Chapter Eight: Drowning 2
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Amidst the cascading waterfalls pouring from the heavens, their crimson glow illuminates their eyes behind the window of the warm room.
The university's distinctive clock still ticks, its hands frozen at <4:59 AM 9_13>.
Kyouko whispers, gazing through the window in bewilderment: "I feel more lost than ever. Should I rejoice that you're still alive, or grieve for a world that defies my plan to survive just one more day in this damned loop?"
Loken asks, equally perplexed: "How can time stand still, yet the sky still pours rain, and everything else remains as it was?"
... Will they remain like this forever? Is this a nightmare from which Kyouko has yet to awaken? Or is the truth far more complex than either of them can imagine? ...
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A new day dawns, its sunlight spilling across the empty corridors of the university.
The day passes in quiet stillness, yet the rain continues its relentless assault.
The water level rises until it reaches the height of a man.
The sound of waves crashing within the university, mingling with the roar of the downpour, creates an eerie symphony—interwoven with the footsteps of the two solitary souls as they wander through the desolate halls.
Kyouko clutches her phone with trembling hands, her eyes fixed upon its screen, never looking away.
Loken notices her fixation and says: "I don't think time will simply resume its flow. Put the phone down before you lose your mind."
She answers, her voice laced with agitation and pain: "I know it will take me by surprise. I don't want you to die suddenly without me even having the chance to say goodbye."
He places his hand upon her head, his gaze meeting her troubled eyes: "If I sense any danger, I will come to you immediately."
Kyouko smiles despite herself: "You're starting to understand me. I'll keep the phone charged—we might need it."
Loken ponders for a moment, then asks: "What if you tried to reach someone?"
Her eyes light up, as if struck by a brilliant idea.
She brings the phone to her ear, dialing quickly.
Loken asks, surprised: "What are you doing? Who are you calling?"
She answers, her features sharp, her voice deep: "Your sister. Lynen."
---
Tension fills the air, their eyes watchful, their ears straining.
The phone rings with a distorted, jarring noise. Kyouko pulls it away from her ear immediately, staring at the screen—it appears cracked, fractured!
The battery icon in the corner drains rapidly, until the device dies completely.
Loken asks, bewildered by the strange sight: "Did water damage it, or does it just need charging?"
But when he looks at Kyouko, her expression has shifted—beyond anxiety, beyond fear, into something deeper. She speaks, her voice trembling and hollow: "Nothing will work. This world is simply against us."
Loken takes the phone from her hand and slips it into his coat pocket: "We don't need it. Let's just live without it."
---
They gaze through one of the large windows toward the east, where the golden sunlight reflects through the cascading water, painting a mesmerizing masterpiece.
Loken says: "I feel a glimmer of hope. We've done something—we've broken the cycle of time. It feels like we're getting closer to a solution."
Kyouko had been staring at the ground below—an endless abyss swallowed by water. She lifts her head toward that enchanting view, trying to focus on the beautiful half of the scene.
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The sound of smashing echoes through the building, rising and falling, growing louder. In one of the lecture halls, its seats reduced to splinters, Loken stands among the wreckage.
He grips a hammer, striking the benches with brutal force. He pauses, drenched in sweat, whispering to himself: "I need to move faster. The ground floor sank within a single day. We have only four days before the entire university drowns."
The noise resumes, growing fiercer until sunset paints the sky. Loken moves from one hall to the next, continuing his relentless work.
Kyouko sits in an unfamiliar room, organizing the space, when a knock comes at the door.
Loken enters, exhausted, and collapses by the fireplace. His hands are cracked and peeling. Kyouko approaches, gently wrapping his hands in cloth, and asks: "How is the work on the raft coming along?"
He laughs despite his fatigue: "I don't even know what I'm doing. I've gathered a lot of wood from the seats—it's been both exhausting and strangely enjoyable."
He asks, smiling: "What about you? Have you finished moving everything to the fifth floor? Or do you need help?"
She replies with a warm smile: "I've finished, and I searched for extra food as well."
With a glance from his silver eyes toward the fire, he whispers: "We make a perfect team."
She laughs softly and pushes the food closer: "Come on, let's eat."
---
Loken opens his eyes to the bright moonlight streaming through the window, finding Kyouko sitting nearby, staring at the wall clock.
He says: "You even kept the wall clock."
She replies, studying it intently: "This is the most dangerous time. Time might resume exactly where it stopped."
He closes his eyes to sleep, murmuring: "You'll exhaust yourself imagining the hands moving. You can't even tell what time it is anymore."
He hears the steady rhythm of her breathing—she's fallen asleep mid-sentence.
---
The rain continues its assault, flooding the earth until it reaches dangerous heights.
In one of the dark rooms, Loken stands alone, holding a radio with headphones over his head.
He sweats, biting his lips, whispering in despair: "No signal. No answer. No reply... No one. We are completely alone."
The beautiful first-floor room, once filled with life, now drowns in the darkness of night as water seeps in, distorting memories and erasing all traces of their existence.
Time passes.
On the rooftop, beneath the relentless rain, Loken works through the days—experimenting, failing, trying again, and Kyouko stands behind him, offering her unwavering support.
Loneliness never touches them, for even in this barren world, their presence together makes it bearable. Their bond grows stronger than ever before.
They sleep to the sound of the third floor collapsing. There is not much time left.
The atmosphere is gentle—like a dream, like being stranded on a deserted island together. These are the simple, beautiful moments, far from all the complications of life. Just having someone who cares for you makes you want to live.
The work continues. Four floors now lie beneath the water.
From the small window of their room, the view is strange, haunting, and unforgettable—everything submerged beneath the surface, waves crashing against the glass, forcing water through the cracks.
It looks as though the earth itself is rising to meet the sky, as if they might finally touch.
---
Kyouko runs through the flooded corridors, carrying supplies, when the windows explode—water surges in with terrifying force, and the fifth floor begins to drown.
Loken throws open the rooftop door and calls out: "Kyouko! Hurry!"
She climbs, breathless, to witness the fruit of their labor—a strange, wooden raft, like a floating room, bobbing on the water.
She wades through the icy water, now reaching her knees.
Loken climbs aboard and pulls her up with all his remaining strength. Within minutes, their strange, beautiful floating home drifts away from the university, away from the wreckage, toward the broken wall of the roof's edge.
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They stand together, watching a heartbreaking sight: the building that once brought them together—where they lived and made memories—slowly sinks, its features disappearing beneath the surface until they can no longer recognize where they once stood.
Kyouko holds Loken's warm hand, her voice breaking as tears mix with rain: "Where will we go?"
He takes her shoulders, turning her toward him, his gaze lost in her tear-filled eyes. With his gentle smile, he says: "Just as fate brought us together, it will carry us where it wills. My direction is wherever you are."
Beneath the torrential rain, Loken takes Kyouko's hands, his voice warm and distinct: "We are alone on this flooded earth, beneath these vast skies and endless horizons. The time has come. I am like Adam... in need of Eve."
Kyouko's hands tremble, her breath catching, her heartbeat loud enough to hear as she struggles to ask: "For... for what?"
Loken finds himself pulling her into his embrace, feeling her heartbeat against his chest. He whispers in her ear:
"My dearest Kyouko, will you accept being the only one in my world? Will you accept me as your husband?"
She raises her arms... wraps them around him.
Her head rests against his warm chest, despite the cold rain. Her breath deepens, and her voice—tender, melodic—cuts through the storm's roar and reaches his ears:
"Loken... your promise to me... you kept it. I am happy... and who else could I turn to in my weakness? I accept you."
As if the rain itself paused, as if the wind slowed, as if time stood still to witness this one warm moment, making it eternal.
Loken smiles to himself: So this is the promise she meant. I found it by accident... or perhaps this was our destiny all along.
---
In his arms, she smiles as tears of joy fall. He kisses her forehead softly, and they whisper to one another—all worries dissolving, washing away with their tears.
Her eyes gleam with a pale light. A red glow pulses from Loken's pocket. She reaches for it—and in an instant, the world is bathed in brilliant blue light, piercing through the dark clouds beneath the vast blood-red sky.
It splits the horizon with terrifying speed, and his silver eyes gleam as he catches the flash of lightning, holding Kyouko close as the thunder roars.
Then Loken feels her grow heavy in his arms.
He sets her down—she collapses as if all strength has left her.
When he sees her face, his expression twists into a terrifying mixture of shock and terror, as if he has witnessed something far worse than death itself.
In Kyouko's hands is her phone, glowing red, the time racing forward.
... It is now 5:00 AM ...
She screams—a scream that echoes to the heavens, piercing Loken's heart with sorrow he has never known.
For the first time, he sees what Kyouko experiences in the moment of his death. His own tears fall as he pulls her close, shouting: "Kyouko... Kyouko!! I'm here with you!!"
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Only four minutes remain for them to say their goodbyes.
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Another flash of lightning splits the sky, blinding in its intensity.
Followed by Kyouko's cries as she stares at the phone: "Lo...ken... why?! Why?!"
The phone's clock is racing—faster than it should, as if each minute contains only a few seconds.
Loken snatches the phone from her hand and hurls it into the water.
He holds her tightly as the lightning and rain tear apart their beautiful raft, setting it adrift on the raging waves between the frozen water and the blood-red sky.
He hears Kyouko's voice, fading, trembling, as she murmurs in sorrow:
"I am the only one trapped here... my soul has tasted despair."
"The death of sorrow befits me..."
"It holds the hearts captive..."
"What came before... and what follows..."
"It does not consent..."
"To our drowning tears..."
She raises her red, exhausted eyes toward the hellish sky, whispering:
"I see you rising high..."
"Oh, comfort of my trembling heart..."
Loken's tears fall, burning with sorrow as he gazes at the empty horizon:
"Help me, my heart, guide me, O Lord..."
"My patience has run dry..."
"If my time has come, I welcome my death..."
"For I am the protector of my love..."
"Until my tears run dry or my blood is spilled..."
Kyouko grips his hand, pressing it against her chest as she moans:
"Your soul is a jewel I plant in my heart..."
"They will never reach you unless they kill me first..."
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Loken rises to his feet, lifting Kyouko in his arms.
He screams with all his remaining strength, from the depths of his heart:
"Forgive me, Kyouko!!!"
The thunder shatters their ears; they can no longer hear anything.
He turns his gaze away and throws her into the water—she falls like a fragile autumn leaf, her tears scattering into the air as she watches his desperate face.
Suddenly, lightning strikes Loken from the sky.
The raft explodes into burning debris, and everything vanishes before her eyes in an instant.
Kyouko crashes into the water, numb with shock, paralyzed by what she has witnessed.
The final image was devastating.
The freezing water engulfs her—she loses control, sinks without resistance, drowning with a shattered heart and a broken spirit.
Water fills her lungs.
She suffocates slowly, her body growing numb—no longer feeling anything, for the pain in her soul far exceeds any physical suffering.
She disappears into an endless abyss.
... She has reached the peak of endurance. Neither her body nor her soul can bear any more ...
---
On her wretched bed, she lies still.
His annoying voice rises again—that cursed phone ringing.
Her pale face is soaked with tears, her pillow drenched, her eyes dried out, refusing to open.
And then—suddenly—her body jolts in terror.
A horrifying scream pierces her ear, sharp as shattered glass:
"What have you done to my plaything?!"
Kyouko opens her eyes to a room of blinding white, empty of all meaning.
Agonizing screams echo in her ears.
With the expression of a dead soul trapped in a living body, she asks:
"Is that you, Lynen? What is happening? ... Where are you?"
"... Where... where am I?"
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To be continued...