23 Death

Inside the wrecked ship, Okazaki Kimura opens his eyes and looks around him. He then tries to stand up and feels a sharp pain in his leg. He looks at his leg for a while, stands up while ignoring the pain, and then starts to move towards the wall. After that, he says,

"Admiral to the System... Please tell me the location of Aoba now..."

The system didn't respond to him and Kimura only could sigh for a while. He then slides down and sits there. After that, he laughs and says,

"Ahahahahaha... In the end, I confess my feeling to her..."

He then closes his eyes for a while and says,

"But, I will never hear her answer at all... What a shame."

Kimura then opens his eyes once more and looks at the monitor regarding the damage on his ship. Some parts of the ship already destroyed and most of the equipment already done for. And from the map shown in front of him, Kimura knows that his ship washed ashore at one of the islands near the place. He then says,

"I could say this is a miracle that I stay alive here..."

"Yes. A miracle indeed..." says one man

Kimura really surprised to hear that voice and looks around him. No one there, but the voice is really close to him. And he knows that there is no other man on his ship except him. He tried to stand up, but the man says,

"You don't need to stand up. I will arrive there soon."

Kimura follows that and sits down. Little by little, he hears a footstep come closer to him and claps from someone. He looks at the door and then there stands a man with silver hair and eyepatch looking at him. He could see a satisfied face and claps towards him. The man then moves closer to him and says,

"Okazaki Kimura, I could say that your performance always splendid. You never cease to amaze me."

"Did I know you?" ask Kimura

"No... But, I know you."

The man then stops in front of Kimura and then says,

"But as a spectator, I have some critics regarding your performance."

"Performance? What did you mean by that?" ask Kimura

"You are always do something careless. You never think twice in order to save someone else."

"Why must that becomes a problem?"

"It's simple. You are one of the keys to help someone stay sane."

"Huh?"

"But, you never take that role and always fall into this steps."

"What do you mean?"

"If you think twice before you save your beloved Aoba, the flow of fate could be altered a little bit."

"But, Aoba will sink in this battle!"

"Aoba never sink in this battle. The flow of fate already says that. And in exchange, you will lose either Yayoi or Uzuki. But, you still live together with your beloved Aoba."

"I don't want that! I want everyone to come back alive!"

"In exchange for your own soul? You are really greedy, Kimura."

The man then stands up for a while and whistles some song. Kimura then tried to stands up and then hears,

"I hear that you are wondering about what is Aoba's answer to your feeling, right?"

"..."

"Do you want to hear it?"

"I don't know... I... Huh?"

Suddenly the man touches his cheek and a lot of memory comes into his mind. He falls again because of the shock and then hears the man says,

"That is her answer to your feeling. You should be happy, Kimura..."

"What is that?" ask Kimura as he holds his head

"Her answer. Simple..."

"Who the hell are you?"

The man smiles a little bit and then says,

"I don't know. But, I always have known as Hakai. A simple name, yet something really disturbing."

"What are you?"

"I don't know... No... I know about it... But, let it keep a secret."

"..."

"But, still... I disappointed with your action. I hope at this performance, you will act differently. But, I'm wrong."

Kimura looks at him for a while and sees something like a black wing emerges from the man backs. He then says,

"So... You are the death itself..."

"Maybe."

"Are you going to become the angel that will take my life?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not."

"Huh?"

"I'm just a spectator. I already say that right?"

"Oh yes..."

"But, your angel will come shortly."

"Good to hear that..."

"Then, I will leave you now. And please send my regards to Kazuki. If you still alive."

Kimura looks down for a while and then he really surprised when he hears one name from the man. He then says,

"Kazuki... Did you mean Hakuno Kazuki? Why did you know that name?"

The moment he looks in front of him, he didn't see the man, but he sees the Abyssal woman that tried to kill Aoba. She looks at Kimura with a surprised face and then he hears the laughs. After that, she says,

"Hakuno... Kazuki...So... He is still alive... Ahahahahahaha... I can't believe it... Wait, of course, he still alive... Her sister also there..."

"What do you mean?" ask Kimura

"What this feeling? Happiness? Anger? I don't know..."

Kimura looks at the woman with a puzzled face and then asks,

"Do you know Hakuno Kazuki?"

No answer from the Abyssal woman and from that Kimura knows that the woman already inside her own world. After a while, he hears the woman says,

"I will take him back to me..."

And from that, he knows why the man says about to become the key and worried voice from Mo. He knows that the woman will do something to Viltus and without him, everything will turn from bad to worse. He then laughs a little bit and says,

"Ahahahaha... Really... Is that what the meaning of those words?"

He then tried to stands up and looks at the Abyssal woman that still talking to herself. He then points her gun at her and tries to shoot her. But, the moment before he could fire it, the woman looks at him and immediately calls her a monster.

In split second the monster emerges from below and pins him down. Kimura could feel most of his bone already broken from the crush. The woman looks at Kimura and says,

"A puny human tried to kill me with that toy... Really a fool."

"Urgh..."

"Actually, I want to appreciate your bravery to come here in order to protect Ship Girl. But, you should know the boundary between bravery and foolishness."

"I know about that..."

"But, you still come here. Then you are a fool..."

"I don't care."

"Well then... I will give you a painless death. Hope you like the other world, Okazaki Kimura."

Kimura looks at the woman and says,

"I can't believe everyone knows my name... But, I appreciate that..."

"Goodbye..."

The monster crushes him immediately. And right before that, Kimura mumbles,

"I'm sorry... Aoba... And goodbye..."

Kimura closes his eyes and officially deceased on that day.