“.....”
Hina’s home was messier than I’d expected. No, given how short on time she always was and how badly she must have been sleeping, it was completely understandable.
“...Hina, are you in there?”
“...”
I took one step at a time toward the room I could see. The door was firmly shut, but there was this subtle feeling, like it was waiting for someone to open it, so I walked up to it.
“...”
Knock knock
“...Who is it?”
“Hina... are you hurt somewhere?”
“...Haruta... yeah... it’s you, Haruta...”
Her voice sounded terrible. If I handled this wrong, she’d be like a ship that had already run aground and was on the verge of sinking for good. The despair and resignation in her voice were the kind you’d hear in Arius—no, something even worse, a voice soaked in pure hopelessness and exhaustion.
“Hina... are you okay?”
Creeeeak
“Haruta... you’re... still alive...”
Thud
“...”
“Hic... Haruta... why... did you heal me...”
“Well... your regeneration is really good... I don’t know if that’s natural or something you gained later.”
“Ah... aahhh!!!”
“Sorry... Hina.”
“I tried too! I wanted to rest too!!”
“...”
“I can’t be Takanashi Hoshino...”
“...Sorry. Even so, if I healed you, you’d still have survived Arius and be standing here now, right?”
“...Haruta... I’ve retired from being the Discipline Committee chief...”
“...”
“So... just go home... this is too much for me now... I’m tired... sorry to disappoint you, but... please go...”
“No. Hina, I just came to say thank you.”
“Huh...? Th-thank me...? Wh... why...?”
“If you’re thinking about protecting Sensei, then you don’t need thanks for that.”
“Th-that... was just... something I was supposed to do......”
Here, I had to follow the original. Even now, Hina felt like she was only half-following the original route. Still, I had to stick to it if I wanted to see the end of the Eden Treaty story through to the end.
The happy ending where everyone smiles. I had to keep walking that path.
“No. I just came to thank Hina... you know, something like appreciating your hard work... because you always push yourself and step up first.”
“Hina... thank you, truly... for always trying so hard.”
“...”
“Our little Discipline Committee chief... you’ve always run yourself ragged, so you can rest a little.”
“...”
“I’ll... Sensei and I will handle things somehow.”
“W-wait... somehow...? What do you mean, somehow...”
“...”
“There you go again... saying things like that...”
“I... can’t be like Takanashi Hoshino...”
“...”
“I’m not... as strong as Abydos’s vice president...”
“...”
“When someone precious gets hurt... I just end up running away like this...”
“...Then if someone precious gets hurt, I’ll heal them.”
“...Haruta...”
Hina looked at me with eyes sunk in sorrow.
“...Haruta... I made a contract with you, didn’t I...?”
“Haa... yeah, you did.”
“...The only precious person I have left is... you, Haruta... but...”
“...”
“If Haruta... hic... disappears again... like that...”
“I’m sorry... I’m the one who’s sorry... for everything... all of it...”
“No... Haruta doesn’t need to apologize...”
“Haa...”
“I tried too...”
“Yeah... I know. Better than anyone.”
“I always... tried and tried again...”
“No one ever noticed... but I thought it was fine anyway...”
“...”
“To say something like ‘you worked hard’ right here, right now... that’s so unfair... really...”
“I wanted... attention too! I wanted... praise...!”
I followed the original for now. I’d definitely heard this line before. I was following the original.
“Then! If Hina’s grades go up, I’ll praise you!”
“No... I’m almost at full marks already...”
“...Hina, that hurts me deeply, you know?”
“Pfft...”
“Huh? You laughed!”
“...Haa... I really can’t keep up with Haruta.”
“Hina... but I think I really don’t have any talent for studying.”
“No... we used to study together before, remember?”
“That was luck.”
“No... let’s study together again sometime.”
“Well... I did give up on studying and all that... but if it’s your request, Hina, I’ll do it again.”
“Mm... okay... I’ll come back to it again.”
“Anyway... I just came because our little Discipline Committee chief was sick, so I thought I’d heal you for a bit.”
“Haruta... that little Discipline Committee chief gets scary when she’s angry, you know?”
“Haha... seeing you like this, you’re really cute.”
That made sense. Hina and I had a height difference of about forty centimeters—no, probably more.
“Uu... don’t say things like that...”
“Oh, come on... if you’re not cute, then who is?”
“...Hoshino or... that Yuuka girl I saw before...”
“To me, Hina is the cutest.”
“...Is that... really true?”
“Of course. Have you ever seen a demon lie?”
“...A lot...”
“...That’s prejudice.”
“...Then can I go back to work right now?”
“No. For now, we’re still cleaning up the situation, so there isn’t much you can do if you go back.”
“...”
“Besides, you said you retired.”
“Ah. I was just saying that. I just wanted to be a little... spoiled by everyone.”
“Yeah... then let’s get you back for now.”
And so I returned to the battlefield, pretending not to see Hina acting spoiled.
------------------------------------------------------
“B... Boss!”
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ako.”
“.....Yes!!”
“Preparations are complete! We’re waiting for Sensei’s orders!”
----------------------------------------------------------
“We’re surrounded...”
“....We can’t ignore these numbers, Leader.”
“How ridiculous... in front of the endlessly multiplying [Sanctus Pater Filius]...”
“Haa... why not just go back when we told you to?”
“...!? You are!!!”
“For now, this isn’t the time to fight, so we’ll withdraw...”
Haruta looked straight at Arius Squad. His eyes held not hatred, despair, or any other negative feeling, but compassion, love, and other positive emotions.
“...Everything is futile... all... futile...”
“Even if everything is futile, we still have to struggle.”
“...This world is filled with killing intent and hatred. Everything is futile, and futile again. It’s a lesson that all effort ends in emptiness.”
“Haa... maybe I should’ve studied a little? Anyway, I’m leaving.”
Not long after Haruta turned and walked away, rain began to fall from the sky. Was it to deepen the sorrow? No, the world was only darkening for a moment so it could become brighter later.
Rain was, and always would be, hope that brought a clear sky.
“Sensei? I should probably head out now.”
“Yes. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Yes... let’s finish things here first, then meet again.”
After that brief exchange with Sensei, the Supplementary Lessons Department students gathered together.
Sensei looked at Hifumi and nodded.
“Hifumi...”
“Azusa-chan. I was angry at you. Very, very angry.”
“......”
“But... I’m glad you’re safe, Azusa-chan. So it’s okay.”
“I was really angry, but if I think about it, it wasn’t Azusa-chan’s fault... so I’ll forgive you.”
“Hifumi...”
“But... I can’t forgive them.”
“They force killing... hatred... and things like that on us, as if it’s the truth of this world...”
“They force us to accept nonsense like ‘everything is futile’...”
“I hate that!!”
“Huh... so I really get to see that in real life.”
“I don’t want Azusa-chan to become a murderer.”
“Those... those gloomy, unpleasant stories, those stories with a bitter aftertaste,”
“even if they’re true, even if they’re the truth of this world, they’re not my taste!!”
The truth of the world may be gloomy, unpleasant, and futile, but—
“I like ordinary things!”
“I’m ordinary and have no special traits at all, but when it comes to my tastes, I won’t yield to anyone!”
No matter how unreasonable or difficult the world may be—
“Stories where friendship overcomes hardship,”
“stories that may be childish, but still end with everyone smiling!”
Because we were born into this world—
“And stories where everyone ends up happy in the end!”
“I like stories like that!”
Because we are the ones who live in it—
“No one can force that on us!!”
“We decide the story we’re going to make ourselves!!”
“So, we begin now!”
“Our story!”
“A story of academies and youth!”
We are all beings with worth. We deserve love, and we share the same value.
We are all the same kind of people.
Blue Archive
A Story of Academies and Youth
“Th... the clouds...”
“What is this...? Weather manipulation...? No, this is...”
“A... a miracle...?”
“There are no miracles! This is... something else...”
“Could it be... this is... a new decree... being concluded...?”
Sensei stood beside the Supplementary Lessons Department students and exchanged looks with them.
Then.
“I’ll declare it here.”
“We are the real Eden Treaty task force.”
“Wh... what?!”
“....Leader, the [Sanctus Pater Filius] can’t be controlled...”
“!!”
Rustle...
The [Sanctus Pater Filius] crumbled one by one, turning to dust that scattered in all directions.
“I-it seems they’re confused... If helping the Eden Treaty task force is the decree... then there are two ETOs here right now...”
“Futile!!!!”
“So what if it is! What can you change with a declaration like that!”
“Do you really think this world of hatred and distrust will change just because you say that? That’s a childish dream!”
Sensei faced Saori once more, looked her straight in the eye, and spoke.
“No. It has always been the duty of adults to make students’ dreams come true.”
“I simply believe in that dream, and answer it.”
It always feels cheesy but fitting reading that and I love it