Shizu was sitting on the bed, in that room, looking at the floor, where there was only darkness in his mind. It was as if he were blind, unable to see anything around him, with his chin resting on his hands while his eyes stayed there, facing the floor without blinking once. In his mind, only one word echoed wildly:
— "KILL..."
— "I NEED TO KILL HIM..."
— "SO THIS CAN END.."
— "I NEED..."
His eyes move forward, and around his dark vision he sees the image of all his companions in front of him with an X on their faces.
— "KILL EVERYONE"
A knock on the door echoes through the room. A soft hand knocks on the door with light and gentle movements, followed by a sweet voice:
— Shizu?... I heard a noise...
— can I come in?..
No answer...
— I'm coming in... okay?
The door slowly opens, revealing the silhouette of a woman wearing a blue nightgown with white details on the collar and neckline. With her blue hair reflecting the light from the window, Anin steps into the room:
— You're awake?... you weren't answering my calls.
Anin stops in front of Shizu and sees him sitting on the edge of the bed. Then she leans down, her hair falling over her shoulders:
— Shizu, are you okay?... you don't look very well...
Shizu remained there, looking at the floor, not moving, not changing his expression, only many things going through his mind: deaths and pain. Anin puts her right hand on her chin while supporting her right arm with her left and walks around the room. Then she makes a happy expression as if she had an idea:
— I think I know what to do for you...
She sits on the bed next to him and starts playing with her fingers with a smile on her face:
— You know, ever since we were in the kingdom of Babadar... you've worked so hard...
— and also, you're only 15 years old and you've been pushing yourself a lot since we left that place... so...
— "Avenge..." — "Avenge..." — "avenge..."
Anin keeps playing with her fingers, looking at the ceiling of the room while happily talking about Shizu's achievements:
— You've done so much for me and everyone...
— helped so many people....
Shizu is still looking at the floor, his vision slowly turning red at the edges while those absurd phrases keep repeating without stopping, echoing through his entire consciousness:
— "Kill.. I must kill everyone..." — "I must not let everything go wrong again..." — "Everyone is my enemy...." — "I am not useless..." — "I need to prove it..."
Anin keeps talking to him, because she knew he was listening even without looking into her eyes:
— Even for someone your age, you show yourself to be an incredible and kind person...
She glances at him from the side, not smiling, just observing the look he gave the floor. Still, she continues:
— That day when you said you would put an end to that revolution... I saw something in your eyes that fascinated me...
— the kindness you looked at me with at that moment, without showing any kind of malice, something pure from someone who truly wanted to save someone...
She blushes and starts covering her face with her hands while talking nonstop:
— N-not in a romantic way!!! it's just how I got fascinated!
— your eyes! that's it! I got fascinated by your eyes!
Shizu starts to rise again with a blank expression on his face, a phrase forming in his mind as he slowly turns toward Anin:
— "I NEED TO ELIMINATE..."
Anin becomes serious for a moment, still with a red face. She looks at the door of the room and says:
— What I'm trying to say, Shizu... is...
— "All obstacles..."
Shizu looks directly at Anin with a cold expression and eyes glowing in an assassin color. Then he was about to speak, pointing his right hand at Anin:
— Reser—
Suddenly the sentence is stopped, with sky-blue hair slowly falling over the boy's shoulders. In the middle of it, with the window light illuminating the room, Anin wraps herself around Shizu. She hugs him tightly and shouts so he can hear:
— SHIZU, WE ARE HERE TO HELP EACH OTHER! SO... STOP DOING EVERYTHING ALONE!
Shizu is left without reaction, without words for what just happened. Then Anin pulls back a little and faces him, tears falling from her eyes while making a sad face:
— If you lose that confident and kind look... I...
— I will be sad....
Still crying, she gives a smile while the window light makes her shine together with her tears:
— Finally... it looks like you're listening to me...
From another perspective, we see a tear falling onto the bedsheet. A tear has just fallen from Shizu's face. He looks at the bed where his tear fell. Then his vision starts to blur, more and more tears falling. Anin extends her hand and wipes a tear from the boy's face. With a small laugh, she sees the boy lifting his head and responds:
— So that's where...
— this 15-year-old boy is, huh?...
Shizu starts crying hard and clings to her. Screaming, he grabs her nightgown while yelling about himself:
— I, I, I AM USELESS, I AM NOTHING!
— I TRY TO DO THINGS BUT NOTHING EVER WORKS, EVEN WHEN I TRY MANY TIMES! I ALWAYS FAIL, ALWAYS!
In his mind, all the bad moments, events, and deaths of his companions appear before him, every pain and suffering caused by his mistakes and orders.
— BECAUSE OF ME I CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR EVERYONE AND I NEED TO SEE HORRIBLE THINGS!
— I... I...
Anin, with a relieved smile, runs her hand through his head while asking him to continue:
— Yes, yes. You can tell me everything...
Shizu keeps screaming in anger and tears staining Anin's clothes:
— I AM WEAK! I CAN'T SOLVE ANYTHING ALONE!
— I DEPEND ON OTHERS TO FIGHT... I ALWAYS NEED SOMEONE TO SAVE MY LIFE!
— IF I MAKE A MISTAKE, NO ONE KNOWS, NO ONE SEES MY MISTAKES, NO ONE SEES MY PAIN, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT I GO THROUGH!!
— yes... but even so, Shizu, I am here.
— I AM A WORM THAT CAN'T DO ANYTHING ALONE, I AM... I AM TRASH...
— I AM USELESS...
— I AM A PARASITE...
— I... I... I....
Anin slowly leans in and kisses his head, saying while resting her forehead on his:
— You are incredible, Shizu...
Shizu puts his hands on his head and keeps humiliating himself, as if that were his punishment, the punishment he believed he deserved. Then Anin runs her hand through his hair, still praising him:
— But even so, Shizu... you are incredible.
— Why me?... why do I have to suffer so much... why...
— I'm just a weak useless person...
Still with a comforting smile, she keeps running her hand through his hair:
— Because you are a kind and incredible person, Shizu...
As his eyes slowly close, he asks again:
— Why... Anin...
— why does... it have to be... me?...
She leans in once more and whispers into his ear:
— It's because you are the one who saved me. You are Shizu...
She continues running her hand through his head with a happy expression. Then the door opens. Detrin and Sterfen watch from the hallway, Shizu asleep in Anin's arms, his eyes purple after so much crying. She puts a finger to her lips in silence and Detrin and Sterfen quietly leave.
Then Anin looks at the window again and says:
— It's because you are you, Shizu.