The shining savior

Everything around me was in ruins. Rubble, furniture, dust, and people were scattered everywhere. Some people were only slightly injured, others were bleeding profusely but could still move, while some weren’t moving at all — either crushed under concrete or lying motionless as those nearby tried in vain to wake them.

When I came to, I looked around with unfocused eyes, taking in the tragedy before me. At first, I didn’t know what was happening and must have looked like a lost child, confused about where their parents had gone. After a moment, I regained my composure, my eyes widening in horror and confusion.

Am I dreaming?

“What the hell happened?” I said, horrified, when I realized I was missing someone. The one person who had invited me to this ridiculously pricey restaurant."

“Rui? Rui!”

I called out to her in panic and frantically looked around. I saw a few people, all injured to various degrees and obviously in pain.

That’s right, I thought. I haven’t even checked my own injuries. Nothing hurts, but that doesn’t mean I’m unharmed.

I looked all over my body, but couldn’t find any injuries whatsoever, not even a little scratch. In fact, besides a little dust, I was in perfect condition. No bleeding. No broken limbs. Not even my clothes were torn.

“But how...?”

Out of nowhere, a shining blue blur flashed before my eyes. My hair swayed from the sudden wind created by the blur as I turned my head toward the direction it was heading.

What, or rather, who I saw next made me unknowingly hold my breath.

“Rui?”

I called her name in a voice so quiet and meek, yet she turned her head and faced me. A slight smile escaped her lips. It wasn’t a happy smile, though. She seemed sad, worried, but mostly relieved. She looked away, then effortlessly lifted a massive chunk of debris as though it were no heavier than a sheet of paper, freeing the person pinned beneath it.

Huh? I knew she was strong, but this is just ridiculous. But that’s hardly important right now. Rui, she’s...

I forced my legs to move and ran toward Rui. Before the explosion, Rui had styled her hair to push her long ears back, hiding them from view. Now, her ears were fully visible, and her hair had changed from its usual dark brown to a glowing light blue that almost looked silver. She had transformed, seemingly unconcerned that all eyes in the vicinity were looking straight at her, while she was running around at super speed.

Before I could get to her, she ran off again, leaving dust in her wake.

Doesn’t she realize that if people see her like this, she’ll definitely be exposed? No, she’s helping people. What she’s doing is a good thing. I shouldn’t really care if she gets exposed anyway. Worst case, she’ll just have to move again...

And that was the problem. I didn’t want her to move. I wanted her to be here, with me. It was then that I realized. No, I probably knew it for some time then, but was scared to admit it to myself.

I noticed someone filming on their phone.

“Hey, stop filming! We need to get out of here!”

The girl turned both her head and phone in my direction, and now I was the one being filmed.

“Didn’t you see that girl dash around? It’s crazy, so of course I have to film it!”

I stared daggers at her, and judging by how she jerked back, I must have looked truly enraged, which I was.

“Are you serious? Look around you! The whole building just came crumbling down! Another piece of rubble could fall on your head at any moment and kill you! Is going viral more important to you?! People around you are injured, or even dead, and instead of helping or escaping, your first instinct is to pull out your phone and start filming?!”

My voice grew louder, filled with fury, and by the time I finished screaming, the girl had tears in her eyes and clutched her phone with trembling hands. She looked around, her face becoming more petrified by the second.

Good, looks like she’s come to her senses now.

I didn’t care that I had reduced this stranger to tears. It was the second time that day I had lost my temper, but this time, I didn’t feel bad about it at all.

The building wasn’t completely destroyed. Some walls still stood strong, preventing the collapse that would inevitably kill everyone inside.

“Everyone!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs, and the people around me glanced in my direction.

“Anyone who can move, help up the ones that can’t. We need to find a way out before this place comes down and crushes us. We don’t know how long it’ll take for rescue to come, so we have to hurry!”

Luckily, this restaurant only had two stories. If it had any more, the building likely wouldn’t be standing right now.

Around thirty people quickly gathered around me, and a little over half were standing on their own two feet, while supporting the ones who couldn’t. We moved around as a group, trying to look for an opening that would let us outside. Just when we thought there was no escaping this crumbling wreckage, we all saw the beaming flash suddenly rush past us, practically crashing into a nearby pile of rubble. Debris flew out of the way, opening a path leading outside.

Rui...

I promptly shook off the shock, getting everyone to move.

“That’s our chance! Try not to all rush at the same time. Let’s go!”

Everyone started moving again. They ran rapidly toward the new exit Rui had created. I stayed at the back, making sure everyone got out safely. But I didn’t follow them. Instead, I turned and ran deeper inside.

It was probably really dumb of me to do that, but all I could think about then was making sure Rui was okay. The fact that she was an elf who could lift several hundred kilograms with ease and move at super speed somehow didn’t cross my mind. I somehow overlooked that Rui was the one person who didn’t need saving.

While searching for Rui, I saw someone, or rather, the lower half of a body, sticking out from beneath a fallen piece of ceiling.

All the adrenaline all too suddenly vanished. It was the moment reality hit me. It wasn’t just a bad dream.

He-he’s dead. I’m looking at a dead person’s body.

They’ll never wake up, never speak to anyone, never laugh, and never cry again. All the color drained from my face, and I just stood there, frozen in fear. Then, something like a sixth sense prompted me to look up. I saw the serene night sky, with only a few stars hanging in it, and the crumbling ceiling above me. A large piece broke off from the rest, falling down directly at my head. Time seemed to move in slow motion, but my body wouldn’t move. I wanted to run, dash to the side, avoid the piece of concrete coming down to crush my skull, but my legs refused to listen. It was at least a meter long in each direction. If that were to hit me, it would most likely kill me instantly. Yet I stood there, like a terrified mouse cornered by a cat. A helpless human facing death.

But right as the rubble was about to fall on my horrified face, someone grabbed me by the torso and pulled me out of the way. I suddenly found myself outside, among the other survivors and the paramedics tending to the injured. I looked to my side and found Rui looking at me with eyes full of worry. Her silvery blue hair was glowing, as if shining under the moonlight, and her long, pointed ears were fully exposed.

"Ru-"

“Don’t do that again,” she said in a voice so low that only I could hear her.

With those words, she gently put me on the ground and disappeared inside the ruined restaurant.