The End

…Did you hit me?

My cheek. A slap… Did you just slap me?

I touched my slightly flushed cheek.

It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt, but… my heart hurts.

I’ve never been hit by my mom or dad…

I slowly turned my head, which had been drooping powerlessly.

There.

“…I, I didn’t see Rubia in her underwear. You bad bitch…”

[End], with tears welling up in her eyes, was biting her lip.

“Wh-What…? You just said you saw—”

“That was! Just to make you mad! And… I did go on a date with Rubia, but we didn’t hold hands!”

Squeak- Squeak- [End] shouted.

Following her voice, the tears that had welled up in her eyes also trickled down.

“…R-Really?”

“Ask me after it’s all over!”

Now, she was even stomping her feet, expressing her frustration.

“I was worried you’d be sad. I was worried you’d hate it! I! Didn’t even get close to Rubia! But… but you… you, what?! You held hands on a date?! You bad bastard!! You awful bitch!!”

“…S-Sorry.”

It was a little too late, but I bowed my head and apologized.

[End], who had been huffing and puffing at me for a while, finally.

“I’m… I’m sorry for hitting you too.”

She bowed her head and apologized, just like me.

After a moment.

I was watching to see when[ End] would lift her head, and I lifted my head first because I thought my legs would give out if I waited any longer.

Was [End] the same as me?

As soon as I lifted my head, she lifted her head as well.

An awkward silence.

In the midst of it, [End] spoke first.

“So, was it fun?”

“…It was fun.”

“You met her in the trial, right?”

“…Uh-huh. ‘Rubia’ came to me.”

“I see. So that’s what you were preparing back then. Hehe.”

[End] wiped away her tears with her soft arm and started smiling brightly, as if she had never cried.

If you cry and then laugh, hair will grow on your butt.

“So, what did you do?”

Soon, [End] plopped down on the spot in a cross-legged position and asked, tapping the space in front of her.

Following her gesture, I sat down and thought for a long time about how to answer.

Should I tell her the truth?

Then… then won’t she get mad again?

Hmm… I think it might be better if she got mad.

If I could change [End]’s mind even by doing that… yeah. Telling the truth would be the best.

I steeled my resolve.

And slowly, I parted my lips.

“At first… ‘Rubia’… came and hugged me.”

“…Hugged you?”

“Uh-huh. I was comforted like that for a long time—”

“You were comforted?”

A chilling premonition brushed past the back of my neck. Feeling a more intense reaction than I had expected, I hurriedly added.

“I, I cried. ‘Rubia’ comforted me when I cried.”

“Ah.”

A smile appeared on [End]’s distorted face.

The chilling premonition that had been strangling my neck disappeared.

I… sighed in relief and slowly continued.

“Then she introduced me to the neighborhood and various cultures as we walked home. And then… uh…”

I don’t think I need to mention what happened during that process.

…Let’s not.

“When I got home, I made soybean paste stew—”

“Hey.”

“U-Uh…?!”

“Tell me.”

“…Tell you what?”

“What you just hid.”

…How did she know?

“Y-You’re not going to get mad, are you?”

“No. It’s all in the past now. I won’t get mad.”

“R-Really…?”

“Aish… Haa… Yeah. I won’t get mad.”

[End], who seemed determined not to pounce on me, leaned back and gave a small smile.

“I’m not a child, why would I get mad about something like that?”

I watched [End] for a long time, then cautiously opened my mouth.

“…R-Rubia kept asking me to show her my underwear… so I showed her.”

“Yaaah!!”

[End] pounced.

Because both [End] and I were exhausted, a proper fight didn’t happen.

A childish fight.

But it was fierce.

After that long fight ended, and after we made a firm promise not to get angry again.

We started to recount what had happened with each other’s Rubia in the time we were apart.

I told her that ‘Rubia’ had kissed me on the forehead.

I heard that she hadn’t seen Rubia in her underwear, but she had helped her pick it out.

We fought.

I said that ‘Rubia’ looked pretty in her school uniform.

I heard that Rubia, bathed in the sunset, looked pretty as she smiled at ‘me’ instead of me.

We fought.

I told her that we fed each other cotton candy.

I heard that we fed each other desserts.

We fought.

After that, I said that I held hands with ‘Rubia’.

I heard that after a snowball fight, Rubia held my cold hands tightly and warmed them.

We fought.

I told her that I watched fireworks with ‘Rubia’ on the Ferris wheel.

I heard that I watched fireworks with Rubia in Urspair Park.

We both cried.

Finally, I said that ‘Rubia’ had put a ring on my finger. I held up the sparkling ring and showed it off.

I heard that I had conveyed my feelings to Rubia and told her I loved her.

We fought really, really hard.

“Hweek… Heok… Hoo… Ugh…”

“Pinching is cheating… cowardly…”

“Wh-What… You, you pinched, first… Hng…”

“No, I didn’t…? That was, that was… Hoo… I accidentally pinched you while grabbing you, okay?”

“Wh-What are you talking about… Then, I’m the same way… Heok…”

My trembling arms couldn’t support my body.

Eventually, I collapsed on the spot and continued to pant, unable to calm my breathing.

[End] also collapsed on the spot and gasped for breath.

In the silence filled only with the sound of each other’s breathing.

This time, I spoke first.

“It was… fun, wasn’t it?”

“…What was?”

“Playing with Rubia.”

The fighting never stopped.

But on [End]’s face, as she recalled the past, was a different smile than before.

Not a forced smile hiding dark emotions, but a smile filled only with pure joy.

Surely, it was a smile she wore as she recalled the past she had spent with ‘Rubia’, not Rubia.

I don’t know how long she had endured alone, but she must have felt regret.

That’s why she must have regretted it.

That’s why she must have wanted to live more.

In this world, with Rubia.

So.

Now.

“Stop giving up… and leave it to me.”

I turned my head while lying down.

[End] had been looking at me for a while.

Her eyes were swollen, and her face was bruised in places.

Am I in the same state?

“…Haa. Okay. Fine. Let’s say I leave it to you. Let’s say… I tell you to save me. Then, what’s next? What are you going to do?”

[End] sighed deeply and struggled to sit up.

I also sat up, following [End], and faced her.

“Tell me. Let me hear your plan.”

Plan. Plan.

First.

“…I’m going to kill the Nameless One.”

“Good.”

“Yeah… and then, I’m going to save Rubia.”

[End] nodded with a satisfied expression.

“What’s next?”

“What’s next…”

I fidgeted with my fingers, wondering how to say it. And then I said it.

“It’s a secret.”

“…What?”

“A secret.”

Crack- A sound, whether from inside her mouth, her fist, or somewhere else, came from [End].

“Do I look like I’m joking right now?”

“No, you look serious.”

“Then why are you answering like that?”

“…I want you to feel this way too.”

Hehe. I smiled brightly at [End].

“You’re hiding a lot from me too… aren’t you?”

“E, Eek… Yaah!!”

Again, [End]crawled towards me.

But I didn’t accept the fight and jumped up from my seat.

At that, I reached out my hand to [End], who was looking up at me with a bewildered expression.

“Thanks for worrying about me. But… you don’t have to worry anymore.”

“I wasn’t worried about you. I was worried about Rubia.”

“…I heard that tsundere types aren’t popular these days.”

“Ha…”

[End] chuckled.

I laughed too.

And after a moment. [End], who had been looking at the hand extended towards her, at my gaze towards her.

“Okay.”

She grabbed my hand and stood up from her seat.

“Honestly, I don’t know what method you’re going to use to save me. I can’t even guess. But still…”

Hwaa―!

A warm energy surged from the hand I was holding with [End], or rather, with ‘me’.

Power that she had never shown in her battle with me.

Divine Power.

“I’m counting on you.”

Divine Power enveloped my body.

It invigorated my tired body.

It healed the cuts and soothed my swollen face.

Finally, the Divine Power that had completely healed my body soared upwards. It reached the nonexistent sky. A huge pulse reverberated.

“And don’t die.”

The sky opens.

The world opens.

The rules that had enforced order.

The laws that had suppressed balance.

The concepts that had repeated reincarnation.

The foundations that had maintained the world.

But now, they no longer serve their purpose.

Everything.

Lodges in my soul.

“Now, even if someone tells me to die, I won’t die.”

“Ah-ha!”

‘I’ laughed.

A bright and pure smile, having cast aside all Demonic Obstacles.

A bright smile that can only be made because I know it’s not a farewell, because I believe it.

“Thank you.”

‘Me’, smiling brightly, grabbed my hand and shook it up and down. Her body became blurry every time, but she kept shaking it regardless.

“The last handshake of reconciliation. Let’s not fight anymore. I don’t know if we’ll ever meet again, but it’s a promise. Okay?”

“Hehe…”

At that, I laughed too.

“But… but you know. Actually, there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”

I said, smiling.

“I, I kissed ‘Rubia’ on the Ferris wheel…”

Stop- ‘Me’s hand stopped.

“S-Sorry. I’m really… sorry.”

And with a face twisted in agony.

“You bastard—”

The moment she swung her clenched fist, the opposite hand, towards me. ―Swish. Her body scattered.

Like that, Thud- An empty hand fell.

It wasn’t empty.

Because the warmth that ‘me’ had left behind remained in that hand.

Because the wishes of everyone who had helped me grow until now remained.

I clenched the hand, which was almost heavy, and raised my head.

Blinding light stung my eyes.

Even so, I opened my eyes wide and stared straight at the light.

I took a breath.

I gripped the greatsword.

And I moved my feet.

Towards the place where the Nameless One is.

Towards the place where Rubia, who is waiting for me, is.

Towards the happy ending of this story.

Of everyone’s.

Thud-

My footsteps touched the light.

At the same time.

The world resounded.

As if trying to welcome a new master, hugely.