Koharu
They thought it was over.
In the center of the room, amidst the cheering, the glowing flame statue shatters like glass, and the orange hue simmers down to an aqua blue and deep purple. The celebration ends, and Koharu, who thought the fight was over and they had beat the clock by a plentiful amount, gasps in shock. She should have known better than to let her guard down.
In the middle of the room is a miniature version of the singularity they saw outside, the core of the singularity. She stands, grip on her dagger tight as the core descends to the center of the floor. No one says a word or makes a move until Tia steps forward, approaching the core. "Where my destiny comes from… Ngh!"
"Ungh!" Premiere drops to her knees, clutching her head, while Tia manages to stand while doing the same. Of course, the singularity is fighting against them...and the clock is still ticking.
"Humans are not to be trusted," a voice, Tia's, comes from the swirling ball of data. "I just want to be alone… I can't find the answer… Can't go on like this…" From the singularity comes a figure in a dark cloak and a black mask under her hood. It's Tia, how she appeared to everyone before Koharu and her friends first caught up to her and had her join them in the tundra.
Tia confirms the identity. "That is my future."
"Not your future…your fate! Your destiny. You're worthless. No one needs you. You will always be alone. The sooner you accept that…"
"It's okay, Tia." Premiere, somehow, has shaken off the headache and stands on her feet to speak to her sister. "You know what human connection feels like now. We can find a new way forward for you."
"Premiere, I… You're right. I know what it's like to have a bright future. I'm not alone! I'm not locked in to one path!" Tia wards off her headache, confidently standing tall against the demon that plagues her. She turns to her allies assembled behind her, hand over her heart. "I need everyone's help to break me free of the prison my destiny has become!"
Premiere nods. "We are here for you!"
"Yeah," Koharu says, stepping forward to Tia, then looking at everyone behind her. "We've got your back, Tia!"
"Humans cannot be trusted. They'll cast me aside the first chance they get."
"But I believe in them. I believe in a brighter future!" Turning to Koharu, Tia looks at who she might consider her first friend and smiles. "Koharu, allow me to confront myself and end this once and for all."
Koharu answers by sheathing her dagger behind her back. "It is your future, after all. Seize it, Tia." Tia nods her head and holds her sword up confidently. Alone, she steps forward confronting her future self. For a solid minute, the two Tias stand in place, neither attacking the other, and just to calm her fears, Koharu glances at the system clock. Eleven-forty… Her hands becomes fists as the stagnant battle in front of her continues.
"Face your future, Tia… It's not just yours in jeopardy. Mine, Premiere's, all of our futures are all on the line."
At ten forty-one, the Tia of the dark future dashes forward, ending the stalemate. The real Tia holds her sword back, and once they are in each other's range, both Tias attack. They stand back to back several feet apart in the aftermath, and Koharu holds her breath as they await to see who struck a blow, if not the fatal one. Time freezes...and then the hooded Tia bursts into pixels.
"...Is… Is that it?" Kirito questions after a deafening quiet."
Tia nods as she sheathes her blade. "Yes. At last, I'm free of the depressing mindset that consumed me. I've been cut free from a singular, suffocating destiny."
"Now we can find a new way forward for you," Premiere says as she approaches Tia."
"I think I can finally bring myself to ask for help. I'm sorry I refused yours before. This desire to help others… It's overwhelming."
Jaymes chuckles as he comes beside Koharu and holds her shoulder. "It sure is. Right, Kindred Assassin?"
"You're insulting me, aren't you?"
"Course." Everyone with them laughs, and with the battle over, exhaustion finally sets in. With no desire to move and they're going to be forced off the servers anyway, the original gang of fifteen and those who joined them against Reigh and stayed behind settle on the floor for the next eight minutes. Eventually, another chime echoes in the chamber, accompanied by a voice.
"This is a notice for all players. Emergency maintenance will begin in ten minutes. All active players will be logged off automatically."
"Premiere and Tia will be alright, right?" Asuna asks. "I mean, there's no reason for them to be deleted now that we've freed them from that data interference."
Kirito lets his head hang. "To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. We just fixed them, so all the interference will still show up in their logs. The devs will find out about it."
"But…"
"No! They can't just delete them in cold blood like that!"
"Premiere! Tia! It'll be okay!"
"Isn't there anything we can do? I'm not ready to say goodbye yet!"
"Short of talking to the devs directly, which isn't gonna happen? I've got nothing."
"Calm down, guys. You're getting ME worked up…"
Koharu hasn't said anything, but weirdly neither has Jaymes. As a matter of fact, he looks to be a little too calm. Calm enough to warrant him as suspicious, but doesn't call him out as Premiere speaks of the possibilities of her and her sister's survival. "Don't worry. There are several possibilities."
"And you've stuck with us this far. There's no way this ends badly for us now. I just know it."
"Which is to say, we will see you again soon."
"Premiere… Tia…" Kirito shakes his head and smiles weakly as blue light encircles the players. "Okay, then. We'll see you on the other side, and then we can explore all those possibilities...together."
"Yes."
"See you soon…"
xxxxxxxxx
The next day
"It's so beautiful." Koharu can barely keep her mandible from falling off her face as she's graced with the sight of the hillside valley Kirito lead everyone to for a picnic. Just below them, their friends prepare for a feast prepared by Philia and Rain, which has her apprehensive since there's no alternative of Asuna's (or, to be bias, Koharu's own cooking) if the food is unpleasant.
And beyond that, the pair of Tia and Premiere stand hand in hand.
Koharu could barely fall asleep last night, so as soon as maintenance was lifted, she rushed online, and she wasn't the only one greeted by the spared sisters. Hours later, a picnic was planned, and here they are now, all together at last. There's only one thing she hasn't done yet, and that's to confront the boy in crimson and black seated by her. "Hey."
"Hey."
"You were scared too, weren't you? Before we logged out and were uncertain if TIa and Premiere would make it. Don't say you weren't, either!" She drops to the grass and pokes his cheek repeatedly. "When you're super negatively emotional and want to hide it, you get weirdly quiet. Whether it's because you're mad or sad or scared, you hold it in and try to look another way. Yesterday, you had your fake brave face."
He swats her finger aside and sighs. "...Well, course I was scared. I didn't know what would happen. That's not to say I wasn't confident they'll be fine."
"Huh. You folded quickly. What happened to you?"
"I spent two years fighting for my life and two hundred as an emperor. It seems to have those effects." He shrugs nonchalantly and stares forward. Now it seems like he's deep in thought. She decides not to pester him, dropping her head on his shoulder and melting into his resulting embrace. "...Hey, Ko."
"Hmm?"
"You know, I've probably said this many times now, but this doesn't feel real, you being here with me and all. I got used to the absence that your presence occasionally feels like a figment of my imagination. I… I guess it'll be a while before I realize this is really real."
"...It's real to me."
"Wait, I didn't mean to--"
"No, I'm not criticizing you. What I mean is… On the day before, I had everything planned out. I would wake up, put on my school uniform, go to school, enjoy the day with my friends and be studious, maybe have to go to gymnastics club despite it being a day off for us, go home, and join a person who I never met in my life online because I asked him to be my companion and he said yes. I wondered why he agreed, he didn't seem especially eager to do so. He didn't look like a creep, so being with a cute girl like me was out of the question."
"...You're hanging around too many narcissists."
She snorts. "Okay, so you say. Anyway… That was the plan, and everything went according to it until it didn't. And despite when everything started to fall apart, that mysterious boy told me to join him. There was no reason he had to ask me that. I was...oddly content to stay within the Town of Beginnings and drown in fear, but he took my hand and told me to get stronger. I didn't think I could. Everywhere we went, we met strong people. A boy who took all the blame and became a beater. A girl who muster her courage and made it her mission to die while making an effort to live. A girl who couldn't fight on the front lines but who make sure those who could can do so with the best equipment. A man who, in the face of mistrust, told everyone that if it wasn't for beta testers, a guide wouldn't have been made public. That same man made sure mid-level players had a fighting chance as the frontier advanced onward. A man who keep a smile on his face even when there was nothing to smile about, even if the smile was because he's chasing a skirt. And so many other strong men and women, several that should have taken my spot in those days and the following years…" Her eyes settle on a tuft of pink hair chatting away with several other girls, and her face falls.
"They, to this day, are still stronger than me. But now, it doesn't bother me. I have nothing left to prove to myself. I may not be the strongest, but I am not the weakling I formerly thought of myself. My strength lies elsewhere, and it belongs to me. All I have to do is find it. No… I found it long ago, but was too blind to see it for a time. For so long, I was so worried about being protected that I never realized I was protecting at the same time. I was wondering if it was okay to stand beside you, I didn't notice how important it would be to stand behind and watch your back. And when I did realize it, I… I knew that, whatever happened, as long as you were there, nothing else mattered. I could smile, I could laugh, I could sing, I could dance, I could be Koharu Hanao in a world she didn't belong. And to the very end, I did that, and every day of it was real. Every day since you woke up has been real too… Maybe I'm rambling and making no sense at all, but what I'm trying to say is...as long as I have you, I want to continue onward, seeing new things and revisit old things, because you give me that strength. Jaymes."
He says nothing back, but if she's blushing right now, she's glad she isn't the only one. "You...really mean that?"
"One hundred percent."
"Well, I fell asleep halfway through your speech, so can you repeat it?"
"Remember when I called you immature and undateable? I wish I could go back to that."
"Too late… Well, I don't know about the new sights, I'm kinda getting exhausted being a hero and all. Plus I got entrance exams next year. I got a second reason to beat Asuna's scores besides being petty. Can't disappoint my partner."
She glares at him. "Don't use me as part of your petty war with Asuna, sheesh… And 'partner', huh? Such a simple word, yet it has always worked for us."
He nods. "Mhm. After all, only one person has completely filled that role. Others might have held the title, but… It's yours and yours alone." As he says that, he suddenly frowns and closes his eyes, as if his words stung their speaker. The face passes as quickly as it appears, but before Koharu can ask what bothered him, a message indicator appears. He presses it, then hardens his features for a long minute. She can't see the message, but whatever it entails, it ends with him sighing and standing up.
She looks down the sloping hill, where Premiere, Tia, and Kirito speak to each other. Seems like Kirito is getting in trouble again with girls. Two more added to his list and not Jaymes. With the competition stiff as is, she silently thanks the gods that, for once, he hasn't attracted an AI girl and looks up. "Hey."
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"You could do better."
"I'm very much aware of that."
"It hurts that you answered that immediately, Ko. You're supposed to be kindred."
She shrugs as she sees Asuna wave to them. It must be time to eat. "I think you deserve the latter half of my title."
He sighs in defeat. "Whatever. I love you too."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"I accept your offer of love."
"Why, thank you very much. I accept yours too."
"Shall we go eat whatever monstrosity has Argo looking ready to barf, partner?"
"And potentially make some Col off her? Right behind you, partner."