The city was quiet after the war.
Too quiet.
Ash drifted through the air like soft gray snow, settling gently across shattered pavement and broken windows. Yuki stood alone at the center of the ruins, her black hair lifting in the cold wind, her eyes glowing faintly with the remnants of battle.
The world felt different now.
Heavier.
Wider.
Echoing with something ancient.
Her heartbeat no longer sounded human.
It vibrated like a chord strung between two universes.
She didn't need a mirror to know she had changed again.
That her power had opened fully.
That something inside her had awakened—
Because Sakura was leaving.
Sakura's voice whispered inside her mind, soft and trembling.
"Yuki… it's time."
Yuki's breath hitched.
Her chest tightened as if an invisible hand was squeezing it.
"No," she said out loud, shaking her head violently. "You don't need to go. We can fix this. We always fix things."
Silence.
Then Sakura stepped out of Yuki's body like a second shadow breaking away from the first. Her spirit took the form of the girl she once was—pink hair tied in messy preschool knots, warm skin, red eyes sparkling like tiny burning stars.
She smiled sadly.
"Yuki… you're finally a sacrifice ghoul. A real one. You don't need me anymore."
Yuki staggered back, shaking her head so hard her hair whipped across her face.
"That's not true. I've always needed you. I always will."
Sakura floated closer, her outline flickering.
"Not in the way you think," Sakura whispered softly. "I was never supposed to stay this long. I was supposed to guide you until your power awakened. Now the universe is calling me elsewhere."
Her voice grew dim.
"To the Star Webs."
Yuki froze in place.
The Star Webs—ancient, mythical, unreachable.
A universe beyond their universe.
A place where ghoul spirits became constellations.
"You can't go," Yuki whispered, her voice cracking. "Not now. Not after everything."
Sakura reached out and placed a warm, shimmering hand on Yuki's cheek.
"You remember how we met, don't you?"
A flash of memory pulled Yuki backward—
---
FLASHBACK — AGES 4–5 (Preschool)
Yuki sat alone in the sandbox behind Bailey Street Preschool. Her hair was in uneven pigtails, her shoes were muddy, and tears clung to her eyelashes.
Three kids stood around her, kicking sand into her bucket.
"Crybaby Yuki!"
"Look at her face!"
"Go home if you're scared!"
Yuki lowered her head, clenching her tiny fists, swallowing every sob.
Then—
A small pink-haired girl marched up, eyes blazing with fearless anger.
"STOP."
The bullies froze.
The pink-haired girl shoved one aside and stood in front of Yuki, arms spread like a miniature warrior.
"Leave her alone!"
One boy laughed. "Or what? You're tiny."
Sakura—back then just Sakura Nakamura, a normal human girl with a wild spirit—smiled in a way that was anything but tiny.
"I bite."
She lunged.
The bullies screamed and ran across the playground. Sakura turned around proudly.
Yuki stared at her in awe.
"You… saved me."
Sakura shrugged, brushing sand off her dress.
"That's what friends do."
She held out her hand.
"Wanna play with me instead?"
Yuki nodded shyly.
That was the first time anyone had ever stood up for her.
---
FLASHBACK — AGE 10
Yuki sat alone under the park slide, hugging her knees.
Her parents were fighting again.
Kids at school called her strange.
Teachers whispered about "delusions," "episodes," and "evaluation forms."
Sakura found her instantly.
Not because someone told her where Yuki was—
but because she always knew.
"What happened?" Sakura said gently.
Yuki couldn't answer.
She just cried.
Sakura wrapped her arms around her and held her for a long time. No talking. No judgment. Just breathing together until the world felt less heavy.
After a while Sakura whispered:
"If everyone else leaves you… I won't."
---
FLASHBACK — AGE 14
They were in Sakura's room, surrounded by posters and snacks and half-finished friendship bracelets.
Yuki laughed so hard she snorted.
Sakura tackled her with a pillow.
They were inseparable.
And then one day…
Sakura began to change.
Her face grew pale.
She skipped meals.
Her eyes lost their brightness.
She stopped coming to school.
Stopped answering calls.
Stopped showing up to family events.
Until she disappeared entirely.
And Yuki never understood why.
Until now.
---
The flashbacks shattered into mist, fading back into the present.
Yuki's cheeks were wet.
"You saved me," she whispered through trembling lips. "You saved me every time."
Sakura shook her head gently.
"No, Yuki. You saved yourself. I just stayed beside you when no one else would."
Her voice cracked.
"I stayed when you were lonely.
I stayed when people called you crazy.
I stayed when the boy you loved betrayed you—
and left your body cold so he could become stronger.
I stayed when you woke up with no idea why you were still alive."
Sakura's glow brightened.
"But you're not that girl anymore."
A warm light spread from Sakura's chest like a star blooming.
"You're stronger than me now. Stronger than any ghoul I've met."
Yuki's knees buckled as wind swirled around them.
"So you're leaving because I'm… too strong?" she whispered.
Sakura knelt down and lifted Yuki's chin with gentle fingers.
"No," she said softly. "I'm leaving because your destiny isn't inside me anymore… it's inside you."
The words cut deeper than any blade.
Yuki broke.
Tears blurred her vision. Her body shook.
"I'm going to be alone again," she whispered helplessly.
"No," Sakura breathed. "Never alone."
She placed both hands over Yuki's heart.
"You'll always feel me here."
Warmth surged through Yuki's chest—
not possession,
not control,
just pure love.
A final gift.
A final goodbye.
Sakura's body flickered, becoming brighter and more transparent.
"You're a sacrifice ghoul now," Sakura whispered. "Your path is bigger than this world. Bigger than me."
Her voice shook.
"My path… leads to the Star Webs. They're calling me home."
"Sakura…" Yuki pleaded, tears streaming. "Please don't go. Please."
Sakura's expression crumbled.
She reached out and touched Yuki's cheek one last time.
"Look up, Yuki."
Yuki lifted her face.
The night sky shifted—
stars rearranging themselves into glowing, geometric web-patterns.
A cosmic doorway pulsed open, humming with ancient energy.
A home waiting for Sakura.
Sakura's feet lifted off the ground, her body dissolving into shimmering dust.
"Yuki…" she whispered,
"I loved growing up with you."
The words tore Yuki's heart in two.
"I love you too!" Yuki screamed, reaching up desperately.
Sakura paused in midair, her form flickering like a dying candle.
"I'll be watching you from the Star Webs. Anytime you feel alone… follow the brightest star. That's me."
Yuki stretched her arm upward—
Their fingertips were inches apart.
Inches from touching.
Inches from staying connected.
Then Sakura's body shattered into thousands of glowing lights—
like cherry blossom petals made of stardust—
and drifted upward into the cosmic web.
Yuki watched the light trail fade.
Her face crumpled.
Her lungs collapsed around her sob.
And then—
Yuki screamed.
A raw, broken, animal scream that tore through the silent city.
"NOOO! SAKURA! PLEASE—DON'T LEAVE ME—NOOOO!"
Her legs gave out.
She dropped to her knees on the cracked pavement, hands scraping against stone, hair falling over her face.
She sobbed so hard her body shook uncontrollably.
Above her, the last spark of Sakura flickered—
Then vanished into the stars.
Gone.
Truly gone.
Yuki fell forward, forehead touching the ground as she cried with every ounce of her soul.
The wind wrapped around her, cold and lonely.
Her mind was quiet now—
too quiet.
No whisper.
No warmth.
No Sakura.
Just Yuki.
Broken.
Alone.
But glowing faintly with a power that was no longer borrowed.
A new light flickered in her golden eyes.
Strength.
Destiny.
Purpose.
Sakura's final gift.
Yuki lifted her face toward the sky, tears blurring the stars.
"Goodbye," she whispered in a shattered voice.
The brightest star above her pulsed once—
softly, lovingly—
before settling back into the night.
Yuki pressed her trembling hand to her heart.
"I'll make you proud," she whispered.
And the wind carried the promise through the ruins of the city.