Melancholy Huanyue If (Complete)

Shiori held Huanyue close, stroking her head again and again while carefully avoiding the wound that pierced through her.

"...Nothing... was left... Nothing..."

"No, Huanyue."

Shiori kissed her still-warm, soft lips, as though pouring every ounce of her love into it.

"...I ran away and forgot everything..." Huanyue murmured, her lips trembling.

"It's okay. I don't mind." Shiori held her slender body tight. "Run away if you need to. I'll pull you back before you fall into the abyss."

"Ugh... There was... a better way... to end this..."

A flood of emotion nearly swallowed Huanyue. This time, it seemed stronger even than the emotions that had been taken from her. She opened her mouth, only to find she could no longer get a single sentence out.

"Are you still trying to act strong and hold back your tears, Huanyue?"

She looked ready to cry, yet the tears stayed in her eyes. Somehow, that made her look even sadder.

Shiori only wanted Huanyue to feel that she could lean on her a little more.

"...But... I can't. I really can't."

Huanyue shook her head. Her voice trembled, yet sounded calm. Contradictory as that seemed, it was exactly how she sounded.

"You've done everything you could, Huanyue. You gave it your all. I saw it."

When tears surged forth again, they made her once-lovely face look unbearably sad.

Tears.

Her sobs, and the smaller, muffled sounds between them, were all buried against Shiori's chest.

Shiori held her as tightly as she could.

For a long, long time.

Huanyue lifted her head. Her eyes were wet, but her emotions had gradually settled. She tried to summon the smile she used to wear.

"How strange... Shiori Itsuka, I don't think I can live without you anymore."

That was what she said.

Deep down, she