~ Ayano's Pov ~
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I knew it'd be too good to be true that I got some amount of alone time these past few days… Still, why did this thing even want me to explore exactly? It just kept running me in this weird loop.
Every time I thought I could relax, something tugged at me—like it was trying to push me somewhere specific, without actually telling me where I should even go. Or why...
And that was, frustrating me...
I sucked it up, since there's no use in fighting it. "Guys, I'll be back..." I said casually, brushing some sand from my sleeves. "I've decided to… look around a bit, yeah. Just, give me like, ten to maybe fifteen minutes tops>"
Renji was mid-back float, and lazily raised a hand without looking at me. "Don't get lost in Atlantis, man."
Sekai glanced over her shoulder. "Umm, by any chance... Do, you need someone to come with?"
I shook my head. "Nah, I'm good...! I just need a little breather is all... I'll be back before anyone even notices I'm gone."
She nodded, though I felt her stare lingering on me for a second longer than normal—maybe trying to read between the lines. I gave her a small grin, then turned away before she could push it further...
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Speaking of... The further I walked away from the beach, the quieter everything became...
The sound of laughter, and water splashes were slowly fading out, and were pretty much replaced by the soft trickling sound of streams and other sounds of the sea itself, muffled yet almost always present.
I wandered through some of the narrow paths between the buildings, some of them were, or had looked fairly empty, others quietly lived-in to the side...
'I Guess there's not really much to see.'
I saw that some of the glass windows shimmered with faint bioluminescent lights, with what looked like glowing vines that crawled up some of the structures, swaying freely.
I didn't really have much of a destination in mind right now. My feet were just carrying me forward, guided more so by my own instinct at this point—or maybe it was the panels gentle push—than anything logical to me... Maybe...
Eventually though, I came across a path I hadn't seen before.
A good distance away from most of the other facilities, and even compared to the habitats on the land. In fact, it was barely visible...
It looked as if it was tucked between two larger coral-like structures, almost completely hidden by some arching plants with blue, translucent leaves. It actually didn't look like anyone had come through here in a while, but something about it was, calling out to me.
'I guess, it's now or never...'
I brushed past the leaves, following the path...
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~ Third Person Pov ~
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Sekai looked ahead, watching the sea's soft torrent, swaying... Katsura seeing her friend oddly melancholic, sat beside her.
"Sekai-san... Are you, ok? You seem a bit..." She asked.
Sekai's gaze remained on the distant shimmer of the water, her legs tucked loosely to her chest. The faint laughter of students echoed behind her, but she didn't react. It was like the tide had pulled her thoughts out with it.
"…He does that a lot, y'know?" she said finally, her voice a bit quieter than it usually was. "Disappears."
Katsura blinked, surprised by the sudden honesty, but she didn't interrupt...
"Not in a bad way, of course... I think..." Sekai added quickly. "It's just that… Ayano... It feels like he's always carrying something on his shoulder's, or hiding something. It doesn't matter how much he smiles, or makes jokes, there's this… weight to him I just can't put my finger on. You feel it too, right?"
Katsura nodded, although slowly. "I think, I do... I think he tries his best to hide it, but it's there. Like, he's always looking at something the rest of us can't see."
"Exactly!" Sekai responded. She hugged her knees a little tighter. "I know I shouldn't really worry—he said he was fine—but I still feel like he's not being entirely honest with us. Not in a malicious way. Just… like there's something he thinks we can't handle."
Katsura tilted her head, her long hair falling to one side. "Well; Maybe he's not wrong... We all have things we hide, Sekai-san. My mother once said that we wither have deep rooted secrets, or pain that doesn't have words to fully explain. Even now, being in this place… doesn't it feel like we're somewhere we're not really supposed to be?"
Sekai turned to look at her, a little startled by the line of question. But, she still understood it completely.
"…Yeah." she admitted after a slight pause. "It, does, doesn't it...? Beautiful, sure. But it feels like it's… I'm standing in some sort of a dream that knows you don't really belong in it, at least not for too long."
Katsura's eyes drifted to the sand, fingers absentmindedly drawing small patterns in it. "Do you think he feels the same? That, he doesn't belong—here, with us...?"
Sekai frowned at the thought, slightly frightened by the question.
"N-No... I.. I think he wants to belong with us. Maybe more than any of us. But, it feels like something keeps dragging him back; I don't know how to explain it, but it keeps pulling him back into that other world of his… whatever, it is. And, he won't even tell us what it is."
For a moment, neither of them spoke to each other. The sea flowed in the background, calm but, ever-moving...
"I think… He'll, come back soon." Katsura said softly.
"Yeah, I have that feeling too...' Sekai replied, her voice just as low. "But every time he walks off like that… I worry that one day, he won't."
They both stared out at the water then, silently waiting, hoping the tide would bring him back before the calm turned into something else entirely.
...
"S-Sekai-san..."
Both Katsura and Sekai had turned around, but both had completely different reactions, one was of mild curiosity, and the latter was of mild trauma.
Sekai's lips squirmed before she responded, but she calmed herself, answering, "I-Itou...?"
The boy in question smiled weakly, "H-Hey~ Sekai-san..."
Sekai stood up slowly, brushing a bit of sand from her legs, however, her heart wad thudding lightly in her chest...
'Urmm...' She thought.
She hadn't heard that voice in months—not since things spiraled off between the both of them. Not since the chaos, tears and the numbness that followed. And yet here he was. Makoto Itou. The same soft, slightly unsteady voice. But somehow…
Different too.
"I-Itou-san...?" she said again, more steadily this time.
He scratched the back of his neck, eyes lowering as if ashamed of even making her say his name out loud.,, However, he instantly realized that it no longer had that feeling to it that it used to have, and not only that.
Sekai had no longer called him with the honorific [Kun] like she used to, and, it slightly pained him...
"S-Sekai-san…" he said again.
Katsura glanced at her for a moment, then slowly and quietly stepping away—respecting the silence, and space between the two...
Sekai didn't stop her. She just stood still, watching Makoto as he fumbled to find the words. There were bags under his eyes, his posture slouched with what looked like guilt, or heavy weight, or both,,. He looked like someone who'd been through a hundred sleepless nights. and still hadn't found any rest...
"I, uh…" he began. "I just wanted to tell you that... I didn't come here to stir things up, or anything like that. I just… I just I wanted to talk with you. Privately, if that's okay with you..."
Sekai hesitated for a beat, then slowly nodded once. "Al-Alright..."
They walked a short distance down the shore, just enough to escape the voices of the others, the tide gently curling over their feet like a reminder that time hadn't stopped...
Makoto stood with his hands in his pockets, not looking at her just yet. "You're probably wondering why I showed up all of a sudden, right? Especially after everything I've done to you, and everyone else..."
She nodded.
"I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't..." Sekai replied softly smiling while scratching her cheeks awkwardly, before her arms crossed, but not, cold. Just a bit guarded.
He gave off a tired sigh. "I just...came to apologize… for how I treated you. For how I treated everyone. I've been spending a lot of time alone lately, thinking. About everything. And I realized... I hurt a lot of people. And not just by accident. I was, careless. I was selfish and stupid..."
His voice was genuine... Tired. It wasn't rehearsed either, she could tell—it was raw, and she knew when he was like that...
"I just... wanted to tell it to you first..." he continued, "because out of everyone, I think I… No... I know I wronged you the most... You were the kindest to me, and you even offered my a way out too. You genuinely, cared. And I, took advantage of that."
Sekai's eyes softened...
She looked at him now, studying the slump of his shoulders, the way he couldn't quite meet her gaze... There was no trace of the arrogance, or his usual innocent boyish charm, or even the confusion he used to wear. Just someone, small and honest.
"…And?" she asked gently.
Makoto exhaled through his nose. "And… I realized I still care. Maybe more than I ever let myself admit before. I... I missed you, Sekai. So much more than I thought I would. I want to be with you again. For real this time. No games, and no confusion."
...
There it was. A confession...
And yet… Sekai didn't flinch. She didn't even blush. Her lips didn't tremble...
She simply looked at him with a quiet, solemn clarity in her eyes. "…I appreciate that." she said after a moment. "I do... And I can tell you're being honest with me this time. You've, grown Makoto... I can see that."
Makoto's expression shifted—hope flickering into his eyes.
"But..." she said gently, her voice still steady, "I... just don't think I can be in that kind of relationship with you... Not anymore."
The hope cracked just a little. "Why... Why not…?"
"Because, I don't think I can trust you." she answered honestly. "Not with my heart. Not again..."
Makoto's mouth parted slightly, pain flickering across his face, but she wasn't done.
"But even more than that…" She turned her gaze out toward the sea, and when he looked at her this time... He saw it, something about the way her eyes had softened considerably, and how that small smile was creeping up on her face—even how her entire posture shifted slightly—made something in Makoto sink.
"I've… found someone else," she admitted, her voice carrying a quiet but unmistakable certainty to it.
He didn't speak. He, just couldn't...
Sekai seeing this continued, "I found someone who... makes me feel, safe and secure. Someone who doesn't run away from themselves… or from, me. I didn't expect it, but… I've fallen for him. Admittedly, I've really fallen."
Makoto's hands clenched slightly in his pockets, his breath catching. "…Hah... I see."
She turned back to him, eyes no longer full of resentment or hurt, but simply understanding. A deep sense of Maturity.
"What we had..." she said, "Was, young. It was, reckless. It was… a kind of puppy love, no just an infatuation... And, it was extremely toxic too. I thought it was everything back then, but now I know it wasn't love—not the way I understand how it feels now."
The wind brushed past the two of them. Makoto didn't wipe away the tear that slid down his cheek... He just, let it fall.
"…Can... Can we at least still be friends?" he asked, voice cracking slightly.
Sekai gave him a small, warm smile. "Yeah. We can. Just, friends."
He looked away, the pain still real, but something like relief washing into him too. "T-Thank you. For still… accepting me."
She nodded, then looked out over the sea again—silent, soft, and sure this time. Makoto stood there for a minute longer, then gave her a small bow… before quietly walking away.
And Sekai stayed there, alone now. Watching the sea. But this time, her heart wasn't weighed down with old memories...
"Sekai!" Makoto suddenly said from behind.
'Huh...?' She thought, turning around.
...
Makoto, with tears falling from his eyes, coupled with a wavering, yet bright smile said. "Thank you Sekai...! For t-truly b-b-being my f-first love." He stammered to himself, walking away again.
Instead of answering... She took one last solemn look behind herself, then finally walked back to her new friends...
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~ Ayano's Pov ~
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The path looks...
like it ends here...
It led me straight to an abandoned house... 'It looks like it's been here for well over a few hundred years.' The structure looked like, a miracle standing.
That was the first thought that popped into my mind—and I didn't think I was exaggerating. The structure was a half-sunken building made of dark stone, and bleached coral, its roof was sagging under the weight of both time, and pressure...
It wasn't huge, maybe once a small home or shrine, but it had felt ancient—like it had been swallowed, and forgotten by time itself, only to be gently discovered by accident.
The strangest thing about it though… it was still intact. Not exactly pristine in any sense, and definitely not clean either—but intact. Like something had kept the nature from eating it whole. The glowing flora that covered everything else was missing here. No vines, no bioluminescent colors. Just raw, nearly untouched stone.
I looked a little ahead, realizing that what was left of the door was already open. Just a small crack.
Of course it was.
'…I'm going to regret this, aren't I?' I told myself.
But I stepped in anyway.
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The inside was dim, but not completely dark. The interior was quite simple too. One room. A stone floor. Dust that didn't float—it just all sat still, something anyone would expect of a place like it. A few shattered pieces of furniture too, if you could even call them that at this day and age. And at the far end of the room...
A, pedestal? 'Hmm...'
There was a standing portrait on it too... When I got closer, I could see two people in the frame; to the left sitting with arms on her lap, was in my opinion a very beautiful looking woman, with long dark purple hair, and blue eyes looked like the ocean itself... and then, another of a man with grey or silver colored eyes with black hair.
When I looked even closer, I could see both were smiling, and on their hands, were, rings...
'These two, they were married...?' It was the only logical conclusion I could draw, at least from what I saw... Not only that, the woman, sitting in this picture... Why does she look so much like that girl Chisaki from my class?
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Creeaaak~
"Ah... I see... you've found it."
I instantly turned around. When I looked, I saw Chisaki herself standing in the door frame...
'What's she doing all the way out here...? And what does she mean by that?'
She stood in the doorway, the glow of the outside casted a faint light over her silhouette. No visible weapons... No guards around her either. Just her, in that calm, unassuming presence of hers—but her eyes… they held something else to them this time...
I just couldn't tell what.
She stepped inside slowly, her shoes quiet against the ancient stone. "Well... You weren't exactly the first person to find this place either, you know. But you're definitely the first who wasn't led here by guidance..."
'Ok...?'
Well, crap... I might as well go with the flow, since it feels like I'm not supposed to even be here... Still, I glanced back at the photo again; my gaze lingering on the woman. "This lady... She looks, a wholelot like you…"
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"Well... she, should." Chisaki added, smiling gently and lightly, slowly walking to and past me, then straight towards the pedestal. "This woman you're referring to...? She... It's best to say that she's my very great-great-great-great-grandmother."
She then paused, then turned to look at me directly. "Her name was Chisaki as well... And, I was promptly named after her due to our very close resemblance..."
I blinked, looking at her again. If I didn't know any better, I'd say there were twins. But, I'm a little surprised by what she was telling me, or why she was telling me. Before I could even say anything more about it, she continued.
"She was, part of the original Ofunehiki incident, the one your world only half remembers," she said, fingers brushing over the stone edge of the pedestal, caressing it. "And the man standing beside her? It's likely as you thought. That was her husband, Tsumugu. A surface dweller who saw the sea not as a mystery to fear, but something sacred. He devoted his life to understanding people like, us. To bridging that gap, or tried to."
She glanced back at the photo, her tone softening. "Eventually, he succeeded... But politics have a way of spoiling even the purest dreams. When tension between the surface and the sea people grew… He initiated a project to protect us all. To isolate this island from the world. That wall you saw on the way? That was the beginning, and ending of it."
I felt my breath getting caught a bit. It all made a weird kind of sense now... The tension I felt coming, here... Maybe it was due to the panel I had too...
Never mind that, "does that mean…" I started, but Chisaki cut in gently.
"Yes." she said. "I'm technically the head, or future head of this place. Not officially 'queen' or anything of the sort, but… I certainly lead. I'm royalty, in the old sense of the word... funny, isn't it?"
That honesty—it wasn't grand, or dramatic either... She didn't say it like it made her better than anyone else. She just… said it. Like it was just as normal as saying what her name was.
She turned to me, stepping a little closer, her expression a bit softer now. "I've been coming here ever since I was little girl... It's always been my secret place. A space where I could think, breathe… just be myself. Even back then, I felt different. Like I was carrying too many lives at once. My own, and theirs."
She stopped in front of me now, close enough that I could see the quiet weight behind her eyes.
"Ideally... you weren't supposed to find this place," she explained to me. "But… maybe, that's not entirely a bad thing."
I didn't say anything. I just stood there. What else could I reasonably do at this point?
She gave me a small, almost bittersweet smile. "I think… a part of me wanted someone else to see it... To really see what this place means to me. And maybe…" She hesitated, for just a second longer. "A part of me wanted it to be you."
I swallowed, fully uncertain what to even think at the moment. This was way too awkward for me...
Then, "Why, me?" I asked. In fact, why was she even telling me all this?
Chisaki looked me dead in the eyes then... "Because... you feel like someone who carries more than he lets on... And, to be a bit honest... You just seemed like a good person too."
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Creak~
'That, sound...' and that's when I noticed it, the roof of the house, it was wobbling.
"Oh, No! CHISAKI!!! MOVE!!!
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END