Mia tightly squeezed Ren’s body in an affectionate embrace, pouring all of her unspoken feelings into the hug. After a while, the sobs shaking her frame began to gradually subside.
Ren gently stroked Mia’s back and let out a small sigh. He felt bad for making her cry. Felt bad for letting her, his beloved, make a choice that brought her suffering and agony. He had really meant it when he said he didn’t mind being erased from existence. If that was what she chose, that was fine. The thought of dying together with her somehow seemed much more palatable than leaving her all alone in the rebirth of a pure beautiful world.
His team members, his family, friends, colleagues—it wasn’t as if their faces hadn’t flashed through his mind back then.
But, “Sorry,” he’d said lightly, apologizing to all of them in his mind, “I’m choosing Mia over you guys, bummer, huh?”
He could have chosen to restrain her against her will to make sure she couldn’t use magic, but he couldn’t possibly keep her subdued indefinitely. Killing her was never an option. He had reasoned that the only choice he had left was respecting her will.
Mia had decided she couldn’t go through with it. In the end, that was what her final choice had been.
Let us be together then, he thought. That was his fault too, for it had been him who had ultimately driven her to pick that option. Mia kept on saying “sorry” over and over again to her ancestors, but she, in turn, was unknowingly also receiving silent words of apology from Ren for the way things had played out.
I’m sorry… If you did perform the great magical art of darkness, your conscience probably wouldn’t bother you so much. Mia would likely have to live out her life apologizing to her father, grandfather, and all of her ancestors. She had lost her way and would have to find herself a new course to follow. It would be a long, agonizing road filled with pain and hardship.
…I’m sorry, Mia. But at least I’ll be by your side every step of the way. I won’t leave you alone to face your anguish, your troubles. Let’s be together forever. I’ll shoulder your pain for you. Let’s find it together, a new path of our own, Ren secretly swore to himself.
Maybe it was because she had used up all her tears after a long bout of crying, or maybe she just felt better, but she slowly lifted her head. Her eyes met Ren’s, and he instinctively brought their lips together in a kiss. …As always, he astounded her with his crazy antics. His actions never ceased to catch her off guard. In spite of herself, Mia’s cheeks flamed red, her eyes dropping down. Ren let out a small chuckle.
“Are we feeling calmer now?”
“…Hmph. Y-Yeah.”
Mia’s tiny nod came accompanied by a loud rumbling noise. With a gasp, Mia put a hand on her stomach to the sounds of barely contained amusement above her ear.
“W-Well, I haven’t had dinner yet!”
“Ha-ha-ha! You really are something… Sheesh, Mia, your voice is all hoarse! Definitely a cold. You’ve barely recovered, and there you go firing off spells left and right while fighting a cold in the chilly breeze… You silly girl!”
“Oops…”
He was right—her throat hurt and she felt weirdly fatigued. She could feel that her magical power reserves were decimated. Could what she was feeling be the effects of the first flu of her life? She felt tired to the bone, more exhausted than ever before.
“So, what are we gonna do about this mountain of crystal?”
“I should be able to smash it, I think. Not all of it, but one slab should be within my powers.”
Mia should actually be able to erase the wall with a poof by giving her wand a light shake, but she generally wasn’t good at making things go away.
“Smash, huh…?” Ren murmured, and looked at Mia with worry in his eyes. “How’s your magical powers reserve?”
“I still have some left. It should be enough for this one task… It will be by the skin of my teeth though.”
Mia exhaled gingerly, regulating her breath, and picked up the wand. She felt like she was going to start gasping for air again as soon as she let herself relax, so she brought her breathing under control and focused.
“…All that has a form must someday fall apart!”
As soon as she spoke the words, cracks started to spread through the crystal wall blocking their path. Then, the wall started to crumble, pieces of it clattering to the ground.
Ren couldn’t help but pipe up in an exasperated tone of voice, “What was that spell just now?!”
“Bleh, this is what improvised magic is like. I can’t come up with cool words for the spell on the spot,” Mia grunted sullenly, which only made Ren burst out laughing.
“Ah, so that was improvised! You don’t say! You mean, you’ve actually put some thought into spell names up until now?!”
“Shut up! Shut UP! I’ll think up some good names one of these days!” Mia bit back in the spirit of their usual bickering.
When she tried to take a step forward though, her legs refused to support her, her body dangerously swaying. Alarmed, Ren quickly shot out an arm to steady her and keep her from falling.
“Hey, take it easy, okay?” Ren commanded as he pulled her up by her arm and hoisted her up so that she was draped over his back. Her arms over his shoulders, Mia cast her eyes down apologetically.
“Sorry…”
“How about you just stay still, then you won’t need to apologize in the first place. Hey! Over here!”
At Ren’s loud shouting, the Rangers who had been standing on the outside of the crystal wall came running.
“Dear me! Do you have any idea how worried we were about you?! Oh my, Mia, look at you, you can barely stand!”
“Ah, that’s because of her cold, and overdoing it with magic. Also, she says she could eat a horse.”
“Yeah, that must’ve messed her up good,” Shou cooed, patting Mia on the head.
Subaru stepped up to them, clearly anxious over Mia’s state. “Speaking of which, we haven’t had our dinner yet. …So, what are we going to do? If you’re tired, should we go home and eat there?”
“No thanks, I should be just fine if I rest a bit. That’s how it was after Kyoto, at least. I’m hungry for some…meat. I want Misaki’s…deliciously plump wiener.”
“Please don’t say that ever again! Okay, all right. I did promise to treat you to some meat. Eat well and get your protein fix so you have lots of energy to beat that cold, you dummy,” Misaki grumbled and hit Mia on the head lightly.
“I will,” Mia nodded, gingerly rubbing her forehead.