Dawn (Part 2) (
Summary[]
No. 6 is cradling Sumire's head, the two of them still taking shelter from the rain in the cave they entered in the previous chapter. He tells her that he will take her, and that he's serious this time.
Sumire freaks out and smacks No. 6, yelling at him to explain himself. He pauses, looking pensive, before comparing his feelings for her to indigestion. No matter what he does, his feelings for Sumire won't go away. They linger, burning in the pits of his stomach. He's miserable, and he can't stand it.
She asks if that's true, and if he really did suffer because of her for a hundred years. He doesn't quite confirm it, but he compares her to a curse. Sumire looks surprised, before grasping the hand he has on her cheek and smiling back at him warmly.
Burying her head into his chest, Sumire laughs. No. 6 looks confused, and asks why she's so happy. He puts her hand on his head, and says that if he watches her leave him again, then nothing will have changed. No. 6 bites Sumire's neck, making a bite mark around her yorishiro, and then bites her again on her forearm, near her bracelet. He says that whatever he does, he won't be able to forget about her, so he will go ahead and do whatever he wants anyways.
The panels go black, and No. 6 begins to monologue. He states that Sumire said he wanted him to cry and cry and go to Hell. He tells her that he wishes he could have been a normal human like her, and that they could've grown up together. He would have had human emotions, and been capable of loving her back. He wishes he could've clung to her when she was sacrificed to be God's bride, and wishes he could've gone to Hell for her.
The darkness fades, and we can see Sumire on the floor, her clothes rumpled. She's giggling, and she calls him a cute, stupid fool. She tells him he already is in Hell, and he hasn't realized it yet.
No. 6 looks surprised, his eyes widening. Oh, he thinks. But then his eyes lower, and he picks up Sumire's hand. He thinks that he's fine with being in Hell.
Widening his jaw and exposing his sharp teeth, he raises Sumire's hand to his mouth. The next panel is black, with only a single crunch sound.
The scene changes, and we see Nene taking shelter from the rainstorm under a roof. As she wrings the rainwater out of her hair, she hears a shattering noise. She turns to look, and is surprised to see the boundary beginning to destroy itself around her. Nene begins running away, and wonders how this is happening. To the best of her knowledge, the only way to destroy a boundary is to destroy a yorishiro, but Nene was told that she was the only who can do that. She calls for Sumire-chan, and wonders what to do.
In Nene's experience, she's always returned to the mortal realm when a boundary was destroyed. However, she knows that Teru, Kou, and Akane are currently rescuing Aoi. Hanako told Nene that sacrificing Aoi had allowed Nene to evade her death, but if Aoi is saved and they both return to the mortal realm, then Nene surmises that Nene herself would die upon escaping from the boundary.
Now in an even deeper panic, Nene increases speed and screams that she doesn't want to die like this, and calls out desperately for Sumire. She ends up tripping over a branch, but a hand grabs her before she can fall.
It's Sakura. She tells Nene not to worry, and that she's not supposed to die here.
Nene pauses, trying to place her face. She remembers the Tea Party, and gasps. She's Tsukasa's assistant! Sakura corrects her with her actual name, before smiling pleasantly and remarking that it's been a while since they last saw each other. Nene clutches her hand to her chest, looking a little lost and nervous, and asks Sakura why she's here. She also asks what she meant by saying Nene isn't meant to die here.
Sakura points to her head and, very seriously, tells Nene that she is a psychic. This comes as a great shock to Nene. Sakura continues on, saying she holds mysterious powers that allow her to do anything, like reading minds, bending and warping things with her mind, and seeing the future. Nene is bewildered, and asserts that she must be joking. Sakura confirms that she is lying, but half of it was true.
Actually serious this time, Sakura asks Nene if she wants to know anything, like about her lifespan or the the pasts of Yugi Amane and Yugi Tsukasa. Nene is too shocked to respond, and Sakura continues, saying that this boundary will be destroyed soon, so they only have a bit of time, but for now, Tsukasa won't be able to see them. Because of this, Sakura is able and willing to answer any questions Nene asks of her.
We can see a giant dark hole in the sky behind Sakura, where triangle-shaped pieces of glass are falling. She smiles at Nene, and asks, "now, where shall we begin?"
Characters in order of appearance[]
- Shinigami-sama
- Sumire
- Nene
- Akane (mentioned)
- Aoi (mentioned)
- Teru (mentioned)
- Kou (mentioned)
- Sakura
- Hanako-kun (mentioned/imagined)
- Tsukasa (mentioned/imagined)