Silhouette or back.

In this memory drawer, everything about the store manager exists in the form of silhouette or back. The silhouette of the corner, the back of the departure, the silhouette of the coffee pouring...... After learning that her biological father was the store manager, Izumi Takatsuki didn't go to meet or question the store manager, she just stayed in the distance, glanced at it from time to time, and left.

In the anime, Izumi Takatsuki's mother died because of her father, and in the manga, Izumi Takatsuki's mother was killed by her father.

Perhaps because he hated his father, Izumi Takatsuki didn't let his father's face remain in his memory.

Although his biological father is still alive in this world and can see each other at any time, for Izumi Takatsuki, he is an orphan, even more pitiful than an orphan - compared to the eternal loss, what has always been in front of him but impossible to obtain, is like a blunt knife that keeps cutting wounds, and only brings endless pain.

"Na... Can you speak? ”

At some point, Aite had already left the chair and came to Fan Lu. After a slight hesitation, Fan Lu nodded.

"What does an apple taste like?"

“……”

Fan Lu wanted to answer, but after opening her mouth, she found that she couldn't give a simpler answer: apples are apples, sour, sweet-

The girl in front of her had no concept of apple flavor at all, not even sour and sweet. The only tastes she knew were coffee and human flesh.

"Don't you know, it seems to be as pitiful as me, so what does mom look like?"

“……”

The original conversation completely turned into Aite's unilateral questions, and those simple questions could only be answered in silence when Fan Lu came to him.

"I'm sorry."

Fan Lu had an urge to hug the girl in front of her, she was tightly wrapped in bandages like a doll, although she was alive, she had no soul of her own.

"There's no need to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong. However, if you continue to stay here, it will become a white "nothing" just like the surroundings. ”

After Aite said this, Fan Lu noticed that the parts of his body that had become white had increased a lot unconsciously, although he could still stand, the parts from his feet to his knees had turned white, and his left hand to his elbow was also white.

"Once you're completely white with nothing, then you'll be the same as everything here, with only lines and no meaning to exist. Everything Aite does... It doesn't make any sense. ”

"Whether it's an apple, a bronze tree, or a mother... Daddy too... For Aite, it's all meaningless things, it's all white, because ah, Aite is a meander. ”

As the monologue progresses, Aether's eyes emerge from under the bandage.

"But ah, Aite still wants to live, and doesn't want to become a meaningless "nothing", so Aite protects himself with a bandage, as long as he locks himself in the bandage and doesn't let the world know Aite's true face, then Aite is not a meander, and it won't become "nothing"... Really? Lu? ”

Because of her familiarity with the original work, Fan Lu now can better understand what Aite means: block herself with bandages, and then use Aite's identity to do everything she should do as a me. Even if she established the Bronze Tree, even if she became an SSS-level mew, these were not what the girl wanted to do from beginning to end, so no amount of merit would be pale to her.

She just wants to know what apples taste like, but as a meow, she's destined for a meaningless future.

Future...... is blank.

"Come on..."

Aite held out her right hand.

"You shouldn't stay here, go to another me, she needs you, Lu."

The moment he touched Aite's fingertips, the pure white and colorless world immediately turned blood-red, and Aite, who was originally standing in front of him, disappeared.

"Shhhhh

The white part of Fan Lu's body turned into wounds, bleeding out, and his feet and left hand were only white bones. But fortunately, Fan Lu, who only relies on bones, can also walk normally.

Looking ahead, Fan Lu found Izumi Takatsuki sitting on a chair in the distance.

Her long blue hair was wrapped around her body, revealing a hazy beauty even when she was at the most tempting.

Stepping on the blood on the ground, Fan Lu came to Izumi Takatsuki's side, then sat down next to the chair and held her hand.

"If you let go, you'll die."

“……”

"Even if you know you're going to die, do you still choose to hold it? Funny guy. ”

The warm temperature came from Takatsuki's palm, and reached Fan Lu's left palm, which was only a bone.

After sitting down, Fan Lu looked at the blood-red world in front of her.

Unlike the white world, this world no longer has a border enclosed by a chest of drawers, although the main color is blood red, but this world does have a lot more content than the previous white world - bright red flowers bloom under the moisture of blood, covering the earth, and the sky is constantly flashing with various images, like a multi-screen movie ribbon surrounded by no dead ends.

In the picture, Takatsuki Izumi's daily life as a human being is played.

In the dining room, she sat in the far corner, looking at the smiling humans in the hall, silent for a long time, and the steak in front of her had long since lost its heat, and finally, she forked a piece and put it in her mouth to chew carefully.

"It tastes good."

Facing the smiling waiter, she gave a satisfactory answer.

In the park, she was surrounded by a group of children, shouting for candy in her hand, and at this time, she had not eaten for a week.

But she smiled happily as she handed out the sweets one by one.

In the apartment, she just woke up with her messy hair, rubbed her sleepy eyes while listening to the morning radio, made herself a cup of strong coffee after waking up a little, and began her day of writing, while she was also looking forward to the upcoming express package.

Harmony and contentment.

This is how everything in the picture feels to Fan Lu.

"But why is it all bloody?"

"Dead, all the people I've been in contact with are dead."

Takatsuki's answer made Fan Lu's pupils shrink, and the girl seemed to be used to this kind of ending, and her expression did not change at all.

"I thought that as long as I tried my best, I would be able to be a human being, at least like a human being."

"I eat human food, and even though it's disgusting and not good for meows, I still eat it. I threw away my mask and made an appearance in the place of human activity. I love writing and I have published my work...... I thought I was already alive like a human being. ”

"But the world didn't agree with me. Those who found out who I was could instantly show expressions of disgust and fear, even if I didn't mean to hurt them in the slightest, even if I had candy for my children in my hand. Either I killed him, or I was captured by the CCG for investigation and then my fate is unknown, and this is what happens when humans get too close to me. ”

"Sometimes I feel like a hedgehog, even if I want to get close to others, I can't do it, because all I can bring is harm. No, in fact, it is not even a hedgehog, the hedgehog at least knows the taste of apples, and at least can keep a safe distance from the other half to keep warm. ”

"I... It's a girl who shouldn't have been born in this world. ”

Ticking, two lines of blood and tears flowed from the corners of Takatsuki's eyes, but she stubbornly maintained a smile as she looked into the distance.

If the previous Aite was a cursed and never saw hope, then Izumi Takatsuki in front of him was a girl who longed to become a human and faced the desperate truth again after paying for it.

"No, I don't agree with that answer."

"Huh?"

"Whether it is a human being or a species, as long as she is born in this world, it means that her existence is meaningful, at least after she is born, she has the right to love others or be loved, isn't it?"

"The right to love and to be loved...... Hehe, I don't have that... Not?!! ”

Domineering kissed Izumi Takatsuki's lips, and Fan Lu blocked the tragic answer she was about to say.

"You're going to die, you're going to die if you keep getting close to me."

"If you can change your answer, it's worth it."

After kissing Takatsuki Izumi, Fan Lu noticed the more and more obvious pain in her body - as the deep kiss progressed, the degree of disappearance of the body was greatly accelerated, and now Fan Lu's lower body had completely turned into white bones.

"I've lost to you, you don't need to be like this to this hopeless woman in front of you. Sympathy or anything, I don't care at all. ”

"It's not sympathy, it's a deal I made with you, isn't it?"

Fan Lu, who began to bleed from the corners of his mouth, smiled reluctantly, and Izumi Takatsuki in front of him also showed a relieved expression after hearing this answer.

Sting.

A blood-red Hezi reached out to Fan Lu's hand.

"Kill me and you can leave, don't hesitate, how much your body disappears in this world proves how much you have been devoured by me in reality. Kill me and leave, your sister is still waiting for you. ”

“……”

"I'm already satisfied, because just now, I feel like I've become human. I have the right to love and be loved, don't I? ”

While holding Katsuko tightly, Fan Lu hugged Takatsuki Izumi tightly in his arms, and the moist feeling from his arms made him understand that this girl who had been struggling to stay alive since birth had completed her own redemption.

Poof!

The next moment, both hearts were pierced by Hezi in Fan Lu's hand at the same time.

"Lu... You're a fool. ”

"This is human behavior, if you fall in love with someone, you can't let go of it for the rest of your life."

In an instant, the blood-red world regained its original color, and the strong smell of blood was also swept away by the breeze, and everything was like the end of the movie, frozen on the corners of the two people's raised mouths.