimokuza gently closed his eyes, and the last tear shed across his face, leaving behind traces of his dream.]

[——Wake up, it’s time to leave. ]

……

[The dark purple lines disappeared from his face, returning to his original fair complexion, and the horrific wound on his neck also began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.]

[The eyelashes of the tightly closed eyes trembled slightly, and then slowly opened, revealing the pair of black eyes. ]

[The scene in front of me was blurry when I first opened my eyes, but it became clearer as time went by.]

【Three familiar faces appeared in front of me, each with shock, joy, and sadness that did not have time to dissipate.】

[“Bullmaster, Yuigahama, Ms. Makishima…”]

[Zaimokuza, still wearing a breathing mask, looked at the three faces that appeared before him, and the corners of his mouth stained with black blood moved slightly, trying his best to pull up a smile.]

[But when he smiled, a barely visible tear flowed from the corner of his right eye, looking like an illusion under the light.]

【"……I'm back."】

[“Welcome back… Zaimokuza-san.”]

……

[“Heh~”]

[The golden light flickered in his eyes, and as his eyes gently closed, they returned to their original dark color when they opened again.]

[The young man in white sitting on the edge of the hospital rooftop, holding the railing with both hands and looking up at the blue sky, his legs swinging gently, the brisk arc of the swing shows his inner joy.]

[He looked at the clouds floating in the sky, and a happy smile slowly appeared on his face.]

[“You finally woke up.”]

[“It’s been a long time, brother~”]

Chapter position: 170 / Chapter price: 30 / Word count: 6391 / Update time: 2023-06-27 23:11:05

30. Don’t let regret happen again (6K)

Kyoto City, Usagiyama Shopping Street, rice cake shop.

"It's so--so sad!"

Kitashirakawa Tamako, who stayed in the room with her sister, looked at the screen and saw "Hikigaya Hachiman" and "Zaimokuza Yoshiki" bidding farewell to each other forever at dawn. She couldn't help but sniff hard, and her bright big eyes turned red with sadness and tears accumulated.

"Zaimokuza-san is such a kind and gentle person, why did he encounter so many misfortunes!?"

"Not only did his parents die in the car accident, but even his best friend left him. After so many years, he finally saw his friend for the last time in his dream, but he had to part with him before he could even say a few words. This is too much!"

As the eldest sister in the family, she has a sensible and mature heart beneath her optimistic appearance. So although she feels sad about the ending of the two, she is still relatively restrained and does not have such big emotional fluctuations.

But it was not the same for her two younger sisters. They were all crying. The youngest one, Kitashirakawa Enoko, even held a magical creature that looked more like a pig than a bird in her arms and used it as a rag to wipe her face.

What was even more incredible was that this magical creature had a human-like helpless expression on its face at this moment, and was even mumbling softly.

"Ah, ah, ah? Aren't the words 'heroes' always associated with 'unfortunate'? Now it's just that they lost their parents and friends, not that they died. Is it really necessary for you to cry like this?"

"Really? That's why women are just a collection of emotions, no matter what age they are."

Dela Dagaonanchi, who came from a southern island country and was called "Dila" by the people on this street, was a magical fat bird. He looked speechlessly at the girls who were crying with tears in their eyes, and made a few comments in a bland voice with an inexplicable arrogance.

After saying that, Della shrank her fat body and found a comfortable position to lie down in Kitashirakawa Enoki's arms. Her bird-like face showed a very vulgar and obscene expression and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the soft embrace of the loli.

"?"

As a result, it had just laid down when it suddenly felt someone grabbing its neck and lifting it up. It opened its eyes in confusion and met a pair of big red eyes.

"Dila, you are really——"

Click.

Kitashirakawa Tamako opened the window of the room, and in front of Della's confused eyes, she used her hands to make a baseball pitching posture, took a deep breath and raised her left leg.

“——That’s too much!!!”

As the girl cried out in a tearful voice, she threw the fat white bird out of the window of the room, and it turned into a shadow and flew to the equally open window of the room on the second floor of the rice cake shop "Daluwu" opposite.

boom--! ! !

"Wow!"

Della, who was thrown like a baseball, had a close contact with Dalu Bingzang, who was sitting by the window and secretly peeping at the girls in the opposite room. Their foreheads hit each other heavily, making a deafening sound, and then they fell backwards to the ground together.

"Young man... why are you by the window... are you peeping at the girls?!"

"It's none of your business! You have no right to criticize me, you slut..."

The two parties who were both injured fell to the ground and twitched, covering the red impact site, while at the same time complaining to each other without wanting to be outdone.

【Tokyo, outer metropolitan area. 】

[A blue sword flashed, and the purple Ginoga clone burst into fiery sparks and blood from his chest. He was chopped off by the powerful sword and knocked a dent in the fence of the road.]

【“——”】

[The split body reached out to hold onto the fences on both sides. Just as it was struggling to stand up, a heavy shield rapidly expanded in its field of vision, hammering its entire face into the concrete wall with one blow.]

[But even after being hit so hard, it was still able to reach out and grab the shield embedded in its head, trying hard to pull it out, showing an extremely amazing vitality.]

[When its hands climbed onto the shield, the fingers wrapped in the shield pulled the trigger without hesitation.]

[Shielder Mortar.]

【--boom!!!】

[The bottom of the shield guardian that was deeply embedded in the face of the split body burst into blue flames, and then a violent shock wave erupted from the shield's nozzle, smashing the upper body of the split body and the fence fragments on the surrounding road into slag.]

[After losing most of its tissue area including the brain, the split body finally stopped its dying struggle, and its hands that were holding the shield fell down powerlessly.]

[A brass shell was pushed out from the end of the shield and fell to the ground. After confirming that the split body was completely motionless, Kousaka Kyosuke gritted his teeth and "pulled" the shield out of the split body's bloody body.]

【"Kousaka-kun!?"】

[“Hmm…!”]