Love You Eighth Night: 05 [Mido Sayoko] ◇ (81) (Patreon)

*Eighth Night: 05 [Mido Sayoko] ◇*

Thump!

A heartbeat. And Sayoko's consciousness returned.

Having revived in a standing position, she was unable to maintain her posture due to mental exhaustion and collapsed, slumping to the floor of the room.

"...I'm back... huh."

She looked around, but Kyoka wasn't in the room. It seemed they had used up all of today's meeting time while sleeping together. It looked like they wouldn't be able to talk again until the meeting time was restored at the next noon.

"...Kyoka... I did it."

It wasn't that she wasn't concerned about her partner. But first, there was something Sayoko had to confirm. This was far more important to her than her own life or death.

"[Check Battle Record]"

A screen was projected in front of her, and her eyes scanned it.

Her target was the frame with black text on a white background. She found the first one immediately.

Ability Name: [Scar]. Supervisor: Kyoka Kuribayashi. Battle Record: Six wins, zero losses, two draws.

This wasn't it. This didn't matter.

Suppressing her heartbeat, she took a deep breath. She scrolled through the screen as if clawing at it with her five fingers.

Not there.

Not there.

Not there!

There it is!

Ability Name: [Gunstar Heroines]. Supervisor: Reginald Stepney.

Battle Record... four wins, zero losses, four draws.

Falling to her knees, Sayoko brought her face close to the screen, on all fours.

She blinked repeatedly, wondering if she was seeing things, then looked again and again.

"Ah..."

But there was no mistake. This was the white background with black text, the frame for survival.

And the color of that text began to blur rapidly.

"I'm so glad."

The backs of her eyes ached. Something hot trickled down both her cheeks. Her throat, her chest, trembled, hindering her normal breathing. The snot that had leaked out dripped down to her chin.

"You're alive."

Saying so with a nasal voice. Murmuring it over and over... Sayoko buried her face as if collapsing. She continued to wet and soil the floor.

◆

How many minutes had passed?

The girl slowly raised her face and sat up. Then she sat down on the floor with a plop.

Her face was filled with joy, a sense of accomplishment, and pride.

(I did it. I really did it. I protected Eri-chan.)

The battle was over.

(Ah, surely. My "life" was for this.)

Sayoko was enveloped in a deep sense of satisfaction.

(All that's left is for me to die.)

Tomorrow at 2 AM. In the next battle, if Sayoko takes her own life, Erika will be saved.

...Due to a system-related issue, it seems that after the semi-finals, contenders can no longer attempt suicide in the real world. The mainframe of the time ship, via the embedded bio-artificial intelligence, will interfere at the last moment. That's what Kyoka had told Sayoko before.

From the perspective of [Educational Operations Science], the suicide of a test subject is an important teaching material, but the TV station's claim was that it would be a problem if the prepared contenders died without hyping up the climax of the program.

Would they make her lose consciousness at the last moment, or stop her movements? Well, given the future technology that handles that neural interference with ease, they probably have plenty of ways.

Therefore, after being transferred to the replicated space... Sayoko had to kill herself before encountering Erika.

(Although, thanks to that, I don't have to worry about staining the room with blood or causing trouble for anyone somewhere.)

Besides, if Erika were to find out that Sayoko had committed suicide... it would surely sadden that kind girl.

(She has to work hard in the future, and all by herself! I can't give her that kind of unnecessary stress.)

So that was fine. She would die after the battle started, before they made contact. Looking back on the past battles, she should be able to create that much of a time window.

And considering Erika's personality, it was unlikely that she would come rushing at her at full speed from the start, like in the [Mobile Armor] battle.

As she thought that far, a comical SD version of Erika, shouldering a gun and shouting "Charge!" while sprinting at full speed, played in her mind, and Sayoko couldn't help but burst out laughing. The force of it made her spit and snot soil the floor even more.

"Anyway, with this, it's over."

Muttering with satisfaction, she wiped her face with a tissue and headed for the bed.

"Tomorrow, no, to be precise, today, huh."

This was the last day of Sayoko's life.

Feeling honored that Erika had chosen her, not her family or Suita-senpai, to spend her last day in the present... the girl lay down.

"Tomorrow, we'll be together all day."

So tomorrow, she would let herself be spoiled a lot.

(What should we do?)

They could go to some amusement park, or go eat something delicious.

Erika had said she had seen a movie, but if there was anything else that looked interesting, it would be nice to go see it.

Even the time they would spend talking about it was something to look forward to.

"Hehehe," an irrepressible laugh escaped her, and as she pressed her face into the pillow to muffle it... Sayoko's consciousness, before she knew it, had melted into sleep.

2024.8.13

This is a SayoEri date illustration by Kiyo-sensei, the artist for the manga version of "I Won't Forgive Your Future"!

Based on Kiyo-sensei's impressions of the Nintendo area at USJ, which they recently visited, this is a situation where Sayoko and Erika go to play... Erika, who eats a lot, is cute, isn't she? ( O∀O) I LOVE A GIRL WHO EATS A LOT!