Thinking back on what I'd heard earlier, the battle between Mika and Saori could be summed up in one phrase: Overwhelming force crushing all technique.
At first, Saori had seemed to hold the upper hand. Calling it one-sided suppression wouldn't have been an exaggeration. For a moment, she even made me think she could actually win.
Until, after firing who knew how many rounds at Mika while constantly keeping her distance, Saori was finally struck by one casual punch from Mika...
The relatively stable battle turned completely upside down in an instant.
After only a few more exchanges, the fierce sounds of combat fell silent, forcing me to turn back.
The only fortunate thing was that, after the dust settled, Mika seemed to have regained some of her senses. Instead of pressing her advantage against Saori, she waited for her to regain consciousness and began talking with her.
They were talking about Azusa.
When I activated my Authority, I could make out their figures from afar. They seemed to have reached an important point in their conversation.
"...Azusa..."
Lying on the ground, Saori murmured weakly,
"She... wasn't originally chosen... to be a spy."
"Huh?"
Mika sounded confused, and I found myself holding my breath as well.
Leaning against a marble wall, Saori struggled into a sitting position.
"That child... was supposed to become... a symbol of peace."
What did she mean by that?
"The reconciliation... between Trinity and Arius... You were the first one to say those words, weren't you..."
She corrected herself almost immediately.
"You were the first one to say it, weren't you, Misono Mika."
"What are you talking about...? That was... Ah, I remember... Those were just pretty words I made up to fool Sensei..."
"No."
Saori corrected her.
"It was when you first came to see us. Before the attack on Seia happened. Before the Eden Treaty, before your coup, before any of that existed... Back then, you said you wanted to reconcile with Arius."
Mika didn't argue.
Her silence was answer enough.
These two...
They were talking about something surprisingly important.
If I wanted to understand where they had started, this was probably the best opportunity.
After a moment's thought, I decided against revealing myself. Suddenly appearing would only cause trouble.
So I stayed hidden and quietly listened.
From Saori's recollections, I learned a truth that was both exactly what I'd expected and somehow still left me speechless.
At the very beginning of everything, it had been exactly as Mika once told me beside the swimming pool at Trinity's annex.
When Mika first contacted Arius and proposed transferring Azusa to Trinity, her goal had been to prove something.
That even an Arius student could live happily at Trinity.
Misono Mika had wanted to prove that, convince Nagisa and Seia, and achieve reconciliation with Arius.
"What a ridiculously absurd plan."
That had been Saori's assessment after hearing it.
Even so, she hadn't rejected it outright. She had only told Mika to return and wait for their reply.
But after returning to the Arius District, Saori eagerly entrusted that important mission to Azusa, the "least sociable" member of the group, instructing her to begin studying everything about Trinity.
That was before reporting it to Beatrice.
Naturally, Mika's proposal was met with nothing but contempt and ridicule.
"A symbol of reconciliation? What foolish dream are you talking about?"
Beatrice had sneered.
"We'll simply use her as a tool to gather intelligence on Trinity."
And just like that, the mission ended before it had even begun.
Saori spoke in fragments, almost as though talking to herself.
"I don't even know why... But if it were Azusa... Azusa definitely... I think... once... I really did hope she'd become someone like that... But... I'll never have the chance to confirm it now..."
After that, events unfolded exactly as everyone already knew.
Mika colluded with Arius, revealed Seia's location, attacked her, and caused her Halo to "shatter."
Yet Mika's true intention had only been to teach Seia a lesson, enough to send her to the hospital for a while.
That was already terrible enough.
But compared to murder or staging a coup, it hardly seemed as unforgivable.
From there, everything gradually slid into the abyss.
At least, that was how it appeared from the perspective of Mika, who believed Seia had died.
"Azusa... originally learned so much about Trinity because she was supposed to become a symbol of reconciliation. That's why the mission was given to her."
Perhaps it had been a fortunate coincidence.
But in another sense, it had been inevitable.
Precisely because Azusa was different, she had been chosen as the "symbol of reconciliation."
And precisely because of that, she had followed Seia's advice. Rather than killing her, she chose to help Seia escape the whirlpool surrounding her.
But when Mika contacted Arius again after that...
She had changed.
She never spoke of reconciliation again.
Before anyone realized it, the original plan had twisted into planting a spy, sabotaging the treaty, and carrying out a coup, exactly as things eventually unfolded.
"Mika... I couldn't understand you. I never knew what you truly wanted. At one point I even wondered if you were simply an idiot... But if... if you really meant it..."
Saori spoke softly.
"When I first heard the word 'reconciliation' from you... Even while thinking it sounded like complete madness... Deep inside... I still hoped... that maybe we could have... that kind of future too... I could never completely erase that thought..."
Mika remained silent.
She simply listened.
"Mika..."
Saori hesitated before asking,
"You actually... wanted to reconcile with us... from the bottom of your heart, didn't you?"
Comparing this with everything I already knew, I was almost certain Saori's guess was correct.
She really was...
An innocent, sheltered, selfish princess who still retained the purest kindness.
I sighed inwardly.
If she hadn't acted so impulsively and given someone like Beatrice an opportunity to exploit her...
What would Mika be like today?
As I imagined it, the first thing that came to mind was the peaceful scene when we first met.
"You came to us with kindness. The one who trampled on that kindness, deceived you, and pushed you into this hell... was me."
No.
It wasn't Saori.
"Unable to accept that hell... you twisted your own memories to deny it. That's right... and not just you."
Saori's voice caught.
"The Princess had to hide her face and her voice... Hiyori and Misaki joining Squad... Azusa being sent to Trinity not as a symbol of reconciliation but as a murderer who had to deceive everyone as a spy... Sensei, who was betrayed, hurt, and let down..."
She spoke sorrowfully.
"It's all my fault. I'm... not some hunting dog. I'm just... a walking disaster... someone who brings suffering to everyone around me."
No.
That's not true.
The one who caused all of this...
Was Beatrice.
Taking a deep breath, Saori returned to Mika's original question.
"There really... was something... I wanted to ask Azusa... Even after carrying so much... she still... looked so happy."
She paused before letting out a bitter laugh.
"Azusa, who never easily showed her feelings to anyone... who never truly accepted us... who embraced loneliness until the very end... That child who shut away her heart like a shell at the bottom of the sea... Yet together with her friends... together with an adult... she overcame all that suffering... and finally reached... that clear blue sky... overflowing with happiness..."
No.
That wasn't it.
Azusa had accepted everything that happened in Arius.
She had accepted the others in Arius Squad long ago as well.
She simply wasn't good with words.
Deep down...
She considered everyone, including Saori, her family.
That was why she rushed here so quickly after receiving my message.
That was why, after learning what Squad had done, she tried to shoulder everything alone.
"In the end... I had no choice but to admit it... Ah... that's right... Our hatred... those words, 'Everything is meaningless'... everything from the past..."
Saori's trembling voice carried both pain and relief.
"It was all... a lie."
Yes.
That alone...
Was true.
And because of that, I couldn't help but think:
Between those who were deceived and those who did the deceiving...
The true fault obviously belonged to the latter.
"Foolish and cowardly me... Like a walking disaster, I dragged everyone around me toward ruin... Sigh... So that's how it was. It was all because of me."
She sighed softly.
"Azusa found happiness because she left me. Yet I denied that truth until the very end..."
No.
That wasn't true either.
The one people found happiness by leaving wasn't Saori.
It was Arius itself.
The Arius ruled by Beatrice.
When someone who once shared the same suffering leaves first, isn't it only human to feel afraid, to instinctively reject that reality?
The more Saori blamed herself, the more uncomfortable I felt.
Even my heart began to ache.
I had blamed her myself.
But at least I knew she was wrong now.
So...
Was I pitying Saori?
The thought left me confused.
"Azusa... if it were you... would you know the right answer? Azusa... could I... also... become... happy?"
She asked someone who wasn't there.
But more than that, she was questioning her own heart.
The answer seemed obvious.
"I think... I once had... that chance."
Saori's voice broke into sobs.
"Even before Azusa... I met an adult who was kind to me... who treated me well. But my foolishness... my cowardice... my arrogance... cut off that possibility with my own hands..."
Why regret it now?
Hadn't she said before that she willingly gave up that chance for the sake of her comrades' safety?
But after thinking about it carefully, I realized those things didn't actually contradict each other.
If anything, they complemented one another.
The happiness of her comrades...
Was also Saori's own happiness.
Even just listening in silence, I found my throat tightening.
"Ah... At this point... no matter how much I wish for it... I don't have the right... to stand beside him anymore..."
Quietly sobbing, Saori whispered,
"If... I could also be forgiven... the way Tendou Arisu was... If these hands stained with sin... could also be held... Could I have walked toward a different life...? Reached a different future... instead of such a miserable ending...? Could I... also... have... that chance...?"
Is that even a question!?
If you don't believe in it yourself, if you don't fight for it yourself, do you think that chance is just going to come knocking on your door!?
A nameless anger suddenly welled up inside me.
I didn't even know who it was directed at.
The irritation spread through every corner of my body, all the way to the tips of my hair.
I've been waiting this whole time!
The whole time!
If you'd just honestly told me all this...
Did you really think I was so narrow-minded that I couldn't forgive you?
I'm an adult.
I'm your Sensei.
Even if I'm immature.
Even if I'm unreliable.
Doesn't that still make me your Sensei?
...Why?
Why won't you trust me?
When it comes down to it...
Why does everyone else trust me in the first place?
Even I don't understand.
The anger came like a storm.
And disappeared just as quickly.
All that remained was a bottomless emptiness that threatened to swallow me whole.
"...Mika. Look at me. Look how miserable I am. Do whatever you want with me. Take back everything I stole from you."
Finally finishing her monologue, Saori spoke to Mika.
"The one who turned someone with a gentle heart like yours... into this witch consumed by hatred... wasn't anyone else. It was me. I've taken too much from others... Maybe this will make things a little more fair..."
No.
It couldn't end like this.
There were still things I wanted to say.
Things I had been too afraid to say.
Snapping out of my sorrow, I stopped waiting and stepped forward.
"Ah... I thought the one to do this in the end would be Azusa... or Sensei... or someone else..."
Saori even sounded faintly relieved.
"I never imagined it would be you, Mika."
I could picture her.
Eyes closed.
Waiting for fate to descend.
I quickened my pace.
Walking became jogging.
Jogging became a full sprint.
Then, in the very next instant...
I heard a crisp metallic clatter.
It sounded exactly like a gun slipping from someone's hand and hitting the ground.
A possibility suddenly crossed my mind.
I gradually slowed down until I stopped just a short distance away.
"...I... I can't... I can't do something like this..."
Mika's voice trembled.
It sounded as though she, too, had broken down in tears.
"I can't do this... Because... I also..."
She sniffled before speaking sadly.
"I've been hoping for that chance too..."
Believing herself to be the source of every mistake, just like Saori...
She had come to understand her.
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