Chapter 5: Crying
"Man, she hides herself well," Mikoto muttered grumpily as he navigated through the hidden doors. He finds the building Theresa is hiding in, but there are many hidden doors for him to pass through to get where the loli nun is hiding.
Mikoto looked around the area in case a Houkai Beasts or zombies were hiding. But all he could see were empty beer cans and wine bottles. They were littered across the room, and the place looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a long time.
"What was she thinking, wasting away her life like this?" Mikoto sighed in annoyance. It wasn't like he didn't understand her point of view, but to escape here without doing anything to help her students who needed their headmistress in their toughest time? That's something a teacher shouldn't do.
Sitting on the chair, Mikoto grabbed a file on the table. "Hmm… Theresa's observation on Kiana and Mei are written down in here," he hummed. "To get near a Herrscher of the End, she must have suffered a lot from Houkai Energy Radiation then," he added.
"Who are you?" Someone put a knife in front of Mikoto's neck.
"Theresa," Mikoto started. "I never knew you would still have some fight left in you," pinching the blade with his fingers, he pushed it away from his neck.
"Strong," Theresa thought as she felt the knife she put in front of the man's neck was moved forcefully by him.
"Even though you tell Himeko to stop drinking, aren't you drinking too much yourself, Theresa?" Mikoto sighed at the sight of the poor appearance of the white-haired girl. Her old nun clothes are in tatter. Her hair is messy as if she hasn't combed her hair in a long time.
"Who are you?" Theresa jumped backward to gain distance from the stranger sitting before her.
"Rekka Mikoto, a simple captain of Hyperion. It is a pleasure to meet you, aunt of Kiana Kaslana," slowly standing up from the chair, Mikoto gave her a greeting bow.
"Don't lie to me! Do you think I don't know who the captain of Hyperion is?" Theresa readied her broken Judas to fight against the stranger.
"Eid von Judas… the Divine Key made from the core of the Herrscher of Binding. It can seal the Honkai Energy of the target," Mikoto muttered. "But I wonder if the one from this world can match with the one from my world," he added.
The Oath of Judah of this world was the first weapon created by Otto for his best friend, Kallen Kaslana. After her death, it was sealed in the depths of Schicksal and immersed in the dust of history.
But after 500 years, Otto personally awarded Theresa with this weapon when she took on the mantle as the new Patriarch of Apokalypse. Although the Oath of Judah maintains its original appearance, the interior has been modernized, renovated, and adopted more advanced technology, making it a cutting-edge weapon with powerful combat capabilities.
"Go on," Mikoto spread out his arms. "Do your worst," he wanted to feel the power of this world's Oath of Judah. Even if it has lost most of its power, he wanted to know how it feels to get sealed with the Divine Key of Binding. Only then can he adjust his strength against the proper one.
Theresa stepped backward with a strange look on her face. "Don't tell me… you are a masochist," she readied the spear in her hands.
"I'm getting tired of this," Mikoto muttered. "I'm going back," Since she was not going to use her Oath of Judah on him, there was no reason for him to be here anymore.
The redhead was getting tired of talking to this white-haired female dwarf. He came here to take a look at this world's version of Cecilia's best friend. Now that he had seen her, Mikoto had lost his interest.
"Here, listen to the recording when you have time," Mikoto threw a phone at Theresa. He got Kiana to record whatever she wanted to say to Theresa. With that, Mikoto jumped from the window before Theresa could do anything.
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"You were alive?" That was the first thing Bronya asked me when we met again.
"What did you expect? Die in the hands of the Herrscher of the End? No, thanks," Mikoto replied in a tired tone. "And now if you excuse me, I am very much tired and seriously in need of sleep."
"Wait! I haven't prepared a room for you yet!"
"I'll be on the roof," Mikoto walked upstairs, waving his hand at Bronya without looking back.
"Yo!" Mikoto was greeted by a red-haired woman when he arrived on the roof.
"Himeko?" Mikoto replied, raising his eyebrow. "Of course, you will be here," he added.
"That lazy tone… you are that person Bronya was talking about, aren't ya?" Himeko chuckled in amusement. "So? How did your meeting go?"
"I should have known Bronya would tell you about this," Mikoto sighed in annoyance. "For your question, it went surprisingly well," he added. He took his place beside Himeko and lay down on the floor.
"I see," Himeko grimly nodded. "How was she? Is she awake now?"
Mikoto knew who Himeko was talking about without even thinking. "Kiana is the same Kiana you remembered. She's just… a little colder now," the male redhead answered.
"Heh, you are talking like you know Kiana," Himeko chuckled as she sipped the beer from the can.
"What can I say? I've met a lot of Kiana during my travel, after all," Mikoto sit up and grabbed a can of beer beside Himeko. "Of course, I've met a lot of Himeko too," he added as he opened the can.
"Ah, I almost forgot," Himeko slapped her forehead. "Bronya did tell me that you've travelled across the Sea of Quanta and the Imaginary Tree," she added.
"Still sloppy as ever, I see," Mikoto sighed.
"It feels weird to talk with the person I barely know about, but the other party somehow know many things about me," Himeko shuddered. "So, tell me… how are other me?"
Himeko felt strangely curious about her counterparts. Are they as shameless as her? Were they able to save their students, unlike her? Do they love their students? She wanted to know all about it.
"Almost all Himeko I've seen live and die for their students," Mikoto took a sip of the beer.
"Almost?"
"There are some weird worlds, like the one where all the population were infected by TeriTeri virus. Just… don't worry about it."
"Your adventure must be pretty bizarre to witness such things," Himeko chuckled in amusement, but her expression turned serious. "You won't be helping us in this war, aren't you?"
"Un," Mikoto nodded. "You have sharp eyes. And surprisingly a good head on your shoulder too."
"I am not the Captain of the Gray Moth for nothing," looking back to the time when things were simple, Himeko heaved out a tired sigh. "Things were simple back then. But now? Staying under constant fear of not knowing what tomorrow has in store for us."
"You will die by Mei's hand," Mikoto wanted to tell her that, but it was unnecessary. At the end of it all, she'll just come back to life again. So instead, he chose to do another thing.
*Pat* *Pat*
Mikoto patted Himeko's head, reassuring her. "Don't think like that," The male redhead put away the empty can. "It is okay to doubt what the future holds for you but don't let it weigh down in your mind. I too, might die somewhere in my journey but as you can see, I am living my fullest."
Laying back down on the floor, Mikoto stared into the sky. It is already nighttime, but the stars are nowhere to be seen. "Heh," Himeko snorted. "Sorry but we couldn't help but worried for the future because we have a sword of Damocles hanging on our head."
"Please," Mikoto snorted back at Himeko. "At least you know what you have to face is like. Because for me, there was that time when I accidently stumbled into an opponent stronger than the Herrscher of the End," He was talking about the Aeon of Destruction. "I got beaten black and blue for five minutes until I could stand my own against him."
"All those journeys, you must be used to seeing death," After a brief silence between them, Himeko broke the silence. "Tell me, did those tragedies manage to turn your heart to stone?" She asked the question she wanted to understand the most. Because… all the death of her subordinates somehow managed to turn her into a person who isn't afraid to sacrifice her subordinates. She had become the very being her HI3rd counterpart refused to be.
"Hmm… It depends on the situation. But I am still an emotional person when I need to be," Mikoto replied after thinking for a while. Especially when it comes to Kiana.
"I see," Himeko's voice trailed off into silence.
"Say, when was the last time you've cried?" Lighting the cigarette, Mikoto stares into a distant sky.
"Why do you ask?"
"Just answer."
"I… don't remember when," Himeko replied honestly. "Maybe when Kiana gone rouge… or maybe when Theresa abandoned the children," she added.
"Why didn't you cry?"
"I couldn't," Himeko took the cigarette Mikoto was smoking and put it in her mouth. "I have to stay strong in front of the kids," puffing out the smoke, she, too, stares into the distant sky.
"You can cry in your room."
"They'll notice," The female redhead shook her head.
"You can tell me the real reason, Himeko," Taking back the cigarette from Himeko's hand, Mikoto put it back into his mouth. "I am not here to judge you."
"Ha! If shedding tears could solve and relieve my feelings, I would have done it without hesitation."
Tears are nothing more than water coming out of our eyes. There is a limit to the sadness that can be poured out and relieved with tears. Crying will only remind Himeko of how miserable her situation is. "Nothing can solve with tears. So, I won't cry."
"I can understand your logic," Mikoto passed his cigarette toward his talking partner. "Even then, let me tell you this. Tears cannot solve anything, but that's why they are necessary. That's why they are important."
"So… you still cry at this age?"
"I do," Mikoto answered without a hint of shame. "And that makes me a human."
"I guess… talking with you makes me feel a little better."
"I'm glad I can be of help," Mikoto smirked. "Just lay down beside me and take a break. Let's leave our future problems to our future selves. Living for the moment is what makes life enjoyable, after all."
"Sure," Himeko moved closer to Mikoto and lay down on the floor. There were no words exchanged between them. After talking with the strange man, even if it was just for tonight, Himeko had decided to let go of all the tension she had built up over the years.
"Hey," Himeko started.
"What?"
"Wanna have sex?"
"Nah, I am too lazy to have sex."
"Well, at least I tried." And Himeko's bad luck with men is still going strong.
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Author's Notes;
And that's it! Man, the chat between Himeko and Mikoto went longer than I expected. I was supposed to end the GGZ DLC arc in this chapter. But oh well.
I apologize for not being active these days… again. Things happened.
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