“…HUH?!” Ren uttered weakly, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Mia had collapsed.
There was no discernible exhaustion in her voice, so he’d thought she was all right. But now, she lay on the ground unmoving, unnaturally still. She looked as if she were sleeping, so Ren, thinking he had to wake her up, knelt down amid the flowers and started shaking Mia.
“Rise and shine! You can’t sleep here on the cold ground… You have a cold, don’t you? It’ll get even worse, you dummy.”
A part of him knew what had really happened. He felt terribly ridiculous, spouting empty, lighthearted nonsense like that, pretending everything was still fine, running away from the ugly reality by faking cheerfulness. Mia showed no sign of movement.
“Mia, hey, Mia? Come on, wake up! At least wait until you’ve had some food before you sleep!” Ren chided, desperation mounting in his voice.
A particularly forceful shake flipped the girl’s limp body over, and now he could see her face. Her eyes were closed, her lifeless lips parted slightly.
“Mi…a…?”
Empty-eyed, Ren gazed at the girl. At her motionless, limp, wilted form, all life drained from it. Immediately, Aya came running, wild-eyed, and grabbed Mia’s wrist. Then she hovered her hands over the girl’s lips.
“I feel…no p-pulse… A-And she’s…not breathing either…” Aya stuttered out, deathly pale.
Never before had Ren seen Aya make such a face. Subaru was the next one to sprint over to them, his face drained of all color, and put his ear to Mia’s chest. He listened intently for a while, and then his big body started quaking all over, his gaze fixed on Mia lying prostrate on the ground.
“Her heart…”
Misaki staggered over with unsteady steps, Shou stood stock-still, rooted to the spot.
“No way, it can’t be over just like that! Her body’s just in shock, right?”
“Uh-huh, in so much shock that her heart stopped?! Hey, Mia! This isn’t funny, stop joking around!” Misaki barked, approaching the girl’s body with a few determined, angry steps and knelt next to it, shaking it violently.
Everyone stared at him, hoping against all hope that Mia might jolt back to life. That the girl would open her eyes suddenly, and go, “Hm, what is it?” while quizzically cocking her head to the side as she was so prone to doing. Then everyone would go, “Hey! You really scared us there, you silly girl!” and they would all poke her teasingly and have a good laugh about it. They wished so hard for that to happen.
But no matter how much they stirred her, no matter how many times they called her name, she remained still and lifeless, not even an eyelid twitching. Their hope soon turned into despair. Feeling the dark claws of anguish tear into their hearts while they sat in a sprawling field of gorgeous flowers felt like cruel irony. How could it be that the girl who created such a beautiful world, the one who would’ve been the happiest looking at it, just lay there with her eyes closed, motionless?
Ren carefully wrapped his arms around Mia and propped her up against his chest in a sitting position. When he carded a hand through her hair, it felt soft and silky against his fingers. When he gently touched her cheek, she still felt warm. He couldn’t believe her pulse wasn’t beating anymore, her heart stopped, her breathing ceased. However, when he put his ear to her lips, he indeed felt no breath, just like Aya had said. The dreadful realization dawned on him. Ren hugged her body close to him, so tightly she could break.
“No… This… This can’t be…” he sobbed, tears streaming down his face.