Global Disaster: I Will Slay Gods In This Second Chance!-Chapter 73: How Beautiful

After a while, Akihito’s sobs turned faint until he had no more tears left.

Ayase caressed his hair quietly, seemingly not minding his breakdown.

Feeling Ayase’s soft hand pat him on the head, his ears reddened as he felt a surge of embarrassment.

Akihito pushed Ayase’s hand gently and put some distance between them.

"I’m okay now, sorry about that." He said quickly, glancing at her.

Ayase shook her head, pouting.

"It’s okay. Don’t be sorry. Come here."

"No, no no. Absolutely not."

Akihito waved his hands, unable to look her straight in the eye.

Hearing that, Ayase seemed slightly disappointed.

Akihito felt his heart dance.

’She’s too cute!’

Shaking her head, Ayase sighed, smiling slightly. She walked by herself, having lost her fear of the town.

"Thank you for inviting me to your family, Akihito-kun. And..."

She said, then she paused.

She stopped walking as she turned around.

Ayase’s eyes met his gaze directly, causing his heart to skip multiple beats.

She tilted her head and smiled softly, as though she found something about him endlessly amusing.

With her long, blue hair and beautiful face, her smile felt especially dazzling, like a flower blooming in spring.

Akihito was momentarily stunned, his lips turning dry.

It was said that some flowers bloom even in late winter, welcoming the arrival of spring.

Compared to the expression Ayase usually showed, this Ayase was by far the most beautiful.

Because she felt genuinely happy.

’... If only you could smile like this all the time. Someone as pretty as you shouldn’t look so hurt all the time, Ayase-san.’

Akihito thought to himself, unable to take his eyes off her.

Unaware of his thoughts, Ayase continued, her tone almost like a whisper.

"... Don’t worry, I won’t tell the others that you cried, if that’s what you’re worried about."

Unfortunately, Akihito couldn’t hear her, his thoughts occupied by her smile.

Even if he did, he probably wouldn’t mind if she exposed the fact that he cried in her arms.

’Surely, even in a garden of pretty flowers, she’d be the highlight...’

The longer he stared, the more his heart quickened, but at that moment, Ayase’s expression changed.

Her smile faded, turning into a slight frown.

Then, her frown turned into unease.

Akihito snapped out of his daze, his face turning solemn, mirroring her unease. He quickly closed the distance.

"Ayase-san, what’s wrong?" He asked in concern.

Ayase was silent for a moment, shifting her gaze.

The moment she turned to look in another direction while her eyes flickered with apprehension, a guess formed in his heart.

Akihito’s heart skipped a beat.

"It’s that..."

She hesitated briefly, then continued nervously.

"I also feel something calling me from there."

"No way..."

Akihito’s lips trembled slightly. He thought it would just be him, but Ayase too?

"Akihito-kun..."

Ayase suddenly looked at him, her brows creasing.

She opened her mouth, but then slowly closed it, as if she realized what she was about to say.

But the moment her fingers had twitched, Akihito didn’t need her to tell him what she wanted to say.

"It’s okay, we don’t have to go."

He said immediately.

But even he knew that it wouldn’t be that simple.

"Really?" Ayase’s eyes shook, her hands clutching his uniform. "I don’t, I don’t think..."

If the thing calling her was anything like what Akihito experienced, she didn’t think she would be able to take it.

Her clench tightened just by the thought of it, fear creeping up to her heart.

Unlike her, Akihito was strong.

Akihito held her shoulders, hugging her softly.

"It’s fine. I’ll protect you."

"...!"

Ayase raised her head, startled by his sudden hug.

"I can make anything possible with my skill... it’s just that I have no spiritual energy at the moment. We can wait here until I recover, then I’ll use it."

Ayase widened her eyes in surprise. "You’ll do that?"

"... Yeah," Akihito suddenly averted his eyes, rubbing his cheeks nervously. "We’re friends, right?"

Hearing that, Ayase’s expression brightened.

"Yeah..." She perked her head, a small smile appearing on her face. "We’re friends, Akihito-kun."

Her uneasiness disappeared, as if she truly believed in him.

Akihito hugged her more tightly.

From now on, any doubts about Ayase’s personality were completely gone from Akihito’s mind.

It was as if he had finally seen the true Ayase Kikyo.

She was kind, gentle, and genuine... but she was also incredibly lonely and hurt.

Akihito nodded slightly, letting her go. He sat on the ground.

"We can wait here then."

"Okay!"

Ayase nodded, sitting down with him.

The two of them huddled against each other, feeling each other’s warmth.

This may have been an embarrassing or lovely moment, but the two of them were too preoccupied to think of such things.

Akihito focused all his energy on regenerating his spiritual energy.

Ayase’s gaze lowered as her fingers trembled. Her hand slowly reached out to Akihito’s uniform, clenching it tightly.

Dreadful seconds turned into minutes.

A long while passed, and Ayase had long felt the calling sensation disappear.

But she didn’t tell Akihito, for fear of making a mistake in her judgment.

"..."

Just as the silence finally started to be comfortable for her, someone walked out of the mist.

There were no signs.

The mist simply cleared, and a person appeared.

But as soon as the person appeared, all hell broke loose.

It didn’t come from the person, as Akihito had thought.

Instead, it came from Ayase.

"Noooooooo!"

A scream echoed, full of fear and pain.

Crimson red flowers emerged from the ground, releasing a red pollen.

Ayase’s expression twisted, an extremely frightened look appearing on her face.

She looked at the person with fear, her lips trembling soundlessly, while her nails scratched the ground.

She desperately crawled backwards, but her hands weakly slipped.

"No! No! No!"

Her back fell on the ground, but she quickly pushed herself back up and started crawling again.

"Ayase-san?!"

Akihito shouted, his expression extremely anxious. He was just about to grab Ayase, but at that moment, he was blown away to a distance.

Woosh!

"No... Akihito... don’t leave me...!"

Seeing him vanish in the mist, Ayase cried out in fright, her small, thin arms shakily reaching out to him.

At that moment, the crimson pollen wafted to the person who appeared.

But...

The pollen simply phased through them, as if they couldn’t be hurt.

Ayase bit her lips, her mouth leaking blood, exploding.

Her cries filled the town, sometimes high and sometimes low. She gave up crawling backwards when she couldn’t feel her hands anymore. Instead, she grabbed her face, dragging it along her flesh as she muttered in fear.

"Nonosorrynononononosorrysorrysorry—"

Step... step...

Despite Ayase’s cries of distress, the world didn’t listen to her.

The new person arrived in front of her.

"Ayase-chan."

Hearing that, Ayase froze. She slowly raised her head, seeing the person’s face.

It was a beautiful woman, with long blue hair and a flawless face. If there were a mirror present, one would see that they looked identical.

Ayase’s mouth opened soundlessly.

How could she ever forget that face?

That face that haunted her in her sleep, and in every mirror she looked upon.

Her twin sister, Reika, whom she had left to die the night the village was invaded.