Knights of Destruction

16: Encounter and Farewell

"Sis, what's wrong? Why aren't you answering me?"

Until now, I can hear Irori's faint voice outside my room. I really made her worry about me.

"Sis...Why wouldn't you tell me what happened? I...don't want to see you like this,"she spoke again.

I approached the door and gave a reply.

"Don't worry about me, Irori. I'm okay..."

Out of the blue, the door flew open, pushing me towards the front. Someone apparently kicked it open, supposedly meant to be hit towards me.

"Ouch..."

"Get out if you think you are still our comrade!!"

It wasn't Irori's voice, but Mitsuki's. She looked very angry. I've never seen her like this before.

"Wake up, Hatsuka Hotaru! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?!"

I looked back at her into her eyes, without saying another word.

"W-Why are you here, Mitsuki? I thought you were supposed to be at work," Irori asked.

"How am I supposed to work with my leader like this? Nothing's going well and right! Hatsuka is our our commander, our leader! If one goes down, then the others will. In this rate, our unit can't go on anymore. Do you know what that means?"

She looked at me and frowned.

"It means that we are giving up on Krista's dream."

"I...know that. But......"

I clenched my fists and closed my eyes.

"I can't. I....don't want to lose anyone..." My eyes became wet. "I'm scared....I don't want...I don't...."

Mitsuki held my shoulder and faced towards me.

"I'm scared too, Hatsuka. Krista's my friend too. If it was not for her, I would not be here now,"she said softly.

I could also hear Irori sobbing behind her.

"It's time for you to stand up. Even if it means to lose someone, you have to move on. There are many people following your back, including Irori and me."

I wiped my tears and said, "You're right....I can't let all of you down. I.... was a coward. I'm always whining without doing anything, it's very.....disgraceful."

"Sis, you didn't do anything wrong. It's normal for people to be scared in life,"Irori added.

"Sorry for showing my ugly self, Mitsuki, Irori. For now, what should I do- No, I've already got a work to do."

I stood up and tighten my tie.

"I have some business to deal with the black army."

_____________________________________

"Report to me. What's wrong?"

"Mr. Edward, more and more people of the white army are disappearing. We can't contact or reach them."

"They are not disappearing without a reason. Keep investigating this. Don't let anyone know about this, including Hatsuka and Krista."

"Is it okay to keep this secret from them? What if Miss Hatsuka finds this and acted on her own?"

"I think....Hatsuka is already on her move now."

_____________________________________

"Where is your leader?!"