Our Greatest Comeback

Two young souls ran freely through the streets of Takachiho, their hearts beating so fast that they didn't need the absent warmth of the sun. This time, they weren't running for love, but for hope. Although, of course, perhaps deep down, they were the same thing.

The inn was just a few blocks away from Nao's house. Takashi had to gather up the pendant he had left on the futon, and then both of them had to pass through the torii of the shrine while praying. Only then would their hope turn into an opportunity to change things.

"Come on, Nao!"

"Yes!"

"Keep going like this! Don't think of anything else but the pendant!" Inari followed them, floating considerably faster than when she had to run.

"Huh? How didn’t you disappear?!" A shiver ran down their bodies as Izanami spoke from somewhere. "You're not going to escape!"

All the yūrei nearby turned towards Takashi and Nao, starting to run urgently to catch them.

"Yūrei!"

Takashi understood that Nao was terrified of what she had experienced, but never doubted that she could overcome it.

"Come!"

With her hand held by the boy, Nao closed her eyes in fear as they crossed the first yūrei.

You won't escape.

You'll be alone forever.

You can't do anything for her.

Fears whispered into Takashi's ear, but none of them stopped him.

"Shut up. You're only making me stronger," Takashi thought.

And it was true, as true as the fact that the yūrei were growing in number to a dangerous amount.

Everything will be in vain.

He'll die again.

We'll meet soon.

Nao's hand tightened its grip every time a thought tormented her. But no matter how scared she was, her legs never stopped running.

"Why do you say everything will be in vain? Can't you see I won't let him go?" Nao thought.

"Get them!"

With an infernal scream, Izanami started sending more yūrei to try to stop them, as if Takashi and Nao were escaping from a zombie apocalypse. Fortunately, they had help behind them.

"No, they won’t!"

Several lanterns from the Obon appeared floating between the couple and the yūrei, acting as a barrier for them to keep running. With that divine protection, with Inari as a beautiful star, they kept moving forward.

"Inari said I shouldn't bear the weight of the world on my hands. And it's true..."

Takashi directed a gaze, right at his right hand, tightly held by Nao.

"But now, I truly want to hold my world forever."

"Here!" Inari alerted.

And before they knew it, they arrived at the inn. Takashi knew the way by heart, which helped him enter the room quickly. He pulled out the futon from the closet and laid it out on the floor.

"Please! Tell me you're here!"

He stuck his hand into the opening of the stuffing, still unrepaired, and pulled the metal inside so forcefully that it flew to Nao's feet. Takashi stood up quickly.

"Yes! Give it to me, Na..."

In that brief moment, Nao had crouched to pick up the pendant, and she took the opportunity to hang it around his neck herself, her hands slightly nervous due to the situation.

"It looks beautiful on you," she finally returned with a shy smirk.

"Don't be silly. There will be time for sweet moments later. Let's go!"

They left the inn swiftly, finding Inari at the door.

"Let's go! We're almost there!"

"You're not!"

The yūrei became less translucent, larger, and faster, getting closer and closer to both of them. The sound of cell phones filled the air as the couple left all difficulties behind.

"Two blocks! Come on, we can... Ah!"

Both of them screamed as two objects materialized in front of them, knocking them to the ground.

"What?"

Takashi saw the newspaper stand with the headline "Nobeoka Champions," but it had no effect anymore.

"Come on, Na..."

Nao, however, remained on the ground, her eyes filled with terror. Takashi saw it: she had been knocked down by a memorial, with a photo of Takashi Ueda at the center.

"Nao! Come on!"

Takashi took both her hands and forcefully brought them together. The snap and the look she gave him burst her out of her fear. He was still there, and that was enough for her.

"Let's go!" She shouted.

"No!"

The final block remained, the most difficult to cross as Izanami continued to attack them with countless yūrei and objects. Or trying to attack them, because they could overcome everything now.

"I died in an accident, and I saw the girl I love the most fall with me. I'm risking my life and Nao's in this challenge."

"Over here!"

Nao tugged at his hand, and they both dodged a billboard.

"So..."

He looked to his right as if seeking answers, and he found them in Nao's eyes. Suddenly, nothing was as painful or terrible.

"Why can't I help but feel excited?" Nao's surprise was seeing that a smile was forming on the face of the boy who had cried for her.

"Even if everything falls apart..." Nao recalled the walk in the rain, the waterfalls, and moments ago when he held her in his arms. "You're always smiling. Thank you for doing it with me, Takashi." That, among many other things, was what she loved about Takashi: his hope.

"Now I understand. Fears are just sensations..." Takashi could appreciate how Nao returned the gesture. "And right now, I just feel like I'm burning with love for her. Thank you, Inari, for allowing me to love her."

Takashi had told her he wanted to be by her side for a lifetime. Now that sentence seemed incomplete to him, because even in death, he wanted to keep holding her hand.

"The torii! Start praying!"

Inari materialized many lanterns behind them, in the sky. They quickly realized it was because Izanami was there.

"Inari, guiding and benevolent divine protector, grant—"

"You won't go!"

"Ah!"

They crossed the torii just as Izanami launched herself at them in a final cowardly and desperate attempt.

"Hold on tight!"

"Takashi!"

"Nao!"

Their hands made contact.

Both together in the shrine.

The fierce howl of the free wind prevented either of them from fully enjoying that vestige of their bond, as they had to worry about the immense drop ahead of them. The ground beneath their feet had fallen far away, and gravity began to pull them in free fall.

"Ah!"

From that elevated height, they could see how the incandescent sunset on their right blended with the deep blue of the night on their left, the sky studded with countless lights. Below, a festive and illuminated Takachiho awaited them, accompanied by other distant cities that shone like bonfires on the earth.

Takashi tried to grab Nao, who was falling below him into the beautiful void. He managed to hold onto the opening of her yukata until they were very close to each other.

"Come here!"

Above them, a huge Izanami materialized. At the same time, from the ground, fireworks launched by the deity were headed toward the young ones.

"Nao!"

"Takashi!"

"Guys!"

In their moment of greatest terror, gazes locked between them, Inari's celestial protection fell upon them. For each firework, Inari materialized an Obon lantern in its path. Suspended in the air until impact, they surrounded Takashi and Nao's fall with the color and noise of the explosions. The scene was so dramatic that they could barely hear their voices.

"You have already passed through the torii, but I can't get you out yet! Quickly, pray!" Inari started to fall to their level.

"Nao!"

Takashi managed to break through his fear of the situation, but his companion was much more terrified.

"No! Help!" Nao couldn't open her eyes even for a moment, despite Takashi holding her.

"Nao, we need to pray!"

Takashi tried to shake her from wherever he could hold onto her, but she wasn't reacting. She wished it was all a dream when she closed her eyes, and her hands alternated between grabbing Takashi and holding her head.

"Help!"

"Nao! Look at me!"

Finally, her eyes opened, initially timid before her enamored's face illuminated her. The lights of Takachiho shone behind her like hellfire, and every explosion near her ears was a deafening blast, but his determined voice and his brown eyes were the only things Nao could focus on.

"Look at the sky! The sky!"

Nao saw what was behind. The night sky was aglow with fireworks and paper lanterns, while Izanami pierced through them mercilessly. But despite the chaos, the stars were still there, beautiful as always. It was a shame that Nao couldn't look at them for long, but why would she when the brightest star, the light she wanted to see the most, was falling alongside her?

"Breathe!"

Pierced by the serenity she found in her lover, Nao closed her eyes and folded her hands, as if she were praying.

"She's so beautiful," Takashi thought, even though they were on the brink of disappearing.

Inhale. One. Two.

Exhale. One. Two.

Ready.

"Bring your pendant closer!"

Nao's right hand managed to gather the strength to pull the pendant out of her neckline, tugging it toward Takashi. He released her shoulder to do the same with his right hand, while his left arm wrapped around Nao's waist. Inari's lanterns began to shine very brightly the instant the metals made contact.

"No! You won't leave!" Izanami became faster all of a sudden.

"Quickly, pray!" Inari screamed.

"Takashi!" The girl's eyes opened wide with terror at seeing Izanami getting closer.

"Pray, Nao!"

Takachiho now looked much larger, and the time they had, much smaller. Terrified, their voices prayed in unison.

"Inari, guiding and benevolent divine protector, grant us the courage to prevail!"

Everything had become a bit brighter, the lamps glowing with more intensity. Maybe that's why both closed their eyes and pressed their foreheads together, wanting to protect each other no matter what.

"Inari, guiding and benevolent divine protector, grant us the courage to prevail!"

"No!" Izanami’s shouts pierced the air.

"Inari, guiding and benevolent divine protector, grant us the courage to prevail!"

Takashi opened his eyes as he felt warmth on his right, and he noticed that Inari, falling beside him, was glowing more and more. Like a lantern being lit, she radiated more and more white light as her coal-black eyes fixed on Takashi. Her expression remained as always, but Takashi noticed a difference this time.

"Go," Takashi could feel Inari telling him before her bodily light blinded him completely in an instant.

He felt his head hit the ground before propelling himself upwards instinctively. He was back on the bus, surrounded by panicked screams, just like when he had stumbled on his way to his seat. He ran to his seat to brace for the impact again. And when he felt the bus slide from the tail, he acted.

"Ah!"

Takashi grabbed Jun under his shoulders and violently sent him towards the left side, throwing him onto Hiroshi's legs just before the right window shattered from the impact. The crash seemed even more violent this time. The powerful impact sent Takashi backward onto the shards, but he miraculously wasn't seriously hurt.

"Get out!"

Everything happened too fast for Takashi to comprehend. He glanced back, relieved that Jun wasn't sprawled against the glass, before the bus started sliding.

"No!"

He climbed up as quickly as he could, using all his strength, but it seemed like he was going to be swallowed by the abyss again.

"Nao!"

The bus began to fall as he reached the window frame. Everything had fallen apart again, and once more, he hadn't...

Someone grabbed him.

"Takashi!"

The weight of the boy threatened to drag Nao into an inevitable and now definitive death. A loud crash came from the bottom of the cliff as the bus crashed into the riverbed.

"Don't let go, Takashi!"

Oh, he didn't want to. But his arms were on the brink of giving in. And with them, all his weight. He was bleeding from the broken glass. His vision, focused on Nao, grew hazier by the moment. Everything seemed to slow down around him, and he could no longer think clearly.

"Pull them out!"

Takashi, on the verge of succumbing, saw Nao being pushed back by a man in a fluorescent vest.

"Give me your hand!" a policeman said as another took hold of him under his shoulders.

Around ten men quickly gathered to rescue the two young souls from the precipice. Takashi's legs felt the ground again beneath him, and he was deeply relieved.

"We have an injured one! Get the ambulance ready!"

"Takashi!"

He heard Jun's voice from somewhere, he thought he heard Shiraito's too. He didn't care because as he was being led to the ambulance, his eyes were searching for only one person: the girl who was being carried away by another unit, held by two rescuers. Amidst the sirens, the shouts, and the panic, both locked exhausted and heavy gazes before Nao uttered something unintelligible and began to close her eyes.

"Na…"

Nao grew darker. Or rather, everything around him grew darker. His legs still felt the ground, but not the strength to stand.

"…o…"

He felt the comforting chest of the policeman carrying him, and giving one last look at the sky that was sending a thousand knives in the form of rain, Takashi closed his eyes, and everything turned to darkness.