From the mont she gained awareness, there had only been endless darkness around her.
What her vision felt was always darkness.
What her hearing received was always silence.
She could not touch, taste, or sll anything——everything was vague and hazy, making her feel both pain and numbness.
It was like a frog being boiled in warm water. If she relaxed even slightly, her "self" would lt away like a snowman, then collapse and disappear.
Yes.
Rather than "darkness", perhaps "void" was a better word.
"Who am I?"
She began unconsciously thinking about that question.
Her mories were so few that they could not compare to those of a newborn baby.
Who was she?
Why did she exist?
And for what reason did she exist?
She tried to search for the answers.
But without any "other" object to compare herself against, how could she define her "self"?
In this void, her questions could never find answers.
If things continued like this, then one day, she would be eroded by loneliness and weariness, turn into dust, and scatter.
And yet, at so unknown point——a small life appeared in this world.
So warm.
So soft.
So bright.
Compared to this dead, silent world, that life felt terribly out of place.
Unexpectedly, she did not reject the sudden foreign object.
An unknown feeling filled her heart, making her choose to quietly observe the changes in that life.
The will of that life was very fragile.
So fragile that it seed it would shatter if she moved even slightly.
At first, she thought that before long, the cruel environnt would crush that life.
But to her surprise, that life's will was not crushed.
Instead, it began giving this world all kinds of emotions.
Sadness, confusion, dissatisfaction, happiness, love...
That life was like an innocent child, coloring a blank white sheet of paper with many bright colors.
Every ti, she only watched quietly as the other one painted everything.
Again and again, she tried to experience and understand the aning within those colors, using them to fill her own emptiness.
Then, at a certain mont, the question that had troubled her all this ti suddenly found an answer.
She was herself.
But at the sa ti, she was not herself.
She and herself ca from the sa place. She had simply been born a little later.
She and herself were inseparable, like light and shadow. Only when they possessed each other could they look into a mirror, judge what they were from their similarities, and understand who they were from their differences.
When she understood that, she finally realized the feeling that had filled her heart at their first eting——
It was an emotion called joy.
But one day, an abnormal change suddenly broke her daily life.
The colorful world was dyed pitch-black by filthy ink.
She fell into a deep sleep, as if trying to escape from sothing.
She understood.
What was invading her heart was a negative emotion called despair.
At that mont, an emotion called anger was deeply carved into her heart.
————————————
After arriving above the Sahara Desert, Yutsuki left the airship and descended to the ground alone.
Harsh sunlight.
Dry air.
Burning hot sand.
Together, they ford this lifeless reddish-brown land.
A strong wind rose, and the sand it carried beca a thick curtain that blocked Yutsuki's vision.
Using spirit power to keep the sandstorm away, Yutsuki narrowed her eyes and looked through the veil of dust.
The first thing she saw was dozens of dried, withered corpses whose heads and bodies had been cut apart.
"..."
Looking at that hellish scene, Yutsuki's expression did not change at all.
She simply stepped forward calmly and slowly advanced in the direction indicated by the corpses.
Soon, on a sand dune less than fifty ters away, she found the target she had been searching for.
It was a beautiful girl wearing a deep, dark purple Astral Dress, with long black hair like the night sky.
The violent sandstorm was pushed away by spirit power, leaving not a single speck of dust on her body.
The girl had her eyes closed and stood quietly like a statue.
Before her, a pitch-black greatsword was stabbed into the ground, releasing a terrifying murderous aura that sent chills down one's spine.
"...Tohka."
Yutsuki let out a small breath and called her na.
As if she heard Yutsuki's voice, Tohka slowly opened her eyes. Her cold gaze fixed on Yutsuki.
"...So it's you. I thought it was another group of overconfident humans."
"Long ti no see."
"Hmph. I have no interest in seeing you."
Tohka snorted coldly, then asked.
"Where is Itsuka Shido? Where is that man?"
"Shido..."
Yutsuki could not help clenching her fists. Slowly, she answered.
"He's dead. A few months ago..."
"What?"
Hearing Yutsuki's words, Tohka frowned in surprise. Then, as if she understood sothing, deep disappointnt appeared in her eyes.
"I see... Tch. Useless man."
She clicked her tongue in displeasure, then turned her gaze back to Yutsuki and asked coldly.
"Then, Ryougi Yutsuki, what did you co here for?"
"I ca in Shido's place to save Tohka."
Yutsuki answered.
"...Are you joking?"
Tohka glared at Yutsuki with eyes full of killing intent. Her voice burned with rage.
"I'm completely serious."
Without fear, Yutsuki looked straight into Tohka's eyes and declared firmly.
"I ca here to bring Tohka ho."
The mont those words left her mouth, a black wave of sword energy rushed straight toward Yutsuki.
Using Future Calculation, Yutsuki easily dodged the slash. It only left a deep trench in the reddish-brown ground.
Yutsuki could tell that Tohka had truly intended to kill her with that attack.
"Bring Tohka ho... Are you qualified to say that?"
Pointing the black greatsword at Yutsuki, Tohka spoke with disdain.
"That child... Tohka. Because she believed that man, because she believed your nonsense, she fell so deeply into despair that she ran away from everything. If I had known this would happen, it would have been better if she had never t any of you in the first place! And now you still want to bring Tohka back?! Do you think I would agree to that?"
"Then do you want Tohka to stay like this forever?!"
Yutsuki shouted back with force no weaker than Tohka's.
"You want to let her keep giving up on herself and running from everything? You want her to kill every life that approaches her and tries to reach out to her? Do you think that will comfort Tohka?! Do you think she would want you to do this for her?!"
"Tch. That mouth of yours is as annoying as ever."
Hearing Yutsuki's argunt, Tohka clenched her teeth in displeasure.
"Even so, it's still better than having you fill her with useless hope, only to hurt her badly again! Get lost! Don't let see you again——!?"
Suddenly, almost by instinct, Tohka tilted her head aside to dodge.
In the next instant, violent lightning shot past her cheek at incredible speed. The skin it grazed imdiately went numb from the intense paralysis.
She had not expected Yutsuki to suddenly attack during their conversation.
And since she had sensed no killing intent, Tohka was caught completely off guard.
"What is the aning of this?"
Tohka glared at Yutsuki with both shock and anger.
"...There's no need to be surprised. You attacked first. This is just my return gift."
Summoning her Astral Dress and Angel, Yutsuki answered as if it were obvious.
"It's very simple. If we can't settle this with words, then we'll settle it with strength."
As she spoke, countless sparks of lightning surged around Yutsuki's body, jumping wildly as if provoking Tohka.
"I'm strong! Stronger than Shido, and stronger than you! Then tell , shouldn't the task of protecting Tohka be left to the stronger one?"
"Heh... hahaha! I almost forgot. You really are that kind of idiot!"
Perhaps provoked by Yutsuki's arrogant declaration, Tohka's body trembled slightly, and she laughed in anger.
"Fine. If you want to die that badly, I'll grant your wish!"
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