A Fleeting Love

[Yuuji Pov]

A throbbing numbness struck me as I stood there holding my head, trying to stay conscious.

Telekinesis.

Wonderful ability in my opinion. Control over matter was something we all tried as a kid. "Ugh..". It was an amazing feeling. An invisible hand to interact with matter. But I was in no shape to enjoy it.

Most devil fruit usage consumes stamina. Mine, however, saps away mental strength.

A single push managed to get me to my knees. It felt like my head was about to pop off like a balloon.

Getting myself up, I looked up to see muzan still falling. I knew the fight would start again as soon as he landed but I wanted to enjoy this moment of tranquility.

"Let's do this!" Motivating myself with a small yelp, I grit my teeth and controlled the sand to form a pit near his estimated landing spot."Go us!" said the clone coming from my shadow to fill it up with water.

Splash!

The water rose as muzan's body submerged in the water. "Stay there you little shit!" I shouted at him, activating my demon arts to freeze the makeshift pond in the middle of the desert.

The resistance he put up to not get frozen was commendable, to other, but not to the one freezing him."I'll kill you." A slow mumble came out from my lips as I finally let go.

The ice was still trying to hold itself together, but muzan's strength made it clear that it wouldn't last more than a few minutes.

I could use my demon arts to fix the cracks but again, it would knock me out cold. Unless I could delay the mental strains.

"This is gonna hurt.." I cried out to no one in particular as shadow clones kept rising from the ground.

Slowly numbering from one to ten, ten to hundred, from hundreds to a thousand I looked at my clones.

They would constantly fix the ice to ensure muzan stayed trapped inside. The migraines would only be transmitted once they disappear, but until then, there shouldn't be any problems.

Without another word, the clones went ahead to do their job.

...

And just like that time passed, as we kept holding muzan.

His movements had become frantic after the first couple of hours.

...

It was shocking how drastically a person can change. Muzan went from a frustrated spider demon to a raging bull after realizing that he didn't have much time left.

...

Four of my clones had disappeared after muzan managed to shoot some icicles, but fortunately, I have yet to feel any pain. Though I can't say the same for my clones. It seems the clones somehow managed to send their chakra to the clones near them. So the pain also got carried down.

I don't know how that even works. As far as I remember, the clones are also information carriers who transmit the data back to the original. There was never any mention of chakra acting as the data package... How would it even work over long distances?

Are strands of chakra silently traveling toward the host in a straight line? Even radio waves need amplifiers to travel a few kilometers. I do not believe that chakra can travel without losing energy.

...I'll need to look into this.

...

"316...315...314..." The count kept going down as more and more vanished. It was not entirely muzan's doing though. Some clones didn't expect to be the new data carriers for the migraine from the latest ex-clone and got caught off guard.

As more and more clones vanished, the data got larger, in other words, the pain of the new data carrier(clone) would be added to the already big data pack carrying the pain of hundreds of clones, which would be transferred to another clone, once the present one vanishes away.

It was very, very, VERY, terrifying to see my clones last for almost an hour before they disappeared.

...

Muzan seems to have realized he didn't have much time left as we started struggling like crazy. His body was constantly deformed, trying to get in between the cracks he kept creating, to slowly climb upwards.

The only solution I could find to this problem was to add more ice on top, hence more burden on clones, HENCE, more pain on me after all this.

...

"...Hahaha...I-I did it.....I DID IT! WOHOOOO!" I cried out as loud as I could after watching him burn to ashes from the bright light cast by the sun. "AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA." The laughter contained a ton of joy from my first-ever official victory and a little bit of dread about what was coming next.

The clones laughing beside me were already wobbling, barely holding themselves from falling. They could barely hold on after sharing this pain among 247 of them, I was about to get the full brunt of this. "....This better be my last struggle....at least in this life." I groaned before readying myself for this.

Clone 68 shrugged as he and 20 others got ready to teleport me back."Good luck, original me." said the clones with a melancholic smile. "Let's not lose ourselves in the future, we don't want to destroy another world now do we." Another clone chided. "Agreed."

"Thanks, guys." It felt weird to thank myself but I did it anyways. "I'll do my best."

With those words, I felt the world twisting again as I found myself on the hard ground once again.

I couldn't even look around before my vision slowly blackened.

"Huh?" It seems my body didn't even have time to register the pain, I could feel everything shutting down as I slowly fell.

With the last of my consciousness, I activated my haki to take a look at my friends.

Yoruichi was resting on a broken branch with a red sword....it was melting. He seems have noticed my presence too, looking in my direction he smiled mouthing a few words.

So he realized huh...

...

Uta was already out of her house which was on the verge of breaking, it seems some demons managed to find her hideout but she'll survive, although she'll keep those bruises for a few months.

The demon holding her by the neck was freaking out as he witnessed his body breaking down.

Nonetheless, it's all good, the baby seems to be uninjured....take care junior yuuji!

...

I was about to increase the radius of my observation further if not for two soft hands hugging me tight with drops of tears falling on my hair.

Koko...

"I'm sorry..." A low murmur came out from me as I tried to hold on a little longer.

Her right palm brushed against my cheek as she looked me in the eye. I didn't need haki to know what she was feeling right now.

Anger, sadness, love, and a tinge of hate.

"Don't you dare leave me..." She hissed in a dangerous tone as she held me tighter. "You're mine, MINE! You can't leave me." The desperation in her voice increased as she felt my body get lighter.

"I shouldn't have gotten you involved in this."

"STOP SAYING SUCH THINGS! I SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE. YOU SAID YOU COULD HANDLE IT ALONE. WHY'D YOU LIE!"

"I didn't want to get you injured." Her nails dug into my skin but no blood leaked out.

"Can we ever meet again?" She asked in a meek tone, somehow calm but also shaking.

'I don't know.' The words got stuck in my throat.

What would she do if I say that? Wait for me until she dies, hoping to get another glimpse of me.

I do not know if I can come back or not, meaning it can also be a 'no'.

It would be cruel to make her wait. She doesn't deserve that.

"No."

With that last word, I closed my eyes feeling the last speck of my consciousness fade away along with my body becoming hollow.

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OOOOO Finally done with this arc.

I've set up a P@treaon. If you want to read 5 advanced chapters, go join it.

Do NOT purchase the silver tier. It's not ready yet.

www.p@treon.com/Rui00

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