Returning to the Other Shore: Burial

"Finally, we're alone together again, Ye..."

She smiled shyly, her gaze wandering. After hesitating for a moment, she bravely met my eyes.

It was then that I realized I hadn't really looked at her face closely in a long time... or rather, I'd never really looked at it closely at all. Those long eyelashes, those clear, deep purple eyes, that beautifully shaped nose, those slightly pale lips—everything about her was both elegant and lovely. Now that I think about it, my impression of her appearance had always been limited to "she was a beautiful woman." Having a general impression, I stopped looking at her more closely. Is that a bad habit of mine?

Or is it... a means of self-protection? Because I hadn't looked at it closely before, I didn't understand its beauty, so even if I can never see it again, I won't feel regret.

"And they say Blood Fiend is a scumbag... I'm just as bad, aren't I?"

"Huh? A... scumbag?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it... Honestly, the last time we were alone together was... uh..."

I wanted to change the subject, but I realized I couldn't quite remember when and where we were last alone. Those situations where "the protagonist can always recall the little things with the girl at crucial moments" didn't seem to apply to me.

But she probably won't care too much, right?

I stole a glance at her.

"Waaah..."

Excellent, but disappointing.

"Hey, don't look so disappointed. I actually remember. It was... it was... the teaching building of the Central United Academy?"

"It was the library. You even hid under my skirt to avoid the security guard back then."

"... Ah, yes, uh."

How awkward, I have to say something to change the subject.

But what should I say?

How have you been lately? Are you healthy? Are you happy? Have you been reading anything?

You probably won't get any answers from her, since everything about her was frozen in that one moment.

"Hey, Xiao, sit down for a bit, standing for so long looks a bit silly."

"Okay, but...where should we sit? These flowers are so pretty, I don't want to crush them."

She looked around at the ground. Apart from the path we were walking on, everywhere else was covered with vibrant Lycoris radiata, as red as blood. There are two most beautiful moments in life: birth and destruction. Perhaps it is because the Lycoris radiata is a legendary creature from the underworld, associated with death, that it possesses such allure.

"Ye, I never knew before that the fragrance of the Lycoris radiata smells a lot like blood..."

"I don't know about the other Lycoris radiata, but it's normal for these to smell of blood, after all... they're my possessions."

A total of 700 million lives; for every one consumed, a flower will bloom.

That's why there are so many, covering the ground, occupying the mountains and fields, densely packed, even dyeing the sky red.

At the horizon, in a very distant place, one can see flowing red; that is the edge of the Blood Prison Space, the end of the Blood Sea. Although it is a sea, its edge resembles a waterfall cliff, from which endless blood cascades down.

And what about the ground beneath our feet?

Bending down to part the Lycoris radiata covering the ground, one can see a faint red light flowing beneath, countless blood-red crystalline dusts, fragments of blood crystals. The countless Lycoris radiata appear even more beautiful... and eerie under the faint, dark red light.

"Did you plant all these flowers, Ye?"

"... In a sense, yes, you could say that. What are your thoughts?"

"Very beautiful, but also..."

Xiao bent down and gently stroked the petals of a flower, her expression filled with sorrow.

"But also?"

"But it's also very sad... These flowers, weren't they vibrant lives long, long ago? But now they exist neither in this world nor on the other side, they can only stay here forever, waiting for the day they wither away."

"There's nothing to be sad about. What's here is just the essence of life left after the body and soul have been stripped away"—that's what I wanted to say to comfort her and tell her not to overthink it, but that's not how it works in the end.

The act of consuming life through blood implies bearing the entirety of the consumed being. Each flower here, besides "life" itself, also contains a person's life experiences, emotions, happiness, and pain. If the body is merely a vessel and the soul is just the driving core, then life is perhaps everything a personality possesses.

"Imprisoning them all here... Ye, is that really a good idea?"

"They are all my power, a total of seven hundred million lives. If I were to use them all to nourish myself, unless the opponent is a monster capable of killing seven hundred million people at the same time, no one could completely end me."

"That's so exaggerated..."

"Compared to monsters like those at the top, even the most exaggerated things seem less exaggerated."

"... Ye, you really are something. Although you usually seem a bit dull, once you decide to do something, you go for it in a very dramatic way. When I first met you in the capital, I just thought you were really beautiful. I never imagined that your inner self would be so... unique."

"I'm really sorry, I never imagined you were such a closet pervert when we first met."

"I don't have anything like that—'repressed' or 'secretly passionate'!"

"Before you reject it, try to change your bad habit of leaving books lying around. Let me think... based on what I've seen... <The Fallen Princess>, <The Diary of Yuri Slave>, <My Dear Master>..."

"Stop, stop, stop!! Those are just, those books are just, just, just~~~!"

"Every night, the young body, unable to suppress its burning desire, secretly takes out a pornographic book, then goes to the bathroom to find the panties of the person it likes, and goes crazy--"

"How do you know—no, no, it's not—it's not every night!"

Occasionally, it would happen every other day... she muttered to herself, truly a terrible, repressed woman.

Seriously, this girl... she's getting cuter and cuter the more I look at her. I can't help but sigh. She's a quiet, reserved, and secretly passionate literary girl. She doesn't cause trouble or lose her temper easily. She has a gentle and virtuous personality, an angelic face, a devilish figure, and she's also a jack-of-all-trades in housework and can take care of children. It would be a shame not to marry such a wonderful woman.

I felt a mix of admiration and regret.

If Haoyue hadn't appeared, she would probably be the person I'm closest to right now.

I feel both regretful and somewhat relieved.

If she is the one I'm closest to...

So, the one who died in Sadington City was one of my closest relatives.

I feel deeply saddened by this version of myself.

"I'm so sorry, Xiao..."

"Why are you apologizing, Ye? You look a little pale."

Her eyes looked anxious; she was genuinely worried about me.

I suddenly wanted to do something to make up for it, to hug her, kiss her, and make love to her, to make up for all the neglect I had shown her.

But there's nothing I can do. I can't rewrite the past. The thought of "wanting to make it up to her" is just to comfort myself.

"... Ye?"

"Xiao, I'm sorry, really... I'm so sorry... I'm such a terrible person..."

"Ye..."

Something warm trickled down my cheek. I wiped it away and realized it wasn't tears as I expected, but blood.

I was so heartless. The tears of the living are a mourning for the dead, but all I shed were blood. I couldn't bring her back to life, couldn't make amends to her, couldn't tell her—that I actually loved her. It was different from the entanglement of love, desire, and friendship I had with Haoyue, different from the simple partnership with Xiao Wu, different from the mutual help and trust with Givinia, and even more different from the mother-daughter relationship with Little Butterfly... If you were to ask me whose feelings were closest to "love" itself, I'd probably only say it was with Xiao.

Even so, my feelings and memories of her have gradually faded. Time can drown feelings and bury memories. The most rational part of my mind has been trying to downplay those sad things so as not to affect my current life. Everything, from the outside world to myself, is pushing me forward.

Just as I now only think "Ah, that's how it is" when I recall the Si Nan Family, and only say "Alas, how tragic" when I recall the Sena Sisters, in a few years, I'm afraid that in just a few more months, when I recall Xiao, I'll only say "Hmm, there was such a person."

When everyone's memories of her fade, that's when Si Nan Xiao's existence will truly disappear.

However, even so,

She was still so gentle with me.

"If anyone should apologize, it's me, Ye..."

"... ah?"

"If I weren't so timid, so passive, and had the courage to say 'I like you' out loud, at least I could have created more beautiful memories with you while I'm still alive... If I could have a good talk with Miss Haoyue and Givinia, we could definitely become good friends... If I could spend more time with Xiao Wu, at least I could spend more time with her..."

Tears streamed down her face, and she choked back sobs.

"If... if... even though it's the most clichéd line you hate, Ye... I still want to say... there really aren't that many 'ifs' in this world..."

"Xiao..."

Not just tears, but blood dripped from her eyes, and tiny drops of crimson blood seeped from her skin. Starting from her feet, the blood-red veins slowly crawled upwards, across her calves, over her thighs, and spread to her upper body.

"But, but... I'm really happy! If I hadn't met you, I'd probably still be trapped in my own little world, flipping through books I've read countless times, drifting through each day in a daze... But it's you, because of your appearance, my life has become different. I can go on adventures, fight, and... experience what it feels like to fall in love with someone, just like the protagonists in the books!"

"Xiao... hey, Xiao!"

Only then did I finally reach out and support her shoulders, which were covered in bloodstains; her blood-stained body resembled a blooming flower.

"I think I'm already very happy... Really, while I was alive, your presence gave meaning to my life, and after I died, the person I loved most fought desperately to make my death worthwhile... I'm truly, truly happy... Perhaps this is a kind of happiness too... Thank you... Thank you..."

The body collapsed with a crash, enveloped in blood-red patterns. The falling blood splashed onto the crystalline dust ground, gathering, rising, and condensing until it finally formed a Lycoris radiata. This flower, however, glowed with a purple fluorescence, making it more beautiful than the other flowers.

"Thank you... And then, farewell, Ye... I will never regret meeting you, so... please don't regret... meeting me either..."

Her last words brushed past my ear and vanished in the wind.

The space of the Blood Prison gradually faded away amidst the scattering Lycoris radiata. Everyone here— the Sena Sisters, the Si Nan Family— also turned into remnants called flowers, fading away along with the Blood Prison Space.

In the blink of an eye, I was all alone in the empty world.

"Ah, ah..."

I gently stroked my long hair, which had turned a peach-pink color, and turned my eyes to a deep red, imprinting this final scene into my vision.

Goodbye, departed souls. I will mourn for you, and cherish the memories of you, but... I will never stay for you.

Alright.

After being cooped up for so long, it's time to go back and stretch my muscles.

At that moment, I had no idea that someone was eyeing my head.