Suijin Hajimoto ran for a long time. The tears that flowed from her eyes blurred her vision to the point that she wasn't even taking in her surroundings. She was just moving. She had probably bumped into more than just a few people, but she was too caught up in her own emotions to give them any more than a muted 'I'm sorry' before moving on.
She knew someone was following her. She heard their footsteps and felt their steady presence as they trailed her through the busy and crowded streets. Evacuations and relocations because of the Fangless Python attacks had caused the unaffected cities to become massive hubs of activity. And despite the hundreds of people in the crowd, this person never once fell too far behind or let Suijin leave their field of vision.
But Suijin didn't stop, because she didn't want to talk to this person. She had nothing to say, and she just wanted to be alone. It was a miracle she didn't just collapse inside of the hospital after hearing the news that the doctor told her about Yuri's condition. Suijin curved another corner, quickly melting into a sea of people crossing the road. The headlights of an equally large sea of cars shone down upon them, reminding her of how the stars in the night sky shone down on the ocean.
All the while, that horrible conversation with the doctor replayed in her head, giving her not even a single moment to breathe.
"Post-Traumatic Amnesia. That's what he's suffering from currently. In this case, it's caused by a traumatic brain injury. The magic that caught him head-on not only completely destroyed his eye, but it also destroyed part of his face and brain. That damage to the brain could have had serious effects on a lot of his motor skills. Thankfully, we were able to reconstruct the missing parts of his brain and eye, seamlessly reintegrating them by partially creating them out of his own mana. Still, it's artificial, meaning that there are going to be a lot of changes. One of those happens to be the loss of memory. We can't know for sure; however, I estimate that he's lost a majority of his memory. Dating all the way back to when he was a kid."
As the doctor spoke, Yuri sat down stock-still. The only sign that he was even alive was his breathing. He had his hand held out in front of him, and his right eye was dully watching it. His hand trembled.
Looking at him like that, Suijin's heart broke. "Yuri?....." she said, reaching out to him. When Suijin's hand got too close, Yuri flinched backwards a bit. It was a small motion, but Suijin had already noticed it. She dropped her hands weakly to her side. The tears had begun to stream down her face before she even realized it. She rushed to wipe them away; however, she wasn't fooling anyone.
Yuri stared at her with the same look that you would give a random stranger reaching out and touching you. Still, noticing her tears, Yuri leaned forward. "I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong person. Still, don't cry. I'm sure this "Yuri" person is fine." Yuri slowly reached out his trembling hand and wiped the tears from Suijin's eyes.
That act alone nearly made Suijin collapse. It brought back memories of their childhood together. All the time they spent. All the fun they had. The motion was the exact same as all the other times that Yuri would wipe tears from Suijin's eyes. She tried to get ahold of herself; however, the tears just flowed faster, and her sobs became louder. Could he really have forgotten about everything? Was all of it really lost to him?
Still, she managed to muster enough control over herself to turn back towards the doctor and ask one more question. "Is there any chance that he could recover his memories?" It was one last desperate attempt. She didn't want to accept the cold truth in front of her. As long as the chance wasn't zero, she would cling to it like her life depended on it. "Please, be as realistic as possible. I want to know the truth. If there's no hope, don't give me false hope."
The doctor stood in silence for a long moment before finally responding. "Normally, in cases like these, the memories would return in due time." Suijin's heart soared. "However, in this case, the patient has literally lost parts of their brain. We don't know just how much he lost and if it will ever come back. Even in this day and age, the workings of the brain are a mystery to us. There is hope, with the fact that long-term memory is stored in the hippocampus; however, along with injuries to his brain, he's also experienced significant concussions and damage to his head. It's a miracle he's retained most of his motor skills and ability to think. To wish for any more, like his memories coming back?"
Suijin's hopes had been raised, only to be crushed again. But the doctor wasn't done yet.
"That would be akin to begging God himself for a once-in-a-millennium miracle."
Suijin had asked for a realistic answer, but she hadn't expected for all of her hopes to be crushed so thoroughly.
Before she knew it, she had thanked the doctor and was already walking out of the room.
She was walking at first, passing by many people and nurses who were looking at her with worried and confused expressions. When she came across Genji and the other members of the student council, who had been patiently waiting for her, she couldn't even bring herself to face them.
All of them were nurturing various injuries of their own. Still, they were worried about their friend.
"He's woken up." Suijin could barely find it in her heart to give them the bad news first. Even though she knew raising their hopes just to crush them was arguably more cruel. She needed time to prepare herself to actually tell them the truth. Because once she spoke it, it would become real.
Immediately, everyone's faces lit up. Yuri had suffered some of the most grievous injuries, so everyone was extremely worried about him.
"He's going to be okay?" Riko asked, breathing a sigh of relief as she did so.
"Is he ready to take visitors? I've got a lot of things to say to that guy! Making everybody worry like that." Ichijo had a happy smile on his face.
The only person not completely smiling was Genji. She had seen the tears Suijin was shedding, and she knew they weren't tears of joy.
"Suijin?" she asked.
Suijin stood there for a few moments. Under everyone's gaze, she slowly felt herself begin to crack, like glass when too much pressure was applied. The only thing she could think about was the fact that what had happened to Yuri had been her fault. If she hadn't let him go in a state like that, if she had paid more attention, he would have been okay.
The same thing could be said for all of the students at Theta Magic Academy. All of the students who died or were hurt during the raid—all of it could be pinned on her. If only she fulfilled her role as the student council president. No, if she hadn't tried to play leader during the conflict at all. If she hadn't so confidently made plans that put students in danger and even made a whole speech that pushed them to continue fighting.
It was because of her that all of this happened. And now, she was paying the price. She had already been through countless meetings with grieving parents. Their screams and cries and accusations were replaying throughout her head constantly. It got so bad that the headmaster had to force her to leave, and he handled the rest on his own.
All of it pointed to the fact that it was her fault. Even now she couldn't do her job right. All she had to do was tell everyone what had happened, the fact that Yuri had lost his memory. However, she couldn't. The tears began to fall down once again, and they blurred her vision. It distorted the worried faces of everyone around her. As they reached out to comfort her, all she could see was people disappointed in her, pointing and laughing.
Suijin couldn't take it anymore, and she ran. She cowardly ran. She ran, ignoring the worried shouts and people reaching for her. She ran and ran. Out of the hospital. And into the busy streets.
When Suijin finally stopped running, she was standing in front of a bridge. The bridge stretched over a small canal that ran under it. The surrounding area was full of vegetation. The rising sun that peeked in between the distant hills gave the land a red glow.
The bridge was 92 feet tall. A fall from that height, without any sort of reinforcement to the body with mana, would surely kill. However, Suijin wasn't going to jump. She could never bring herself to do something like that. However, she stood against the railing of the bridge, unmoving.
That was because this bridge reminded her of the first time that she had met Yuri. He was a ragged, poor-looking kid who had run away from home. He was sitting on the railing of the bridge. Suijin, who had been conveniently taking a walk at the time, noticed him and immediately moved to stop him.
Yuri had adamantly resisted, screaming that he had nothing left to live for anymore and that the world had lost all of its meaning to him. However, Suijin just couldn't accept that idea. The very concept of taking one's life always made her feel angry. Eventually, she had managed to pull Yuri off of the ledge, and that was where it all began.
That was where Yuri shared his past with Suijin and vowed to live for her.
But now, those memories were lost to him. She was the only one who recalled any of it. And it was all her fault. Just like everything else, if she had done anything even slightly better, none of this would have happened.
"It's all my fault..." Suijin began to truly break down, her tears falling into the canal 90 feet below.
And at the same time, a strong hand descended on her shoulder. The person trailing her had finally caught up.
"J-just leave! I—I don't want to talk! I just want to be left alone!" Suijin shouted out at the top of her lungs.
However, Shindo ignored her words, choosing to instead lean against the railing.
"You never left me alone no matter how much I insisted. I found it annoying at the time, but now, I'm thankful that you never stopped pushing." Shindo spoke with a sense of calm that he hadn't felt in a while.
"Please, just go! I don't want to talk with anyone! I do—"
"Do you still think that everything is your fault, Suijin? Even after everything that happened?" The voice of a second person had caught her completely off guard. She looked up to see Kami. She was looking at Suijin with a patient expression.
"I'm sorry, okay?" I just, I didn't know what to do! Everything with the siege, and with Yuri, and everybody who got hurt! I didn't mean for it all to happen! I'm sorry! I'll take responsibility!"
Suijin began to shout and ramble incoherently as she was completely overwhelmed by her emotions. Everything that she had bottled up and tried to take on by herself exploded all at once, and she was reduced to a crying mess, leaning against the railing of the bridge.
Kami leaned down and hugged her from behind. Suijin's entire body shook from her sobs.
"It's okay, Suijin. No one blames you. Everyone knows it wasn't your fault. You can't possibly take the blame for something so far out of your control." Kami's voice was soothing, and she held Suijin tightly. Just like Suijin had done once for her. She found her chance to repay her.
"Bu-But!-" Suijin began to argue; however, she was cut off by Kami.
"Everyone would agree that your actions are why more people didn't die. You were the reason we were able to pull out and win that battle. Your words and your leadership lead us to surviving."
"Even with that, I couldn't protect the students! I couldn't protect the people closest to me! I couldn't protect Yuri! I couldn't protect your brother!" Suijin's grip on the railing tightened until her hand began to bruise. She was too caught up in her emotions to notice the pain, though.
"Remember what I told you as we fought against Aergia? You're not some sort of god, Suijin. You can't handle every last single thing that happens on your own. Nobody can. But despite that, you did more than any of us could, and people were saved because of you. Kami rubbed her hands along Suijin's back.
"It was because of your efforts that I was able to bridge the gaps I thought had long been burned. It was because of you that so many people were able to muster the courage to survive. It's because of you that Theta Magic Academy did not fall in the siege." Shindo added, his gaze staring at something afar.
"We're not asking you to stay strong. No, not at all. You've done it for too long, Suijin. You've stood tall and shouldered the burdens for far too long. No, instead, we're asking you to show weakness. Now, more than ever. It's okay. It's okay to be weak." As Kami muttered those words, Suijin could resist no longer, and she completely collapsed into her tears. "Allow yourself to cry, to grieve the things that you lost. You've been strong for far too long, Suijin. It's okay to cry. It's okay to be weak at times. That takes even more strength than it takes to hold it all in."
And Kami was finally able to say those words confidently. Without a voice in the back of her head calling her a hypocrite. She was able to believe in what she spoke, truly, and with her whole heart.
As that heartwarming scene went on, Shindo focused his gaze on a stretch of high brush. His suspicions were confirmed.
They were being watched.