The world kept moving, indifferent to the suffering of the few.

Mika was gone. Hifumi had taken her to a nursing home, where the walls were too white, the halls too quiet. She wasn’t stable enough to do anything on her own anymore. Her once bright, chaotic nature had dimmed, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell.

Koharu was placed in a shelter, her mind too fractured to trust alone. Hifumi stayed with her—not because she wanted to, but because she had to. Someone had to make sure she didn’t break completely.

And Nyx…

Nyx had no one.

She stayed in her worn-down, decaying apartment, where the walls were peeling, and the windows let in the bitter wind. She couldn’t afford to leave. Rent was due, and if her landlord saw this place, she’d be kicked out onto the streets like garbage.

So she did what she always did—she packed up her things, hid her weapons, and left with what little she had left.

With her headphones over her ears, she played a single song on loop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3h1KcrJHps

A song about loss. About pain. About everything that was wrong in this world.

She walked through the cold, empty streets, the melody humming softly in her ears.

"Tell me why this is so complicated and I hate it but this is how it is…”

Her steps led her somewhere she hadn’t meant to go.

A memorial.

A single tree stood in the quiet of the night, Seia’s picture placed gently against the trunk, surrounded by flowers—offerings from those who still remembered her.

A small white bird perched on a branch, its tiny form trembling as it held onto the last reminder of the girl who had once been here.

Nyx’s knees buckled.

She sat on the cold ground, staring at the photo, the silence of the night pressing against her chest like a weight she could never lift.

And then, in the softest voice, barely even a whisper—

“I love you.”

Her voice broke.

She clenched her fists, her entire body shaking.

“I love you, my sweet foxgirl.”

The dam broke.

Nyx sobbed.

She wept into her hands, her body wracking with each breath, gasping as if the weight of her grief was crushing her from the inside out.

She had lost everything.

She had ruined everything.

Every mistake, every failure—it followed her like ghosts, whispering in her ears, reminding her of every time she had let someone down.

She thought she could fix it. She thought she could make it right.

But the past wouldn’t change. The scars wouldn’t heal.

Maybe the gods hated her.

Maybe they had abandoned her.

She curled in on herself, rocking back and forth, whispering apologies into the void, knowing no one would ever answer.

Then she heard footsteps.

Nyx lifted her head, her eyes red, swollen, her body trembling.

A figure stood before her.

Shiroko Terror.

The one who understood.

Nyx barely had time to think before her body moved on its own—before she threw herself into Shiroko’s arms, clutching onto her like a drowning soul grasping for the last breath of air.

She sobbed into the fabric of her coat, her voice broken, desperate, pleading.

“I’m sorry—”

“I’m so sorry—”

She wasn’t even sure what she was apologizing for anymore.

For herself.

For Mika.

For Nagisa.

For Hifumi.

For Azusa.

For Hoshino.

For Nonomi.

For Ayane.

For Sherika.

For Shiroko.

For Hanako.

For everyone.

For Seia.

She sobbed harder.

“Please… forgive me…”

Shiroko Terror said nothing at first.

Then, in a voice as soft as the wind, she whispered—

“You are already forgiven.”

Nyx froze.

Shiroko’s arms tightened around her.

“It was never your fault.”

Nyx choked on her own breath.

“Mistakes happen. We can’t always fix them.”

Nyx squeezed her eyes shut.

“But you will move on.”

Shiroko pulled back slightly, resting a hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes.

“You will find another way to remember happy memories.”

Nyx collapsed against her again, her cries becoming louder, more broken, more raw.

She clung to Shiroko—the only one who could understand.

The only one who knew pain the way she did.

She lifted her head, staring up at the sky, her vision blurry from tears.

And then, she called out to Seia.

“You are my everything.”

The night was silent.

But then—

A single star shined in the sky.

Nyx’s breath hitched.

Her hands tightened into fists.

And she cried harder.

To the ones reading this story.

You have felt loss before.

You have felt pain before.

You have felt like God never found you worthy.

But hear these words.

You are loved.

By God and all.

Do not cry, child.

You are not worthless.

You are my everything.

My world.

My soul.

My heart.