Of course, it took a while for both Akuto and Brave to agree to Yoshie’s plan.
“We may still be able to stop the asteroid.”
“I agree with the boss.”
The two of them spoke in tandem.
“But you know... We know that the Jeweled Branch had no effect on it,” Yoshie said coldly.
Keena had tried waving around the branch like a magic wand, chanting nonsense spells. But while she could do her ordinary magic with it, nothing special was happening.
“I know that. But...”
“I know what you’re going to say. Giving up doesn’t suit your personality. But there’s no physical way to do anything about that asteroid.”
“Is the Faceless Power that strong?”
“Yup. It’s the will of an entire species. In order to match it, you’d need to have all of humanity be one person.”
“Then if we can bring humanity’s will together...!” Hiroshi’s eyes were shining, like he thought he’d just had a great idea.
Yoshie shook her head, though.
“You couldn’t do that with the Republic. And non-mana civilizations don’t even have the ability to turn their will into power,” she said. “The Faceless Power is a terrifying curse.”
“Then there’s really nothing we can do?”
“Probably not. But you know, I think anybody except Akuto’s free to try anything they like.” She sighed.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Akuto’s going to need to go to the afterlife for us. So we can’t have him dying. Of course, the Empress is going into cold sleep, so we can’t have her dying before or after either. And we need Brave to carry the capsule up to orbit. But if anybody else dies, either before or after, it’s not a problem.
“That sounds... really ridiculous, somehow,” Akuto said, a little confused.
“Everybody else just has to be ready to die, after all. Anyway, we’re doing this tomorrow. The reason why it’s tomorrow is that the asteroid lands tomorrow night. Until then... anybody’s free to do whatever they like. Even commit suicide,” Yoshie said, indulging in a moment of dark humor.
○
“I still refuse to accept this,” Lily sighed. The table in the student council room was laden with snacks. The trio were sitting around it, gobbling them down.
“Yeah... It’s pretty pathetic that our last meal is convience store junk food,” Mochie said.
Lily frowned at her.
“That’s not what I meant. I meant the fact that there’s no way to fight back.”
“But all the stores are closed, and we can’t get anything that’s appropriate for a last meal, gya.” Kanna complained too.
“Shut up. You only get a good last meal if you’re on death row. What would you even want to eat, anyway?” Lily asked. Both Michie and Kanna thought for a moment before answering.
“Rice and miso soup.”
“Rare steak. With potatoes.”
Lily snorted.
“Yeah, I thought it’d be something like that. Not really any different than junk food, is it? You never drank soda or ate junk food because you were worried about your weight. So you’ll never get another chance to eat this much. Eat up.”
“You’re right, aren’t you gyah?”
“Melon bread’s got lots of calories, after all...”
The two of them went back to wolfing down the junk food.
“Gugah.”
Arnoul, however, hadn’t eaten a thing.
“Sure, you don’t eat, do you... Huh? Headmaster?” Lily shouted in surprise.
The headmaster’s face was poking out from behind Arnoul.
“Eh, I’ve got nothing to do, so I came to get some junk food too.” He reached for the potato chips.
“You didn’t have any last minute stuff to do?” Lily asked, stunned.
“When you’re as old as me, the temples stop giving you work. I’ve been really bored.” He sighed dejectedly. The other teachers had all been summoned by the various temples to help quell the panic that was taking place.
“Don’t you have any family to spend your last hours with?”
“Well, when you live as many centuries as I do, you don’t, really...” he laughed. His laugh was a dry rattle.
“I’m sure young maidens like you would prefer a younger man to spend the end of your lives with, though.”
“Nah...” Lily chuckled, but Kanna seemed to take him seriously.
“That’s right! The problem is we don’t have any boys here!”
“Gugah.”
Arnoul tried to quiet her down, but then Michie joined in, too.
“That’s right! I spent my whole youth without a boyfriend!”
“Gya-gya!”
“Calm down. There just weren’t that many guys who were good enough for us, that’s all,” Lily said, tossing a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
“Well, you’re lucky. Anybody who hit on you, you just hit them in the face.”
“That’s right. Nobody ever tried to date us at all!”
The two of them sighed sadly..
“Be quiet. The world could end at any time, so if you want to date somebody, tell them,” Lily said sarcastically.
“Hmph. I should’ve attacked the first good man I saw.”
“That’d make you just a wolf woman...”
“I don’t want to hear that from someone who’s basically a vampire girl. Anyway, is there anything you regret not being able to do, President?” Kanna suddenly asked.
“Sure. I told you in front of the tower that I might die, but that I was ready for it, right?”
“Yeah, gya.”
“What did that mean?”
“I... think I expected to die fighting. I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory... But instead I’m just sitting here eating junk food.” Lily laughed in self-derision.
“That’s part of being young... I understand how you feel, but not everybody gets to be a hero. When something’s not going to happen, it’s best to just give up on it,” the Headmaster lamented quietly.
“I wanted to do everything with a bang.”
“That’s how the world ends. It just quietly fades away. Many civilizations in the past died the same way, I’m told. But perhaps, this may not be the end. That man may still yet have something in store for us...”
“Akuto Sai, you mean?” Lily asked.
○
Meanwhile, someone else was saying a last goodbye to his girlfriend. Hiroshi and Yuko were walking along the beach.
“Sorry I’m not more cheerful...” Yuko apologized.
Hiroshi shook his head.
“It’s fine! It’s not your fault! No place is open in town, and it felt like we’d just be all gloomy if we stayed there...”
“Yeah... But you know, it feels weird. The world’s going to be destroyed soon. And if it isn’t, then everybody is still going to die...” Yuko said, staring out at the sea.
“I-It’s fine. They say even if you die, you don’t really die... That there’s life after death. S-So you know, even if you die, you’ll be okay...” Hiroshi said, but there was no strength behind his words.
“I know. Yoshie told me. But do you believe that? I mean, I don’t really know, but in the end, I guess we might just be some characters some author invented?”
Yuko leaned up against Hiroshi, unable to hide her fear. Hiroshi felt the weight of her body, and realized he didn’t really believe what Yoshie had said, either.
✦ ✦ ✦
