My youth story cannot be a knight war

In the spacious living room with the curtains drawn, Akiyama Mio, still in her school uniform, sat on the sofa with a haggard look on her face. She forced a smile and shook her head at the policewoman standing before her.

["Mr. Zaimokuza..."]

A familiar voice reached her ears. Akiyama Mio paused for a moment before turning to look at Zaimokuza standing at the door. The slightly hoarse voice rose a few pitches.

After seeing him, Akiyama Mio's beautiful face, though still haggard, finally looked less pale than before.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you staying in the room with everyone else and are you sitting here? Are you feeling unwell?"

[Nodding to the policewoman, Zaimokuza handed it to him. After she left, he came over to Akiyama Mio and looked at her with concern.]

"No, I just want to be alone and quiet for a while. It's nothing."

[Akiyama Mio shook her head in response to his question, lowered her head and spoke softly.]

"Really? But you don't look too well. You didn't sleep well last night—well, come to think of it, it's impossible for you to sleep well..."

【"……Um."】

Zaimokuza scratched his head with an awkward smile and sat down on the empty sofa seat next to Akiyama Mio. The girl, who had always been shy and timid about men approaching, didn't react at all this time, merely humming inaudibly.

This attitude made Zaimokuza sigh silently, and in order to divert Akiyama Mio's attention, he said.

[“By the way, Xiao Wei…how is she now?”]

He was indeed concerned about this, because last night when the police were urgently evacuating a group of people from the hospital, Hirasawa Yui had cried so hard that she fainted. In the end, it was Zaimokuza who carried her into the car. Judging by the time, she should have woken up by now.

"Wei, she..."

Speaking of Hirasawa Yui, Akiyama Mio couldn't help but clench her hands, resting on her knees, causing distinct wrinkles on the hem of her long school uniform. Her eyes, obscured by her long, drooping black hair, became even darker in the shadows.

Although she felt very uncomfortable, she still answered Zaimokuza's question with a hoarse voice.

"She woke up a while ago. She cried a lot at first, but she's calmed down now... Everyone's in the room with her. Everything's fine."

【"……Yeah?"】

Zaimokuza didn't respond to Akiyama Mio's "it's all right," and the atmosphere between them fell into an eerie silence.

After this atmosphere lasted for a while, Zaimokuza suddenly spoke.

【"sorry."】

[“Huh? Why…”]

His sudden apology left Akiyama Mio a bit stunned. She tilted her head slightly to look at him standing so close to her, her big eyes asking: Why are you apologizing so suddenly?

"Actually, we've already found out when No. 33 attacked you... It was the day you invited Kousaka-san and I to the school festival."

【“……!”】

[Hearing the answer from Zaimokuza's mouth, Akiyama Mio opened her dim eyes wide, and disbelief flashed in them.]

[“Unconfirmed life form, actually already on that day…”]

"Yes, it actually started that day... when Mr. Kousaka and I were guarding you."

"...So, I'm sorry. If Kousaka-san and I had been more vigilant that day, this wouldn't have happened."

Zaimokuza couldn't help but close his eyes slightly while speaking. When he learned this fact, although he didn't show it on the outside, Kousaka Kyousuke was not the only one who felt suffocated and regretful in his heart.

The tragedy happened so unexpectedly. While they were enjoying the joy of the school festival, the devil had already quietly swung his butcher knife at innocent people, and the two people who were the guardians of humanity were not even aware of it.

If we had been more serious and careful at that time, wouldn't today's tragedy have happened? Zaimokuza couldn't help but think of this just like Kousaka Kyousuke when he first learned about it, but it was extinguished in the next second.

[He, no longer a child, also understood one thing: there are everything in this world, except the so-called ifs. So instead of wasting time on sentimentality and regret, it would be better to think about how to make amends for the mistakes he made.]

Zaimokuza didn't want to hide his mistake, so he took advantage of this moment of solitude to tell Akiyama Mio about it. He wouldn't complain even if she yelled at him or beat him up. Feeling guilty, he was willing to be the trash can for the girls to vent their emotions.

"Really? So that was the case back then... huh..."

Zaimokuza, who had already prepared himself, hadn't expected that upon hearing the news, Akiyama Mio would simply repeat a few words in a daze before lowering her head again, staring at the canvas sneakers on her feet with those lifeless eyes, showing no sign of wanting to vent her anger at him.

"You, won't you scold me?"

Seeing her silent expression, Zaimokuza hesitated for a moment before speaking. Akiyama Mio only gave him a forced smile.

"Why would I scold you, Zaimokuza-san? You didn't do anything wrong, so it's strange to do that."

"Because... Mr. Kousaka and I didn't notice No. 33's plot in time, people like Manabe appeared—"

【"Mr. Zaimokuza!"】

Before Zaimokuza could say Manabe Kazu's name, Akiyama Mio, feeling a pang of pain in her heart, couldn't help but interrupt him. Her voice rose considerably due to the emotional ups and downs, drawing the attention of the two guards at the door.

"...I told you, this was never your fault, nor was it Mr. Kosaka's fault."

【“…”】

Zaimokuza silently looked at Akiyama Mio, who lowered her head even lower beside him. After her initial uncontrollable outburst, she quickly calmed down, but her voice became even hoarser.

"You've got one thing wrong... We invited you here because we were worried you might be too exhausted from fighting those monsters that haunt Tokyo. That's why we invited you and Mr. Kosaka to our school festival. We hope that through our concert, you and Mr. Kosaka can relax."

“Also, it wasn’t Yui who suggested you come, but… me. I wanted to thank you and Mr. Kousaka for saving our lives so many times… but I didn’t have the courage to call and invite you, so I asked Yui to do it for me.”

【"well?"】

When Zaimokuza heard from Akiyama Mio the real reason why the Light Music Club invited him and Kousaka Kyosuke to attend their school festival, he couldn't help but be stunned. Without giving him time to react, Akiyama Mio continued to tell the story.

"...So, how could I possibly blame you and Mr. Kousaka for something like this? After all, I invited you here. You're the guests, and we're the hosts. How can we hold the guests responsible for something that goes wrong at home? And the host is even blaming the guests for not doing their job properly during the holiday? That's too weird, isn't it..."

[“I’m just, a little… a little unwilling.”]

[“…Mio?”]

Akiyama Mio's voice trembled slightly as she spoke. Worried, Zaimokuza was about to reach out and touch her shoulder, but his outstretched hand suddenly stopped.

【Snapped. 】

Under Zaimokuza's stunned gaze, round, shimmering drops of water, like broken diamonds, reflected light and shadow and fell onto the hem of the girl's tightly grasped skirt. They shattered into a wet mark on the hem.

[“…I’m so unwilling. Why did it turn out like this?”]

Akiyama Mio, whose entire body began to tremble slightly, slowly turned to face Zaimokuza and spoke in a trembling voice.

[At some point, her delicate face was covered with tear marks, and her large eyes had turned red from tears. This tearful expression, enhanced by the girl's natural beauty, was filled with a fragile beauty that made me feel even more pitiful.]

Her childhood sweetheart, Ritsu Tainaka, had previously said that while she was still quite immature due to her age, Akiyama Mio was undoubtedly a beauty with a beauty rating of over 90. Her most alluring moment was when she was teased to the point of tears. Her pitiful, misty gaze could easily pierce any man's throbbing heart, making her a true killer in the world of men.

[But now, Zaimokuza, who was being stared at by these eyes, did not feel any inner throbbing at all. Instead, he felt as if the blood pipes in his heart were blocked by a stone, and it was so dull that he could not even breathe.]

The purest sadness in the girl's eyes was like a sharp knife cutting through the surface of his heart, leaving a trail of bloody wounds and severing any romantic thoughts that might arise.

"Why? I don't understand why we keep encountering this kind of thing. It's totally unreasonable, isn't it?"

With tears streaming down her face, Akiyama Mio looked up into Zaimokuza's eyes and choked with sobs as she complained to him. Her voice was so weak it resembled the howling of a wounded little animal hiding in a tree hollow during a storm.

"Being targeted by unidentified life forms is fine, we're used to it, but why—why did they target the people around us this time? Why did they target everyone, including Kazu!?"

“Obviously, obviously, we didn’t do anything bad! She’s such a nice person, and we’ve already agreed to go hiking and camping together during the summer vacation! She’s also my friend! One of my best friends! We already agreed, didn’t we? Why…”

Akiyama Mio's vision was completely blurred by tears. Sad tears fell drop by drop along her pointed chin, landing on her pale hands and skirt. The light from their shattering tears was like shooting stars streaking across the sky, dazzling and heartbreaking.

[At the end of her words, the girl, whose emotions had reached their limit, looked at Zaimokuza and uttered the loudest accusation she had ever made.]

「──Why did you break your promise like this? Why?!?」

【“——”】

Zaimokuza's heart suddenly stopped beating, the rhythm of his heartbeat interrupted by Akiyama Mio's words, and he could no longer utter a single word.

[He stared at the girl's face intently. This soft face suddenly changed and became the face of another person.]

[——That is his own face.]

[Many years ago, at a funeral, he had spoken the same words as Akiyama Mio at this moment, kneeling before a coffin.]

[And in that coffin lay his best friend.]

The sadness, the pain, the despair that seemed to cast the entire world into darkness, Zaimokuza still cannot forget it. Even now, after letting go, every time he thinks of it, he still feels as if he is being shackled and struggling to breathe.

So he always avoided thinking about this incident, and also avoided talking about it with Yukinoshita and Yuigahama, because no matter whether the memories were good or bad, the past is the past, and people always have to move towards the future.

But now, Akiyama Mio's words brought back those dark memories. The image of the white-haired young man who had cried so hard before overlapped with the girl crying now, indistinguishable from each other.

[Even the words they said were exactly the same.]

"We've already made an appointment, and she's never one to break an appointment. Why did she have to break it this time, and in this way? Ugh..."

【--"Why……"】

"Could it be that—did we do something wrong? If it's our fault, then why are we the only ones who are fine, but they are..."

[——“Why, did it turn out like this…”]

“This is too much… This world is too much, isn’t it? The person who made the mistake is fine, but why do those innocent people have to pay for the mistakes made by others? This is too much, wuwuwu…”

[——“——Obviously, we made an appointment!”]

[The man and the woman, the girl of the present and his past self, their faces flashed alternately before his eyes, and the sounds of a concerto continued to reach his ears, piercing Zaimokuza's soul in the most intuitive way and plucking his heartstrings.]

[There are many differences between the two, but there is only one thing in common - that is tears. ]

[The tears of others, this is something Zaimokuza can never ignore, because it is precisely for others to stop crying that he resolutely chooses to throw himself into the battle, fighting to protect the smile. ]

[This was also the agreement he made with his long-lost friend.]

An irresistible urge surged from within Zaimokuza, and with his heart agitated, he felt as if his body had lost control, and he subconsciously acted according to the thoughts deep in his heart.

【“——”】

[Akiyama Mio, who was pouring out her inner pain and grievances, suddenly stopped thinking, and her expression, along with her sorrow, became completely blank.]

Zaimokuza suddenly stretched out his arms and embraced Akiyama Mio. His arms wrapped around her back, tightly grasping her body as if to rub her whole body into his. This sudden embrace completely blanked out all her thoughts.

A strong masculine aura greeted her. Unlike the hug they had when they first met, Zaimokuza was in his untransformed human form. Therefore, Akiyama Mio could clearly sense all the feedback coming from him. With her face pressed against his chest, she could clearly feel the powerful beating of Zaimokuza's heart.

Although her mind hadn't yet reacted, Akiyama Mio's face had already subconsciously begun to turn red and bloodshot, and her eyes began to spin in circles under this stimulation.

["——Cai, Mr. Zaimuzhao!?"]

[She stammered, her mind in a state of confusion, her voice trembling with sadness, unlike the one just now.]

"You, you suddenly did—"

「——No.」

Zaimokuza whispered against Akiyama Mio's shoulder, the hot breath from his mouth brushing against her fair earlobe. The warmth from her ear completely overwhelmed her ability to think, and she stopped herself from saying anything.

"You haven't done anything wrong, and you've never done anything wrong. The real fault is... this cruel world and those evil Gurongi."

"There's no such thing as victims or innocent people being punished. The ones who should truly pay the price for their actions are those cruel, unidentified life forms. They are the true perpetrators, and the ones who are wrong are those who want to take away your smiles."

"I want to protect everyone, to protect your smiles, but if they want to take away your smiles, then they are my enemies. And if it is the world that wants to take away your smiles..."

[“——Then this world is my enemy.”]

He spoke these words with a firmness and determination that was unprecedented and unquestionable.

The domineering tone contained in these words was hard to believe coming from Zaimokuza Yoshiki, a man known for his easygoing personality. The contrast was so great that it completely shattered Akiyama Mio's previous impression of him.

[But before the stunned Akiyama Mio could react, Zaimokuza continued speaking.]

"I promise you, you'll be absolutely fine. You can definitely go back to your old lives, back to the light music club where everyone got together, had a lot of noise, and spent every day happily together. Back to your daily lives where everyone was smiling. I swear, I will absolutely protect you and won't let those unidentified life forms cause you any harm again. Absolutely!"

[“Just this once, you can cry as much as you want, but promise me one thing, okay?”]

Zaimokuza released Akiyama Mio from his embrace, gazed into her raised eyes, and spoke slowly, each word clearly.

"Promise me, after this incident is over, you must smile, without a trace of falsehood, and show your smile again... Okay?"

【“…”】

Akiyama Mio stared blankly up at Zaimokuza, her mind still reeling from his actions and words, her thoughts still in a state of inactivity.

【However, tears were already flowing out uncontrollably. 】

[Crack. 】

Akiyama Mio felt as if something deep within her heart, already shaky from the beginning, had suddenly shattered. Countless bitter liquids flowed out from the cracks in that thing, spreading throughout her heart. Her nose suddenly began to sore.

[“——Ugh!”]

She suddenly threw herself into Zaimokuza's arms, her hands tightly grasping his collar, and finally let out a cry filled with sadness, grievance, pain...all the negative emotions were released at once through this cry.

The girl's cries attracted everyone's attention, but Zaimokuza just held her silently, feeling the wetness spreading across his clothes, his eyes dimmed.

These girls originally had a beautiful daily life, ordinary, ordinary but happy, that's what life was like.