Chapter 13

February 13, 201x.

Every surviving human in the world remembered that day.

It was a magnificent meteor shower, the final curtain call of humanity's glory.

The satellites humanity had launched into space, left without anyone to control them or adjust their orbits, gradually fell toward Earth, into the atmosphere... and burned away...

Those satellites, now nothing more than debris, plunged from the heavens with long trails of flame behind them.

At that moment, even the humans living like wild beasts stopped in their tracks and watched that beautiful, sorrowful sight in prolonged silence.

Their tears had long since dried up. Now, they could not even cry.

Fyodor watched in silence. The falling satellites left their traces in his violet-red eyes, and the light that had once rekindled there went out.

Humanity was beyond saving.

An Xinyi suddenly panicked. He knew this boy had truly given up everything. His heart was dead.

He grabbed Fyodor's hand, but faced with those lifeless violet eyes, he could not find his voice.

What could he say? That humanity was not finished yet, that his ability could rewrite all of this?

But none of that meant anything to Fyodor.

He lived only in this dead world. Even if everything was rewritten, he had already died.

He had lost his ideals, lost his hope. He had already died in this dead world.

This couldn't happen.

He couldn't leave him behind and restart now.

Once he restarted, there would be no taking it back.

An Xinyi made his decision.

He had to save this person.

If he could not even save the boy before him, how could he save all of humanity?

But how was he supposed to do it?

"Don't be sad."

An Xinyi heard himself say it.

"Stars fall, but stars rise, too."

Fyodor did not react. Rise? The star that belonged to humanity would never rise again.

"Believe me."

An Xinyi-no, 948-said those words.

"I'll let you see it. The moment a star rises."

Yes. Even if it burned through all of 948's brief life, he had made his decision.

For you, I'll send a star into the sky!

"Humanity's last radiance..." Megumi Fushiguro's voice held complicated emotions. "So magnificent, and so tragic."

Then he noticed that something seemed off about his companion.

"Wh-what does that mean?" Nobara Kugisaki pointed at the screen, her voice trembling slightly. "It doesn't mean what I think it does, right?"

Ranpo Edogawa glanced at her. His usually smiling face looked almost frightening without any expression. "It means exactly what you think."

"He wants to send a star into the sky. An artificial star bound for space."

Nobara Kugisaki froze for a moment, then shot to her feet. "Holy shit!"

Then she clutched her head and wailed, "Oh my god, a star! If someone gave me a star, I'd marry him on the spot!" This was the pinnacle of romance.

Every woman present nodded in unison.

Mori Ougai's mouth twitched. "Koyo, you..."

Koyo Ozaki smiled and shot him a cutting look. "An unromantic man like you would never understand~"

The unromantic Mori Ougai: "..." Excuse me, who said I didn't understand? If someone wanted to give me a star, I'd be up for it, too!

Elise rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about it, Rintaro. Nobody's going to give you one."

Even Teruko Okura clasped her hands. "That's just wonderful."

Saigiku Jono offered a chilly remark. "Nobody would fall for an old woman pretending to be young, Vice-Captain."

Teruko Okura kicked Saigiku Jono in the stomach, sending him crumpling to the floor in pain. Didn't he know those words were taboo to women?!

"Oh god, how is anyone supposed to resist something like that..." Mizuki Tsujimura covered her face, torn. "No, I'm a trained agent. No matter how tempting it is, I can't waver... Damn it, my heart's racing!"

Ayatsuji Yukito held back again and again, his already sour expression growing worse. "Shut up!"

Atsushi Nakajima hesitated for a long time. "M-Mr. Dazai..."

"What are you saying, Atsushi~?" Osamu Dazai turned toward him with a smile, his expression badly twisted.

Scary! Mr. Dazai was so scary like this! Atsushi Nakajima shook his head frantically. "Nothing! Nothing at all!"

The corners of the Demon Fyodor's mouth kept curling upward despite his efforts to control them. He looked so pleased with himself that everyone around him found him irritating.

Nikolai Gogol said mournfully, "This clown objects. This clown wants a star, too!"

Nikolai Gogol had voiced everyone's thoughts!

Who said men didn't want stars, too?!

Some of those who had kept their feelings hidden looked positively green. Jealousy filled the air. Why did that damned Demon get one?!

Then a traitor appeared among the men-Satoru Gojo cupped his face coyly. "How wonderful! Little Satoru wants one, too~"

Fuck. Drag him out and behead him.

How difficult was it to send a star into the sky?

Even in a functioning society, it took the tireless efforts of tens of thousands of people to achieve such a glorious feat.

But what did An Xinyi have? Only himself and an artificial intelligence, DD.

Granted, DD alone could handle all the calculations required for a satellite launch, but the materials to build a satellite could not be conjured out of thin air. Besides, An Xinyi had never imagined he would need to launch one.

He returned to his earlier plan. Yes, he needed to find a way to drive the "statue" off Earth. So, for this world's hope, to banish its despair, he decided to carry out that plan.

Of course, the satellite launch would have to become the launch of a spacecraft that would never return.

An Xinyi 948 even diverted resources meant for the clones. He would make one final push. If he still could not accomplish this after exhausting his brief life, then An Xinyi would have failed completely.

It was an act without value.

It was an act without meaning.

Rational as DD was, DD wanted to object, but the original An Xinyi, Zero, approved the decision.

"From now on, you are 948."

"Congratulations. The moment you made this decision, you became the one and only 948."

"But you are also An Xinyi, so I support you."

An Xinyi was deeply grateful to Zero. From then on, he worked tirelessly toward his goal.

He found the beasts wandering the wilderness and announced to them that he would send a star into the sky.

It was utter nonsense.

But An Xinyi provided food and the supplies they needed to survive. They also could not beat him in a fight.

And so, the beasts became people again. They did not believe a word of An Xinyi's nonsense, but as long as he kept providing clean food, they were willing to flatter his fantasy.

Just watch, they sneered in private. Once this idiot hands over all his food, we're leaving.

An Xinyi sent them to search for potentially useful wreckage from the fallen satellites and located a nearly abandoned launch facility. Then, following DD's calculations, he constructed a rocket launcher in the simplest, most feasible way... even though Fyodor himself did not believe it could work.

"The star will never rise." Fyodor's eyes were lifeless.

"No, it will rise." An Xinyi gave him that answer many times.

His body was drenched in sweat, but his eyes shone brilliantly.

Fyodor fell silent. Could he believe him? This was plainly a delusion, not even worthy of being called a comfort.

Then why, despite knowing that, did he find himself wanting to believe?

"Don't worry, Fedya," he said with a smile. "I'll make sure your star rises."

He actually wanted to believe in this delusion.

But... perhaps he ought to help him.

That was what Fyodor thought. After all, he was doing something this foolish for his sake.

He did not believe in it, but he would make the others believe.

Fyodor began spreading the lie that the star would rise. He possessed a gift for manipulating people's hearts. Even if he did not believe it himself, he could make everyone else believe without question.

At last, just as An Xinyi was about to exhaust all his accumulated supplies, Star One was completed.

"He really is obsessive," Chūya Nakahara could not help commenting. Sending a star into the sky during the apocalypse? Even in a functioning society, nobody would do that.

"Yeah. If he weren't obsessive, he wouldn't have made it this far," Ranpo Edogawa replied despite himself. "A normal person would've given up ages ago."

True enough. Everyone nodded.

Osamu Dazai said morosely, "What happened to that promised love? Why give the Demon a star? Ha. What a cheating bastard!"

Fyodor wore a victor's smile. "I think it's rather lovely."

Ha. Get lost!

There had probably never been such a shoddily assembled rocket launch facility in all of human history. Everything was stripped to the bare minimum, everything reused. DD even doubted whether the thing would explode on the spot.

But An Xinyi insisted on igniting it.

"The star will rise."

After repeating the lie so often, An Xinyi had come to believe it himself.

Yet he knew perfectly well that the chances of a successful launch were minuscule. It would most likely fall or explode in midair.

But for no apparent reason, An Xinyi felt confident.

Because it was not only Star One that would rise, but hope as well.

When Star One launched, everyone who knew about it was watching. Apart from those Fyodor had brainwashed, no one believed it could succeed.

In the end, it was nothing more than a madman's muttering.

Fyodor sat in the best spot for observing the launch, the boundless clear sky reflected in his eyes.

Amid an earthshaking roar, the rocket carrying Star One slowly rose.

The first step was a success!

Even though no one had believed it could happen, a tiny hope now rose in every heart. What if it really worked?

"I-I'm so nervous!" Atsushi Nakajima and Kyoka Izumi watched the screen without moving a muscle.

The viewers had fallen silent as well. Everyone watched the screen. Could this miracle really happen?

More than a hundred seconds later, the first-stage rocket engine shut down and automatically separated. The second stage ignited, continuing its flight!

The onlookers erupted in an almost unanimous uproar. The heat in their hearts had already become a roaring blaze.

It would happen, wouldn't it? A star rising after the apocalypse!

Fyodor could not help standing. He raised his head and stared blankly at the long fiery trail the rocket left across the sky. At last, life returned to his violet eyes.

Finally, the second stage separated and the third ignited... By then, the rocket had long since flown beyond the reach of the human eye. It carried the "statue" that had brought Earth despair and suffering away, never to return.

The star did not fall.

Amid the apocalypse, humanity had sent another star into the sky.

Why... They had already fallen so far, reduced to beasts. Even when they saw the stars fall and civilization reach its end, their tears had long since dried up. So why? Warm liquid spilled from their eyes.

They could still shed tears, after all.

They still remembered that they were human.

At that moment, a star of hope rose in their hearts.

Fyodor did not cry. He watched An Xinyi walk toward him, his violet-red eyes illuminated by the star.

He, who had already died, had been saved.

His barren, lifeless heart was illuminated once more.

An Xinyi smiled at him. "The star rose. Did you see it?"

"Yes. I saw it."

Fyodor smiled. It was neither mocking nor malicious, but innocent and gentle.

From that moment on, this star would never fall again.

Because it was in his heart.

The viewers were still silent, but each made the same gesture without prompting. They removed their hats, held them to their chests, and bowed their perhaps-proud heads.

It was humanity's miracle, An Xinyi's miracle, the miracle of a small, insignificant clone named 948. It deserved the highest respect from them all.

Fyodor said nothing. He already knew how it ended. It had nothing to do with him. So why was the heart in his chest still pounding so fiercely?

Had it moved him? But surely remaining unmoved by this would have been impossible.

And there seemed to be a certain sourness hanging in the air.

Certain people who preferred to remain anonymous: So jealous, so jealous! Why did that damned Demon get it?! Because of his face?! I have one, too!

948 smiled. He had accomplished this miracle not only as An Xinyi, but as 948.

The star had risen.

Hope had risen.

At last, new life sprouted once more from this land of despair.

Perhaps the humans of this land would still perish. Perhaps a restart would soon overwrite every record of it. Even if his brief life had already reached its end.

But this record would still exist in An Xinyi's memory.

This land was no longer dead. Even if its record would eventually be overwritten, none of it had been meaningless. He would still remember the flower that had bloomed upon that barren earth.

Just like that boy, the boy he had wanted to save.

Not some Demon, not a rat. He was simply Fyodor.

This was all it took.

This was enough.

Seeing his smile and radiance made everything worth it.

Because-

These were the stars that rose for you.

Record fragment-

An Xinyi 948 & Fyodor: "These Are the Stars That Rose for You"-Cycle Ended

The record had been overwritten.