Chinatsu's cold and resolute invitation, like an ultimatum, struck heavily upon Tohka's heart.
The hand extended toward her seemed to connect to a path leading to revenge and a complete abandonment of this world.
Tohka's body trembled violently, her amethyst eyes filled with intense struggle.
Looking at Chinatsu's golden eyes, which had lost their sparkle and were left only with emptiness and resolve, she could feel the disillusionment and anger emanating from the depths of the other girl's soul.
This powerful "companion" wanted to stand up for her, to take her away from this world that "did not deserve" to have them.
This sense of "Understanding" and empathy, in this moment, held a fatal attraction for her broken heart.
She was moments away from nodding, from grasping that hand and transforming all the sadness and fury in her heart into destructive power.
But... her gaze involuntarily returned to the quiet figure on the ground, covered by a school uniform.
Shido... She recalled his warm smile, the way he clumsily yet sincerely explained various things to her, and the sky-blue eyes he had when he firmly affirmed the value of her existence.
"This world is beautiful, that's right! But its beauty has absolutely no conflict with your existence!"
"Your existence itself is never a mistake."
"At least for me, you are needed!"
His words echoed in her heart like a final bulwark.
(This world... is Shido's world...)
(He tried so hard to show me the beauty of this world...)
(He believed so firmly that I could find a place to belong here...)
Even if this world had hurt her in the cruelest way, taking away her only light.
But the world itself—the delicious food, the beautiful sunsets, the bustling streets... and everything cherished by the boy named Itsuka Shido who once existed—they were not wrong in themselves.
Destroying this world would be equivalent to negating all the kindness and effort Shido had shown her.
It would be equivalent to personally destroying the things Shido loved and hoped she could learn to love as well.
How could she possibly do that?
On one side was her companion, the Herrscher of Heavenly Judgment, who had just offered her immense shock and "Understanding"; her invitation represented a direct, unrestrained outburst and rebellion.
On the other side was Shido, who had "passed away" but had etched his "love" and "trust" for this world into her heart; his last wish represented a kindness and tolerance that was almost stubborn.
Two forms of trust fiercely battled and tore at each other within her heart.
A massive confusion, like a swamp, threatened to swallow her whole.
She could neither readily accept Chinatsu's invitation and trample the world Shido had protected, nor could she outright refuse this tempting "solution" offered by a "kindred spirit."
Her lips trembled slightly.
She looked at Chinatsu's extended hand, then at Shido on the ground, and finally, she painfully closed her eyes, and crystal tears slid down from the corners.
Slowly, extremely slowly, she shook her head.
...No.
Her voice was faint, thick with sobs, yet possessed a strange resolve.
"I... I cannot go with you."
She opened her tear-filled eyes and looked toward Chinatsu, her gaze filled with apology and insurmountable sorrow.
"This place... is Shido's world. He loved this world so much... I... I cannot destroy it."
She choked out the words, as if using all her strength, "Even if... this world doesn't want me... I still... cannot become the person he would hate..."
She chose to believe Shido, to believe in the possibility of beauty in this world that the boy had once described to her.
Even if that beauty was something she could no longer touch.
This refusal, born of kindness and pure trust, cut into Chinatsu's predetermined script like a dull knife.
Instead of naturally becoming the first member of her Anti-Entropy endeavor as Chinatsu had expected, Tohka stood firm in her last shred of tenderness toward Shido and this world, adopting an almost martyr-like stance.
This unexpected reaction caused a barely perceptible flicker of stagnation in Chinatsu's meticulously constructed, cold and resolute performance.
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