I'll Love You Forever: Chapter 9 — Your Reality
The night grows colder.
The frigid air condenses, leaving the surrounding area more humid than normal.
In the midst of the dreary landscape lies a dark field full of flowers. The illumination of the glimmering moon shines from above, creating the illusion that the very flowers themselves are reflecting the glistening moonlight.
Droplets of water roam and fall against the scenery, though not nearly enough to be considered rain. This causes the surrounding area to be enshrouded in a blanket of wintry mist, yet strangely, everything is clearly visible.
The thriving floral and fungi life infer that this isn't the cause of the seasons changing to winter, rather it appears that what's causing the unusual scenery is being affected by an external force.
...But what does it matter, anyway?
The sound of a pleading young woman rings throughout the night. It's a panicked voice, accompanied by the hurried rustling of greenery from the surrounding plant life. The noises grow louder, harsher... yet the sounds seemed to have been reaching no one.
It's a familiar sight, but at the same time, it isn't. This patch of land hadn't teemed with this much life at all. Has this bleak wonderland been hiding within these hills all along? Regardless, the girl's pleas stop, as she finally seemed to have found who she was looking for...
"Oh my goodness! There you are...!"
The girl sighs in relief, catching her breath having finally caught up to him.
The boy is standing motionless with his back turned towards her.
"...You really came..."
She observes her surroundings, realizing that they were in a forest glade. The encompassing trees accompanied by the darkness of night would have meant that the area should be pitch black... but it's as if the night itself was glowing a beauteous hue of blue.
Noticing she doesn't respond, the boy speaks up.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
The girl slowly approaches in accord.
"Yes, but... why exactly did you run off here?"
He chuckles softly.
"Cause I knew you were going to come after me. I wanted... to show you this place."
She freezes in place for a moment.
"Show me... what exactly?"
He takes a deep breath, fondly remembering.
"This was where she and I said we loved each other for the first time. An hour ago, before we arrived, she said she wanted to go here just to relive old memories, but... she isn't here, is she?— You are."
She explains why.
"Of course she couldn't come all this way; she isn't in the right condition. That's why I came all the way here, worried about wheresoever the place you ran off to!"
He stammers quietly to himself.
"Heh heh... That's so like you: worrying too much. It feels like you're the only person I can open up to these days."
Worriedly, she approaches closer.
"But why come here now?! Why after what you just said— a-after... what just happened?"
His smile fades into a soft frown.
"There's something off about this place."
Her voice exudes cluelessness.
"Wh-What are you even talking about?— You're not making any sense! If anything, there's something off about YOU. Ever since the day you asked me to meet you at the café, you've just been... different.
He exhales deeply, admiring the glowing leaves from above.
"A lot can change in half-a-year, you know."
She notices him staring at the environment around them.
"Has this place been here this whole time? How come we've never seen it?"
He brushes his fingers against the blue, overgrown flowers.
"Yes and no. It's true that this place has been here all this time — I've been here before, but... it's different. Aside from the flowers, everything is new."
Her curiosity is piqued.
"New? How do you mean?"
He observes the rest of his surroundings.
"This forest... should have been dead long ago. It's within such close vicinity to the campus, yet it's thriving. You'd think that the ecosystem would suffer from all of the war and fighting, but... this place is special.
Notice how there's all this plant life, yet there are no animals to be found? You'd think that this place would be a perfect habitat: teeming forests, clean water... but it seems the only thing that survives here are the trees and mushrooms."
The girl is barely able to comprehend what he's trying to say, especially considering what had just happened.
She crosses her arms.
"Get to the point. I still have some things I need you to hear."
Still looking the other way, he continues.
"The professionals are hiding something from us. They've been hiding it for over a year now, and nobody's noticed. Our world has been rapidly fluctuating due to natural events that we can't control. First it was the rain, and now it's..."
He stops for a moment, prompting her to speak up.
"It's...? It's what?"
He looks up and points at the night sky.
"It's that..."
She's lost for a moment, before she finally spots it.
"The... moon?"
He trembles at the name.
"The Full Moon. I can't exactly pinpoint it, but something is horribly wrong about it. It's causing this forest to grow unnaturally; it's the reason why all the animals are dead; it's the reason why only I know this place exists.
This place... exists on a plane between dream and reality."
Her curiosity turns into confusion.
"What... even exactly are you going on about?"
He barely gives her an answer.
"It's true. Lately, whenever I stare at the moon... my Danger Sense goes haywire. It's like something's telling me that there's something... or someone... that's lurking.
...You believe me... right, Momo?"
He tries to reaffirm his thoughts to his friend.
But she responds in a different light than he imagined...
"You're delusional."
His body visibly tenses up.
"Excuse me?"
Letting loose, she goes off on him.
"You've made up this entire deluded fantasy about the moon being cursed, all because you don't want to face reality."
His tone becomes slightly more aggressive.
"Are you trying to say I'm a liar?"
She tries to preach her truth to him.
"I'm saying that your mental health is on the brink of collapse if you've made this false scenario in your head, manipulating yourself to even believe that anything you just said could be true!"
He scoffs, confused.
"Manipulating myself? How can you even say that?!"
She answers thoroughly.
"I know how you are, Izuku. I know that you're someone that believes in the impossible, but who could blame you for thinking that after everything you've been through?
But now, you're faced with a harsh reality: a reality where you have to give up everything you've hoped your life was headed all to raise a family. And because of what?— Because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself?
This... This-! This entire "place between dream and reality" thing? It's nothing but a coping mechanism. None of what you just said was real... you only want to believe it's real because you don't want to accept what truly matters right now."
Even after hearing her, he still refuses to turn around to face her.
"I know what's real and what isn't; you're not making me think otherwise."
She exhales frustratedly.
"Th-There has to be some part of you that believes in what I'm saying; I know you're smarter than this! Please, just come back to the dorms and we can talk about this to our friends. You don't have to continue fabricating this idiotic excuse any longer.
You know it isn't real... I KNOW you know it's not real."
For a moment, he looks conflicted... before showing his insistence.
"What does it matter to you if it's real or not anyways? If you really don't believe it, then why don't you just leave me to handle it myself?"
She reaches out to her friend.
"That isn't what I'm trying to say here. I'm trying to point out that you're hurting your family!
I don't kn-... I don't know if it's because of stress, or if it's because... because you're having second thoughts about this NOW of all times, but...
But you have GOT to snap out of it! This isn't just about you. You understand how many lives have been sacrificed just so that we're able to live another day, don't you?! How much SHE'S sacrificed...?!"
He tilts his head downwards, grasping his fist.
"Can I... get something off my chest?"
She scoffs, disappointed.
"Don't you try and change the subject-"
He blathers on anyway.
"Do you know how I found this place? The night I planned to confess my feelings, instead of going through with it like I had planned, I got pre-occupied and another friend of mine dragged me along and showed me this place."
She attempts to interrupt him...
"Izuku-!"
But he merely goes on.
"After showing me how beautiful this place was, she told me that she'd liked me for the longest. Can you believe that?— A girl confessed to me of all people; I was over the moon.
At the time, however, my feelings for Uraraka had been the strongest they've ever been... so I let her off."
Listening to him speak, the girl ponders.
"...What are you getting at?"
The boy lets out a nauseous chuckle.
"Sometimes... I regret ever rejecting her, you know?"
Hearing those words, the girl's stomach begins to churn.
"Wh-What... are you saying...?"
His chuckling turns into sickening laughter.
"I mean, she had it ALL.
She was tall, blonde and beautiful... her family is insanely well-known and loved, and to top it all off, she's filthy rich! She probably has more money than I'll ever see in my entire life, and she hasn't even GOTTEN her father's inheritance yet!
AHAHAHA! Isn't that just fucking dandy? That I just let a girl like that go? And for what?— all because I've already gone way too far with another relationship? I'm an idiot | a goddamn idiot, but that's obvious isn't it?!
"I-Izuku, you're scaring me..."
The girl says in both disgust and fear.
His maniacal cackling ceases for a moment.
"Aren't I just the worst kind of human being? That I still have the gall to think of something like that? I should just go jump off a building, shouldn't I?"
The girl fails to come up with an appropriate response.
"What, n-no! I'm not going to lie and say that what you just said wasn't horrible, but you shouldn't ever think of doing something like that! We're... We're only human, after all."
He takes a deep breath...
"But wait — there's something else."
The girl averts her gaze downwards.
"Please, you don't have to-"
Yet again, he proceeds.
"After rejecting her, she got desperate. While I tried to walk away from her, she pulled me in and... kissed me.
And guess what...? I liked it.
I'm not talking a quick peck on the cheek... I mean that we absolutely made out. I did feel guilty... for a second — then afterwards, it felt amazing. It's crazy, isn't it...? The few seconds where I didn't have Uraraka on my mind, I truly felt happy."
Listening to his reprehensible words, the girl's ears begin to ring, accompanied by the regurgitating urge to throw up... but she holds on, deciding to stay strong throughout the boy's fragile mental breakdown because whether she liked it right now or not, he is a friend.
She chokes up, covering her mouth suppressing the urge to vomit.
"You're absolutely repulsive... How do you think she would feel hearing you say all this?!
...He turns his head around, his eyes colorless.
"And yet... you're still the only one here with me."
Confused, she tries to answer to the best of her ability.
"Of course I'm here... N-No matter how messed up your mental state is right now, you've always been someone I looked up to.
No matter how much I want to hurt you right now... I'm your friend!"
His body starts to turn as well.
"A friend who's by my side instead of the woman I'm supposed to be spending the rest of my life with."
Her confusion turns to accusation.
"What... exactly are you trying to insinuate, here?"
He fully turns around, and gives her a mirthless smile.
"I'm trying to say that there's another thing I need to get off my chest, but I'm pretty sure you're well aware. After all, I've already said it at the dorms, didn't I?"
"...I love you."