Life After Death

The Answer

March 31st, 2010

Dorm Lobby

Evening

"I... I... Want to go back. To the time before the last battle..."

Everyone sat there in shock, looking at her as if she sprouted another head or limb. All eyes were on her.

"Yukari..." Mitsuru knew why, but as for the others...

"So... You're giving up? Are you saying you don't have the strength to face reality?" Akihiko responded in disbelief. "After all the things we've gone through..." He looked away from the younger girl.

"Oh yeah, you're really the one to talk..." She grumbled, not meeting any eyes. She pressed her legs together and clenched her fists together in a ball. "Don't you understand!? We can go back and fix things!" Her desperation was only read by the two girls in the room.

"Even if there was a way to reverse Shinji and Miki's death, I'd flat-out refuse," Akihiko admitted, countering Yukari with sincerity. "Nothing in the past was a mistake, Yukari... He did what he did,"

She clenched her fists tighter, holding back tears. Fuka's concerned gaze could be felt from the other side of the living area. She felt several emotions rising in her, then bursting out into words.

"When it all comes down to it, you only care about yourselves..."

"Yukari-!" Mitsuru started to speak, but Akihiko and Ken jumped from their seats.

"What?!" Akihiko retaliated in disbelief, fists now clenched.

"How can you say that?!" Ken added, feelings obviously damaged. Anger rose in their eyes like familiar flames.

Fuka started making sounds, trying to speak, but only came out to small panicking and reserved hand motions and squirms. Yukari turned her body away from the rest of the group, arms crossed and whole body curled up. She kept shaking her head, saying: "This is no use..."

Everything went around and around, talking to each other in frantic yet serious tones of varied reason. When fighting for all the keys came to mention, the two girls looked at Yukari with deep concern, then looked at each other. Yukari made no comment, nor protest. But Metis did, when it came to Aigis' life on the line with her connection to him. Now it was all up to Aigis now. What she wanted was where it all went and how it was to go down. But when Yukari heard that Aigis didn't even have a decision on which door...

"So you're not going to anything?!" She countered Aigis' neutral response. "Just how you weren't there at his funeral, just like the rest of us?!" Her tears wanted to escape, but she clenched her jaw and growled.

"I'm not going to lose to someone like you!" She declared, loud and clear.

Mitsuru and Fuka were in shock, but were bound shut by secrecy they promised the girl. So they just stared, their eyes searching the girl's body language, but she meant business...

"Yukari-chan..." Fuka spoke up, softly trying to keep her real distress concealed. "A-Are you really going to fight...?" She clenched her hands together in front of her chest, hoping for some sort of reason rather than impulse in response, but no response came, nor a change in stance.

Mitsuru removed her gaze from Yukari and to Fuka, who also turned to her for an answer. But even the older girl had nothing but to let it be...

"I'm going to stand with Yukari..."

...

"I want to see him..."

Fuka glanced over to Mitsuru from Yukari, who fell onto the ground on her knees. Aigis stood in front of the fallen girl, silent and gazing with remorse. Her body shook with sorrow as she cried, clenching the ground.

"While holding his cold hand, I..." She couldn't finish, breaking down into more tears and sobbing. She wailed, all her emotions having to be held in for so long coming out.

"I don't care...!" She cried out, tears soaking her face. "I just want to see him again!" She trembled and sobbed, covering her face in her hands, unable to stop her crying. She was alone. She had no one, no man to help her through this. It was all on her. And at such a young age...

Mitsuru approached her and got on her knees beside her on the ground. She delicately placed a hand on her trembling shoulders, while another on one of the girl's wrists.

"Yukari..." She whispered to her, trying to get her to uncover her face. "There's no way to truly put the past behind you... Especially in your situation. You'll only succeed in running from it,"

Yukari let her pull her hands away from her face, but she still scrunched up her face and sobbed. "I know you weren't ready for this and it's painful to face, but your wounds will never heal if you don't accept it," Mitsuru continued to console. But Yukari looked up at her, eyebrows furrowed and tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"You don't understand! It'll never be okay!" She shouted, but her anger was overcome by more tears and sobbing. "I cannot forget him like it's nothing! Not with what I'm left with...!" She lowered her head once more, her sobbing now louder than before. Mitsuru looked away, giving a heavy sigh.

"...You're right," The older girl admitted, only getting a hint of what she meant. "But... Can't we be here for you when things become too much of a burden?" She touched the girl's shoulder again, this time rubbing it with a gentle touch.

Yukari said nothing more. Mitsuru buried further into the young girl's bubble. "I cannot go on without repaying you for how you helped me last year, you know..." She grabbed both her shoulders and gently pulled the girl to face her. "I will put aside my own feelings to help you now, just like you did then... Our losses are not different but the same. So isn't it part of our bonds to be there for one another in times of distress and doubt?"

Yukari looked away from the older girl's eyes, then back again moments later. "M-Mitsuru... Sempai..." She softly sobbed. Her lack of energy caused her to fall into the other girl's embrace and she sobbed, grabbing onto her sleeves and letting her tears fall to her shoulders.

"I've... Made my decision... I'm going through with it till the end..."

...

April 1st, 2010

Dorm Lobby

Early Morning

"So," the older girl began. "Has it terminated yet?" She looked at the younger girl with question, keeping secrecy.

The younger girl clenched her bag of belongings. A smile plastered itself onto her face.

"I don't think it ever will, and I'm happy about that..."