Love You Ninth Night: 02 [Mido Sayoko] ★ (85) (Patreon)

*Ninth Night: 02 [Mido Sayoko] ★*

"Eri... chan..."

Her eyes met Erika's, who stood in the light, and Sayoko recoiled.

In response to her best friend, Erika smiled brightly and gave a little wave.

"Heyyy, Sacchan. We meet again so soon~"

"It can't be..."

...She knew. The one person who must never know. Sayoko pressed a hand to her forehead, her shoulders slumping in defeat. It's a lie, it's a lie. Like a patient delirious with fever, she kept muttering it over and over.

But Erika continued, her next words completely unexpected.

"You fought so hard, Sacchan. I... I managed to fight my way here, too."

"Huh...? Why...?"

"Because I... that night, in that parking lot... I figured it out."

During their third-round encounter. She had realized it even back then?

"How...? It was so dark, wasn't it?"

That parking lot should have been almost completely shrouded in darkness. The only reason Sayoko had recognized Erika was because an accident had happened to throw Erika into the light.

She couldn't believe Erika would have been able to identify her when she'd remained in the darkness the whole time after that.

"My ability, [Gunstar Heroines]... it lets me choose a gun I know and summon it at regular intervals. Of course, it has some pretty tough restrictions, like getting hit with increasingly strong pain each time I summon one... but, you know, I can even customize the attachments."

"Customize? The guns?"

"Yep. So I can summon things like a rifle with a night-vision scope. Cool, right? You were the one who taught me about stuff like this in games back in the day, Sacchan."

"No way..."

"...The truth is, I realized it was you, Sacchan, just from your voice. But I couldn't be sure. So, I searched for you, and I found you, and I got a good look... and then I knew it really was you. I didn't want to believe it, though. That you were chosen as a contender, Sacchan. That you wouldn't have a future... I didn't want to accept it."

A sound that was neither a breath nor a voice escaped Sayoko.

"And from the next day on, you were clearly acting strange, too."

Erika's breath hitched.

"But you know," she continued, tilting her head slightly.

"Then, the day after that, when you encouraged me... I finally understood what you were thinking, Sacchan."

Her breath hitched again.

"Since then, Sacchan, you've been fighting this whole, whole time... for me, haven't you? You've been giving it your all every night so that I could survive, right?"

"How could you..."

"I know. Of course I know! Because... it's you, Sacchan! It's you we're talking about!"

Tears spilled from Erika's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't planning on crying, but... I'm sorry."

"Eri-chan..."

Wiping away tears and sniffling, Erika spoke.

"Because I understood. That's why I decided I had to fight hard, too. I couldn't let you go through all that pain alone, Sacchan. I... wasn't very good at it, though."

She rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her sailor uniform.

"But I'm so glad. I'm glad you're alive, Sacchan. That you survived and made it this far. I really, truly mean that."

Erika gave a weak smile. Though she'd just wiped them away, another tear streamed down her cheek.

"Thank you, for always being with me."

Sayoko couldn't find the words.

Her thoughts wouldn't work. She couldn't control her emotions.

Only the beat of her heart pointlessly quickened.

"Sacchan... my most precious friend. Thank you. I love you."

And before Sayoko could open her mouth... Erika continued.

"Goodbye."

In that moment, Sayoko understood everything.

CL-CL-CL-CL-CL-CLANG!

Something shot down, blocking the space between Sayoko and Erika.

The spotlight-like sources of light vanished, and the building's own emergency lights activated. In their place, the surroundings began to be illuminated by a faint light.

The dim light revealed that what now separated the two of them in the corridor was a metal shutter. It had descended at an impossibly high speed.

『Now, please move to your battle preparations!』

Yes, Sayoko finally understood. The reason for Erika's recent words and actions.

That hand she'd held, those fingers she'd intertwined with hers. That unusually forceful attitude.

『Side A! Ability Name: [Scar]!』

It wasn't that she'd been clinging to Sayoko out of her own suffering.

All of it—Erika had done it all to support Sayoko's heart, to encourage her.

『Supervisor: [Kyoka Kuribayashi]!』

Why Erika had fought, why she had killed people... Sayoko had been mistaken the whole time.

There was no way Erika would kill for her own sake. Erika had cast everything aside and broken the taboo solely for Sayoko.

『Side B! Ability Name: [Gunstar Heroines]!』

That kiss, too—it wasn't Erika giving her a memory.

『Supervisor: [Reginald Stepney]!』

Erika herself was trying to become a memory for Sayoko.

『The battle area is the entire semiconductor factory grounds.』

And what she was about to do now.

『Leaving the area will result in an immediate out-of-bounds ruling, so please be careful.』

Sayoko rushed to the control panel and slammed the switch, but there was no response.

She put her hands on the shutter and tried to lift it, but it wouldn't budge an inch.

『As with previous rounds, the battle time will be unlimited.』

"No! Eri-chan!"

She pounded on the shutter.

『The battle will end upon the death of one of the contenders.』

"No! No! No! No! Please, I'm begging you! Stop! Stop it!"

Sayoko kept hitting it, kept screaming.

『No advice may be obtained from the supervisors during this time.』

"I'm begging you! Eri-chan! Answer me! Listen to me! Eri-chan! Eri-chan!"

The shutter, shaken by her fists, rattled crazily, clang, clang.

『Now, let the battle begin.』

"I'm coming over there right now! Wait! Just wait! Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Her hands slammed against it in a frenzy. Her pinky finger and metacarpal bone broke, but she didn't even notice as she continued to pound on the metal.

『And now, may you have a good fight!』

"No! Please! I'm begging you, answer me!"

...Ding.

The idiotic, usual sound for the start of a battle.

"Eri-chan!"

It was the instant after Sayoko screamed.

BANG!

A sharp, bursting sound.

Immediately, the fire shutter rattled. CLANG!

Seeing the bent slats, Sayoko understood that something had slumped against the other side.

Scrape... scrape... scrape... scrape... scrape.

"Something" caught and slid, scraping its way down. It was sliding down.

And then the sound and the movement... stopped.

Sayoko's eyes flew wide.

From the gap between the floor and the shutter, slowly...

A liquid that should never have been spilled began to seep out.

Her lips trembling, Sayoko could only stare at it.

Ta-da-da-da-DAAA!

A fanfare sounded.

『Side B [Gunstar Heroines] is dead! The winner is Side A [Scar]! This is a victory for Supervisor Kyoka Kuribayashi! Congratulations!』

Unable to breathe, unable to blink.

Sayoko sank weakly to her knees in that warm, red liquid.