Perhaps... Ye Ming really was the other half fate had destined for her.
So what exactly did Ye Ming say?
He didn't say anything. It was probably foreshadowing.
"Ye Ming, do you remember... how long it had been since we first met?"
In the cold night wind, Himeko, drunk as could be, lay sprawled across Ye Ming's back and asked.
"A little over two months."
Holding Himeko's thighs clad in black stockings, Ye Ming carried her forward slowly beneath the moonlight.
"It's been three months and two days, you know?"
"You... weren't drunk at all, were you?"
"Hehe~~ The time we spent together—forget getting drunk, even if I turned to ashes, I'd remember it!"
As though seeking praise, Himeko wrapped her arms around Ye Ming's neck and repeatedly rubbed the pair of soft, enormous slimes on her chest against his back, nearly making him stumble.
"Still, it all feels so unbelievable."
Himeko softly whispered in Ye Ming's ear:
"Even though it's only been three months, I feel as if I've known you for a very, very long time."
"Maybe you counted the time we met in our dreams too."
That's how he flirts with girls? He's good.
Reminder from the front row: remember that line.
The video transitioned quickly. With a cut, the two of them had returned to the dormitory.
After Ye Ming placed Himeko on the bed, he was about to leave when she suddenly grabbed him and pulled him in front of her.
"What is it?"
"Just for today, can you let me be selfish?"
A sweet blush spread across Himeko's cheeks, and her eyes were filled with allure as she looked at Ye Ming.
"No~~ If I made an exception today, then every time you got drunk in the future, you'd probably want to be selfish."
"I won't."
Himeko tightly held Ye Ming's hand, as though if she let go now, she would never be able to hold it again.
"Only tonight, just this once... please."
"..."
Ye Ming seemed to sense something as well. He sat back down on the bed and pressed his forehead against Himeko's.
"I'll let you be selfish, but it won't be just this once. From now on... you'll have many more chances to be selfish."
Himeko was saying goodbye! Ye Ming didn't even notice! He was still saying pretty things.
Here for a second watch. Whether those are just pretty words, you'll find out if you keep watching.
Their fingers intertwined as they lay down together, feeling each other's warmth and gentle breaths...
With only each other reflected in their eyes, they slowly drifted to sleep.
In the early hours of the morning, when the night was deep and still, moonlight spilled in through the window and fell across Himeko.
"It's my first time... seeing you asleep."
It turned out she had never slept. Since earlier, she had simply been watching Ye Ming with a doting gaze.
"I thought I'd never get the chance to experience what love felt like~~"
Himeko lightly poked Ye Ming's pretty face, perfectly embodying the phrase "unable to put it down."
"Thank you. Though it was brief, at least when I left, I could have someone I loved to say goodbye to."
As she spoke, Himeko tucked back the hair by her cheek, slightly parted her sweet lips, and slowly moved closer to Ye Ming's face.
Yet right before their lips touched, she stopped, trembling as she pressed her cherry lips together.
"Having chosen Kiana, I probably... don't have the right to do this."
Realizing that, Himeko reluctantly got out of bed and retrieved the mission briefing for the "Kiana Retrieval Operation" from the computer in the living room.
Then she silently left the dormitory, never to return.
Don't do this! Please, just kiss him!
Where the hell is my forced-kiss squad?!
The original stabbed me, and now even fanfiction has to stab me too?!
The love that never reached him resonated with the viewers. The comments had been judging whether Ye Ming was worthy of Himeko, but now they only wanted the two of them to have a happy ending.
Everyone had clearly been traumatized by The Last Lesson.
"..."
Strands of night wind brushed past Ye Ming's hair. Not long after Himeko left, he opened his eyes.
"You're always so passionate, yet you chicken out at the critical moment."
Knowing everything, he straightened his rumpled clothes, opened the window, and stepped onto the sill.
"This doesn't count as being selfish, Himeko."
With that, Ye Ming leaped forward, jumping from the sixth-floor dormitory.
But he did not fall. Instead, he hovered in midair.
No, he was not hovering. If the screen were enlarged and examined carefully, one would discover...
Something was beneath his feet.
"It's time to go, BT."
At Ye Ming's soft call in the wind, the massive energy core instantly lit up, as though a giant had opened its eyes.
The next moment, the optical camouflage disengaged, and a mech covered in inscriptions appeared before every viewer.
For Those Who Weep for Me
Holy shit! So he had this up his sleeve!
Why does this mech look different from Anti-Entropy's?
It doesn't feel technological. It feels more like magic.
A magic mech? That sounds badass!
Though the comments could not carry sound, the viewers' shocked cries could still be felt.
What happened to the people saying Ye Ming didn't understand Himeko?
Don't ask. Haters don't fight losing battles.
"BT, do you remember the three protocols I drafted when I modified your core?"
The mech called "BT" placed Ye Ming inside its body as it replied in a synthesized electronic voice:
"I remember. Protocol 1: Remain on the same side as you at all times."
"Protocol 2: The mission must be completed."
"Protocol 3 has not yet been established."
Ye Ming had now entered the cockpit, and BT's autonomous mode shifted into Ye Ming's control mode.
"BT, upload Murata Himeko's information and signal from my mind."
"Upload complete. Murata Himeko registered."
Once everything was ready, Ye Ming spoke in a deep, unwavering voice:
"Protocol 3: Bring her home."
Swords and spears clashed, light and shadow overlapped. Lightning burst from the lance while haze coiled around destruction.
The flaming sword stirred up a storm, reducing everything to ashes, yet it still could not resist the darkness of the void.
Even without an introduction, viewers could tell that the scene on screen was Himeko's battle against the Herrscher of the Void.
Fuck, they actually replayed The Last Lesson!
I just got stabbed once and haven't even caught my breath. Now I have to get stabbed a second time?
We need a word more aggressive than "beast."
Comments like these quickly filled the entire screen, and countless viewers broke down at the images from The Last Lesson.
Even so, the number of people watching the video only increased. No one considered closing it.
Because everyone knew that while the scene before them was filled with painful memories, Ye Ming, piloting BT, had yet to appear.
Everything... still had a chance to change.
"Ah~~ It's you~~ Murata Himeko~~"
Accompanied by the Queen's haughty voice, Himeko was violently flung away by overwhelming spatial-temporal force and crashed into a massive crystalline cube.
"If I hadn't searched through her memories, I almost would have forgotten you, lucky little insect."
"I don't recall having any connection with you."
Himeko struggled to push herself up, blood continuing to flow from her wounds without any sign of stopping.
"Hahahaha! It doesn't matter if you don't remember, but surely you've heard the name Ragna?"
"!!"
Seeing the shock on Himeko's face, the viewers immediately began discussing it:
There's new plot too?
Was this in the original, or is it fanfiction-only content?
"Schicksal's Valkyrie instructor, captain of the assault squad, and also... your teacher."
"How do you know that?!"
"That's a very good question~~"
The Queen extended her hand, and Himeko's body was immediately dragged before her by a powerful pulling force.
"Because when I killed Ragna, that woman kept calling your name."
"I was quite curious at the time. Who was the person she couldn't let go of, even as the light faded from her eyes?"
"After learning your name from that woman's memories, everything fell into place."
The Queen's mockery was playful and cruel, while the enraged Himeko broke free from the spatial-temporal restraints.
But just as she raised her greatsword to strike back, countless sharp lances of light surrounded her.
Himeko could only keep retreating in a defensive stance. Finally, battered by the rainstorm-like assault and her injuries, she staggered and fell to her knees.
"How tragic, human."
"You lost the place where you belonged, your teacher and companions, and now, even the student you cherish is about to be taken from you."
"Looking at it that way, don't you have nothing left?"
Stop insulting her, stop!
Himeko is too pitiful.
So Himeko had a past like this.
She's suffered enough already. Why do you have to hurt her like this?
Before you continue