Chapter 433 - Running
It wasn't that I wanted a repeat of my fight with someone else. I wasn't intentionally trying to create some fantasy experience where we'd clash swords and bare our souls.
This was, truly, just my own selfishness.
Before I laid bare everything I wanted to say, I didn't just want to remember—I wanted to clearly reclaim the emotions of 'those days.'
Sora must have been filled with a million question marks. Even compared to my usual sudden whims, this was a spontaneous event that was exceptionally vague in its meaning.
Just the fact that she was going along with it was an act of kindness in itself.
On top of that—
"Hmph—... Hah!"
"Ngh... Whoa!?"
—even though I had adjusted my stats beforehand to make us even, she was coming at me with an intensity that lived up to her 'for real,' pushing me back... so really, it was more than I could have hoped for.
Ever since she'd overcome that old 'quirk' of hers, her raw talent had always surpassed my own. The reason I started honing my own precise body control, as I do now, was because I had been captivated by Sora's movements, even if she herself hadn't intended it.
Now that she had polished her skills and overcome even the grandest of stages—
"No, seriously...?"
"Not yet!"
—even under these restricted rules... it was a fact. It was probably no wonder that she could match me with pure swordsmanship alone.
Her strikes were fierce, without hesitation. My iron sword groaned as I took it head-on, and when I tried to deflect it, her blade slid in and nearly took my fingers off.
I took a step back—she read it. From a half-turned stance with her sword swung back, she executed an impossible throw with a snap of her wrist. I reflexively took another step back, but she scooped up the straight sword that had pierced the ground where my feet had just been, switching it from her left hand to her right for a follow-up attack.
My body didn't feel as light as usual; I wouldn't be able to dodge in time.
I made an instant decision. Predicting the trajectory of Sora's next attack, I swung my sword from an awkward position to preemptively crush her move—and with a thud, the girl's knees buckled.
"—Hh!"
No, that was wrong. She had bent her own knees, ducking right under me.
That was, without a doubt.
Those moves were, without a doubt—a reflection of someone Sora had been watching.
"...Hh............ I-I'm sorry..."
The girl, who had stopped moving, spoke between ragged breaths.
Her own eyes wavered, as if in surprise.
Her voice trembled faintly, but the hand gripping her sword neither wavered nor shook.
"............"
It remained perfectly still, the blade pressed against my neck.
"I guess... I'm still not very good at PvP."
A clean hit from a store-bought starter weapon wouldn't be enough to deplete all my HP in one shot, even for me—Sora knew that much.
But just as she herself had once said, 'I can't bring myself to point my sword at you for real,' it seemed this was her limit.
And yet, there was one thing that was different from that time.
"I was being serious, you know."
"R-Really? You seemed a little slower than usual..."
"That's because I changed my stats to match yours right now."
"Huh? Wha... Huh???"
Well, that part didn't really matter. I had just done what I wanted to do on a whim, and I could just change them again in a month.
And even though I said 'the same,' I had only matched our STR and AGI, which directly affect close combat, so it wasn't that drastic of a change... at least, it wasn't a problem for me to move at all.
In any case, what I wanted to say was—
"That was brilliant, really. It feels a bit late to say this, but... I'm officially retiring as your teacher."
"............"
Her amber eyes stared at me. What was she thinking?
What lay behind the smile that appeared after a few seconds of silence?
"Yes, I suppose so."
Really, I know I'm being persistent, but.
"—You want me to guess what you're thinking right now?"
"Eh...?"
I already know.
"'One of our connections has vanished.'"
"—"
Faintly, just for a moment, Sora's expression stiffened.
It probably wasn't because I had guessed correctly, but because—I had put it into words, right to her face.
Just as I know, Sora knows too.
We've known each other's hearts for a long time.
And in this moment—I had unceremoniously stepped over the 'line' we had drawn together, a line we had both believed would never be crossed.
To her, it must have seemed like a sudden, unexpected betrayal without any warning.
But I don't think so. Sora must have known.
"............"
The partner who stood still, just returning my gaze,
The girl whose eyes trembled with fear,
The Sora whose face was so sad she looked like she was about to cry,
"............I'm sorry."
—left behind just a single, trembling phrase.
"...I need to be alone for a little while."
Before I could stop her, she tapped on her window and severed her consciousness. I watched her go, catching her avatar as it collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
"............Well then."
I gently lifted the girl's empty shell and turned back toward the city.
This outcome was more or less what I had expected. She probably hadn't thought it would be at this exact moment, but there was no way she hadn't considered 'that time' would come.
I recalled the look on her face I saw at the end.
"She'd probably say it was mutual, but since I'm the older one..."
Even if we were both to blame for not making a move, there was no doubt that I was the more pathetic one.
And so, to the other half of myself in my arms, I spoke words I knew wouldn't reach her.
"—Wait for me."
Those words were the manifestation of my long, long overdue resolve.
"I won't leave you alone anymore."
These running legs are only to go and get you.