Silence in the city stretched as I dragged myself around the streets.

Frozen.

Time was frozen.

Just like back then in the park, where Khosrow had first appeared.

Trees were unnaturally still, people hung like statues.

"This again... huh."

My mind was sloggy, and it was hard to think back. But I did feel I could think a lot better than last time.

Of course, the only thing on my mind was the cold, hard teeth of the wolves that sank into myー

My body shivered. I took a deep sigh, and kept my gaze in the view in front, doing my best to watch for moving objects.

It was probably a better idea to not think about it. Forna, GRS, Khosrow. My mind felt like it was on the verge of breaking, and so any thought of those would most likely shatter my sanity.

"Ah."

My footsteps came to a halt as I looked around my surroundings. 

A white rusty bridge hung on top of me, connecting two ridges of white walls, where a single building sat on top, its sign reading out and clear, WhosBurger.

Close to home huh.

Biting my lip, I hoped that Kazane, my father, and my mother were alright. There was some attack in the morning where a GRS wolve chased me.

As I passed the bridge, I suddenly paused.

"I'm going to kill you right here."

Khosrow had told me that when I encountered him second. But in fact, out of the several times he killed me, he never killed me here.

Though it didn't really change the fact that he did kill me several times. In fact, all of the time, except for Forna.

"For a place named Brightful City, I sure didn't see much light here."

Muttering, I slowly crossed the bridge. Stepping out from the dark shadow and into light, the neighborhood stretched. It was day, so there wasn't a particular house that stood out. Even so, I still could see my house clearly in the day.

Turning to my right, I noticed a long street.

"Keshite High School..."

I thought about where I spent the last 16 years of life. Sleeping, eating, thinking "Maybe it would be cool if something happened".

Well, something did happen, but it was nothing cool.

Around where that sidewalk ended, would be the lake. The lake where I encountered Khosrow again, to be mercilessly slaughtered and witnessed the slaughter of someone else.

"Ayaka..."

I did have a wonder how her and Rei were doing.

The last time I saw them was last night, they seemed just fine. I didn't know that they owned the Riama Restruant, but.

I felt the weapon in my pocket. 

Having picked it up from the floor, I had managed to recover it. Which was a relief if I ran into another wolf, but it seemed that I didn't.

Howl, Howl.

Large screeches that the wolves made echoed in the woods. 

Turning around, I didn't see a single moving object.

I'm so dead...

Taking a breath, I continued walking.

Forna. Khosrow.

Those were the current two GRS that I knew. They had declared themselves as a Rook and Bishop respectively. I wasn't sure what that meant, but perhaps it was a reference to chess. That Forna was stronger than Khosrow.

But by that logic, I should be around Khosrow's level, since I was a knight. Yet I was tossed around like a doll, even with that weapon.

"So far behind..."

Internally groaning, I looked at my hands. Two weeks ago, I had found out I was a KRS.

No.

Specifically, going by the pieces of evidences sprinkled around me, I figured I was a GRS. My Unending Death, and my LI abilities.

Kazane was certainly a KRS however, as she mostly had FU abilities. Ayaka and Rei's abilities were likely standard elements, as explained by Ayaka.

How Kazane was a KRS but I a GRS seemed to be strange. My best guess was that one of my parents were a GRS, and the other was a KRS. Or maybe both were both.

Alas, there wasn't too much to think about. Just questions to ask. I figured it wasn't a good idea to tell much people that I was a GRS, since KRS seemed to dislike GRS.

Although I did wonder, why GRS were still trying to kill me. I was a GIRUS after all.

My steps paused as I looked at the house in front of me.

The doors were closed. A few streaks of blood lined the ground. But strangley, there was not a single wolf.

Where they all went, I wonder.

RING!!!

The door rang as my finger left the doorbell. I tapped my feet, waiting to see if anyone would answer the door.

No one.

"Ah."

I took a sigh, and turned around.

A tinge of panic rolled down my spine.

"This again... huh."

I thought about the time when I had gone crazy in that forest, after being "abandoned" by Ayaka and everyone else.

"Kazane..."

Taking a deep breath, I hoped that they were alive, and just somewhere in the city, searching for me.

And so, I took off.

Crossing the bridge, I grasped the edges of my hair, gently pulling on them.

And then, in front of me, I saw 

Her long black hair flowed gently, her eyebrows creased as she stared at a sign for Riama Restraunt.

And slowly, she turned around.

"Ayato?"

Ayaka's eyes widened when she saw me.

"Ayato? Why are you..."

Her hand covered her mouth, and she jumped a little back, almost as if the sight in front of her was a horror jumpscare, as if it came out of a horror movie.

Yeah, I'm sure she saw it.

Being torned to shreds, I sunk in the pool of blood of my remains after reviving from death. My body restored itself to perfect condition, but after getting out, my shirt was soaked with deep red. Where my fists had touched my face, bloody smears streaked on my face.

In other words, I looked like a mess. But I hardly could even think about apperance, let alone cleaning it off. Having died twice in the past 4 hours, I hardly had time for anything.

That aside.

"ーーーー"

My mouth quivered.

It was hard to speak. After feeling desperate that I couldn't find anyone, that everyone could be dead, I ran into Ayaka.

It wasn't particularly reasuring, for I didn't know how Kazane, my father or mother were doing. But on the other hand, I thought that someone being alived meant that not everyone had died.

That there was no way something like everyone dying could be true.

Ayaka shook her head, before taking a breath. She looked back up, her hand curling around a strand of hair that fell to her shoulder.

"Sheesh, where'd you go to get injured like that? The Shaang?"

"Shaang?"

"The shadow wolves that have been around this city."

"I... Yeah."

Ayaka pursed her lips, before digging in her backpack. She ruffled through, pulling out a drink and a rag. She tossed them to me.

"Here, take these."

"Ah? Thanks..."

I caught the rag. On the drink, a can, was the label Core Fuel. KRS Energy drink. I chugged the can while wiping my forehead with the rag. As I was cleaning myself up,

"Anyways, what are you doing by youself? It's quite dangerous with all the Shaangs."

Ayaka grumbled while watching the sky, looking around.

I recalled an incident, having been attacked by a Shaang and getting chased all the way to the city, where I found out the knife was quite useful.

"...I was attacked by one, and chased away from Kazane and my family."

"I see. They're all over the place."

Ayaka let out a sigh, before turning around.

"Something similar like that happened with me. Rei met a GRS Rank, so he smoked the area and we fled."

"Rei... met a GRS rank?"

She grimanced.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, we ran in different directions."

"I see..."

Ayaka walked a bit forward, before looking back.

"At any rate, I'm going to try to find Rei. You should probably tag along, since it's really dangerous. "

"Huh? Oh... Sure."

Ayaka looked to her right, before taking a deep breath. She adjusted the straps that held her backpack, shrugging them as if testing how they affected her mobility. Then, she looked back at me.

"You ready?"

"...Y-yeah."

"Then let's run."

Slash.

A splur of blood splattered on the ground.

Ayaka pushed herself off the ground and held her hand out.

The ice sword in her hand vanished, disintegrating into big water drop. Wiping her forehead, Ayaka looked down. A few more dead wolves lied before her. 

She turned to me, and gave me a sideways smile.

"Whatcha think? Not so bad, huh?"

I blinked.

The wolves that I had struggled so much to kill were slain by Ayaka in an instant. She had formed a sword of ice, and then proceeded to kill all the four wolves without much struggle. 

It did make me wonder though, how bad I actually was to be struggling with the wolves.

Ayaka exhaled, before looking around the city. Her smile had pulled down to a frown, her aquamarine eyes clouded with doubt.

"I wonder why so many of them are here..."

Saying that while stepping forward, Ayaka looked over an edge of building. She cupped her hand over her head like a cap, scanning the environment.

I frowned.

"Do you see anyone? Or anything in particular."

"No."

A sigh escaped her lips. Ayaka's hand dropped to her side, and she gripped the strap of her backpack. Her black hair that fell the her shoulders had been tied up into a bun.

Our eyes met.

Ayaka's eyes suddenly widened, and her arm reached out. Following her prompt, I spun around. 

Growl, pant pant. A Shaang the size of a cabinet was running towards me. Fast like a car on a road, it dashed, and dashed, sprinting.

"Hk!"

Black crystals materialized in front of my arms, where the Shaang reached its claw, and

Crack.

The crystals tore apart, shards disintegrating into dust. Instinctively, my hand pulled the knife out from my pocket and pointed it at the beast.

With a glance at the blade, the beast lounged for me. It ran closer and closer, until my knife swung for the beast.

Slash.

It's enchanced blade seemed to cut straight through the Shaang's leg, leaving a big black gash, blood pouring out. It let out a howl, and it's eyes filled with rage.

Shit.

It wasn't enough.

The Shaang turned back and lifted it's claw, it's sharp, long nails, and swipedー

"KO Destruction!"

Crack. Pop.

The blood of the Shaang froze and expanded, snapping into a large ice block in front of me. Wind blew from the force, blowing the edges of my hair against my forehead.

My head fell and I panted, heavily trying to catch my breath.

Thanks for the save, Ayaka.

But just now... I almost died.

It didn't matter, since I couldn't die. But.

"Death still scares me, huh?"

I murmered, while looking at the sky.

"'Death is scary', what are you saying?"

I turned to the side to see Ayaka looking down at me, her eyebrows batted up, confused. She blinked, looking at the hand that held the knife.

Ah.

I pushed myself up. After dropping the knife on the ground, I held the knife to her.

"Nothing in particular. I uh. Sorry for taking the knife from the restraunt without asking."

"It's nothing in particular. Keep it. Better to stay armed, and you seem decent with it. We have plenty of those anyways."

Ayaka replied while giving me a shrug. Turning back and standing, she slugged her backpack back on her shoulder.

"Besides... that's not the thing I was confused with."

"Oh..."

"It's nothing. We should probably keep going."

Turning around, she lugged her bags

"We should be getting closer to-"

The edges of her hair stood up.

"FU SHATTER!"

A loud wind blew, rustling the edges of trees.

My mouth opened.

"That just now... Kazane."

"Kazane? That was Kazane?"

Ayaka turned around, toward that direction. Her eyebrows ceased, and she stroked the edge of her chin.

"FU abilities? Ah. I see. That makes sense. But Kazane? How could... Wait!"

I had started sprinting.

Hearing the wind, hearing the chant, I figured. Kazane was alive somewhere.

Sprinting desperately to make sure she was alright, I forgot about everything else.

As the wind blew around my face, I could hear footsteps following me. Ayaka probably.

I kept running.

What would I have done if Kazane wasn't okay? If I found Kazane hurt, or injured, or possibly dead? I didn't want to think about it.

So I kept running.

They say that "you'll know it when it comes". There's no point in pondering if she was okay or not, if I could find out now, then I'll do it.

Panting, I came to a stop. Where the sound came from, the place was hollow. No dead Shaangs, no trace of blood. Just an empty street filled with buildings I didn't recognize, and more frozen statues of people during the time freeze.

A voice called out from behind me.

"Ayato, you see Kazane? The FU chant came from this direction."

Ayaka slowly walked to my side, looking around. Pulling up her brown long-sleeved shirt, her eyes wandered the buildings that formed almost like a labyrnith. Frozen time and still statues, Brightfull City looked nothing more than a ghost town, where ghosts and danger lingered.

A different view of cities, when everything is falling apart.

"No. I don't. I don't see anything but all this ruin."

A bitter feeling rolled off my tongue as I said that.

Ayaka gave a backward glance at me, before turning back.

"I see. Sheesh. Always running around like that. You should probably stay behind me though, you never know when those Shaangs could come out. Just in case. Prevent... something like last time."

"--------"

Biting my lip, I looked around.

I had a good idea of what Ayaka was referencing, but I didn't have anything to say back. In fact, it irritated me in some way, and I wanted to just run off in front, without her.

Why was I irritated? Unable to find Kazane, unable to do anything other than dying-

Taking a deep breath, I shoved the thoughts of out my mind.

I thought of the last time when I felt this way, when I ran up to Khosrow and laughed in insanity. I knew Ayaka was right. That's why I didn't have anything to say back.

The best choice for me was to stay calm, and to do that, I couldn't think of the failed runs against Khosrow and Forna.

I exhaled.

"Alright. I'll stay behind you."

I gave Ayaka a nod.

Seeing my acknowledgement, Ayaka smiled.

Our eyes locked. For a moment, I could see the details of Ayaka's eyes, her aquamarine pupils that were dialated, her light eye blinks. And,

"FU Shatter!"

A chant called, and a strong gust of wind blew.

Instinctively, my legs almost dashed forward, but I stopped. I turned to Ayaka.

She nodded.

"Here, I'll lead. Stay back, remember?"

Turning, Ayaka started running towards where the sound came from. 

Letting a long exhale, I followed her.

Corridors of buildings and walls surrounded us as we ran.

The opening. When I got there and looked out, I saw.

A girl. Her [*Kazane description], her shadow seemingly large in the day. She panted heavily, trying to catch her breath.

"Kazane!"

Kazane rotated her head and then she saw me.

Her mouth quivered, shock striking her face.

"HOWWWLL!!!"

Suddenly, I noticed. The black shadow that was behind her.

A Shaang.

As the Shaang lunged for Kazane, she turned around, her teeth clenced. The Shaang flew, and it opened it's mouth,

Crack.

It burst into a piece of ice. 

Ayaka's hand was stretched out, pointed directly at the Shaang.

Kazane blinked, before turning back to us. She immediately dashed towards me.

"Ayato! Are you alright?"

Her hands clutched my shoulder firmly, giving my body a gentle shake. Looking around my body, Kazane let out a breath of relief. 

"Hk!"

Kazane threw her arms around me, wrapping me into a hug.

"K-Kazane?"

"Thank goodness. I was so worried."

"Ah... Is it really that worrisome for me to be gone for a bit..."

"You'll really say that, ha. Last time you left you really... ended up somewhere... bad, didn't you?"

Kazane's voice trailed off, and she tightened her arms around me.

Feeling the mood of the moment, I held back a bitter laugh. Come to think about it, I had faced worth endings that my first one. Mulitated by Khosrow, devoured by Shaangs.

Instead, I just pretended it was like how it was when I woke up after the first Khosrow attack in the park.

"ーーーー"

Pulling back, Kazane smiled. 

"Bakayato really needs to be more careful."

"I..."

I knew her words were just telling me to watch myself, and they were said because I had barely told her anything. But it did make me wonder.

Was it really that I wasn't being careful? 

It was hard to believe. All this time, all this that happened. There was nothing that I could do. That's what I believed.

Kazane turned to Ayaka and lightly bowed.

"Thank you, Ayaka. For saving me back there, and for escorting Ayato."

Ayaka smiled awkardly and waved her hands in front of her.

"Don't worry toooo~ much. It makes me reaally glad to help Kazane."

Nodding, Kazane turned back up.

"Speaking of which, why was Ayaka with Ayato? Did you two run into each other?"

"Ah, there were so much Shaangs. And then there was this GRS rank that appeared. I got split from Rei. And then, I bumped into Ayato."

"Ayaka bumped into Ayato. That makes sense. But Rei met a GRS rank?"

"Hopefully, he's still alive. This wasn't last time where I."

Ayaka let out a cough, seemingly choking on 

"It

Kazane nodded, blinking as she followed Ayaka's gaze.

"Speaking of those, why are so many of them here?"

"From my understanding, some GRS led them here. The Shaang hate both GRS and KRS, so they probably lured them here to clear."

"Clear... But why are GRS here in the first place?"

"Probably forー."

Ayaka grimanced, and cut herself short.

"That I'm not sure. Perhaps they want to remove all the CHK here or something. At any rate, we should probably get out of here. It's not safe here."

Ayaka coughed, slugging her backpack.

"Speaking of which, Kazane, why are you alone? Where are your parents?"

"My parents are... Hmph."

Kazane paused, a fog appearing over her face. She took a long breath.

"My dad... met a GIRUS rank."

"Huh?"

Me an Ayaka spoke in unison. Ayaka gave me an awkard glance, before turning back to Kazane.

"What was that GIRUS rank like?"

"I didn't see to much of her. There was an explosion, and my parents told me to run as far as possible. Though I did get a glimps of her. She had long, white hair and [*forna description]."

"Ha!"

Gagging and sputtering, an urge to vommit suddenly erupted in my stomach.

Forna...?

Kazane ceased her eyebrows, bending down. She looked up at my face, her eyebrows knitted.

"Ayato? Are you alright?" 

"I'm -hk- fine."

Panting, I did my best to take my breaths.

Don't remember it.

Don't remember it.

Don't remember it.

It was best for me not not remember any of it. For recalling all the miserable deaths that I ran into, I was going to go crazy.

Ayaka frowned as she observed me.

"You couldn't have possibly got energy toxification again?"

"I..."

Ayaka sighed, and extended her hand toward me.

"Here, give meー"

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWLL!!!!!!!!!"

The call of Shaang rang behind us.

Quickly, both Ayaka and Kazane turned their head around. Their eyes' widened, and they seemed frozen in place.

"Hey, you two... what is..."

Coughing and sputtering, I tried to regain my strength. 

[*Ayato looks up and sees Khosrow]

[*some fighting between Ayato, Ayaka, Kazane and Khosrow]

Immediately, I slashed the front of me with the knife. 

As Khosrow appeared in front of me, and I slashed, he ducked. The edge of my knife cut into collar, slashing a large chunk of fabric into the air.

“Hmph.”

With a snort, his leg immediately shot forward and connected to my stomach.

“Fuck.”

My voice cracked as I stumbled backwards, my hands clutching the spot Khosrow’s heel dug into. When I looked up, Khosrow was in front of me, a purple shard in his hand lifted, about to stab into my face.

Crack.

A hand crystalized into an ice block, expanding his entire arm into an iceblock that fell to the ground.

"Tch."

Clicking his tongue, Khosrow looked around.

[*some more fight stuff]

His black figure moving so fast that I could hardly track, I could hardly track him with my hand that aimed the shard. 

And he turned around, lifting his hand. And I could tell exactly what he was going to do.

"KHOSROW!!!!!!!!!"

The black slash that came towards me, Kazane, and Ayaka.