The bench sat hidden beneath the shade of the overgrown trees, among patches of grass that had grown taller than normal, far removed from the bustling campus.
The sun had already begun its slow descent, painting everything in a warm orange hue.
The distant noises of students leaving for the day barely reached them. The world continued as though nothing extraordinary had happened.
Only the two of them remained behind, isolated from the rest of the campus as though time itself had forgotten this small corner of the university.
Reina rested quietly against Mylo's chest.
Her breathing had finally settled into a slow, steady rhythm, the exhaustion from everything that had happened leaving her without the strength to think any further. Her goggles lay on the bench beside them, revealing a face that still carried faint traces of dried tears.
Mylo didn't move.
His arms remained around her almost absentmindedly, not because he wished to hold her any longer, but because he couldn't bring himself to let go.
His eyes slowly drifted downward.
A few loose strands of her green hair clung to her cheeks, stirred gently by the evening breeze.
Looking at her peaceful expression, it was almost impossible to believe that only moments ago she had been crying so desperately that her voice had nearly given out.
That memory alone caused a dull ache to spread through his chest.
His mind replayed everything that had happened.
Reina grabbing onto him, terrified that he would leave.
The way she had desperately clung to his shirt.
The tears that refused to stop falling.
The hopeless look in her eyes as she begged him to stay.
Every scene replayed itself with painful clarity.
He closed his eyes.
Even now, he searched for another answer.
Another choice.
Another path.
Something... anything that could have prevented things from ending this way.
But no matter how many times he retraced his thoughts, the conclusion never changed.
Every option he had considered had only made Reina suffer even more.
The more he resisted...
the more desperate she had become.
The more he tried to push her away...
the tighter she had held onto him.
It had reached a point where every decision before him felt wrong.
And in the end...
he had chosen one.
His fingers slowly tightened against the edge of the bench.
Not around Reina.
Around the rough wood beneath his hand.
A bitter smile briefly crossed his lips.
No...
He couldn't blame anyone else.
Not the strange blood-red screen.
Not that cursed system.
Not fate.
The final decision had been mine.
Even if I had believed it was the only way to stop Reina's suffering...
Even if I had convinced myself that it was the lesser of two evils...
I had still been the one who made that choice.
The weight of that realization settled heavily over him.
Had he truly protected Reina...
Or had he simply chosen the outcome that allowed him to believe he had?
He didn't know.
And that uncertainty frightened him more than anything else.
Today wasn't what scared him.
Tomorrow was.
If that cursed system cornered him again...
Reina stirred in her sleep.
Mylo's thoughts came to an abrupt halt. He lowered his gaze toward her once more, the heaviness in his eyes softening.
Whatever guilt he carried...
Whatever answers he still lacked...
Those burdens were his alone.
Reina had already suffered enough because of him today. He wasn't about to place another weight on her shoulders.
The warmth against his chest shifted again.
A soft murmur escaped Reina's lips as her brows knitted together slightly. Her eyelashes fluttered before her eyes slowly opened, their pale crimson hue clouded with lingering exhaustion.
For several quiet seconds, she simply stared upward.
The orange sky stretched endlessly, while the leaves swayed gently with the evening breeze. Somewhere in the distance, laughter echoed faintly across the campus before fading away.
Everything felt strangely peaceful.
Too peaceful.
She blinked once.
Then again.
A steady heartbeat echoed softly beneath her cheek.
Her expression slowly stiffened.
...Heartbeat?
Reina frowned in confusion.
Why...?
Her gaze gradually lowered.
The fabric of a familiar shirt entered her vision.
Her eyes widened.
Then, almost mechanically, they continued downward.
Strong arms rested loosely around her shoulders.
Her own hands were clutching the front of his shirt.
Her breathing caught in her throat.
For a brief moment, her mind became completely blank.
"..."
'...No.'
'It couldn't be...'
She slowly lifted her head.
Mylo's face entered her vision.
Their eyes met.
The silence between them lasted no more than a heartbeat.
Reina abruptly pushed herself away from him, nearly losing her balance as she stumbled backward. The back of her legs bumped against the bench, forcing her to catch herself before she could fall.
"I-!"
The sound died before it could become a word.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
She couldn't look at him.
Not yet.
Her trembling hands instinctively reached toward her face.
Her fingers met empty air.
"...My..."
Her glasses.
She looked around frantically until she spotted them resting beside Mylo. With hurried, almost clumsy movements, she picked them up and placed them back over her eyes.
The familiar weight grounded her, if only slightly.
But it was already too late.
The memories began returning.
One after another.
She remembered pulling him here.
Confessing.
Crying uncontrollably.
Begging him not to leave.
She remembered his voice calling her name over and over.
Then...
A sharp tremor ran through her body.
Her fingers froze against the frame of her glasses.
"..."
The bench.
His belt.
The warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips.
The unfamiliar taste lingering on her tongue.
The way he had held her afterward.
Each memory struck her harder than the last, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle she desperately wished had remained unfinished.
Her face rapidly lost what little color it had regained.
"...No..."
The whisper escaped almost unconsciously.
Her breathing became uneven.
'No...'
'No, no...'
'That wasn't...'
That wasn't what she had wanted.
'...w-what have i done...?'
She had only wanted to stop him from leaving.
She had only wanted to become friends with him.
To have someone she could talk to.
Someone who wouldn't walk away after seeing the real her.
So how...
How had everything gone so terribly wrong?
A warm drop landed on the back of her hand. She stared at it blankly. Another followed.
Only then did she realize she was crying again.
"I..." Her voice trembled. The words refused to come out.
"I'm..."
How was she supposed to apologize for something like this?
For forcing herself onto him?
For ignoring every time he had tried to stop her?
Or...
For destroying the only chance she had ever had to become friends with someone?
Her shoulders began to shake.
"I..."
She lowered her head until her green hair concealed her face completely.
"I'm sorry..."
The apology came out no louder than a whisper. Then another followed.
"I'm... so sorry..."
Her fingers clenched tightly around the fabric of her skirt.
"I-I only w-wanted..." She bit down on her lip, desperately trying to stop herself from crying.
"I-I only wanted u-us...hic...to become f-friends."
A sob escaped despite her efforts.
"I-I r-ruined everything..." The words broke apart between uneven breaths.
"I ruined the first real friendship..hic..I could've had..."
Fresh tears slipped from beneath her bangs, disappearing into the folds of her skirt.
"I...I'm so sorry..."
Across from her, Mylo remained silent.
His chest tightened painfully. Every apology she spoke only deepened the guilt already weighing on his heart.
It's not your fault. Not at all.
This incident was my responsibility.
I'm the one who should be blamed.
Slowly, he raised his head.
His voice was quiet, yet firm enough to cut through the silence.
"...Reina."She flinched. He gently shook his head.
''You didn't do anything wrong...atleast what happened wasn't your fault...so..,'' his words stoped as if they were stuck in his stomach.
Reina's shoulders continued to tremble. She kept her head lowered, unable to bring herself to meet Mylo's eyes.
The silence stretched between them once again.
Eventually, Mylo had to brake it.
"...I'm sorry. I'm really sorry,''
Reina froze. Her fingers slowly loosened around the fabric of her skirt before tightening again.
"...What?" The word escaped almost instinctively.
She thought she had misheard him.
'w-why would you say... sorry? It's me who forced you...to do that despicable thing...'
Mylo lowered his gaze to his hands.
For a few moments, he simply stared at them.
"...I'm the one who should be blamed for this." Words escaped his mouth with a self loathing voice.
Reina slowly looked up.
The tears clinging to her eyelashes made her vision blur, but she could still clearly see the guilt written across his face.
"...Why?"
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I..."
"I was the one who..."
The rest of the sentence refused to leave her mouth.
She bit down on her lower lip. Mylo quietly shook his head.
"No, I was the reason for your actions.'' his words sounded illogical to Reina.
"But... You kept trying to stop me."
"Yeah...but I allowed at the end."
She lowered her eyes again.
"I didn't listen."
"...I know."
"So why...why are you apologizing?"
Mylo fell silent. He searched for an answer that wouldn't become another lie.
How could he explain something he barely understood himself?
That blood-red screen.
The strange curse.
The impossible choices placed before him.
If someone had told him about them only yesterday...
He wouldn't have believed a single word.
How could he expect Reina to?
Even worse...
How could he burden her with something she had no way of fighting?
A quiet sigh escaped him.
"There were..."He hesitated controlling himself from leaking anything.
"...things happening today."
"Things you couldn't have known."
Reina listened quietly.
"I thought...If I kept trying...I could stop them."
His bitter smile barely lasted a moment.
"I was wrong."
Every decision he had made had only pushed Reina further into despair.
The more he resisted...
The more frightened she became.
The more he tried to distance himself...
The more desperately she clung to him.
By the end...
every choice before him had felt wrong.
"So...I made one, a decision." He slowly raised his head.
"I don't know if it was the right one....I still don't, but it was mine," his tone had a certain resolve to it.
The words hung heavily in the evening air.
Reina stared at him without blinking.
"...I don't understand."
"I know."
It's only natural that she would be clueless. Even I still don't know much about my system.
A faint, tired smile appeared on Mylo's face.
"I don't really expect you to. But please I don't want you to continue to blame yourself,''
She looked down again.
"...Then....what do I do?'' she asked.
Mylo could just hope for one thing.
''Can you please trust me?''