Work Text:
Rain. Again.
It had been raining for three weeks straight. Every night, it rained more and more. Lately, it thundered. At this point, it seemed like the rain would never end.
The rain started when I touched down in Narita Airport from the battle in New York. When I came home, it was just a drizzle. But as the days went on, Mother Nature kept on adding more and more water to the submerge. By week 3, everyone accepted the weird rainstorm and stopped caring about it. Some people even stopped carrying umbrellas.
I never carried an umbrella. I never went outside.
Nozomi was so depressed, she didn’t want to do anything fun. No swimming trips, no cheesy movies. Kurumi was busy at Maid Cafe Mistuya, doing whatever “intelligence” things she had to do in the aftermath of the big battle. Even my long-distance pals were doing other things. Tamara was onto her next UN mission, and Peipei was in the process of moving to the tax haven of New Jersey to start a company.
Mia was dead. She died because she was determined to save the world.
Sayako was dead. She died because she was used by the Babel Brigade.
We couldn’t save Sayako.
I couldn’t save Sayako.
The glass jar of ash in my room was a constant reminder of my failure. My failure to do what I set out to do in the first place. I only joined M-Squad to save my friends. I only transformed again to save Sayako from the Babel Brigade-linked terrorists.
Even though I fought… even though I tried my hardest… even though most of humanity was saved… I couldn’t fulfill my most important mission.
I sat in my room, lost in thought, hearing the clicks of rain. Alone. Well, technically not alone.
The jar was there. The ghost of Sayako Hata.
I stood up from my bed and touched the glass jar of ash. The jar was cold, but I made sure to touch every single inch of it.
All of our memories… the movies, the culture festival, Tanabata, karaoke, heck, even going to the maid cafe. They all flashed back to me in an instant.
For the three years in between my battles, I was alone. Then, I decided to join school and try to live a normal life, and then I met Nozomi and Sayako.
Nozomi and Sayako were more than friends to me. They both were so sweet, and they made me feel less alone. Even though there were tons of rough times, I still made lots of memories with them and Kurumi by my side.
I held the jar by my side, hugging it. Crying near it. Knowing that this was it. The only form I’d ever see Sayako in again.
That Sayako was gone… because of me… and I was lonely again… because of my own failure.
Again, I’m alone.