Arifureta/ From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Vol. 9 Ch. 4

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Volume 9.

Chapter 4: True Heart.

As the blinding light began to fade, Hajime realized he was alone.

“So we got separated, huh? Well, I figured we would.”

Of course, predicting this outcome didn’t make Hajime any happier about it. Furrowing his brows, he examined his surroundings.

“Looks like it’s a straight path.”

The corridor in front of him was two meters wide, two meters tall, and made entirely of the same reflective ice the maze had been. There was nowhere to retreat. The gate he’d arrived through faded away, turning into a normal ice wall. Upon turning around, all Hajime saw was himself. He returned his gaze forward and started walking down the narrow corridor. It was clearly meant for only one person to pass through.

All around him, reflections of himself walked in cadence with his gait. His footfalls echoed loudly through the corridor. Naturally, Hajime was a master of moving silently, but he saw no point in doing so at the moment. Each of his steps felt as though they were causing ripples in the ice. Not regular ripples of sound, either. No, odd as it seemed, Hajime felt as though those ripples were the sound of his heart. Each step seemed to be urging him to doubt himself, to question whether he really belonged anywhere.

It felt as though his heart was beating loudly and softly at the same time. He accepted this strange new sensation and continued walking. The corridor didn’t turn or fork at all, and after a few minutes, Hajime found himself standing in front of a massive pillar of ice. It stood in the center of a large open room, connecting the heavens and earth. Its upper and lower sections were wider than the rest, making it look like a tree of ice had taken root. There were even little branches and leaves splitting off from the upper end.

“This is still the only path, huh?”

Muttering to himself, Hajime strode over to the giant ice tree. Like everything else in the labyrinth, the ice tree was perfectly reflective. Because of how wide it was, it reflected Hajime perfectly, without any warping or distortion. As he drew closer the reflection grew more and more vivid. It was as if another Hajime lived inside the polished mirror of ice.

Once he was close enough to touch the tree, Hajime stopped and stared at his reflection. It had white hair, wore an eyepatch, and a long black coat, and had an artificial arm. Hajime’s appearance was about as edgy as it got. Seeing his fashion choices thrust in front of him like this brought Hajime to his knees.

“Shit… Now that I’m seeing it again, I realize how cringy this outfit is. How could I pick this…”

In truth, Hajime rarely ever examined himself in a mirror. Fixing his bed head was one of Yue’s favorite pastimes, so he had little reason to. And until now, he’d been focused on the enemies in front of him, so he hadn’t paid much attention to his reflection. It was only now that he was alone, with no enemies nearby, that he had time to stop and properly examine his appearance. And what he saw brought back buried memories of his dark past. It was little wonder he was so shocked.

But dyeing his hair was time he didn’t want to spend, and without his eyepatch, his Demon Eye glowed this eerie pale blue, so he had no choice but to wear it. As for his coat, Yue had sewn it for him herself, so naturally, he loved it. He needed his prosthetic arm too, since he’d lost his real one. At least, these were the excuses he told himself to justify his fashion sense. In a way, among all the things he’d faced in the labyrinth, it was this that had hurt him the most.

Had Kouki and the others seen him like this, kneeling on all fours, their jaws would have dropped open. That was how rare it was to see Hajime shaken.

“You know what, maybe the voice is right. Maybe I don’t have a place to return to in Japan.”

At least not looking like this. If he walked around Tokyo dressed like this, he’d definitely draw the wrong kind of attention. Though it was likely that wasn’t what the whispers were trying to insinuate. Hajime seemed to have misunderstood their intent. In order to correct him, the same voice he’d grown used to hearing these past few hours spoke up.

“That’s not what I meant, fool.”

“You finally showed up, huh?”

Hajime narrowed his eyes and looked up. His reflection glared down at him. Though the real Hajime was on all fours, his reflection was still standing inside the ice tree.

“I should have known that wouldn’t spook you. Or should I say, spook me?”

“Of course not. I’ve already figured out what the theme of this labyrinth is. That, plus what Amanogawa said earlier gave me all the clues I needed to figure out this was what was coming next.”

Though he was talking to his own reflection, Hajime was unfazed. The Hajime in the mirror grinned and asked, “And what theme would that be?”

“You’re me, aren’t you? You shouldn’t even need to ask.”

“Oh no. I might be you, but I’m not all of you. But you figured that out too, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah,” Hajime said with a nod.

The Hajime within the mirror was a fictional Hajime. He’d already experienced something similar in the Haltina Woods. Of course, back there it had been monsters pretending to be Yue and the others, but he already knew labyrinths read the data of those who challenged them and were capable of creating copies.

The fake’s earlier assertion that he wasn’t all of Hajime just supported his hypothesis. Namely that the fake was another one of the labyrinth’s trials. Meaning that even if he was speaking with a carbon copy of himself, Hajime still needed to answer to advance further. Hajime got to his feet and said in annoyance, “The theme of this labyrinth is ‘conquering oneself.’ It’s a test to see whether you can overcome a version of yourself made of all the parts of yourself that you hate, of all the dark emotions you try to repress, of all the things you try to tell yourself aren’t true… Am I right?”

Hajime glanced upward. The ceiling spread out above him, but he was looking far past that, to the world that existed beyond these caverns.

“It doesn’t matter how strong you are physically if your heart’s weak. This is a trial to make sure the gods won’t find a way to manipulate you.”

“Nice going, me. One hundred points.”

Hajime’s reflection clapped in an exaggerated manner.

“God, you piss me off,” Hajime muttered. But of course, he’d just admitted that his reflection was a part of his own personality, so he was effectively saying his own arrogance pissed him off.

A moment later, though, Hajime’s reflection suddenly transformed. It stopped clapping, and its eyes started glowing red while its hair turned black. Its black coat and artificial arm, on the other hand, turned white. Its skin also darkened, resembling the swarthy pigmentation of demons.

Its colors were the exact opposite of Hajime’s. Wary of the sudden change, Hajime took a few steps back. A second later, there were two loud bangs. Both Hajime and his reflection had fired at each other. They’d moved so fast that it had been impossible to tell when they’d drawn their revolvers, or where they were about to aim.

Hajime’s black Donner shot out a crimson bullet at his reflection. Meanwhile, the reflection’s white Donner shot out a dark black bullet at Hajime. Surrounded in pitch black sparks, the bullet streaked through the ice and headed straight for Hajime’s forehead. But obviously, Hajime’s bullet had been fired with pinpoint accuracy too, and it met his reflection’s in midair. The two collided and shattered. Such an unbelievable clash was only possible because the reflection had inherited Hajime’s movements and spirit.

While Hajime may have taken a step backward, and thus retreated, he’d still been trying to kill his opponent as he ran. He hadn’t hesitated at all. These movements had been ingrained into him on a subconscious level, and he naturally radiated a silent aura of bloodlust when faced with an enemy.

“Haha, I should have known I’d predict that shot. After all, I know best what timing to fire, what thoughts go through my head when I’m fighting, and how I prefer to slaughter my enemies.”

Hajime’s reflection flashed him an irritating grin and stepped outside of the ice tree. The tree’s bark rippled as the reflection entered the real world and turned into a proper fake instead of just a reflection.

It drew a white Schlag with its white prosthetic arm and took a stance with both revolvers. Its right foot was held slightly back, and its center of gravity was low. In its right hand was Donner, held close to its chest. In its left was Schlag, held perpendicular to its body with its artificial elbow thrust forward. Donner and the shotgun loaded inside its elbow were aimed forward, while Schlag was held in reserve to cover its rear.

It was the very same Gun Kata style that Hajime had developed.

Wordlessly, Hajime took the same stance.

The two Hajime’s clashed in reality for the first time. The air in the room shook violently as they fought each other. The bloodlust radiating from each of them was strong enough to exert a physical force.

As Hajime had expected, the labyrinth had done a stellar job of copying him. He had no idea what magic was at work here, but his copy was every bit as skilled as he was. Everything from his aura to his artifacts had been recreated perfectly.

In this surreal situation, Hajime’s copy smiled derisively and said, “Now then, Hajime Nagumo. Can you defeat yourself?”

A tremendous roar split the air. Both of them had leaped forward, summoned two Cross Bits to give supporting fire, and feinted shooting their revolvers while actually pivoting into a roundhouse kick against each other.

The reason Hajime had opted for a roundhouse kick was because doing so would simultaneously let him dodge the fake’s Cross Bit barrage. Thanks to his Riftwalk-enhanced perception, Hajime was able to see the copy’s bombardment pass by him in slow motion. But of course, his opponent had done the exact same thing, for the exact same reason. Neither of them hit each other.

Their feet clashed, and they were both blown backward. In response, they both transmuted spikes out of the soles of their shoes to anchor them in place. Hajime instantly went back on the offensive. By using the spikes as a pivot, he was able to convert the force used to knock him back to rotational energy and he turned around and brandished Donner.

There was a loud clang of metal hitting metal. Hajime’s copy had done the same thing, but rotated in the opposite direction. The two gun barrels clashed against each other.

It was like Hajime was fighting a mirror. Even their exclamations were the same.

“Die.”

“Die.”

Both parties fired without hesitation, and another loud bang echoed through the room. At the same time, both Donner’s were blown backward. Like before, a pair of crushed bullets fell to the ground with a clink.

Neither of them registered the sound though; they’d both aimed Schlags at each other under their armpits. Again, they fired simultaneously. Their bullets clashed in the space perfectly in between them, and the shockwaves rattled the nearby atmosphere.

Both Hajime and the copy utilized the shockwaves to rotate their bodies yet again and fire off another roundhouse kick. The sound of their legs colliding was so loud it was hard to imagine it was two flesh and blood appendages that had just hit each other. The moment they clashed they both backed off and launched lower-angled kicks.

Again, the sound of two impossibly hard objects colliding reverberated through the room. This time though, the copy grinned. As if signaling the warm-up was over. And in truth, the time for the mirror matchup was over.

Hajime pointed Donner at the copy’s head and pulled the trigger. But the copy knocked Donner aside with its own Schalg, fouling Hajime’s aim. Hajime’s bullet only grazed the copy’s temple, and this time it was the copy who aimed Donner at Hajime’s head and fired. But Hajime had been expecting that, and he tilted his head sideways to avoid the shot. Without even bothering to look at the black streak that passed inches from his face, he aimed Schlag at the copy’s foot.

Dodging backward, the copy kicked Hajime’s Schlag away, then fired Donner at his heart. But Hajime thrust out his artificial arm and deflected the black streak of death. At such close distance, it seemed as though the two were fighting using martial arts, not guns.

They continued dodging or deflecting each other’s shots by a paper-thin margin. Both sides were accelerating their movements, trying to find an opening to rain death onto each other, but their black and crimson streaks were unable to reach their respective targets. They both used Cross Bits to try and hit each other’s blind spots, but as expected they continued to miss or clash against each other.

After a few minutes of fierce fighting, the copy finally opened its mouth.

“Damn, you’re tough. Really tough. That’s not the kind of strength a human can have. Am I right?”

“Huh?”

Hajime and the copy both cast Gale Claw onto their Donners and sliced each other’s cheeks. Drops of blood danced through the air, and the copy grinned.

“Monstrous strength, hands drenched in blood, a heart that feels nothing when killing others… What would our family think if they saw us now?”

“What’re you trying to say?”

Hajime and his copy quickly reloaded their revolvers. In the half-second it took him to spin his barrel and fill it with bullets, Hajime tried to get his copy off-balance by transmuting the ground underneath it. But the copy had been expecting that, and Hajime’s crimson sparks were met by the copy’s black ones.

“We want to go home. That’s our greatest desire, but… will that place really be home for us still?”

“……”

“Earth, and Japan especially, don’t look kindly on murderers. Who would ever accept a monster like us? Mom? Dad? What would they think if they found out their son had turned into a murderer and a monster while he was missing? They’d probably be horrified, wouldn’t they? Start wondering if we really even are their son.”

Since bullets weren’t working, the copy had decided to use words instead. But those words were more malicious and destructive than any bullet might be.

Hajime had no way of deflecting them and was forced to silently take them. Despite his internal conflict though, he continued moving with the same mechanical efficiency. He pulled a large number of hand grenades out of his Treasure Trove and primed them all with Lightning Field.

He dumped the payload at his feet, and the copy smiled. Hajime wreathed himself in crimson sparks. The copy wreathed itself in black sparks. Both had activated Diamond Skin simultaneously.

A second later, an explosion so massive it tore apart the very air rocked the room. Dazzling pillars of fire lit up the cavern, and there was a massive crater where Hajime had dropped the grenades. With a loud whoosh, two figures shot through the flames in opposite directions. They both shouldered Orkans as they slid across the ground, and fired all twelve rockets.

The area in between them turned into a sea of heat and flame. The explosions caused by the missiles colliding created massive shockwaves. Cracks ran through the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. Because missiles weren’t as precise as bullets, some of them slipped past each other. But of course, Hajime and his copy shot those down with pinpoint revolver shots.

A second later, the copy called out as if nothing had happened, “You’re scared, aren’t you? Scared that the home you want so badly to return to vanished long ago! Scared that your family might reject you! Admit it!”

“You sure talk a lot.”

The copy spread its arms wide, one hand holding Orkan, the other Donner. He looked like an actor playing out the role of a villain. It was clear from the glee in his voice that he was enjoying revealing the fears Hajime had locked away in his heart. The copy’s voice grew even sharper and its words more caustic. Frowning, Hajime withdrew his chakrams from the Treasure Trove and launched them toward the copy.

“That’s why you couldn’t ignore Aiko Hatayama’s words. When she told you the way you live your life wouldn’t work back on Earth, you were shaken! The reason you respect her so much is because she at least tried to give you an answer to the dilemma you couldn’t solve on your own. I’m right, aren’t I!?”

“……” Hajime’s silence was proof he agreed. Sneering, the copy pulled out its own chakrams and let them loose. Though it looked like he’d thrown them haphazardly, the copy’s chakrams countered all of Hajime’s.

Hajime shot a bullet through the portal of one of the chakrams he’d kept close by. He was able to keep his aim perfect, even when he had to deal with jumps in space. His bullet popped out of one of the far portals and headed straight for the copy’s heart. But as expected, the copy wasn’t alarmed. As always, it had fired its own bullet through one of its portals to neutralize Hajime’s.

Everything Hajime did was countered perfectly. The copy continued its verbal barrage, completely unfazed by Hajime’s attacks.

“But you know, even if you’ve stopped living a lonely life, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a monster whose hands are stained with blood. Your world, your family, they won’t accept you!”

“……”

“You told everyone you didn’t feel anything the first time you killed a person. But we both know that’s a lie! Even if you didn’t feel guilty, you definitely were afraid! Maybe you didn’t realize it at the time, but you were afraid that you were no longer the Hajime Nagumo your parents knew!”

Hajime furrowed his brows, and his reaction time slipped by a fraction of a second. In that instant, another black streak shot through the copy’s chakram and grazed Hajime’s shoulder. It was a small cut, barely worth paying attention to. But it was the first time since the battle had started that only Hajime had come out of a clash wounded.

Seeing Hajime’s hesitation, the copy continued firing off more barbed words. It planned to riddle Hajime’s heart with holes using these invisible bullets it knew were effective.

“Thank god Yue was there for you, huh? As long as you’ve got her, you can continue clinging to her even if the rest of the world rejects you.”

Ignoring the wound on his shoulder, Hajime glared coldly at his copy. Was his expressionless, ice-cold gaze his way of showing his anger? Or was it a mask to hide the fact that his ironclad resolve was finally crumbling? At least to the copy, it seemed to be the latter.

It prepared its next words, intent on destroying the largest pillar supporting Hajime’s mental state, Yue. As the pair resumed their close-combat struggle it said, “You say you love Yue, but do you really mean that from the bottom of your heart? No, you don’t.”

Disdain dripped from the copy’s voice. It continued pounding invisible bullets into Hajime’s heart.

“You’re just clinging to her.”

Fresh blood flew through the air. The copy’s bullet had grazed Hajime’s neck this time. Had the wound been even a few millimeters deeper, it would have been fatal. Hajime had survived by the skin of his teeth, but even then his expression didn’t change. However, his focus was clearly lacking. His movements were sluggish, lacking their usual sharpness. He was beginning to just barely lag behind his copy.

The copy sneered, thoroughly disappointed in Hajime.

“She only exists to protect our fragile little heart. Those feelings we’ve deluded ourselves into thinking are love are mostly just relief. We cling to her because she makes us feel safe, that’s all.”

Hajime swung Donner at his copy, but it knocked the gun upward. It then thrust Schlag into Hajime’s unguarded chest.

Having destroyed the two pillars that supported Hajime’s iron will, his love for Yue and his desire to return home, the copy was ready to deliver the final blow. If Hajime couldn’t even overcome himself, then he deserved to be buried here in this labyrinth of malice.

There was a click as the trigger was pulled. But it was Hajime who’d pulled it, not the copy.

“Ah!?”

A red streak shot forward like a meteorite. It pierced through the copy’s artificial arm, forcing it to drop Schlag. When Donner had been knocked upward Hajime had used his pinky finger as a fulcrum and flicked his wrist to flip it around and point it back down at the copy.

The copy hadn’t expected such a maneuver, and it could only gaze blankly at its own damaged arm. Naturally, Hajime had no intention of giving his copy time to recover.

He recovered his stance almost instantly, making it obvious that he’d made himself appear vulnerable earlier on purpose. Then, he kicked off the ground with such force that he left a small crater where his foot had been. He launched a decisive elbow into his copy’s stomach, knocking the air out of its lungs. And that wasn’t all.

“Gah!?”

An explosive slug shot out of his elbow, blowing the copy away. As it slammed into the ice tree behind it, it coughed up a lungful of blood. Hajime tapped his shoulder with Donner and walked slowly over to his copy. For the first time this fight, his face was showing emotion. His eyes were narrow slits, and displeasure radiated from every pore in his body.

“I get this is part of the trial and all, but… you talk way too much during a fight. If you’ve got time to spout crap, then you should spend that time thinking of ways to kill your enemy faster. For someone who’s supposed to be my copy, you sure don’t act like me.”

What had really angered Hajime was that his own fighting style had so many flaws in it. Confused, the copy unsteadily got to its feet. Its legs were wobbling, and it was clearly hurt. While it had managed to lessen the impact of Hajime’s elbow with Diamond Skin, its internal organs had still taken significant damage. Worse, its artificial arm had lost part of its functionality.

“My words come from your own heart. They’re not lies. These are things you yourself should be fearing. So how come you don’t look bothered by them at all!? You should be a broken mess right now!”

“Well, yeah, it hurts to hear. Having all my biggest fears and the darkest parts of me laid bare like this feels as bad as if someone had read aloud a chronicle of my chuuni years to a live audience.”

Hajime smiled faintly, and his copy grew even more confused.

“Then how can you smile like that!?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I knew all that without you having to tell me.”

He paused there for a second, confirming his own feelings. Then quietly continued, “You’re right that somewhere in the bottom of my heart, I’m terrified of going back home. It’s also true that while Sensei’s words saved me, they weren’t enough to erase that fear. And I know I’ve thought once or twice that… even if Japan rejects me, I’ll always have Yue.”

“Then why aren’t you shaken!? Humans can’t bear to look at their own ugliness. That’s the kind of creature they are! The more they’re forced to confront their own disgusting nature, the more they try to plug their ears, close their eyes, and pretend it doesn’t exist! And if they’re forced to face them even after trying to run from them, they break! That’s just what humans are!”

Hearing that, Hajime chuckled.

“Now where have I heard that before? Never thought someone who’s supposed to be me would take that shit so seriously.”

“……”

Of course, while the copy was a part of Hajime, it was also one of the labyrinth’s trials. And it took its job seriously. It gave Hajime a strong glare, and Hajime shrugged.

“If that’s what the definition of human is, then yeah, I guess I’m not human anymore. Maybe I really am a monster who was born in the abyss.”

“A monster, huh? But—”

The copy trailed off when it saw Hajime’s eyes. They were glowing with a radiant light, yet at the same time were as calm and still as the surface of a lake. His tone matched the look in his eyes and he said quietly but assuredly, “Sure, I might be rejected when I get home. I may not have anywhere to return to now. But even so, I’m going to keep moving forward.”

“By deceiving yourself?”

“You really think this road was such an easy one that I could have traveled this far by deceiving myself?”

Hajime casually dismissed his copy’s argument. Since his copy had Hajime’s memories, it, of course, knew Hajime was right, so it had no choice but to fall silent.

“This is how it’s always been. The opponents I’ve faced haven’t been kind enough to wait for me to solve my problems. No matter what doubts or fears I’ve had, my only choice was to turn my resolve into a weapon and push my way forward.”

That was just the kind of person Hajime Nagumo was. He’d been forced to throw away the part of him that was willing to face his own doubts and fears head-on back in the abyss. But in return, he’d forged a will of iron and gained the ability to set his own feelings aside to focus on overcoming the obstacle at hand.

One could say that was just pure stubbornness on his end. It was by no means a praiseworthy trait. However, it was what had made Hajime strong. And it was that strength that had brought Hajime this far.

The numerous obstacles he’d overcome so far gave him that strength, and that strength bore down on the copy like some invisible force. Gulping, the copy took a step backward.

“Besides,” Hajime added with a smile, “It’s laughable to think the very labyrinths that shaped me are trying to deceive me with words now.”

Hajime drew his weapons, signaling an end to the conversation. Smiling derisively at himself, the copy shook off Hajime’s intimidating aura and said, “Do you really think a monster like you will be able to live a normal life?”

“At the very least, I know there’s plenty of weirdos who like this monster.”

So I’ll be just fine… Hajime knew that if after all his struggles, he was once again forced to face that question, those weirdos would be there to help him.

“Oh yeah, there is one thing you’re wrong about.”

Hajime thought of the first weirdo who’d accepted him, and his glare turned murderous.

“It’s not most. At best it’s .1%.”

“What?”

“You said most of my feelings for Yue stem from my dependence on her. But you’re wrong, only .1% of them do. The remaining 99.9% is all love.” This, too, was just a display of Hajime’s stubbornness. But Hajime had decided to accept his feelings. Never would he feel guilty about what he thought of Yue. In fact, if the day ever came that his fear of being rejected overwhelmed him, he was confident he could tell Yue to her face that he wanted to cling to her for safety. He knew better than anyone that he was far from perfect. But he also knew that he could always rely on his beloved partner to make up for the things he lacked and to help him overcome the worst parts of himself. Because he trusted Yue completely, he could ask her for anything.

The copy could feel the love and trust contained within Hajime’s words and knew they were no lie.

“At least say it’s 10%, you show-off.”

The copy sighed. Since it had Hajime’s personality, it should have been acting more or less like him. But it was also one of the labyrinth’s trials, and that fact colored its thoughts and actions occasionally. Hajime ignored the shift in his copy’s mental state and rushed forward. Once again, both fighters started firing Donner and Schlag at each other from point-blank range.

Like always, they were evenly matched and their attacks canceled each other out. However, slowly but surely, the balance began to shift. Hajime’s bullets, kicks, Cross Bits, chakrams, and elbows were starting to connect more often than his copy’s. He was proving here and now that that elbow from earlier had been no fluke.

“Gah, you’ve surpassed me? Impossible, I didn’t feel myself getting any weaker.”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“This is a trial about overcoming yourself. Every time you overcome your own negative emotions, your copy is supposed to get weaker. But if you avert your gaze from them, they get stronger.”

“Huh, so that’s how this works?”

As they talked, Hajime knocked his copy’s Schlag out of its hands with Donner. It fell to the ground and spun away. Hajime took advantage of the opening and shot Schlag into his copy’s side. Unable to withstand the impact, it staggered backward.

“But you haven’t conquered your emotions. You’ve just stubbornly delayed thinking about them! I would know, since otherwise, I’d be getting weaker! Our combat strength should be equal, so why is it you’re surpassing me!? I’m supposed to be you!”

The copy found it impossible to believe that someone who hadn’t overcome their issues was capable of beating it in combat. Hajime was denying the very theme of the labyrinth itself, and that fact shook the copy to its core. Hajime replied casually, “Technically you’re me from before we started fighting, right?”

“What… gah… do you mean!?”

This time Hajime crushed the copy’s right arm, and Donner along with it. It tried to counter with a shotgun blast from its elbow, but Hajime dodged easily and shot a few more bullets through the copy’s arm, destroying it completely. The fight had turned one-sided. Even though they had the same moves, the same speed, and the same thought processes, Hajime was starting to slowly outpace his copy.

The copy leaped backward and put some distance between them. The two Hajimes faced each other, but they no longer looked identical. The copy was bleeding all over, and its artificial arm no longer functioned.

“You don’t get it? You were created from the data this labyrinth took of me. It probably took that data the moment I entered the maze, or a few minutes before I came to this room. In other words, you’re me from half an hour ago, which means all I had to do was get stronger. That’s all.”

“No way… That’s impossible!”

As impossible as it seemed, that was reality.

“You know, I’m grateful. Thanks to you, I was able to get a good look at my fighting style. I never thought I still had this many bad tics and wasted movements.”

“You mean you fixed all that in the middle of combat!? Impossible!”

The copy understood what Hajime was saying. But it found it unfathomable that anyone could actually do that. It trembled in fear and looked at Hajime as though he were a monster. On the other hand, Hajime just looked disappointed.

“You’re me, so you really shouldn’t deny yourself. Finding a path to survival through the jaws of death is how we’ve always come out alive. If I can just move a little bit faster, draw out a little bit more mana, hit with a little more force, predict even half a move more, then I’ll surpass my enemy. That’s the mindset we’ve always fought with, isn’t it?”

The copy stayed frozen in place for a few seconds, then drooped its shoulders. It then smiled bitterly and surrounded itself with its Cross Bits. It was preparing to fight bare-handed.

“Sheesh. I never thought I’d see the day someone powers their way through this trial with stubbornness alone. If you’d at least tried to deny your feelings, I would have grown strong enough to stand a chance.”

“Don’t be stupid. No matter what you did you wouldn’t have stood a chance. After all, you’re just a fake. I’m going to smash that annoying face of yours to bits.”

“What are you, a masochist?”

Finally, the final round began. The battle was decided in an instant. There was another loud bang, but only one person was blown backward. The copy slumped against the far wall, its lower half blown clean off. Defeated, it started to grow translucent, like a mirage. It no longer had the strength to speak, but it smiled in satisfaction.

With a deep sigh, Hajime finally dropped his stance. But for good measure, he fired another three bullets into the head of the disappearing copy. It spasmed in pain, but before it could protest it turned into particles of light and vanished. Still, Hajime felt as though he heard the words “Learn to read the mood, you monster,” echo through the room.

Holstering Donner and Schlag, Hajime sighed again. Finding nothing else in the room, he walked back over to the ice tree.

“……”

Hajime looked at his reflection, reminded once again of how different he was from the person who’d been summoned away from Japan. He reached out his hand and saw his callused palm reflected back at him. This was the palm that had slaughtered everyone who’d stood in his path. He stared at his face and palm for a few seconds, then balled his fingers into a fist.

“No matter what future’s waiting for me, I won’t stop struggling.”

I can worry about whether I made the right choices or not later… Hajime smiled his usual fearless smile. Suddenly, one part of the ice wall melted away, inviting Hajime to head even deeper into the labyrinth. He turned on his heel and strode forward. Not once did he look back.

The blinding light around Shizuku faded. She quickly glanced around at her surroundings.

“Kaori?”

Kaori had been close enough to touch when they’d entered the gate of light, but she was nowhere to be seen now. Neither was anyone else. Shizuku was alone, at the entrance to a single corridor of ice. We’ll always be alone.

“Ah!”

Chills ran down Shizuku’s spine. She glanced about, searching for the source of the voice. But no matter where she looked, all she saw was herself. She felt her heart squeeze up. How weak can you get? Freaking out the moment you end up alone?

“Nagumo-kun…”

Still, she ended up unconsciously calling out Hajime’s name. That ended up surprising her even more than the fact that she’d gotten so weak. Panicking, she kept telling herself it was just a slip of the tongue and didn’t mean anything.

There was no one else to protect her here. Besides, Shizuku Yaegashi herself was meant to be protecting others, not being protected. That was how it had been all this time. And that was how it would continue to be.

“So I’m fine.”

Shizuku squeezed her eyes shut and slapped her cheeks. She was perhaps a bit too enthusiastic in trying to pep herself up, as her slap echoed loudly down the hallway. Rubbing her swelling cheeks, Shizuku walked down the corridor. Her back was straight, and she was looking aloof and dignified.

I’m fine. I’ll be fine… She told herself that over and over as she gripped the hilt of her katana to calm herself.

“Wait, that’s…”

Finally, she spotted a faint light at the end of the corridor. As she got closer she realized she was looking at a large room with a giant ice tree glowing at its center. At the base of the tree trunk, she spotted a humanoid figure. Thinking it was one of her comrades, Shizuku smiled in relief and sprinted forward. But it wasn’t.

“Welcome, me.”

“Wh-What…”

A shiver ran down her spine, and Shizuku ground to a halt. It wasn’t one of her comrades waiting for her. But it wasn’t a stranger either. It was someone who shouldn’t have existed.

“Why are you here? You’re just supposed to be—”

“A dream?”

The figure grinned at Shizuku, and it felt as though a bucket of cold water had just been poured over her head. Standing in front of her was the “White Shizuku” she’d only seen in her dreams. Her ponytail was pure white, as was her porcelain skin. Even the katana at her waist and the clothes she wore were white. Only her eyes were gleaming a dark crimson.

Shizuku’s nightmare had come to life. Unable to comprehend the reality in front of her, Shizuku took a step back. White Shizuku, which was the copy made by the labyrinth, took a step forward in return. It drew its white katana in one smooth, elegant motion.

“Get it together, me. If you don’t, you’ll be dead before you know it.”

With light steps, the copy dashed forward. It used a combination of No Tempo and Supersonic Step to make its movements unpredictable. To Shizuku, it looked as though it had disappeared.

“Ah!”

Despite her surprise, Shizuku knew to trust in her instincts and experience. Faster than she could think, she grabbed her katana in her left hand and swung it to the right. There was a sharp metallic clang as the two swords collided.

“I see now… This is a trial. A trial to see if I can overcome myself.”

“You need to be faster than that.”

The copy was referring both to Shizuku’s speed of thought, and her movements. As if to prove her point, while Shizuku was focused on pushing her copy’s sword back, it swung at Shizuku with its sheath. However, Shizuku had been prepared for that. After all, purposely diverting an opponent’s attention with the sword while attacking with the sheath was one of her own Yaegashi-style techniques, Swallow’s Gambit. Shizuku pushed off her copy’s blade and backstepped away from the sheath. However—

“Shock Slugger.”

“Gah!”

“I said you needed to be faster,” the copy said with a smile. Shizuku had predicted the attack, but the copy had known she would, and so had added a follow-up attack to that as well. The shockwaves hit Shizuku’s side, and she was launched like a pinball. She hit the ground with a painful thud and rolled across it like a dead fish.

“That’s enough pleasantries. Stop daydreaming.”

Shizuku’s copy sneered. Gritting her teeth, Shizuku got back to her feet and turned to face her copy.

“This is reality. We are both real. Now fight your way past us. Prove that our sharpened blade can overcome even ourselves. If not, we will perish here!”

Once again, the copy used No Tempo and Supersonic Step to close the distance between them. The erratic movements brought on by No Tempo combined with the speed of Supersonic Step made it impossible for most people to follow with the naked eye.

Ignoring the throbbing of her sides, Shizuku activated the same two skills and joined her copy in the world of extreme speed. Sparks danced in the air as the two clashed. The two Shizukus then appeared with their backs facing each other before turning instantly.

“Gale!”

“Hah!”

Shouting simultaneously, they brought their katanas down on each other. Both put everything they had into their swings, trying to find an opening.

After a brief flurry, they once again vanished, then reappeared elsewhere. The process repeated itself over and over, and the air in the room was filled with sparks. Those sparks were reflected a dozen times over by the ceiling, floor, and walls, giving the room the appearance of a world dyed in orange.

Supersonic Step only allowed the user to dash in a straight line, so in order to add even more complexity to their movements, Shizuku and her copy activated Supersonic Step within Supersonic Step. By layering multiple Supersonic Steps on top of each other, they were able to freely change direction and accelerate even faster as well.

The sounds of their clashes and the sparks they created were the only proof that they existed at all; that was how fast they were moving.

The copy slashed diagonally downward, and Shizuku dodged by a hair’s breadth. But an instant later the copy switched grips and swung sideways with her sheath instead. This was another one of the Yaegashi-style techniques, Mountain Tempest. Shizuku blocked that attack with her katana, then stepped forward and aimed an elbow at her copy’s blind spot.

This too was a Yaegashi-style technique, Thunderclap. The moment Shizuku’s elbow sunk into her copy’s stomach, her copy used it as a pivot point to rotate all the way around and launch another lightning-fast sword slash at Shizuku.

That was yet another Yaegashi-style technique, Slipstream. Shizuku dodged her copy’s attack by letting her own momentum carry her forward and adding a jump to speed up. Then she instantly cast multiple Supersonic Steps to get behind her copy and redrew the sword she’s sheathed mid-flight. There was a sharp snick as it cleared the scabbard. Shizuku’s drawing skill was so impressive that her katana moved faster than the eye could follow. It didn’t even leave an afterimage behind. But of course, her copy was just as skilled. It unsheathed its own katana at the same timing and speed as Shizuku’s and the two blades clashed. There was a metallic screech and the shock of the impact ran down the arms of both combatants.

Unfortunately, Shizuku was the one pushed back. Her copy had also had the power of centrifugal force behind her draw, which had been enough to overpower Shizuku. Eyes wild, Shizuku’s copy smiled menacingly and put a hand to its mouth. It then leaped forward with its katana held high. With its spare hand, it pressed its sheath against the back of its blade, forming a cross.

This was one of the Yaegashi-style finishing moves, Helm Splitter. By driving one’s blade into the opponents’ helmet, then following that up by pounding the sheath down on the blade, the user was able to cut through helmet and head in one clean stroke. It was one of the few power techniques in the Yaegashi arsenal. Furthermore, the magic of this fantasy world had given Shizuku the tools needed to bring her gruesome finishing move to the next level.

“Flash Blitz!”

“Ngh… Flash Blitz!”

Only a spatial-magic imbued skill could block another spatial-magic imbued skill. However, Shizuku was off-balance, and she knew better than anyone the power Helm Splitter had even without magic. Even if her Flash Blitz canceled out the spatial magic component of her copy’s Flash Blitz, she’d still get her head split open.

That was why Shizuku unleashed another one of her techniques while fighting back her panic. As their blades clashed, Shizuku desperately deflected the brunt of the attack and quickly reversed the grip on her blade. She then angled her katana to slide her copy’s white katana away from her and slashed upward using her backhanded grip.

This was the Yaegashi-style technique, Blade Reversal. It was meant to be a counter, and Shizuku executed it perfectly. However, her copy was as familiar with her moves as she was and casually dodged the slice by a paper-thin margin. Then, with movements so fluid they pissed Shizuku off, it backflipped away from her.

Shizuku wasted no time in launching a follow-up attack. Watching someone who looked exactly like her fight using her moves annoyed her to no end. She wanted to get this trial over with as soon as possible.

“Oh, are you planning on averting your eyes from the truth again?”

“What’re you—”

That was enough to rattle Shizuku. Her concentration slipped for a moment, and her copy took advantage of that. It slipped underneath Shizuku’s guard and grabbed her arm, then twirled around and executed a perfect Aikido throw.

As her field of vision flipped upside down, Shizuku instinctively crossed her katana and sheath together to guard her head. Her timing was perfect, and she managed to block the copy’s follow-up kick.

That was another one of the Yaegashi-style techniques, Mirror Bolt. First, the user threw the opponent using Aikido, then attacked them while they were trapped mid-air. But even though she blocked the kick, the impact of the blow made Shizuku black out for a second. She barely managed to take a defensive stance as she sailed through the air and rolled across the ground. Vision blurry, she realized the attack had hurt less than the words her copy had hurled at her.

“Pathetic,” her copy scoffed. That one word was as sharp as her katana. Shizuku desperately wanted to argue back, but she was at a loss for words. And she didn’t have the time to find any. Because she was once again thrust in the world of supersonic slices and deadly thrusts. Flashes of white and black clashed over and over, cutting through the air.

When it came to pure swordsmanship skill, no one in the world could match those two. They continued unleashing high-level techniques one after another, struggling to land a deathblow.

But both sides were evenly matched. Or so it seemed at first glance. However, as time passed, an ugly truth reared its head. Every time Shizuku saw her copy’s piercing eyes, memories of the past bubbled up. It was just like the daydream she’d seen in Haltina’s labyrinth. Every one of the memories that surfaced was something she’d locked away deep inside her heart. She thought she’d kept them contained, but now they began to ooze out and pierce her heart like stakes.

Each time she felt the pain of her own memories, it was accompanied by a physical pain as well. Her movements slowed with each stake pierced through her heart, giving her copy openings to cut her. In minutes, Shizuku was covered in small cuts. Her copy was outmaneuvering and overpowering her.

“Haaaaaaaah!” Shizuku was slowly being driven into a corner. Impatience began to dull her movements. She shouted in an attempt to clear her mind and launched a series of hyper-fast attacks, but it wasn’t enough.

“My, you’re getting sloppy.”

Even though she unleashed multiple strikes in less than a second, the copy dodged them all. Not a single one so much as grazed her. To top it off, she even had time to launch a counter after Shizuku messed up one of her attacks. The copy’s figure blurred, and a second later its katana was heading straight for Shizuku’s forehead.

“Ah!?”

Her copy leaned back even as it stepped forward, messing with Shizuku’s sense of perspective. Caught up in the technique, Shizuku hurriedly shook her head and tried to backstep out of the way. She couldn’t dodge the attack completely though, and her copy’s katana scraped her temple.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t be relieved with just that. Her copy had used another Yaegashi-style technique, Mist Piercer. And Shizuku knew it wasn’t over yet.

The reaper’s scythe was still at her throat. Because her panicked dodge had broken her balance, she was in no position to dodge the second and third thrusts that were still to come. So instead—

“Shock Slugger!”

Despite feeling as though her heart had been frozen over, Shizuku slammed the ground with her sheath and activated Shock Slugger before her copy’s second thrust reached her. Pulverized shards of ice shot toward it, serving as a makeshift buckshot. The copy used its momentum to execute a turn, and danced past Shizuku. Its white ponytail fluttered elegantly in the breeze as it passed.

At the same time, Shizuku stepped away, putting some distance between her and her copy. It nonchalantly returned its katana to its sheath and sneered at Shizuku.

“Thank god you have that gift he gave you. If not for that, you would have died seven times over.”

“Haaah… Haaah…” Shizuku didn’t rise to her copy’s taunt. Panting heavily, she observed her opponent in silence. However, her expression was clearly pained. Were her injuries finally getting to her? Or was she frustrated her sword couldn’t reach her opponent? Or was she in pain because her copy’s words were cutting her to ribbons?

The copy’s sneer grew wider, to the point where it was hard to imagine the real Shizuku ever making a face like that. It thrust Shizuku’s shortcomings and negative emotions before her, its words dripping with venom.

“Hey, does it hurt? Are you scared? Do you feel like crying? Go ahead, no need to hide it. I’m you, so I already know everything about you. Everything.”

Only fifteen minutes had passed since the start of the fight. That had been all it had taken for Shizuku to end up a bloody, sweaty mess. Blood dripped from her temple, down her cheek, and onto the floor, a symbol of just how badly Shizuku was faring.

On the other hand, her copy was completely unhurt. There wasn’t even a speck of dust or ice on its clothes. The beautiful, all-knowing copy of Shizuku hurled more painful truths at her.

“You never even wanted to learn swordsmanship, did you? You loved frilly western dresses a lot more than stiff Japanese clothes. You never wanted a practice sword. All you wanted were cute dolls and pretty accessories!”

“Shut up.”

Shizuku had been four when her grandfather had put a wooden sword in her hands. He had been the head of the Yaegashi dojo at the time, and he’d really just done it as a joke. But even at the tender age of four, Shizuku’s talent with the sword had been noticeable.

“That’s amazing, Shizuku! You might just be a genius!”

That was the only time Shizuku could remember her grandfather had smiled. Even now, Shizuku remembered the way he’d beamed and ruffled her hair.

That was why she’d taken up the sword. She made kendo and swordsmanship a part of her life. Her grandfather, father, and all the other people in the dojo praised her to no end. But even as a child, she knew they were placing their expectations on her, so she gave it her all. She trained hard, without once complaining. But in truth—

“When Kouki first came to your dojo, you thought a prince had come to sweep you off your feet, didn’t you? What did he say back then? Oh yeah, ‘I’ll protect you, Shizuku-chan!’ When he said that, you thought he was like a knight out of some fairy tale. You were so sure he’d treat you like the girl you wanted to be. He’d protect you. He’d take care of you. That was what you believed. But well, you know what happened.”

“Shut up.”

Gritting her teeth, Shizuku shot forward and drew her katana. She lashed out with a lightning-fast Flash Blitz, intent on cutting her copy in half. But naturally, her copy countered with the same move, and their blades clashed once more.

Unwilling to give up, Shizuku pushed forward with a series of cuts. Overhand, diagonal, backhanded, underhand, horizontal, she used every technique in her arsenal. But every single one was sidestepped, parried, or blocked. And the moment she showed even the slightest opening, her copy nicked her again. Shizuku backed off, dripping with blood. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

“But in the end, all Kouki brought us was jealousy. Since elementary school, he’s been kind and always done what’s right. All the girls loved him. So of course they couldn’t stand it when he chose to hang out with us instead. We had short hair, wore plain clothes, and the only topic we could talk about was swordsmanship. There wasn’t a single girly thing about us.”

Even though she was in the middle of a life-or-death struggle, the only thing Shizuku could think about was those memories from elementary school. Back then, she’d kept her hair short and only worn boring clothes. Sure, she was still pretty, but nothing about her could have been called girly.

Naturally, the other girls weren’t going to stay quiet when Kouki decided to hang out with someone like her, and it was precisely because they were kids that they could be cruel. Reliving those bitter memories caused Shizuku to slip up again, and her copy got another cut on her. The pain of that cut dredged up yet another painful memory.

“That’s right. You still remember those words, don’t you? Those words that girl who loved Kouki told you.”

Stop it! But Shizuku’s copy was an expression of her own heart, and it wasn’t done tormenting her yet.

“You were a girl?”

“That was a real shock, wasn’t it?”

“Not another word!”

Shizuku would never forget those words. Despite how she looked and acted, Shizuku was still a girl. She’d been unbelievably hurt when she’d heard those words. Even though she’d wanted so bad to make other female friends, she hadn’t been able to.

That had been the first time she’d wished someone else would protect her. That was how shocking those words had been. And so she’d turned to Kouki, the one boy who’d promised to protect her. But all Kouki had said was, “I’m sure they didn’t mean any harm. They’re all good girls, so we can work things out if we just talk to them.”

By that time, Kouki had already convinced himself that all people were fundamentally good. Understanding the subtleties of a girl’s fragile heart was beyond him.

Naturally, the ally of justice Kouki had gone to settle things with the girls. And naturally, that had only made things worse for Shizuku. The only thing that had changed was the other girls started being more crafty to keep Kouki from catching on. After that, no matter how many times Shizuku went to Kouki for help, to him it was already a settled matter. He would just give her a troubled smile, and over time Shizuku came to stop relying on Kouki.

She kept going like that for a few years. Had she not met Kaori in fourth grade, she shuddered to think what might have become of her. It was quite possible she would have given up on living if not for Kaori.

“You never really wanted to do swordsmanship, but you were afraid of betraying your family’s expectations, so you couldn’t give it up. Kouki was the reason for all of your suffering, but you couldn’t bring yourself to push away your oblivious childhood friend… At the end of the day, you’re just an indecisive, half-assed girl.”

“That’s not… Ah!?”

By the time Shizuku realized it, it was too late. Her copy’s white katana had cut through the tether of gravity holding her to the floor. As she was assailed by weightlessness, her copy swung its sheath at her. It was planning to hit her with another Shock Slugger.

Shockwaves of white mana radiated out from the sheath, and the copy hit Shizuku so hard she nearly lost consciousness. The attack blew her away, sending her bouncing across the ground. She slid another few meters after that before coming to a stop.

“Cough… Cough…” Shizuku coughed up droplets of blood. Her ribs were on fire. At least two or three of them had been broken from that attack. Her internal organs weren’t in great shape either.

Tears blurring her vision, Shizuku desperately tried to keep herself from drifting off into unconsciousness. She didn’t even have the strength to stand, and could only listen helplessly as her copy’s footsteps drew close.

Sensing her impending death, Shizuku struggled to get up. But her stamina was drained, and she could barely move.

The copy leaned close to Shizuku and grinned devilishly. In a kind voice, it whispered, “You don’t have to get back up, you know? If you just give up here, I’ll let you live. You don’t have to always be the one working hard. Let someone else handle things for a change. They’ll manage. Now sleep.”

“What do you…”

“It’s a simple choice. Give up and sleep. Or keep struggling and die a painful death.”

The copy was confident Shizuku would never beat it. And if Shizuku refused to surrender, it wouldn’t hesitate to cut her to pieces. As if to prove its point, the copy grinned evilly and thrust its katana toward Shizuku. Shizuku’s blood was still dripping from its edge, reminding her that the white katana in front of her really might be what kills her. The red of her blood contrasted starkly with the pure white of her copy’s blade.

With each drop that fell to the ice below, Shizuku could feel more of her own life slowly bleeding away. Still doubled over in pain, Shizuku paled. But in the next instant, she glared at her copy and struggled to get up. Despite the fact that she was coughing up blood, she somehow managed to rise to her knees.

“Gaaaaaaaah!”

“Yes, of course. We would get back up.”

Narrowing its eyes, the copy swung its katana down at Shizuku. Still on her knees, Shizuku raised her katana to block. At the same time—

“Soar – Severance!”

She used one of her repulsion skills to blow the copy away and get herself some space. Her copy did a lithe somersault in midair and gracefully landed back on its feet. Meanwhile, Shizuku slowly rose to a standing position.

“Quit yapping. I’m not here to listen to all of your bullshit. And your psychological warfare tactics won’t work on me.”

“Psychological warfare, huh? You realize these are your own emotions, right? I can’t believe even at this age you’re still so stubborn, using force to get things to go your way. And you’re always taking care of other people… even though you’re the one who wishes someone would take care of you…”

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut up!?”

Shizuku charged forward, her usual composure nowhere to be seen. She had no strategy in mind. She just wanted to force her opponent to shut up. And as a result, her swing was sloppy.

The copies the labyrinth created were reflections of the challengers’ hearts. If the challengers averted their eyes from their true feelings, the copies grew stronger. On the other hand, if the challengers accepted their emotions and inner turmoil, then the copies grew weaker. But right now, Shizuku was undoubtedly doing the former. So naturally, her copy was growing stronger. Blocking Shizuku’s sluggish cuts was mere child’s play for it as it was now. Shizuku’s copy easily blocked her desperate attack and struck back with a powerful technique.

Shizuku was already suffering from blood loss, multiple broken ribs, and damaged internal organs, so she had no hope of dodging. She suffered yet another injury, which caused her to grow more impatient, which in turn caused her movements to become even slower. She was stuck in a fatal negative feedback loop.

“That was how it was when you first came to this world too. Really, you were scared. You were terrified of fighting demons like Ishtar wanted. The night after you killed your first monster, you cried where no one would find you. The sensation of cutting through flesh wouldn’t leave you, and it felt like no matter how many times you washed your hands, there was still blood on them.”

“Shaaaa!” Shizuku let out a war cry as she swung, trying to block out her copy’s words. But her actions only proved that she was rejecting her own feelings, thus making her copy even stronger. It easily blocked her attack and countered with another barrage of pointed words.

“Back when Nagumo-kun fell into the abyss, if you hadn’t focused all your efforts on consoling Kaori, you know you would have been crushed by the fear of death. Ever since that day, you’ve been afraid of dying, and you’ve been afraid of killing… You’ve been ruled by terror.”

“Agh!?”

Shizuku’s copy hit her with a Thunder Blossom, and the jolt of electricity called Shizuku to stiffen up. While she was stunned, the copy’s white katana slid past her throat. Blood spurted out, dyeing the blade red. That last attack had just barely missed Shizuku’s carotid artery. But it had been a pure fluke that she’d been able to dodge it at all. Her stiffened muscles hadn’t been able to support her, and she’d slid to the ground. That was the only thing that had saved her from instant death.

Shizuku clapped her hand to her neck, but blood continued spilling between her fingers. Even if the cut had missed her artery, neck wounds bled a great deal.

The fear of death washed over Shizuku, and she nearly drowned in despair. Though she did her best to remain composed, the hand holding her katana started shaking.

Her copy looked disdainfully down at her. This time it decided to hit Shizuku in her most sensitive spot. Her Achilles heel. It said coldly, “Hey. You were really happy back then, weren’t you?”

“Huh?”

Still holding her neck, Shizuku looked up in confusion.

“When Nagumo-kun came to save you. I know, since I’m you. That was the most dramatic moment of our lives, after all.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“In that desperate situation… you’d completely given up. You’d accepted the unreasonable death waiting for you. You didn’t believe there was anyone out there who’d gallantly jump in to save you anymore. So when he’d jumped in and overwhelmed the enemies that had given you so much trouble, you were smitten. His crimson mana and broad back had you completely captivated.”

“N-No, I—”

This was the one thing Shizuku couldn’t bring herself to accept. Something horrible would happen if she did, so of course she tried to object. But of course, her objections were meaningless against a copy of her own heart.

“It was the same when Kaori was killed. If you weren’t aware of it yourself then, I’ll spell it out for you. For the first time since coming to this world, you’d clung to something other than yourself. You’d clung to Nagumo-kun. He’d told you to believe in him and wait. And unlike everyone else, he kept his promise. Just like you believed, he saved your best friend and your own heart. After that moment, you desperately tried to hide your feelings from yourself… but you can’t deceive yourself any longer.”

“No, stop. I don’t…”

Shizuku had lost all will to fight. She no longer had that aloof, intimidating aura around her either. All she could do was shake her head in denial like a child. She couldn’t even put up a facade of strength. The walls that had protected her heart crumbled like an eggshell. After laying her heart bare, her copy mercilessly stung her with the words she couldn’t bear to hear.

“You and I… We love Nagumo-kun.”

“Ah…”

Shizuku trailed off, unable to speak. She was still shaking her head, causing more blood to spill out of her neck. But her thoughts were in too much turmoil for her to notice that. These were the only feelings she absolutely refused to accept. Because she knew she wasn’t allowed to have them.

If she admitted she loved Hajime, that would be the same as betraying Kaori. She’d been so mentally cornered that she couldn’t even argue back, but her copy wasn’t done with her yet. It offered one last remark, like a funeral prayer.

“You fell in love with your best friend’s crush. You traitor.”

“……”

Shizuku crumpled to her knees. Her spirit was shattered. She no longer had any will left to resist at all. That was how damning those words had been.

For most people, regulating their emotions was impossibly difficult. Those who could control them completely were abnormal. Naturally, emotions such as love were no different. In fact, they were even harder to control because they had no logical basis. Which was why even if Shizuku did fall in love with the same person Kaori did, that alone could hardly be called a betrayal.

However, her copy, or in other words a manifestation of her own negative emotions, had claimed it was betrayal. And that meant Shizuku’s naturally serious disposition had trapped her into thinking it really was. It was because she was so thankful to Kaori for sticking with her through the worst times of her life that anything even remotely resembling betrayal pained her so.

She cared so much for Kaori that even liking Hajime felt like something unforgivable to her. Especially because she’d already shown Hajime so many sides of her that she hadn’t intended to. Her genuine smile, her pathetic crying face as she clung to him begging for help, the pouty look she normally reserved for Kaori, her relieved sleeping face, her spaced out face… The fact that she’d done all that without telling Kaori made her feel even more guilty about it.

“What’s worse, you even attacked Shea. Do you want to know why? Why neither Kaori nor Yue, but Shea?”

“I…”

“The answer’s simple. It’s because you were jealous of Shea. You knew you stood no chance against Yue from the beginning. Even if you attacked her, you’d just be destroyed. And of course you’d never want to direct your jealousy at Kaori. So you picked Shea because she was the easiest to be jealous of. After all, she’d just been accepted as Hajime’s lover. What a cowardly woman.”

“……”

Shizuku could no longer avert her eyes from the truth. The enemy standing before her wouldn’t allow it. No matter how she tried to argue against her copy’s barbed words, she was shot down. The strength drained from her limbs, while her copy continued to grow in power.

It dashed forward, using No Tempo to make its movements unpredictable. Shizuku didn’t bother to react. Though even if she’d had any fighting spirit left, she wouldn’t have been able to react to such fast movements. The copy’s kick hit Shizuku squarely in the stomach, and she flew into the air.

“Agh!?”

Screaming in pain, she flew in a wide arc. A torrent of cuts rained down on her. Shizuku instinctively raised her katana to defend herself, but she was too exhausted to guard against them all.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!?”

Her body was riddled with gashes. Her copy then slammed down on her with its sheath. Feeling as though she’d just been hit by a dump truck, Shizuku flew backward into the wall behind her. The force of the impact crushed the ice around her. The air was driven from her lungs, and it felt as though all the bones in her body shattered. Everything hurt, and her body was at its limits.

Shizuku slid limply to the ground, her back resting against the broken wall. Blood pooled all around her, creating a puddle in the floor. She already looked dead.

Vision blurry, she looked up to see her copy walking over to her. She couldn’t move a muscle. And the mental damage she’d suffered had drained her of the will to even try.

“Looks like this is the end of your pathetic life. The whole time you willingly kept drawing the short straw. This only happened because you were stupid enough to keep denying yourself the things you wanted.”

Shizuku couldn’t answer. She didn’t have the strength to. However, a faint flicker of fear lit up within her eyes.

“Any last words? I’ll carve them into the ice for you. All of these spaces are connected, so if you’re lucky, maybe someone else will clear their trial and come here to see your last will.”

“……” Shizuku said nothing. But a single tear rolled down her cheek. The tiny bead of light fell down her chin and created a small stain on her lap.

Shizuku couldn’t tell why she was crying. Was she afraid of dying? Despairing that her future had been stolen from her? Frustrated that she hadn’t been able to argue back? Sad because she’d never see her friends and family again? Or all of those reasons combined?

Shizuku’s copy looked down at her and silently pulled back its katana. It held the other hand holding its sheath forward as if drawing an imaginary bow. The point of its katana was aimed directly at Shizuku’s head. The white katana was every bit as sharp as Shizuku’s black one. Meaning piercing a human skull was a simple matter for it. Shizuku would die instantly, without feeling pain. That was the final mercy her copy was willing to afford her.

Bloodlust started radiating from Shizuku’s copy. It was time to deal the finishing blow. But the moment Shizuku saw her death readying itself in front of her, something welled up within her. She opened her mouth, and without caring about appearances, muttered her true feelings.

“I… don’t want to die… yet…”

“……”

For once, those weren’t words she’d said for someone else’s sake. They were her true, honest feelings.

She didn’t want to die yet. She wanted to see her comrades, her family, and her best friend again. She wanted to see the man she’d fallen in love with again. But she could no longer stand on her own. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Which was why—

“Save me… Someone please… save me…”

She begged to be rescued, crying like a baby. Her whole life, Shizuku had been relied on, clung to, and asked favors of. And her whole life, she’d answered everyone’s expectations. No matter how much it pained her she’d always smiled and said, “Don’t worry, leave it to me.”

This was the first time she’d cried, the first time she’d actually asked someone else to save her. But she couldn’t keep going on her own.

She’d always wanted to be the princess who others protected, but because everyone had relied on her, she’d kept polishing her skills until she’d become the knight who protects others.

Little wonder she’d ended up playing that role in her last year of high school. Shizuku knew her best friend had gotten angry on her behalf. But even so, she hadn’t been able to change herself. And in time, she’d gotten so used to being the one to draw the short straw that she’d come to accept it as natural. But in truth, she still—

“What a shame. It’s too late now. You should have said those words ages ago.”

At the very end, she’d been able to be honest with herself, but her copy was merciless. It lowered its stance and thrust its katana forward.

Shizuku squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the razor-sharp blade to pierce her brain.

……

……

……

“Impossible…”

The death she was waiting for never came. When she’d shut her eyes, Shizuku had felt the wall at her back vanish, but right now she was more interested in why her copy sounded so shocked. Timidly, Shizuku opened her eyes. The first thing her eyes saw was—

“H-Huh?”

“Jeez, I can’t believe it’d send me here at just the right time. Was the labyrinth aiming for this or something?”

Her copy’s white blade, millimeters from her face. And holding onto it was a familiar mechanical arm. That mechanical arm was what had stopped the copy’s blade from running Shizuku through. Shizuku’s eyes went wide, and she looked over her shoulder. It was him.

“N-Nagumo-kun?”

The boy she’d fallen in love with. The one she always dreamed of when on the verge of death. It was unbelievable, but also somehow natural. Hajime’s appearance wasn’t just a delusion. The wall at Shizuku’s back had vanished, revealing a passageway. It was from that passageway that Hajime had appeared. It was also his hand that was holding Shizuku up. Still, Shizuku couldn’t bring herself to believe it. She stared blankly at Hajime, whose face was inches from her own.

“Tch, you look dead.”

Hajime looked down at Shizuku with a frown, then shot her copy a bestial glare. Shivering, the copy tried to retreat to safety, but before it could move, crimson sparks ran down Hajime’s prosthetic arm. A second later, there was a high-pitched whirring, and his arm started vibrating at a high frequency.

“You little—”

The copy hurriedly tried to pull the blade out of Hajime’s grip with all its might, but its decision came too late. Faced with the full might of Hajime’s oscillation, the copy’s katana started to crack. With a metallic screech, Hajime crushed part of the blade, snapping it in half. Then, he pointed his prosthetic limb at the copy. With a faint whirring, a panel in his palm slid back to reveal a dark grey muzzle.

“You get out of here for a bit.”

“Ah!”

The copy’s expression stiffened. A second later, an explosive slug shot out of Hajime’s hand and slammed into the copy’s stomach. Crimson shockwaves spread out from the point of impact, and the copy was sent flying. Hajime then summoned a few Cross Bits from his Treasure Trove and sent them after it. He had no intention of killing Shizuku’s copy, but he did need to buy some time. The seven Cross Bits worked in perfect coordination, keeping the copy occupied.

As the sounds of battle grew further away, Shizuku turned around and examined Hajime’s face properly. She still couldn’t believe this was real. Blood loss had made her thoughts dull, and some part of her kept telling her she wasn’t worthy of a miracle like this.

If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up… Shizuku was terrified of waking up to find a world without Hajime. While she was thinking to herself, Hajime pulled a test tube out of his Treasure Trove. He ripped the cap off with his teeth and poured its contents into Shizuku’s mouth.

“Mmmpf!?”

“Don’t spit it out. You better drink it all.”

Surprised at the foreign liquid that was suddenly filling her mouth, Shizuku instinctively started to gag. However, Hajime put his hands around Shizuku and held her in place, forcing her to drink. He absolutely would not let her spit this out. It was one of his precious few remaining vials of Ambrosia. Hajime was going to make her drink this even if he had to shove it down her throat with his bare hands. He glared harshly down at Shizuku, and her protests grew weaker. In fact, she stiffened up completely. Not only had Hajime just hugged her, but his face was also close enough to kiss if there wasn’t a vial in her mouth. Shizuku could feel his warmth, and that calmed her.

She obediently swallowed the vial’s contents and stared intently at Hajime’s face. She looked like a baby drinking from a bottle. But she was too busy drowning in Hajime’s eyes to be worried about how she looked. She wouldn’t look away, not even for a second. She wanted to keep staring into those eyes forever.

Eventually, she downed the vial’s contents, and her wounds vanished as though they’d never existed. Unfortunately, the Ambrosia couldn’t replace the blood she’d lost, so she was still weak. However, she was now lucid enough to realize this was indeed reality, and that if Hajime had come another second later, she would have died.

“Is it really you, Nagumo-kun?”

“Do I look like anyone else?”

“B-But why… How are you here? I thought I…”

“Calm down. After I cleared my trial, I started going down the passage that appeared, and ended up here.”

“Th-Then you really…”

The tears that had stopped before once again started spilling down Shizuku’s face. But this time, they were tears of relief. Hajime was taken aback. This was the first time he’d seen Shizuku cry. He was so stunned that he didn’t even react when Shizuku reached out to touch his face. She looked up at him as though he were the only thing in the world, and tried to touch him to confirm he was really there. But the moment before her fingertips brushed his cheeks, she trembled, then stopped. Expression twisting in pain, Shizuku pulled her hand back. Then, realizing being hugged was something she couldn’t allow, she pushed Hajime off of her. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and looked away.

Hajime guessed Shizuku’s strange behavior was a result of what her copy had done to her and smiled knowingly. He turned to see that the copy had already regenerated its katana, and was starting to beat back his Cross Bits.

“Alright, your wounds are all healed up. It’s time for your revenge match. Go beat that fake up.”

“Ah. B-But I… can’t beat her, so…” Shizuku gave Hajime an imploring look, knowing she sounded like she was whining.

Oh god she didn’t just get beat up by her copy, she had her heart completely shattered! Hajime looked up at the ceiling in resignation. He’d always thought Shizuku was the strongest out of Kouki’s party, but it seemed he’d been mistaken.

Shizuku’s copy had started weaving through Hajime’s Cross Bits and was steadily closing the distance between it and Shizuku. Hajime knew there was no point in clearing Shizuku’s trial for her, so he’d set his Cross Bits to move in a somewhat predictable pattern, but he hadn’t expected the copy to see through it so quickly.

He looked back at Shizuku, and she was clearly cowering away from her copy. Seeing her curled up in a ball like this, Hajime narrowed his eyes.

This isn’t like her. This isn’t like her at all. But maybe this is who she really is… Hajime scratched his head awkwardly, then gave Shizuku a serious look.

“N-Nagumo-kun? Umm, she’s getting closer…”

“Yaegashi. Don’t worry.”

“Huh?”

Shizuku could feel the blood rising to her face as she met Hajime’s gaze. That serious look was enough to make her melt and forget all about how scared she was of her copy. Now that she’d had the truth thrust in her face, she couldn’t help but notice how much she liked Hajime. Even though she knew these feelings of hers were a betrayal, she couldn’t help but feel excited.

Hajime ignored the oddities in Shizuku’s reaction and pulled something out of his Treasure Trove.

“Here, take this. I made this Pink Mask Mk. II for you. It’ll keep you safe.”

“…Nagumo-kun?”

Seeing that mask was enough to make Shizuku forget how infatuated she was with Hajime, and how badly she’d just been beaten up. She glared at Hajime, and even her copy was so stunned by this turn of events that it stopped advancing toward Shizuku.

However, Hajime remained completely serious. He pushed the needlessly elaborate full-face pink mask onto Shizuku. Then, he smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

“Nagumo-kun! This isn’t the time to be messing around! She’ll be here any second!”

“How rude. I’m not messing around. Listen up, I’ve used sublimation magic on everything I’ve made, including this pink mask. Listen and be amazed. Putting this on will triple your reflexes and perception. With this, you’ll be able to beat your copy.”

“Wh-Why did you make it so strong?”

“You love cute things like this, right? Go on, take it. After all, you’re the only one fit to wear this pink mask, Yaegashi—”

“I don’t need it! I can win even without that embarrassing piece of crap! Hell, I’d rather fight to the death than wear that thing! I don’t ever want to be treated like a weirdo again!”

Shizuku vehemently pushed the mask back into Hajime’s hands, then rubbed her temples in frustration. Her exasperated expression and mannerisms were just like her old self.

Hajime grinned at the revived Shizuku and tossed the Pink Mask Mk. II back into his Treasure Trove. Shizuku gave him a blank look and he said, “That’s exactly right. You can win even without this.”

“I-I…”

Realizing she’d been had, Shizuku grimaced. Ignoring her reaction, Hajime added, “You have to remember, Yaegashi. That fake might be a part of you, but it’s not all of you. It’s just a Frankenstein monster of all your worst traits. The Shizuku Yaegashi in front of me is the one who has all the parts that really matter. Right?”

“I have all the parts that really matter…”

With that, other memories surfaced in Shizuku’s mind. She remembered how every time she’d achieved something, her family had been there celebrating wholeheartedly for her. She remembered the joy she’d felt at helping people in need. She remembered how grateful the people she’d saved had been. She remembered the fun times she’d spent with Kouki and the others. She remembered the time she first met Kaori. All of those moments were irreplaceable, unforgettable memories too.

Her life hadn’t been all hardship. There had been good things too. The smiles she’d given others hadn’t all been lies.

How could I have forgotten about all of this until now? The answer was simple. The whispers the party been hearing since entering the maze had been manipulating them to forget. It felt as though a ray of light had opened up in the dark clouds that had been covering Shizuku’s heart. More and more continued opening up until the dark clouds had receded entirely, and she was bathed in sunlight.

Determination burned anew in Shizuku’s eyes. And that determination gave her strength.

“The fact that your copy’s words got to you is proof that you’re trying to overcome yourself. Only failures try to power through with pure stubbornness… Anyway, you take things too seriously. You’ve gotta learn to loosen up sometimes. Remember, as long as you’re alive, you can always find a way to make things work out.”

“Nagumo-kun…”

“Just so you know, I’m one of those failures that powered through with pure stubbornness,” Hajime added with a self-deprecating shrug. He then started recalling his Cross Bits. They’d bought enough time.

Sensing Shizuku’s gaze on him, Hajime got to his feet and leaned against the wall, folding his arms. He then faced Shizuku properly and told her the words she wanted to hear most, though of course he didn’t know that.

“I’ll be watching over you.”

“Ah…”

“You can keep trying as many times as it takes to win. As long as I’m here, you won’t die at least. I won’t let you. Don’t worry.”

“And that’s why I fell for you…” Shizuku muttered those words so quietly even she didn’t hear them. Naturally, neither did Hajime. But Shizuku couldn’t help but wonder what kind of expression he might have made if he had. Knowing him, he’d probably just look annoyed… Shizuku thought to herself with a grin.

This must have been how Aiko-sensei and Liliana felt too. Something’s gotta be wrong with us if we all fell for the same taciturn, insensitive guy… Shizuku got to her feet, her body feeling lighter than ever before. She then hugged the black katana Hajime had given her close to her chest. After taking a moment to prepare herself, she turned to her copy, her expression cool and aloof.

As she stared down her nemesis, Shizuku asked Hajime quietly, without turning around, “You promise you’ll watch over me?”

“Yeah.”

“And if the time comes, protect me?”

“Yeah.”

“And if I feel like I can’t go on anymore, you’ll help me get back on my feet?”

“Guess I’ll have to.”

Shizuku smiled faintly. Spring had come, and it was time for the ice to thaw. Her broken spirit reignited, bright and soft as the sun, but as unyielding as iron.

Shizuku took a deep breath. Her chest welled up with emotions she couldn’t express in words. So she trusted the tone of her voice to express them instead and simply said, “I’ll be going then.”

“Go for it. I’ll be waiting.”

Shizuku’s wounds had been healed, but she was still dizzy from blood loss. Honestly, she was having a hard time standing. Despite that, her footsteps were far surer than they’d been when she’d first stepped into this room. She faced off against her copy. It was waiting silently for her, its katana sheathed.

“I can’t believe you’d start flirting in front of the enemy. I have to say, you’ve got some nerve.”

“Really? Well, you can thank Nagumo-kun for that. Also, we weren’t flirting. Though I do wish we were.”

“Oh my, so you’re going to betray your best friend after all? Not only that, you’re going to turn her into your rival…”

“Let’s stop the pointless chitchat. There’s no point in asking the same questions over and over. I’m going to get out of this alive and see Kaori again. Once I do, I can figure out where I want to go from there.”

“……”

Seeing how unfazed Shizuku was, her copy fell silent. At the same time, it noticed its power was waning, meaning Shizuku had finally accepted the feelings she’d tried to lock away.

“Maybe we’ll fight, maybe Kaori’ll be shocked speechless. Maybe she’ll hate me. But—”

Actually, how would things go? After all, Kaori’s the one who kept telling me to be more selfish. She’s the one who said she’d love nothing more than to see me be more honest with myself. Now that I think about it, I thought I was protecting her this whole time, but maybe she was the one protecting me. She really did have the right idea about who should play what roles back during that play.

Shizuku’s heart felt lighter as she remembered her best friend’s gentle smile. She could almost feel Kaori pushing her forward.

“I won’t give up. I’ll find a way to get the things I want. Even if I have to fight you over and over, I won’t give up.”

Shizuku wouldn’t compromise anymore. She’d treasure her best friend’s feelings and her own. But in order to do that—

“In the end, that means you’ll have to keep fighting.”

“That’s right,” Shizuku said with a nod, “But you know,” she added with an awkward smile, “It’s true that I suppressed parts of myself this whole time, but those experiences taught me a lot. And I gained so many irreplaceable things because of it.”

If she’d chosen not to fight at all, if she’d chosen to become nothing more than a sheltered princess, she wouldn’t be where she was now. Of course, she still admired that kind of lifestyle. But she didn’t need it anymore. She wouldn’t doubt herself again. After all—

“Even if I have to keep fighting, there’s someone way stronger than me who’ll protect me.”

Shizuku’s copy sighed in exasperation and shook its head.

“You know he’s only protecting you because you’re an important friend of Kaori’s, right? That’s all.”

“That’s fine. For now, anyway.”

Shizuku breathed out and dropped into an Iaido stance.

“I don’t have much strength left, so I’m going to bet it all on this one attack. Let’s see if you can withstand it.”

Unlike when she’d been fighting earlier, Shizuku’s spirit was as sharp as her blade. But it was also true that she only had enough physical and mental strength left for one big attack. It was an all-or-nothing gamble.

“Fufu. I applaud your determination. But I have to say, he always finds a way to show up at just the right time. He’s there when you need him, where you need him… I thought people like him only existed in fairy tales.”

The copy smiled bitterly. Indeed, Hajime had shown up at just the right time and had said all the right things to get Shizuku back on her feet again. Since the copy was a mirror of Shizuku’s own heart, those thoughts were ones Shizuku herself had pondered.

The copy dropped into a stance identical to Shizuku’s and prepared to draw its katana. Both of them prepared to unleash their final attacks. Their willpower alone was sharp enough to cut through each other. The cold air trembled between them.

Shizuku’s heart felt as calm and still as a spring in the deep forest. The reassuring presence behind her filled her with strength. She knew Hajime was watching over her. And she believed that even if the worst were to happen, he’d protect her. Shizuku and her copy dashed forward simultaneously.

“Hmph!”

“Haaaah!”

Shizuku and her copy clashed, their ponytails splaying out behind them. This time there were no sparks, no sounds of metal hitting metal. The two passed each other quietly and stood there with their backs to each other.

A second passed. There was a faint whoosh, and Shizuku’s ponytail came undone. Her hair tie fluttered to the ground in two pieces. Proof that her copy had cut it. However, it was Shizuku who still had the strength left to return her katana to her scabbard. Her hilt made a satisfying clink as it hit the sheath.

At the same time, her copy staggered. The top half of its body slid off its bottom half, and it vanished in a puff of light. As it faded away, Shizuku could have sworn it smiled in satisfaction.

“Ah…”

A second later Shizuku’s legs gave out underneath her. Now that the adrenaline rush was gone, she no longer had the strength left to stand. But she never hit the ground.

“Nice job. Your swordsmanship’s as amazing as always.”

“Nagumo-kun… Fufu, it’s fine if you fall for me, you know?”

“In your dreams.”

“Alas, what a shame.”

Hajime gently laid Shizuku onto the ground. As the two were joking around, a third passageway, separate from the ones Shizuku and Hajime had come from, appeared in the wall.

“Yaegashi, can you walk?”

“It seems not. I think I need to rest for a bit. Actually, that won’t fix the blood loss, so unless you’ve got restoration magic handy, I don’t think I’ll be able to move for a while…”

Shizuku stroked her chin thoughtfully, then reached out to Hajime with both arms.

“So if you would be so kind, Nagumo-kun.”

“Huh?”

“Carry me.”

“Yaegashi, is it just me or did your personality change? I feel like you suddenly got a lot more shameless.”

Hajime hadn’t expected Shizuku of all people to ask to be carried. Giggling, she brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

“I’ve decided to be more honest with myself. Anyway, don’t we need to hurry and meet up with the others? Oh, I know. If you don’t want to carry me, how about making an artifact imbued with restoration magic? I know the katana you gave me is enchanted with a little, but it’s not enough.”

Confused by Shizuku’s sudden change, Hajime nevertheless decided to comply with Shizuku’s request. There was no telling what as going on with Yue and the others, so it was probably best to hurry. As he started pulling materials out of his Treasure Trove, Shizuku tacked on another request.

“Could you make it a hair ornament? As you can see, my hair tie’s snapped. Oh, and make it cute. I want something like those crystals you gave Yue and the others.”

“You sure are demanding. I know I said you needed to loosen up, but I wasn’t expecting this.”

Well I guess it can be her reward for clearing the trial. Hajime thought absently to himself and started transmuting.

Red sparks ran down his arms, and he fashioned a hair clip for Shizuku. The design on the clip was one of numerous leaves dancing gently in the morning mist. He’d crafted it out of a pearl-like ore that had a high affinity to magic, so the clip glowed faintly in the room’s dim light.

“It’s so pretty…”

“There you go. Good enough, right? Put it on and let’s go.”

Hajime had made the hair clip in under a minute and it was by no means a masterpiece, but Shizuku was captivated by it. He threw it carelessly to her and got to his feet. Holding in the desire to stare at it forever, Shizuku bunched her hair up into a ponytail and put the hairclip on.

“What do you think?”

Blushing slightly, she looked up at Hajime. Okay, yeah, there’s definitely something strange about how Yaegashi’s acting.

“It’s nowhere near as good as actual restoration magic, but it should be able to heal you.”

“That’s not what I was asking.”

Of course, Hajime knew what she was actually asking. But right now, he was getting a dangerous sense of déjà vu. Shizuku looked exactly like how Aiko had back when he’d saved her from the church. His instincts were screaming at him to change the topic fast.

Sighing at Hajime’s feigned denseness, Shizuku shrugged her shoulders and once again reached out to Hajime with both arms. It was a silent appeal to be carried. One way or another, she’d get Hajime to carry her. And since it was a fact that she couldn’t move for a while at least, Hajime knew he had to oblige. Sighing, he pulled a gravity stone out of his Treasure Trove.

“If you try to carry me on that cross one more time, the moment we get out of here I’m telling everyone about your middle school years.”

Shizuku cut him off. Of course Hajime knew without asking what part of his middle school years Shizuku was referring to. She looked from his hair, to his eyepatch, to his prosthetic arm.

“……”

Hajime silently returned the gravity stones to his Treasure Trove. For a moment, he entertained the idea of carrying her on a bunny-shaped gravity stone or something cute like that, but he discarded the notion when he saw Shizuku’s glare. There was only one answer that didn’t end in him dying of embarrassment later.

He had a bad feeling about Shizuku’s newfound selfishness, but there was no point in just standing around doing nothing.

She’s got a lot scarier mental attacks than this labyrinth… Sighing, Hajime turned his back to Shizuku and squatted down. It was obvious he was doing this reluctantly.

“Mrr, I wanted to be princess-carried… but oh well.”

Hajime decided it was best not to say anything and lifted Shizuku onto his back. He did his utmost to not think about the two soft mounds pressing against him.

However, Shizuku wrapped her arms around Hajime and stuck even closer to him. Hajime silently got to his feet and started walking down the new passageway that had appeared.

Chances were another one of his comrades was waiting for him at the other end. He was hoping it would be Kaori, so she could take this transformed Shizuku off his hands.

As he walked, he heard a whisper in his ear. But it wasn’t the labyrinth this time. The voice was soft and sweet. And he could feel the heat of Shizuku’s breath on his ear. She’d laid her head on his shoulders and was whispering to him.

“Hey, Nagumo-kun.”

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Did you hear what I was saying to my copy?”

“Nope. You were too far away, and you weren’t talking that loudly.”

Hajime shook his head.

“I see…” Shizuku murmured. She lapsed into thought for a few seconds, then suddenly thrust her hand out. She turned it around, showing her palm to Hajime.

“This hand’s full of calluses, right? It was like that before too, but I got a lot of new ones after coming to Tortus.”

Hajime had no idea where Shizuku was trying to go with this, and he looked at her hand with a puzzled expression.

“I bet you don’t think it’s a girl’s hand either, huh?”

Her voice was like a small bird’s. She wasn’t embarrassed, but she seemed afraid to hear Hajime’s answer. Still, she’d worked up her courage and asked.

Hajime took a good look at Shizuku’s hand. As she’d said, the skin on her palm was thick and hard. It was proof she’d spent years upon years perfecting her swordsmanship.

“If a soft, unblemished hand is a ‘girl’s hand,’ then yeah, I guess it’s not.”

“……”

“But I prefer a hand like this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s a lot prettier than a hand that can’t hold anything heavier than a pair of chopsticks.”

“……”

Shizuku suddenly felt embarrassed and she balled her hand into a fist to hide her palm. At the same time, she hugged Hajime tighter.

“Nagumo-kun, thanks for coming to save me.”

“It wasn’t on purpose. Things just ended up that way.”

“Fufu, my copy said something like that too. How you’re like a hero from a fairy tale. Back when you saved us in Orcus, and in the palace, you always showed up at just the right time. Are you sure you’re not doing it on purpose?”

“Don’t be stupid. Every time something happens, I just barely make it in time… Hell, in Kaori’s case it was actually too late. Anyway, it’s bad for my heart, so really I’d rather make it before things get that bad rather than just on time.”

Though Hajime always appeared overwhelmingly strong and in control of the situation, in truth he was just desperately running around trying to keep things from falling apart. At every major conflict, if he’d made even a single misstep, he would have ended up losing everything.

If showing up at the last minute every time is what makes a hero, then I don’t wanna be one. Seeing Hajime’s annoyed expression, Shizuku giggled.

“Personally, I think it’s cool. You always come in at the last minute and gallantly save the heroine. You know, I actually really like girly things.”

“Yeah, I know. Kaori told me all about you.”

After Kaori had parted with Kouki’s party in Horaud, she’d spent an entire day happily telling Hajime about her best friend. Honestly, Shizuku kind of wished Kaori would respect her privacy more, but Kaori’s desire to tell the world about Shizuku was hard to hold back.

“Sheesh, that girl…” Shizuku muttered to herself.

“Well, that’s how it is. I’d much rather have been playing house than practicing swordsmanship as a kid, and I always wanted to be the princess who got protected by the cool knight. When we were sent to our ideal dream worlds back in Haltina’s labyrinth, that’s what I dreamed about.”

Of course, she was too embarrassed to tell Hajime who the knight had been in her dream. Blushing, she quickly moved on from that topic.

“But even I thought it was too cringy to tell people.”

“Yeah, that is pretty cringy.”

“This is where you’re supposed to be tactful,” she said with a pout before continuing, “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, I’m really grateful to you for always showing up to save me when I’m in a pinch, Nagumo-kun. When you said you’d watch over me and make sure I don’t die, I was really happy.”

“You’re exaggerating. Besides, the reason I can’t let you die, Yaegashi, is—”

“Because if I died, Kaori would be sad, right? I know.”

Shizuku finished Hajime’s sentence for him. Her tone wasn’t self-deprecatory, though. In fact, it was surprisingly light.

After all, she knew it was true. If she died, Kaori would be devastated. She’d probably have ended up the same way Shizuku had when Kaori died.

Naturally, that was something Hajime would never allow. He would do everything in his power to protect Kaori’s happiness. That was why he hadn’t even hesitated to give Shizuku one of his precious Ambrosia vials, of which he’d only had five left.

However, Hajime couldn’t say with confidence that he’d saved Shizuku solely for Kaori’s sake.

The things he’d gained during his journey, and the future he was working toward had softened his heart. Furthermore, his journey was nearing its end. On top of that, this labyrinth had reminded him of his true feelings. There was no doubt that he was a monster. And he didn’t regret becoming one. Even now, he had no intention of playing the hero and saving people he didn’t know.

However, he knew now that his old way of living was flawed. Whether someone was an enemy or not, whether a course of action was rational or not, whether something was needed or not, the world wasn’t so simple that it could be split into those two categories. Nor would Hajime find happiness if he simply abandoned everything and everyone that didn’t benefit him.

He might not have been consciously aware of it at the time, but that was why he’d allowed Kouki and the others to join him. It was also why he’d decided to leave Liliana powerful artifacts to protect her, and told Shizuku he wouldn’t abandon her.

And now that he’d become aware of the changes he was undergoing, he didn’t feel like lying to Shizuku. I guess being honest about my feelings isn’t so bad once in a while. Besides, if I clam up here… I’ll look like a tsundere. And the last thing I want is people thinking I’m a tsundere. No one likes dude tsunderes anyway.

Thus, Hajime decided to correct Shizuku.

“It’s true that it was partly for Kaori’s sake, but not completely. I’d say it was only 80% for her.”

Shizuku blinked in surprise. For a second, she didn’t comprehend what Hajime was saying, but then it hit her. She always had been quick on the uptake. Her chest grew hot, and she felt a faint glimmer of hope. If the reason Hajime had saved her was only 80% for Kaori’s sake, that meant the remaining 20% was—

“So what about the other 20%?”

“You’re a good person, Yaegashi. So I’m not going to abandon you.”

“……”

It wasn’t the nicest way of putting things, but Shizuku understood. She understood completely. Somewhere inside Hajime’s heart, Shizuku existed too. She wasn’t just another random person to him, but someone he’d be willing to save.

Squealing to herself, Shizuku buried her face in the nape of Hajime’s neck. She was blushing to the tips of her ears. Of course Hajime grumbled about how she was tickling him, which killed the mood. So in retaliation, Shizuku whispered, “Nagumo-kun, I want to hurry up and meet Kaori. Not just her, but Yue, Shea, and Tio too. And then—”

Shizuku paused for a moment to gather her courage. In order to hide her embarrassment, she said it as casually as possible.

“I’ll tell them that I fell in love with you, Nagumo-kun. I don’t know how they’ll react, but I’ve been thinking I should be more honest with myself.”

“I see. Then I guess we better meet up with them soon so… Hold on a second Yaegashi, what did you just—”

Hajime was so surprised he came to a halt, but before he could finish his question Shizuku whispered, “Nagumo-kun, I’m tired. I’m going to close my eyes for a bit so… protect me… okay?”

The soft sound of Shizuku’s breathing reached Hajime’s ears. It appeared she’d fallen asleep. Dropping a bombshell of a confession and then just leaving was a strategy reminiscent of a certain hotheaded healer. They really are best friends, huh?

“……”

Hajime frowned, furrowing his brows. He opened his mouth to say something, but when he turned around and saw Shizuku’s expression, he thought better of it. Sighing, he just smiled wryly to himself and resumed walking. Shizuku cracked open an eyelid and stealthily observed Hajime.

Does he know I’m just faking it? Feeling emboldened, Shizuku decided to act a little more selfish. She wanted to tease Hajime, since he always looked so unfazed. And so, just as Yue often did to him, she playfully bit his neck.

“Whoa!? What the heck are you doing, Yaegashi…!? Yaegashi?”

Shizuku said nothing. After all, she was supposed to be asleep. She’d just accidentally bit him in her sleep. She kept repeating that to herself and did her best to feign sleep.

After a few seconds, Hajime muttered, “You’re hopeless…” and sighed to himself.

Since Shizuku had her eyes shut, she couldn’t look at Hajime’s expression. But she had no trouble imagining it. After all, she’d seen his exasperated face so many times before. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t stop herself from grinning. But even so, she continued feigning sleep. Wait for me, Kaori. I’m going to show you just how selfish I can be. For the first time in her life, Shizuku felt free. She hugged Hajime just a little harder, savoring the feeling.

Diamond. diamond. diamond.