I first met Yukihime Yukigane in the worst way possible. As soon as we saw each other, we fought a violent battle, until I managed to win with the Ruinmaker’s help. For a while after that, I thought she was a total jerk. Even after we started living together, she’d get on my case about every little thing. It seemed like she was really bent out of shape over being defeated for the first time in her life.
I fought her so many times. But no matter how many times I tried, I could never beat her without the Ruinmaker. I lost again and again, and at some point, I started challenging her on purpose. At first, I was just frustrated – even when Towa got kidnapped. Yukihime and I fought desperately and saved Towa. But of course I had been desperate. She was my only remaining family member, and we had been together since birth, so I was on the verge of losing my mind.
For as long as I could remember, I had wanted to protect my sister. Perhaps it was my instinct as her older brother, or even the whole reason I was alive. I didn’t need a reason, though – protecting Towa was something I did unconsciously.
And there was more to our relationship than that. Whenever I saw her smile, it filled me with power. No matter how much pain I was in, thinking of Towa gave me the strength to continue on. That’s why it should have been my job to save her... but Yukihime beat me to it.
It wasn’t fair. It hurt even worse than whenever she beat me in a fight. Why did she get to save Towa? Also, I just couldn’t understand it. Why did she have to go so far? I wished we could have traded places. How could she sacrifice so much for the sake of her duty?
A while later, she explained why. And all of a sudden, I realized I had fallen in love with her. Not because she saved my sister – I fell in love with the way she lived her life... and...
When I awoke, I was crying.
As my mind faded back into reality, I remembered what had happened before I collapsed – Yukihime’s final moments.
She looked so happy, so satisfied.
“...Why, Yukihime?” I muttered. Tears spilled out from my eyes.
I awoke in a hospital bed. I was in the academy infirmary, and Towa was sleeping face down next to me.
“Mmm...” Towa slowly sat up. She stared at me with drowsy eyes, and the moment she fully opened them, she started to cry. “...Big brother!” She came in for a hug, but the moment she touched me, she froze. “...Oh no, wait. You’re all hurt, aren’t you?”
“It’s okay.”
“It won’t hurt?”
“I don’t care if it hurts.”
I pulled Towa toward me, and hugged her. I was covered in wounds, but my heart was in even worse condition. It had been ripped to shreds, crushed beyond all recognition. But I still had Towa. Towa was still alive. As if to ascertain this, I clutched her with my left hand.
“Big brother... Yukihime, Yukihime, she...” Towa sobbed.
“It’s okay. You don’t need to say anything.” I started to cry.
And so, we cried in silence, all alone.
Towa always spoke very politely to everyone but me, and Yukihime was no exception. After we lost our parents, Towa didn’t open up to anyone. She couldn’t trust people anymore. After watching her parents die right before her eyes, and witnessing pure evil in that organization day after day, Towa’s heart had been completely shattered.
Until she met Yukihime. Until that day, I thought I’d never see Towa laugh or cry again. I thought that reliving our days of happiness in my mind would be the only solace I’d ever have.
When she met Yukihime, Towa changed. I think I changed, too. Yukihime even said it herself. We both changed, and she’s the one who made it happen. I thought that Towa would never open up to anyone aside from me ever again, but that hadn’t been the case with Yukihime. There was no way we’d ever be able to thank her for all she’d done for us.
“...Hey, Towa. What do you want to do now?” I asked Towa, after we shared a cry.
“What do you mean?”
“I want to defeat that guy.”
“...Me too.”
“Will you lend me your power again?”
“Of course.”
Towa and I nodded deeply to one another. Then, we heard a knock on the door.
“Have you awakened, Kurono?” Nagisaki asked as he came in. “Sorry to call on you so soon, but I’d like you to come with me.”
After changing into my school uniform and attaching a temporary prosthetic arm, I followed Nagisaki out of the infirmary. I had a feeling as to where he was leading me.
“...Yukihime told me that if something ever happened to her, she wanted you to become Headmaster.”
Headmaster. The leader of the academy, tasked with defending the world against otherworld invasions.
“Since you’re Rank #2 within the academy, I’m sure the Council of Seven Houses will approve it.”
“You want me to become Headmaster?” So that’s what she meant when she said she was entrusting her duty to me... “...Sorry, but that’s not for me.”
“Yeah,” Nagisaki quietly agreed. “Now I’d like to talk to you about a personal matter.” He stopped walking and turned to me. “...What I’m going to say to you now is nothing more than an awful, petty, conceited way of taking my anger out on someone,” he said, then grabbed my collar and screamed: “Why didn’t you protect Yukihime?!”
With his hand still on my collar, Nagisaki slammed me into the wall. “I’m weaker than you... So I couldn’t stand by her side... So I have no right to judge you. But that’s why I want to say this... You’re the only one I can say it to! Why, Kurono?! Why... You’re stronger than me, and you were right next to her! Why...”
I couldn’t fault Nagisaki, no matter how awful, petty, or conceited he thought he was being. And so I listened. It was all I could do. Not only did he have feelings for Yukihime, just like I did – we both admired her strength, too.
“...Sorry. Apologizing is all I can do now...”