Hina’s eyes locked onto Junpei.
The knife in her hand spun until it tilted down.
She had the high ground—she knew how to use it.
She swung down—deliberately.
Catching Junpei’s ghost—A clear miss, catching the air around the man.
A fsh of steel.
Red spttered the wall and Hina’s pant leg.
She recovered.
Hina’s other leg responded with aggression.
A quick kick.
The kick caught the tail of Junpei’s white coat.
They froze
“Not bad, Junpei.”
He didn’t respond.
They moved in, exchanging blows
Sparks illuminated the hollowed hall as bdes kissed.
Junpei didn’t absorb or parry Hina’s bde. Instead, he used the force of her bde’s momentum to twirl his body and prepare his next attack.
Junpei swung, aiming for Hina’s neck.
A miss
Hina ducked the blow, countering with a fierce ssh.
Junpei’s white coat bled red.
Hina bit her lip.
He staggered back.
Breaths were heavy.
“Damn it, Junpei!”
Her eyes darted toward Christine and me.
Hina leaped down the stairs, throwing her weight toward us.
Junpei stepped in front of us, blocking her with his body
His bdes dug into Hina’s sides, as Hina’s knees connected with Junpei’s chest, pressing into his fresh wound.
Crimson wine spilled out.
They both fell, Junpei falling backwards with Hina on top of him
They nded between us, splitting us up.
Hina’s bde trembled against Junpei’s neck. It didn’t move, only trembled, but one push, one ssh—she could end it all.
Was this mercy?
Junpei leaned in, bringing her bde closer to the cut.
“Junpei, you knew how this would end.”
He squeezed the handle of his daggers, causing noticeable pain.
Hina gritted her teeth, but still, no cut.
“Run, Ma’am,” Junpei said, voice growing dimmer with each word...
Christine looped around Hina and Junpei, grabbing and pulling me aggressively.
“What about Junpei—”
My pulse coursed throughout my body.
“We can’t help like this, so just run!”
We started up the stairs. I braced myself and snatched my wrist away from Christine because if she wouldn’t help Junpei, I would.
I would do more than be the helpless victim, watching as the world burned down around me.
I started back down the stairs, catching Hina’s crude side eye, but Christina grabbed me by the colr, pulling me back.
“We don’t have time to fight with each other, Antwon!” She recimed my hand with more resolve, and we continued to the roof.
Our footsteps echoed, as I listened for that final groan from a passing soul, as thoughts of Miss. Nakamura lying in a pool of blood, and of Sakura, his sister, risking her life to protect him—us.
Air burned in my lungs. I hate this—from one fire into the next.
***
We climbed the stairs swiftly, but she was too fast. I started to g behind. My heart felt like it was going to combust.
Images of Hina leaning over Junpei’s body fshed in my head. They could have been more if…
“Keep up, Antwon!” she screamed, her voice now dogged.
Damn it, Hina. If you loved him—each other—
We burst through the entrance of the roof; the smoke-choked air smmed into us. And the sound of fighting, screaming, and dying reminded me of the magnitude of our situation.
We ran to the fence lining the school’s roof and looked out.
Here again…
The roof had been as I remembered it from the fragment.
Amidst the chaos, I saw bodies being thrown into the pyres in the exact spot Antwon nded.
My eyes scanned for Sakura, but I couldn’t find her.
Please be okay.
“Antwon, it looks like we’re winning. So hang in there,” her words trebled and fell out of the air.
Christine was in tears.
My fingers curled around the fence’s links as a familiar calm swept over me.
“Christine, why didn’t we help Junpei? You’re strong, right?
We listened to the chaos in silence.
“Cats and lions, Antwon,” she sobbed, wiping tears from her eyes.
I looked at her for a moment, and it made sense.
So, was I a mouse? Fu—
Genie: Fractiousness.
“I wish that I were strong enough to fight Hina, Antwon. But I’m still a kid,” tears fell faster, “I would only get in Junpei’s way.”
The genie’s words lingered in my mind.
It didn’t help, advise, or console me. Our retionship was clear: I’m just a proxy.
I hate this world.
I approached Christine, wiping her tears away, and she took me into her arms.
Genie: I understand your discontent. You are in an unfortuitous situation; however, you persisted, conquering many obstacles. Now, you can—
Shut up and listen.
The sound of screeching tires marked the arrival of more soldiers.
This was a shit life, and I can’t help him.
Tears ran down my cheeks, and Christine wiped them away, caressing my face.
Antwon’s problems started way before I got here—before this day. So, the only way to patch the pieces would be to start from the beginning. But I don’t have the strength to do it.
Cheers ascended from the crowd. A victor had been decided.
“Antwon, it’s over—we’ve won. I’m sure of it.”
“But at what cost!? Everything hurts because I know I'm the one who caused it all.”
“Antwon, don’t say that!” She pced her forehead against mine.
“But it’s true—if I didn’t look at you in homeroom—if I didn’t run my fingers through your hair, and if I wasn’t so damn obsessed with you, it would have been another day with no deaths. And now, Miss. Nakamura and Sakura could be… gone.”
Christine closed the gap between our faces.
“But they all deserved it because they signed up for it.” I created space between us so I could see her eyes. “And you were born into this, but—”
Genie: Antwon, consider the gravitas of your following cuse.
“I don’t care what happens to me anymore, but know, Christine, that my love is true.”
Our foreheads reconnected.
“I wish—”
Genie: Knox, I understand you would like a better outcome—
“—that Miss. Nakamura had a second chance at life—”
My lips embraced hers, like a gentle prayer, and the world started to dissolve.
If the fmes awaited me, I would humbly embrace them to atone for my injustice. Sakura, Hina, Junpei, Ryo, Miss. Nakamura, and Christine, I’m sorry.
End of Antwon’s Arc
