Deep within the forest, Burchard sits leaned up against the only tree that is still standing from the path he took through the the woods. His breathing is shallow and struggled which is making it hard for him to stay conscious though the pain from the multiple broken ribs and assortment of other injuries does seem to help keep him awake. With little strength to do much, his head is forced to look down at the steady drip of blood pouring out of the hole in his gut that Yuzuru's chain left. With the fatigue slowly starting to out weigh his injuries, his eyes close while mutters, "I just hope.... There both okay."
"Inquiry: Burchard?"
The familiar sounding whimper slowly brings him back from his unconsciousness state while he musters just enough strength to tilt his head towards the sky where he sees what he honestly thought was an angel descending from heaven and touches down in front of him. Yuzuru stands there shocked at what she sees.... What she did but for some reason Burchard Is able to crack a smile at her while saying, "glad your okay."
Hearing this causes a tear to roll down her cheek as a feeling of immense guilt takes over while the shaking in her legs makes her lose balance, causing her to fall to her knees in front of him then shakily reach out and gently caresses his cheek while muttering, "shock: what has Yuzuru done?"
Hearing the sadness in her voice causes him to painful raise his broken arm but fights to not show it and place his hand over hers while responding, "it's not your fault. It was just an accident."
With tears starting to run down her cheeks she whimpers, "rebuttal: it was Yuzuru's selfish need to fight Kaguya that lead to it. This will always be Yuzuru's fault."
Seeing her tears causes a sinking feeling to slowly build with in him and what little smile he had left turns to a frown as he says, "this all started with me. If I hadn't shown up and interrupted your sacred duel in the first place then everything would have been okay. This all my fault. If I hadn't met you then none of this would have happened."
Shocked by what he is saying she responds while shaking her head, "rebuttal: the best thing you could have done for Yuzuru was meet her. Though it started as a competition where Yuzuru only saw you as target, you were able to become so much more to Yuzuru. You showed her kindness, joy and laughter. Things she never thought possible. you should never regret the day you made Yuzuru's bleak day shine brightly."
Hearing this causes him to softly smile while gently tightening the grip on her hand and saying, "and I'm glad I was able to show you all that. Though my memory is still fuzzy at best. I can almost guaranty that the time I've spent with you has been the greatest few days of my whole life."
Though a warm feeling starts to grow within her chest, she continues to cry while Burchard loses the last of his strength causing him to let go of her hand and letting his arm fall to his side. Feeling his time with her coming to an end, he looks deeply into her eyes while saying, "Yuzuru.... There's something I need to tell you."
Intrigued while still gently holding his cheek and in a way, holds his head up, she asks, "inquiry: what is that?"
With a warm smile and his eyes barely open he replies, "Yuzuru.... I love you."
Hearing this causes the warm feeling in her chest to practically burst and consume her entire body which causes her to softly smile while saying, "response: Burchard, Yuzuru....."
She pauses when she realizes that she had to be clear with her feelings as she says, "I love you too."
His smile grows as she reaches out and caresses his other cheek then while closing her eyes, slowly leans forward and gently kisses him on the lips. With the warmth of her lips fighting back the coldness that is gradually taking over his body, he knows deep in his heart that even though his life was coming to an end, for his last moments he will be happy.
Though fate had one last trick up her sleeve that neither of them were prepared for because as she pulled away and they both opened their eyes. A faint white light started to emanate from her heart. He squints to avoid the discomfort while she looks down in shock as the white light steadily glows until she was fully engulfed. As the light fades away, Burchard opens his eyes once more and is surprised to see Yuzuru still kneeling there but now completely naked. A mild look of horror comes over her as she frantically covers herself with her hands while saying, "confusion: what happened to Yuzuru's clothes?"
Burchard looks back at her with a raised eyebrow while saying, "I know I just said I love you but don't you think it's a little too soon for that?"
Her head immediately snaps up and looks at him with a bright red embarrassed face while saying, "rebuttal: Yuzuru didn't do this?"
He chuckles a bit then responds, "I know."
He then looks down at the ground next to him while saying, "might wanna put that on."
She looks down and sees his favourite sweater lying next to him while he continues, "surprised I was able to hold onto it."
She grabs it and starts putting it on but while doing so, they hear a loud shriek ring out through the whole forest. Looking in its direction, Yuzuru says, "confirmation: that is Kaguya."
Concerned, Burchard asks, "is she in trouble?"
She replies, "reply: unknown."
Now even more concerned Burchard looks up at her while saying, "if she is in trouble then you have to go help her."
Shocked at what she was hearing, she looks back at him while saying, "rebuttal: Yuzuru is not leaving you here alone."
Burchard let's out a laboured chuckle then says, "it's alright. I'm not going anywhere, plus...."
He struggles to reach into his pocket and pulls a picture out while continuing, "even if you're gone, I'll still be able to see you."
Recognizing the picture as being the one from their date in the café. She can feel the conflict within her sway as she looks up into the air while saying, "reassurance: Yuzuru will be back as fast as she can."
She jumps into the air like she always did.... Except something strange happened. For some reason this time she didn't take flight and instead simply landed back on her feet.
Unsure of what was happening, it was at this moment that she finally felt it. She felt weak as if most of her energy was drained. Burchard looks up and sees her looking at her hands with concern and confusion causing him to ask, "what's wrong?"
She looks down at him while saying, "confusion: Yuzuru doesn't know, it's as if...."
A sudden realization comes to her as she mutters, "as if Yuzuru lost her spirit powers."
Hearing this causes Burchard to remember something Shido had told him, then he says to her, "or your spirit powers were sealed."
Shocked to hear this she looks at him with confusion while asking, "inquiry: but how?"
He looks back at her equally as confused while saying, "I don't know. I just heard about it recently."
Now unsure of what to do she thinks out loud, "concern: then what does Yuzuru do?"
With his eyes barely open and a feeling of weakness finally taking its toll he is able to mutter, "you have to run."
Looking down with concern she says, "rebuttal: but it will take longer for Yuzuru to get back to you."
He smiles softly while muttering, "it's alright."
He looks past her while continuing, "I made you a path."
She looks to where he was looking and sees the path of knocked down trees that he had carved out on his journey their. Looking back at him, she kneels once more then reaches out and gently caresses his cheek again while saying, "confirmation: Yuzuru will be back with help."
He softly smiles back at her while saying, "I'll be looking forward to seeing you again."
She softly smiles back at him then gently kisses him on the forehead. Pulling back, she stands up while saying, "confirmation: when Yuzuru gets back. She will give you as many of those as your heart desires."
He weakly responds, "I can't.... Wait."
She turns around and starts running down the path back towards the beach while Burchard watches her while muttering to himself, "goodbye Yuzuru."
He slumps forward with his eyes closed and a lone tear rolling down his cheek while whimpering, "I'll always..... love you."
As Yuzuru runs, tears stream down her cheeks as she knows, deep down she truly knows that was the last time she would ever see him but she buries this feeling. No matter what happens, no matter the obstacle she faces, she will be back because she wants to keep her promise to him. She will keep her promise.
As she gets closer to the beach, her attention gets taken by the sound of someone bawling their eyes out. Now knowing that something was wrong, Yuzuru picks up the pace so she could get to her sister in her time of need. She's able to get out of the forest and out to the beach where she sees a truly.... Strange sight.
For some reason shido was standing and looking like he didn't know what to do while looking down at a kneeling Kaguya who like Yuzuru before was desperately attempting to cover herself with her hands while bawling her eyes out.
Thinking that Shido did something to her, Yuzuru storms over to and pushes him away from her then gets between him and Kaguya while demanding, "inquiry: what did you do to Kaguya?"
Shocked at the accusation he defends himself while waving his hands around frantically and saying, "I didn't do anything to her!"
Unconvinced she asks, "inquiry: then why did Yuzuru find her naked and crying while kneeling in front of you?"
Before he can respond, she hears Kaguya wail behind her, "it was horrible!"
Turning her attention to her sister, she kneels next to her and wraps her in a hug while saying, "comfort: there there. Tell Yuzuru what happened?"
Still thinking he was being unjustly accused, Shido says, "hang on! I'll explain....."
He stops talking when he sees her glaring back at him while saying, "demand: go get Kaguya something to cover up."
Still caught off guard he stutters, "bu-but...."
"Now!"
Realizing he wasn't going to win this he simply nods his head then runs off down the beach. Yuzuru turns her attention back to Kaguya while asking, "inquiry: please tell Yuzuru what happened?"
Through the sniffles she is able to whimper, "after you left, it was just me and Shido on the beach and with the sun setting and the waves gently crashing on the beach. It felt like the mood was just right so I kissed him.... Then my clothes just disappeared, and I felt so weak like all my energy was just zapped out of me."
Hearing her sisters story, she fixates on one detail then asks, "inquiry: your clothes disappeared..... after you kissed?"
Kaguya nods in response as she wipes away her tears then says, "yeah..... but what was weird about it was that shido didn't seem surprised."
She finishes her sentence right as shido comes running back with a beach towel. He hands it off to Yuzuru who in turn wraps Kaguya in it then helps her to her feet. Unsure of what was said, shido asks, "so you know what happened now?"
He is answered by a look of suspicion from Yuzuru who asks, "inquiry: did you know this would happen if you kissed her?"
Realizing now was better than never to explain things, he nods then replies, "yes. That's what happens when your spirit powers are sealed. I don't know why but your clothes disappear."
Now calmed down, Kaguya look at him with annoyance while stating, "yah know if you would have told me that before hand then none of this would have happened?"
Feeling guilty he scratches the back of his head while replying, "sorry, but everything happened so quickly that I didn't have time."
Realizing something, Kaguya looks back and sees Yuzuru only wearing a sweater. Now confused she asks, "wait.... Then does that mean you're powers where sealed to?"
She replies, "confirmation: I believe so."
Shido look at them both shocked but Is able to say, "but that's impossible."
Thrown off by the statement, they both look over at him while Yuzuru asks, "inquiry: what do you mean by impossible?"
He replies, "it's impossible that you had your powers sealed because I'm the only one capable of sealing spirits."