The suffocating darkness lingered around her like an endless void, pressing in from all sides as Mira curled slightly into herself, her arms wrapping tightly around her trembling form as though she could hold herself together if she just tried hard enough, her breath uneven and fragile as her thoughts echoed within that hollow silence.
"I—I don't expect anything…" she whispered faintly, her voice barely rising above the void that surrounded her, her lips trembling as the words slipped out, "n-nobody should risk their life for me… n-nobody should…"
Her fingers tightened against her sleeves, her shoulders shaking as the weight of those thoughts settled deeper, threatening to consume her entirely.
And then—
"Miraaaa!"
The sound tore through the silence.
Sharp. Urgent and real.
"Wake up!!"
Another voice followed, overlapping the first, carrying a different kind of intensity.
"Be gentle, will you!"
"And why are you even here!"
The darkness cracked.
