CHAPTER 36: YOUR NOT ALONE...

"PHEW! I thought he wouldn’t make it out..."

Tenka exhaled, brushing a bead of sweat from her brow, but when she turned, the rest of the room wasn’t sighing with her.

They were staring.

"C-c-commander..." Shogo muttered, blinking like the screen was lying to him. "How the hell did he break out of that?"

"For once, I’m with the clown," Yumi added, eyes wide, the usual snark stripped from her voice. "That wasn’t human. That was...something else."

Tenka didn’t answer right away. She just smiled, like a quiet truth had finally been confirmed.

"I told you. Kentaro’s always been the one I trusted, even when the rest of the world wouldn’t."

The crew stared at her. At the screen.

At the boy they all assumed would be frozen in place forever, standing again like the ice had never touched him.

A boy talking to a disaster. Standing between two storms.

"...No one else could do that," Haruka murmured.

"He’s not supposed to be able to."

"But he is."

And as the screen zoomed closer, showing Kentaro stepping between Serica and the other Alberline, no one in the Halcyon ship dared to blink.

"Serica..."

His voice came from behind her.

Quiet. Human. But something about it cut through the cold.

"I’m here. I’m sorry I let you get this far..."

For the first time since her descent into corruption, Serica’s face shifted. Just a flicker.

Her lips trembled. Her brows twitched. Her eyes... glistened.

"K-K-Ken-nghhh!"

Kentaro stepped toward her carefully, as if nearing a wounded animal. But the moment was fragile.

"Ken, can you hear me?" Tenka’s voice came through the comm.

He scraped off the last of the brittle ice on his shoulder and chuckled weakly.

"Yeah, I’m fine. Bit chilly, but I’ve had worse. Kinda."

"Be careful," Tenka warned, her voice losing its usual confidence. "This version of Serica isn’t your Serica. And don’t forget... Dominance is still watching."

Kentaro turned his eyes on the rogue Alberline.

She stepped back.

"You..." she muttered. "It’s you... Why are you here?"

"What’s your name?" he asked softly, watching her reaction.

Her hand lifted, charged with power, but it trembled.

"Stay back... I don’t know why, but... you make me feel..."

"Ken," Tenka said sharply, " her readings are spiking, emotionally unstable. One wrong word could set her off."

"I know," Kentaro said. He stepped closer. "But sometimes... people need the right word."

"Please," he said again, "just tell me your name."

The Alberline flinched like he’d struck her.

"...Yura," she whispered.

Kentaro smiled. "Yura, huh? That’s a beautiful name."

But the moment cracked.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Serica’s scream tore through the air like glass shattering.

Wind, ice, and power surged from her like a tidal wave.

Kentaro’s eyes widened, too late to brace.

The shockwave threw him backward, crashing through frozen trees. His vision went white.

Yura, too, was flung into the shadows of the forest, her voice lost in the roar.

Everything turned still.

He heard a voice now with softness, kindness, and regret.

"Kentaro"

Kentaro groaned as he got up and saw Serica walking over to him like her life depended on it.

"Please Don’t Leave Me"

He heard it.

A voice, softer than a whisper but filled with the weight of sorrow, kindness... and regret.

"Kentaro..."

The name hit his ears like a lifeline. He groaned, dragging his aching body upright, until his blurry vision finally cleared, and there she was. Serica. Walking toward him with shaky, desperate steps. Her eyes wide. Her lips trembling. Every inch of her movement looked like it cost her everything.

"Please... don’t leave me," she said, her voice cracking mid-sentence as tears streamed freely down her face.

Kentaro didn’t hesitate. His shirt was torn. His skin was pale. His breath shaky.

But he moved.

Because she was there.

Because she was her.

They reached each other slowly. No words passed between them. Just the sound of broken breathing and ice cracking beneath their feet. The gap shrank with every step, until they were close enough to touch.

But Serica...

Something was wrong.

Her knees buckled slightly. Her breath turned ragged. Ice started to spiral again from her feet. Her fingers twitched like they were losing feeling. The glow in her eyes began to fade, replaced by that cold, corrupted void.

"Kenta, hmph!?"

Before the corruption could fully reclaim her, Kentaro moved.

No hesitation. No fear. Just instinct.

He kissed her.

His lips met hers with urgency, a soft warmth clashing against the freezing chill taking over her body. His cheeks flared red. His heartbeat pounded louder than any explosion he’d faced before. But he knew, if anything could bring her back... it was this.

"KENTARO! THE ANCHOR! NOW!" Tenka’s voice screamed through the comms.

With one hand still holding her close, Kentaro reached up and yanked the Anchor device from the side of his head. He gently pressed it against the side of her head, right near her temple.

A glow.

A pulse.

A reaction.

The Armor of ice shattered like glass in sunlight, melting away in streams of blue light. Her body trembled. Her eyes blinked. And finally, for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

She remembered him.

Without pain.

Without confusion.

Just Kentaro.

Her face burned bright red, far redder than anything the crew had ever seen from her.

When they finally parted, Kentaro leaned back just a bit, still holding her shoulders, and smiled.

"I missed you... So much, Serica."

She broke.

Tears welled again and fell freely as she buried her face in his chest.

"I missed you, too, Ken... I was so scared without you..."

It would’ve been perfect.

Heartwarming. Heroic.

Except.

Kentaro suddenly froze.

His shirt was ruined. Torn in half. Skin bare.

And now that Serica had collapsed against him, he felt something soft. Something warm. Something very unarmored.

He slowly, fearfully, looked down.

Serica had nothing on.

Not just no armour.

No anything.

Smooth, pale skin. A figure that made his soul nearly leave his body.

"WOAH!!!" He shot his eyes to the sky. "Hey! Umm, Serica, do you, uh... want my shirt? Or trousers? I mean, they won’t fit great, but it’s better than, uh..."

He was stammering now, face blazing.

Serica blinked... looked down... then shrieked.

"AHHHHH!!!"

She spun and jumped back into him, flustered and panicking, making it far worse.

"SERICA! PLEASE! Just take the clothes and let me go, THIS IS BADDDD!"

From the Halcyon, laughter erupted.

"HAAHAHAHAHA! Looks like Mr. Playboy finally hit the jackpot, naked girl, clinging on for dear life! Lucky bastard!" Shogo howled.

"Shogo, shut it," Tenka muttered, clearly flustered too.

She clicked her comm.

"Kentaro, listen. We’re transferring Serica to the Halcyon now. Say goodbye and get ready. You’re not done yet."

Kentaro steadied himself, ignoring the chaos. He held Serica’s shoulders gently, looked her in the eyes.

She gave a tiny squeak but didn’t move.

He tilted his head.

"Serica... there’s someone else I have to save. Just like I saved you. Think you can wait for me up there?"

Serica nodded, soft and shy.

"I understand... but um... if you can help it... Please don’t kiss her?"

Her puppy eyes were lethal. Kentaro’s heart nearly exploded.

He laughed lightly.

"I’ll try to keep it to a seal. No kissing unless absolutely necessary. Deal?"

She nodded again.

And then she stepped back.

Her body lit with a soft glow as she was transferred skyward.

Her eyes stayed locked on his... until she vanished.

Silence fell.

But not for long.

A new voice cut through the trees. Loud. Accusatory. Jealous.

"So you ask for my name... and then kiss another woman?"

A figure stepped forward. Eyes blazing.

"HOW. INSOLENT!!!"

Kentaro knew it the second she blinked.

The way her eyes trembled, not in fear, but fury.

The kiss... That kiss with Serica.

It hadn’t saved just one girl.

It had awakened something in another.

A storm.

"Listen, Yura, it wa-"

"DOMAIN."

Her voice cracked like thunder, slicing through his sentence.

Before he could finish the thought, the world bent.

A pressure snapped around him, the same distorted field he’d seen before, but this time, it wasn’t just spatial.

It was personal.

"SHATTER."

Pain.

A bolt of agony exploded in his skull like a hammer slamming glass from the inside. Kentaro dropped to one knee, then both, palms scraping the dirt as his mind screamed.

He gritted his teeth. "Grrh-what the hell..."

Yura stepped through the warped shimmer of her Domain, her armor gleaming, but her expression... that was the part that cut deepest.

Anger.

But beneath it: betrayal.

"It seems you’ve betrayed me, too. You humans. You’re all the same. Just like her."

Kentaro’s vision spun, but he forced his head up.

She looked radiant. Terrifying. But her eyes... her eyes were shattered.

They looked like Rin’s.

Like Serica’s.

Like someone who didn’t understand why they were hurting, only that they were.

"Yura, please. I’m not like that. I know something’s happened to you. You’re in pain, but I’m telling you, whatever it is, whatever you’re holding onto, I’ll help you carry it. You’re not alone."

The glow around her armor intensified, the purple cracks snaking through her arms like veins of resentment.

"You asked for my name..."

Her voice cracked.

"And then you kissed her. You lied to me, just like she did!"

Kentaro stumbled upright, one hand clutching his head, the other outstretched.

"I didn’t lie!" he barked.

"I had to save her! Just like I want to save you, Yura. You matter too. I’m not leaving you behind!"

He took a step forward.

She didn’t move.

Didn’t attack.

Didn’t flinch.

If anything.

She leaned back, just slightly. Her lips trembled.

"Who are you...?" she whispered. "Why do I feel so calm when I’m near you...?"

That mask she always wore, the rage, the pride, the power.

It cracked.

For just a moment, she looked like a girl again.

Kentaro reached out, and her fingers met his.

Her gauntlet was cold. Her hands beneath were not.

"Yura," he said softly. "You deserve more than this. More than pain. More than being a weapon. You deserve to be happy."

She looked up, blinking back tears.

"But I... I know you’ll betray me. Like everyone does. That’s what people do..."

"No," he whispered.

His voice didn’t shake.

"I won’t. As long as I’m breathing, you’ll have someone. You’ll have me."

Yura’s lip quivered. "But... what if I can’t find peace? What if all I’ll ever know is hurt...?"

Kentaro stepped closer.

Their foreheads met.

One of his hands gently rested on her chest, where her heart beat beneath layers of steel.

"Then I’ll hurt with you. Until we find the way out."

Tenka’s voice crackled through the comms, calm but direct:

"Ken. Anchor now."

He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

With his hand still over her heart, he reached up and pulled the Anchor from the side of his head.

Then...