"Is that all you've got?"
Amber eyes struggled to stay open as the man walked up to him.
"At this rate, you will never make it to the top of this facility." The man simply stood there, looking down at him. "And you know what that means, don't you?"
He knew. He knew, so he forced himself up. He faced the cannon again just as the other man got it ready.
"Fail here, and you can say goodbye to your brother's only hope."
The cannon fired.
He gathered his energy and focused on trying to kick it back. He only managed to stop it a little before flinging it into the wall and falling again.
"Hm... That's slightly better. But nowhere near good enough."
I'm so tired...
He could barely sit up, needing to support the rest of his body with his shaky arms.
"Get up, Tsurugi."
He tried to move his legs, but he quickly fell to his knees again. "I... I can't..."
"Get. Up. Tsurugi." When he didn't, the man let out a sigh. "So even the feelings you carry for your brother only amounts to this much."
He couldn't bring himself to look up at him. He didn't even have the energy to.
So the man grabbed him by the face and forced him to.
"Despite that, I can't have you giving up. You have the potential to be one of our best." His gaze flickered towards the window before smirking. "Well, what do you know? A motivation just appeared." He turned his head to see it too. "Look, boy."
His eyes widened slightly. "K... Kimiko...? But today is... Why is she...?"
He remembered the minute they arrived at the building, the first thing she did was apologize to him. She explained how Kuroki had requested her to meet with him for an urgent matter, so she wouldn't be able to come see him practice like she always had.
So why was she there?
"Your best friend, is she not?" The man's voice brought him back to reality. He had released his grip, standing up properly and snapping fingers.
The other man turned the cannon away from him.
"W-What are you doing...?" His eyes widened when he realized it was in line with her. "No... No, don't... Don't do it...!"
"Are you going to just stay there and beg?" The man standing above him sneered. "If you do that, a fate far worse than your brother's awaits her. And just like back then, it would be all... your... fault."
"Stop!"
"Fire!"
It was like time had stopped for him. The cannon had made that terrifyingly loud noise and the giant metal ball was about to fly straight through the wall in front of it.
Through the window.
Through her.
"KIMIKO!!!"
His vision went white.
When he blinked, his right leg was pushing the ball back with the help of a large shield.
The shield was then replaced by a sword, aiming to thrust it through the ball. The impact flung it straight back into the cannon, destroying it, while he was thrown back by the momentum. His back hit the glass, which turned out to be sturdier than he thought, knocking the air out of him before he fell to the cold, hard floor.
"Kyousuke?!"
~~~~~
"This is not what I signed up for." Kimiko clicked her tongue as she stared at the letter in her hands. The second she arrived at the meeting, the red haired man sent her off to deliver it all the way to the other building. She sighed. "Well, at least it'll be near where Kyou's training..."
When she found the door with the exact same sign as the one stamped on the letter, she went ahead and knocked. Strangely, she didn't get a reply, but before she could call out to the other side―
"Kimiko!"
She heard a loud thump as she turned around. The letter fell out of her hand when she saw a giant knight coming out of a certain navy haired boy's back.
His back that had slammed into the window.
"Kyousuke?!"
She nearly slipped when she ran over that letter, but her thoughts were too occupied by the worry she had for her best friend rather than the ones to curse the small, white thing. She headed for the door of the room just as two instructors left.
Running in, she spotted him right below the window she saw him get blown against. The wounds he had were far worse than usual.
"Kyousuke!" She made him sit up and leaned him against the wall. He was barely able to stay upright on his own. "Kyousuke?! What happened?! Are you... You're clearly not okay, what the hell am I thinking?!"
Even with such unfocused eyes, he still managed a small smile. "It's fine... What about you?"
"W-What about me?"
"Heh... As long as... you're okay..."
"As long as I'm okay? What are you..." She trailed off as she finally noticed he wasn't looking at her. Turning back, her eyes widened when she spotted the destroyed cannon. It was pointing at the window above them.
At the door she was in front of mere moments before.
"Don't tell me..."
"I summoned my keshin because of that, so..." He gestured to the knight coming out of his back right as it disappeared. "It worked out for the best... I think."
"Kyou..." She couldn't stop her voice from quivering. "I'm so sorry. If I wasn't there, you wouldn't have―"
"Hey, don't worry about it... This much is nothing..." A shaky hand went up and caressed her cheek gently. "Besides... you're my best friend... Of course I'd protect you."
"... Thanks." She gave him her best smile and slowly lifted his hand off, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting hug instead, which he returned weakly. His head leaned onto her shoulder and soon, his whole body went limp, just as her tears began to fall. "Thank you so much..."
But I should've been the one protecting you.
~~~~~~~~~~
Extra chapter because this is an interval and it's pretty short, so why not. The suffering begins once again :D
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On The Side Of The Pitch With You
Fanfiction"You are my happiness." All she wanted was to keep him safe. All he wanted was for her to be happy. A lot of things happened in the span of a single year. They joined a revolution, time travelled, and even went to space together. "Just how stupid ar...
