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Tomoyo stopped in front of the Magellan penguin exhibit, breath still ragged from running. Ringo was already near the glass. He looked at Tomoyo with the same kind of disdain for people who tap on fish tanks.

"Oh. It's you. Let me guess, you're going to ask where Raika is and not give me fish. Again."

He's right...

"Well? Go on, ask your stupid question. 'Ringo, where's Raika? I'm so worried about her!' As if I care about your girlfriend problems because, I don't know, she's dead? How many loops it gonna take to get it through that thick head of yours?!"

Dead.

Tomoyo's throat closed. She wanted to apologize, wanted to say sorry, but what Kuroko had said to her echoed in her head.

"No, I need to talk to her. The anglerfish. "

Ringo stared at her, beak slightly parted, before throwing his head back.

"AHAHA! I never thought I'd see the day you'd finally start facing reality!" He waddled closer to the glass, flippers spread. "Too bad for you though, the anglerfish is probably already dead!"

Tomoyo's stomach dropped. "What? How do you know?"

"You're not the only one who remembers genius! That jellyfish? She remembers now too. And as long as anglerfish keeps getting in her way, she'll just learn how to kill her faster!"

Tomoyo's mind went back to the silver-haired girl. The one with translucent skin and those empty aquamarine eyes. The one who kept appearing with a spear, kept killing them over and over.

"…Why does she want to kill us?"

"Are you serious? It's like asking why water's wet, or why a knife cuts. She exists to kill you, obviously!"

"Why would someone exist just to kill me? I didn't do anything wrong. I just made a wish, that's all..."

Ringo went still. For a moment, the only sound was the bubbling of the exhibit's filtration system. Then he started laughing. His entire body shook, flippers slapping against the water surface as he doubled over.

"A wish! A WISH! You hear that, worm? She 'just made a wish, that's all! HA! Your 'wish' is going to kill THOUSANDS! Why do you think the military's so desperate to stop you with that jellyfish? But hey, at least you get to keep your girlfriend, right? TOTALLY WORTH IT!"

Tomoyo opened her mouth to ask something but before she could, the eel lunged forward, wrapping around her face. Its bioluminescence flared, blinding her as it pressed against her mouth and nose. She couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't-

No.

Her fingers dug in the eel's flesh and pulled.

"How?" Tomoyo gasped, finally tearing the eel away enough to speak. "How is my wish going to kill thousands?"

Ringo's laughter died. "You really haven't noticed? Seriously? Look around you! Look at all the faces you fucked up!

Tomoyo's head turn on instinct, but she caught herself. Her peripheral vision showed them: those void-black faces, more than before. So many more.

"I- I didn't-"

"Didn't what? Didn't stop and think for just one second about what happens when you trap an entire ward in a time loop just because you couldn't handle your girlfriend leaving?"

"I didn't-" Her voice cracked. "I didn't know. I just wanted-"

"Yeah, yeah, you just wanted to keep your girlfriend." Ringo then turned to the eel floating behind Tomoyo. "And YOU! Don't think I'm letting you off easy, worm! You're just as stupid as she is! Maybe MORE stupid, actually, because at least she has the excuse of being a human who's naturally terrible at making decisions!"

The eel recoiled, its bioluminescence flickering.

"Oh, what's wrong? Finally feeling guilty now?" Ringo waddled forward, pressing his beak against the glass. "You go around killing three rando's because you tried to shove your contract down their throats while running from that jellyfish. Didn't work out, did it? So now you've dragged this pathetic human into it!"

The eel's cord tightened against Tomoyo's spine, but she barely felt it through the numbness spreading through her.

"What was your brilliant plan, huh? Build your little fishbowl over the ward and loop until the threat's gone? Well, here's a newsflash worm: this girl NEVER wants out! Even if you kill the jellyfish, time keeps looping because SHE won't let go!"

Ringo kicked at a rock near the exhibit's edge, sending it skittering across the rocks.

"You could at least kept the fishbowl intact! But now look at the sky! Reality's falling apart! Thousands are going to die because of you two!"

He kicked another rock. This time, it hit the glass with a crack.

"GOD I'm surrounded by IDIOTS!"

Thousands. The word kept repeating in Tomoyo's head. According to Ringo, three people already died because of the eel's failed contracts. Were thousands more really going to die too?

I just wanted Raika to stay.

But if keeping Raika meant killing thousands-

No, there has to be another way.

She pressed her palms against her forehead. Kuroko's words echoed back: Just go find her and talk.

Talk to Raika. Ask her if there was a way to break the loop without her leaving. Maybe the anglerfish knew something, some loophole that would let them both escape.

"Oho~ looks like the girlfriend killer's here again."

Tomoyo's head snapped up. Ringo was turned away from her, eyes fixed on something behind her. She turned around. The silver-haired girl stood near the glass, hands dripping red onto the floor. The girl's aquamarine eyes locked onto Tomoyo, expression blank.

Tomoyo's stomach lurched. "Is that-"

"Your girlfriend's blood? Yep! Told you jellyfish would kill her faster. Looks like she really is getting efficient about it."

The eel moved before Tomoyo could process what was happening. It shot across the space between them, cord yanking Tomoyo forward as it wrapped around the girl's throat. Its body constricted, tightening like a python around prey, but the girl didn't fight back. Her hands hung limp at her sides, those aquamarine eyes staying fixed on Tomoyo.

At this rate, the girl was going to die.

I can't let another person die because of me.

Tomoyo's hands flew to the cord, fingers wrapped around the slick surface. Pain exploded down her spine as she pulled, dragging the eel back. Her vision blurred and her knees threatened to give out, but she kept pulling.

The eel finally released its hold. It coiled back toward Tomoyo, bioluminescence flickering in what might've been confusion or rage. She collapsed forward, gasping. Her spine felt like nails were driven through them, but at least the girl looked like she was still breathing.

The girl's hand went to the angry red marks on her throat.

"Why?"

Her voice came out hoarse, damaged from the constriction.

"Why did you stop it? My purpose was to eliminate the eel, but I failed. So why… Why didn't you let me die?"

I exist to eliminate the eel…

I exist for Raika…

It was like a mirror held up to her own face. The reflection stared back at her, aquamarine eyes instead of gray-blue. 

"Don't talk like that." Tomoyo said, voice cracking. "There has to be something else to live on for, something besides killing."

Something flickered behind those aquamarine eyes. The girl's gaze dropped to the blood on her hands.

"There's... A word. I remember... something. Someone said... Rei. That word is... Rei."

"Is that your name?"

"I think... Someone gave it to me… Someone... Why don't I remember?"

The first tear fell. Rei stared at it as it hit her palm. Then another followed.

"What is... Why am I..."

More tears came, streaming down her face. She looked at Tomoyo with something close to panic.

"I don't understand… Why can't I remember who gave me my name?"

Tomoyo watched as the tears kept falling, at Rei who looked so lost, so confused by her own tears.

"Then let that be your new purpose. Finding out what your name means. Who gave it to you."

"…A new purpose?"

"Yeah. You don't have to keep being a weapon. You could just... try being Rei instead."

"But I don't know how to be this 'Rei'."

The words hung in the air. Tomoyo searched for the right response and found herself thinking of Raika.

What would Raika say?

"So what? Nobody knows how to be themselves at first. You just figure it out as you go."

"Figure it out..."

"Right. Like you already started, didn't you? By crying. That's something Rei does that the weapon didn't."

Silence stretched between them. Ringo had gone quiet in his exhibit, watching.

The Raika-impression cracked. Tomoyo's hands clenched.

"I'm sorry. This is my fault. I dragged you into this mess. I just- I need your help, Rei. In the next loop, please don't kill Raika right away.  I need to talk to her first."

Rei was silent for several seconds again. When she finally spoke, her voice carried something unfamiliar. Like hope.

"If helping you helps me understand what Rei means... then I'll do it."

"Thank you."

Rei nodded once. Tomoyo then turned her attention to the cord connecting her to the eel.

To see Raika, I need to end this loop, but Rei won't be killing me this time.

The eel's bioluminescence flickered. Its body went rigid.

It knew.

Tomoyo's fingers tried to quickly wrap around the cord, but the eel was already lunging, wrapping around her arms and trying to pull her hands away. Its weight pressed against her chest, constricting. She gasped, grip loosening for just a second.

No.

Her fingers dug back in, nails biting into the slick surface. The eel thrashed, coiling tighter around her stomach. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, but her hands didn't let go.

The cord finally snapped. Tomoyo collapsed forward, the severed end of the cord whipping backward. Blood poured from the wound, soaking her uniform. The eel coiled on the floor beside her, its light dimming.

Tomoyo couldn't feel her legs anymore. She couldn't even feel anything below her chest. Darkness eventually crept across her vision, swallowing the aquarium piece by piece.

I'm coming, Raika.