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Chapter 20: Final Goodbyes

Kira's POV
Not yet. Just a little more.

I readied the spear resting in my right palm, watching as Neon drew closer and closer to me.

Just a little more! I have to make sure I get this right this one time!

Neon ran at me, beginning to pick up speed. The closer she came, the more I pulled back the spear. I zoned in on the left side of her chest where the heart was, which was now sure to be encased in cold, hard ice.

Yeah, my research paid off.

Finally, I threw my hand forward, letting go of the spear. The spear flew from my hand and towards her heart.

It stabbed itself into the left side of Neon's chest before coming out the other end, flying forward and embedding itself into the ground. Neon's wendigo form disintegrated into dust as her icy heart could be seen in the middle of the spear.

I was the first one to run over to the spear, then Kori, then Yuki. I gripped the heart and pulled it off the spear. I dropped it onto the floor, firing up my hands, then shaking them and extinguishing the fire.

"Geez, that's a lot colder than I thought it'd be." I muttered, looking at the heart on the floor.

I had to do this quick. If I don't do this properly, she'll be resurrected, and we can't have that. We DID just beat her, after all, and it'd be a pain to go through this again.

"Yuki, the axe, please." I said, extending my right hand while I kept my eye on Neon's heart. Something was given to my hand, and when I looked at it, I could see it was the axe I had asked for.

I raised the axe over my head, staring at her heart.

"I'm sorry, Neon."

I swung the axe down onto Neon's heart. I watched as a crack appeared in the ice. I did it again, another crack appearing, this one deeper and longer than the last. Another hit, and the icy heart broke into a diagonal half piece.

I hit the first piece, then the other, watching as it broke off into two pieces each. I hit those pieces some more, and finally the heart was broken into ten smaller pieces.

I looked around, noticing Kori was holding the metal box out to me. I walked towards him and took the box from his hands, noticing the blood on his back.

"We're going to get you to the hospital soon, buddy. We're almost done here." I said, rubbing his head. Kori responded with a nod of his head. I walked back over the the shattered, icy heart pieces, opening the box and taking out the key that was hidden inside the box.

I set the box on the ground and squatted down to the heart pieces. I began picking them up as Yuki helped me. We put the heart pieces into the box together. We picked up the last two, our fingers touching as we dropped them into the box. I looked at Yuki, smiling like an idiot, my face growing red as I immediately looked back down.

I closed the box, locking it with the key, and then made my way back towards Kori.

"Can you stand?" I asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Kori shook his head, trying to look at his back. Yuki and I bent down, gently taking hold of him, and lifted him over our shoulders.

We carried him to the hospital together. We walked inside, telling the receptionist at the front desk that our friend got hurt in an accident-which was kinda true, really, since this whole thing really WAS an accident-and he got taken to emergency care.

Yuki and I were told that Kori would need stitches and would stay at the hospital for a few days. I called Ayame and told her about the situation. It didn't take long for her to show up at all, and she came with Akane. They stayed in Kori's room for a while, talking to him, while Yuki and I sat outside his room.