Chapter 27 Heartbroken Girl and the Boy who Broke her Heart

The words were a physical blow, sharper than any drill. Tears instantly welled in Mirai's eyes, a hot, stinging betrayal. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, fighting back the sob that threatened to tear out of her chest. She wished it were true. The fantasy of Shota being her boyfriend, of having that kind of claim on him, made the reality of his rejection feel like a fresh wound. The pain in her shattered heart erupted anew, a supernova of grief and rage.

She burst from the rubble. 

"DON'T GET COCKY, YOU SNOTTY BRAT! YOU KNOW SHIT!"

The last restraint vanished. This was no longer a duel; it was a fight. Her mana ignited, burning the air around her, visible as smoke pouring from her eyes and open mouth. The very environment obeyed her will, the shattered arena reshaping itself into impenetrable dome of polished stainless steel.

Then, from the steel floor, dozens of Mirai clones rose, each one a perfect mirror of her furious, tear-streaked face. A chorus of voices screamed in unison, "I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY!"

The clones launched themselves, drills shrieking, moving at sonic speeds and ricocheting off the steel walls in a chaotic, terrifying storm of metal and motion.

Enji's confidence evaporated. He swallowed hard, "Oi, oi... is this for real?! Where the hell did she get so much mana?! This is no joke!"

He dodged the first ten blitzing attacks. He landed a few explosive blows, shattering two, three, four clones, but for every one he destroyed, three more took its place. The sheer, overwhelming numbers and speed were impossible. His blue flames sputtered, his mana reserves draining to nothing. With a final, gasping breath, he fell to his knees, spent.

The assault stopped. The remaining clones formed a silent, menacing circle around him. The real Mirai walked forward. She knelt, using one finger to lift his sweat-soaked, exhausted chin. Her other hand revved a stainless-steel drill an inch from his face.

"Hey, hey, Enji-kun~! What's the matter? You don't look too good. Is it hard to breathe? Hard to move? Is it painful? Hmmm? Maybe it's because you burned all the oxygen from the room. I made it air-tight, and with you blazing so much heat... well, I bet even your hot head can figure the rest. But for now, all you need to know... is that it's punishment time. You were talking such a big game a moment ago. I need to punish you. Now, it's beating time~!"

She drew back the drill for a devastating strike.

"MIRAI-CHAN, STOP!"

Before the drill could descend, Shota threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around her from behind and pressing his body tightly against hers. Then, the world turned blue.

 Impenetrable barrier snapped into existence, enveloping only the two of them. It was a perfect, intimate prison, trapping the heartbroken girl and the boy who broke her heart, alone together inside a bubble of unbreakable light.

"Mirai-chan... stop. Please, just... stop. You're right. You're right about everything. I am pathetic. I was so trapped in my own darkness, I never saw you. The real you. I used you. I let you be my light because I was too much of a coward to find my own. I never asked about your life, your home... I just took everything you gave me."

He took a shuddering breath.

"But you're wrong about one thing. The most important thing. That woman... she's not my lover. She was my hero. My idol. The ghost of a dream I had when I was six years old. And when she appeared, I was that little, stupid, starstruck boy again for a few seconds.

But you... you're my Mirai-chan. You're the one who dragged me from hell and never let go. You're the only reason I'm still alive. I don't... I don't know what love is, Mirai-chan. My heart has been broken since I was six. But I know that the thought of a world without you in it... it's the most terrifying thing I can imagine. It's a darker emptiness than anything my trauma ever showed me."

He finally loosens his grip, just enough to turn her around to face him within the barrier.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I hurt you. I was an idiot. Please... don't quit. Don't leave. I... I need you. Not as a fan needs a hero. I need you."

The moment Shota's words left his lips, a low laugh bubbled out of her.

"You... you have got to be kidding me."

She shoved him back making him stumble within the confines of the barrier. Her eyes, now full of tears.

"You think you can just come to me with this... this speech now? I bet she rejected you, didn't she?! I saw you! I saw the look on your face! You were ready to throw your whole world away for her! And now that your precious Witch Queen doesn't want you, you come running back to me? To sweet-talk the 'crazy' girl who's always been there?!

Do I look that pathetic to you, Shota?! Do you think I'm so miserable that I'll just say, 'Oh, it's all good! I'm happy to be your second choice! I'm fine with some other woman's sloppy seconds?!' IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK OF ME?!"

“No Mirai-chan. You’re not pathetic. And you’re not my second choice.”

He took a shaky breath.

“I talked with Miss Lycoris. All night in the hospital. And I realized… everything I knew about her, everything I thought I felt… it was a lie. I knew nothing about the real her. What I thought was love… was just adoration. I was just a fanboy. My whole life, I’ve just been a fanboy looking up at a poster on a wall.

I’m not going to lie to you, Mirai-chan. I’m not going to say that I suddenly figured it all out and that I’m in love with you. I don’t… I don’t even know what that feels like. But I know one thing. When I saw you walk away… when I thought I’d lost you for good… it hurt more than the explosion ten years ago. It hurt more than losing my friends. It hurt more than watching the Witch Queen die.”

His tears were falling freely now.

“You want to know why I clung to you? It wasn’t just because you were there. After the incident… my world… broke. The colors… they just… vanished. Everything was black and white and grey. The only color I could see was red. The blood on my hands. It was always there, no matter how much I washed them.”

He looked at his own hands as if seeing the blood stain.

“And when I looked at people… their faces… they’d just… turn to static. A buzzing, grey noise. And then… they’d crumble. They’d all turn into her. The cashier lady. Smiling one second, turning to ash the next. Everyone. My teachers… other kids… they all just… parish.”

He finally looked up; his eyes focused on her.

“But not you, Mirai-chan. Never you. You were the only one who stayed in focus. You were the only one in color. Your hair… your smile… the light you carried… it was the only real thing in my world. When the static got too loud and the blood felt too warm, I’d just… look for you. And for a little while, the world would stop screaming. So, please, Mira-chan. Let's start over.”

The fury on Mirai’s face turned into something sweeter, yet infinitely more terrifying. A slow, wobbly smile spread across her lips, and a single, happy tear traced a path through the dust on her cheek, mirroring his.

 "Oh, Sho-kun..."

She took a step forward, closing the small space within the barrier. She didn't hug him. Instead, her hands came up to gently frame his face, her thumbs wiping away his tears.

"You silly, stupid boy. All those years... and you never told me your world was so monochrome. You never showed me the pretty, red blood on your hands."

Her smile widened, showing a little too much teeth. The anger flickered back in her eyes, not at him, but at the missed opportunity.

"I'm a little angry, you know? You let me think I was just... a nuisance. When all along, I was the only thing you could see. You should have told me. I would have cherished it so much more."

The euphoria returned, washing over her face. She leaned in, her forehead resting against his, her eyes staring directly into his.

"But it's okay now, I understand. Everyone else is just... static. And ash. But I'm your color. Your only, beautiful, vibrant color... Okay, Sho-kun... I'll stay."