Chapter 82 - Meaning of Living
His body floated in the air.
His stomach felt hot.
Something welled up in his throat.
He spat it out.
It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot.
Why was he floating?
What was the red stick shifting toward his line of sight?
The stick swiftly disappeared.
He was falling.
He was sinking.
He plummeting.
His body hit the ground.
Pain.
Because of the impact of the fall, he couldn’t open his eyes properly.
He heard a voice.
Tooru’s voice?
Tooru is calling him.
What was it?
He didn’t understand.
Anyhow, it hurt.
His stomach hurt.
It surged up from his throat again.
Unable to endure it, he vomited.
Red?
He couldn’t see properly, but it was something red.
–Blood?
His consciousness was becoming distant.
No, he was losing his…
***
“Daiki!”
Miu shouted full of heartbreak and rushed over to Daiki.
“Daiki! Get it together! Please! Wake up!”
However, Daiki showed no reaction.
“Senior Shimizu, move Daiki somehow to the entrance to the rooftop!”
“Okay!”
Miu pulled on Daiki, but he seemed pretty heavy.
However, now wasn’t the case to care about that.
“Tooru! This is pretty bad!”
“Senior Toudou and Senior Honda, keep the red monster in check! Asagiri and Senior Haiga, step back!”
“Got it! Tooru, what will you do?”
“I will take this one…”
Tooru assumed a stance with the gun.
Sakura’s laughter continued.
Like a broken music device, it was the same voice, forever.
“Die die! Ahahababababababa! I am the queen!”
“I won’t let you dream of being queen, even if it’s just a delusion of a result of ecstasy!”
He set up the gun.
And then, slowly pulled the trigger.
A bullet was fired.
It flew straight forward toward her head.
The bullet pierced her skin, crushed the bones, and reached the brain.
And then another shot.
A straight line toward Sakura who was crumbling down.
It crushed her eyeball, pierced the flesh, and went to her brain.
The broken music device was completely shut down.
Sakura couldn’t say another word.
She was only a thing that couldn’t move.
A thing that had seen the dream of being a queen and become intoxicated by power.
***
“It won’t stop!”
Blood flowed from Daiki’s abdomen.
No matter how much pressure Miu put on it, it continued to flow.
“...Ugh.”
“Daiki!”
“Sen… io…”
“Don’t speak!”
“Will I die…”
“I won’t let you die! Never!”
“Senior Sayo, when she was sleeping…”
“Since the blood isn’t stopping, don’t move!”
“The book Senior was… reading…”
“Stop it… don’t talk…”
“The protagonist engraved the ground… that he had lived.”
“Please! Stop…!”
“What has I left behind… for proof that I have… lived…”
Daiki stood up.
His eyes were unfocused and his knees were trembling.
He would collapse if she poked him with a stick.
“Seriously, your body can’t take it! You can’t move!”
“I’ve thought all this time… since Senior Kazuma died, what the meaning of living was… Please let me go… My ‘meaning’ and ‘proof’ is to clear the path for everyone, for Senior to live…”
“You’re unfair… How can I stop you now…”
Miu released Daiki from her hold and embraced him from behind.
“Daiki… I like you, ever since you saved me…”
“Hehe, now it became a bit too regrettable to die…”
He smoothly unwrapped Miu’s hand, and she stared at Daiki’s back.
Simply looking at him.