Seeing Elizabeth's condition, Yuji kneeled beside her.
With miserable emotions, Yuji could not come up with anything to say, as he continued to stay beside her.
"Yu...ji..." Elizabeth said, sounding very tired yet smooth and calming voice.
Yuji raised his head with his eyes holding back his tears, he smiled.
"Yeah?" Yuji said in a teary voice.
"You... were strong... before..." said Elizabeth as she smiled while holding Yuji's cheek, "but now... your much stronger...".
As she said those words, Yuji could not say a single word, all he did was hold back his urge to cry.
"Why... can't you heal yourself..." Yuji said after getting a hold of his voice, "We have more amplifiers now... if I just inject you...".
"It's... a waste..." Elizabeth said, as she slowly let go of Yuji's face, and grabbed his arm.
"My body... it's... too much..." Elizabeth said, as she looked down at her wound under her breast.
The wound was a hand sized hole by the upper side of her stomach.
"Are you saying this much damage can't be healed...?" Yuji said.
Elizabeth nodded
Yuji looked down, feeling the sadness in him about to burst into tears.
"Yuji... listen" Elizabeth said, " Your ability...".
"What?" Yuji said.
"Your ability... I think it allows you to... take the Akumas ability..." Elizabeth said, looking straight at Yuji.
"By being injected or bitten right?" Yuji said, speaking as soft as he can.
Elizabeth nodded, "but if you plan to get bitten... please inject yourself after... for safety..."
Yuji nodded.
"Basing from what I saw earlier... I'm confident in my conclusion..." Elizabeth said.
"that's all I have to say... you should go...." Elizabeth said, "it will take a while longer... before... you know...".
"NO!" Yuji shouted, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to shout...".
"It's ok..." Elizabeth said, being shocked.
"But I'm not leaving..." Yuji said as he held Elizabeths hand with both of his.
" I won't leave anyone else to die... not again..." Yuji said as he placed his head on Elizabeths hand, which he was holding.
Yuji had a teary voice as if he was about to cry, "At least this time... let me see through it... until the end...".
A drop of tear fell from Yuji's right eye. Filled with sorrow, Yuji tried his best to not cry.
"Yuji..." Elizabeth's s eyes enlarged and became watery, as she showed a smile on her face.
"If your... that stubborn... then..." Elizabeth gripped Yujis hand softly.
"Then... can you hold my hand? until the end...?"
Yuji gripped her hands tightly, enough to be felt but not enough to hurt.
"Sure..."
Elizabeth smiled, once again mesmerizing Yuji, as they both stared at each other.
"You know... I'm going to last a little longer..." Elizabeth said, "so... can you... tell me your story?"
"huh?" Yuji said.
"What happened to the girl you were with from your childhood... how did you get to this city...? I... want to know..." Elizabeth asked with a face itching to know.
Yuji smiled at Elizabeth, "sure...".
And so with a heavy chest Yuji began to tell his story.
"As I said... we were surviving the aftermath of that catastrophe for who knows how long..."
"And just earlier... I recalled a memory that was probably hidden at the back of my head... it was probably what I tried to forget the most..."
"There was this time when we had our selves facing a life or death situation... much more dangerous than we've had before..."
"We were being chased by multiple akumas that came out of nowhere as we were walking down the road... it was probably my fault for letting my guard down..."
"And to escape them we headed to the nearest building we could see, we ran as fast as we could to a corner inside the building and hid there..."
"But before we hid to the corner I threw a rock I was carrying with me at a window on a different location from ours..."
"And just as I planned, the Akumas ran after the noise made by the rock and continued to go straight out the window..."
"I counted that the Akumas that were chasing us was a total of six... however the ones that ran past us were only four..."
"We decided to stay still at the corner until we see or hear the two remaining akumas..."
"After a short moment we heard the akumas running from a short distance..."
"One Akuma ran quickly passed us and ran directly outside the window... but after that... something unaccounted for happened..."
Elizabeth coughed interrupting Yuji.
"Elizabeth!" Yuji paused.
"Please continue..." Elizabeth said, "it's nothing... please...".
Yuji thought he had to tell the story faster, and so with no hesitation Yuji continued.
"A strike of bad luck hit us hard putting us in a life or death situation... an akuma which was supposed to be the last one, tripped right in front of us... making it look at our direction..."
"We were in the open so the Akuma could definitely see us clearly. So we quickly went inside the door that was right beside us..."
"We then locked the door and observed the area, it looked like a storage room of some sort, and there was no window or any other way to get out aside from the door..."
"Then, the Akuma came hitting the door making a loud sound echo across the area... we were in a pinch at that point. If the Akuma continued to made those loud sound, it might attract the akumas that ran past us earlier..."
"We both knew the situation we were in, and so she thought of an idea.. she told me to hide behind the door as she grabbed a long mop stick from a corner, she then told me that she'll stay behind and hold back the akuma while I go ahead and lure the akumas outside away from her..."
" I hesitated but I couldn't think of a better logical way to get out of that situation... so I did what she said..."
"The plan went perfectly... I went out that room and saw multiple akumas that just got inside, than I lured them out..."
"I tried my best to loose the akumas as quickly as I can... and then went to a weapon shop I saw near me... I grabbed the nearest weapons I could pick up such as a knife and a pistol I saw rigth by the entrance..."
"We were still young so the thought of killing or shooting a moving being never crossed our minds... and that was our biggest ignorance..."
"I was shaking while holding the knife as I ran with the pistol on my pocket... thinking there is no other way..."
" And when I arrived at the place where I left her... my knees trembled, making me loose balance and kneel on the floor..."
"There were blood splatter on the walls... shelves were down on the ground with obvious signs of struggle... and there was nobody to be found in that room... not her... not the akuma..."
"That's..." Elizabeth said looking straight at Yuji as she held Yuji's hand Tightly, "I'm... sorry..."
"No, it's ok, " Yuji replied
"im glad I got to share it,".
"Is it... too much to ask for more?" Elizabeth said.
"huh?" Yuji replied.
"Like how you got to city D..." Elizabeth said.
"Oh that, it's just a short one right after that long story I said, " Yuji said smiling at Elizabeth.
"Apperantly I can't remember too much about what happened right after that... but I remember that I was found by this female military officer and she took me in..."
"the female officer said that I was found in a psychotic state, hiding inside a building with a knife on my hand... she said that I gave them so much trouble..."
"Basically... I can't remember anything after I lost my friend, I was probably already going crazy after that... and that's why I can't remember..."
"the female officer raised me and trained me, as well as teach me a bunch of stuff..."
"Oh and she was a close relative of Erina, so that's why I met her... she's like a sibling..."
Elizabeth nodded "I see..."
" so where is she now? the female officer?".
Yuji looked down, "she died about 4 years ago..."
"I see... once again... I'm sorry..." Elizabeth said in a fading voice, sounding more tired than earlier.
"Elizabeth...." Yuji said as he looked at Elizabeths tired face.
Yuji held Elizabeths hand tighter as he saw her other hand glowing, placed above her wound.
"I made it... I manage to hear... all of it..." Elizabeth said.
"You were healing yourself earlier... so you could prolong your life..." Yuji said in a trembling voice.
"Yuji..." Elizabeth said as she looked at Yuji with her fading eyes, as a pool of blood start to emerge from her wound.
"I'm... very Happy right now..." she said, "I lived a life with multiple regrets... that I wish I could have done better if it wasn't for this fragile body..."
"But right now... for me to save someone... for me to actually gain worth... for me to be saved so many times..."
"I'm... really happy..."
"You know... Yuji... I was ready to die... to save you... I was willing to give up my life... if it was to save you...".
"WHY!?" Yuji said, "Why would you go through so much to someone you just met!?" "what gain... would you get..." he said as his voice started to get teary, sounding as if he was crying.
"Because... you saved me... multiple times already... I know it hasn't been long... but... you gave me worth... your the first one... beside my sister to actually show me worth..."
"I... didn't have any self worth to begin with... but.. when you asked me... to treat me after all this... I... actually thought that... maybe... just maybe... I could enjoy my life after this..."
"That's why... when I saw the syringe form the store earlier... I was overjoyed..."
"But it led to a situation like this..."
"Anyways... I... don't regret doing what I did..." She said with a proud smile on her face, as she looked directly above the ceiling.
"After all... For some reason... I know your someone worth my life over... And if there's one thing I'm good at... It's judging people..."
Elizabeth looks away.
" If there is one thing I wish right now... I wish... I had more time..."
Elizabeth said in a teary voice.
Yuji held her hands tightly.
"oops... hehe... I... said that out loud...." Elizabeth said, "how embarrassing..."
"Your... not the only one..." Yuji said, "I also... wish I could've known you better... I wish... we could have had more time..." Yuji began to let out tears from his eyes, as it drip from his cheeks.
Elizabeths eyes enlarged, as she began to cry.
"Still!" Elizabeth said with energy, as if she wasn't in pain.
"I'm still... very happy!" she said.
"Yuji... I know it hasn't been that long... but... it was I pleasure to meet you... I'm... so glad I met you... I'm so glad... i manage to save you..."
"I'm.... the happiest girl in the world!" she said with an energetic tone.
Yet it was obvious to Yuji that she was struggling to sound fine.
The blood pool from Elizabeths wound spread wider.
Yuji wiped his tears and looked directly at Elizabeth with a smile, to see her off up until her final moments.
Elizabeth locked eyes with Yuji.
"Hey... Yuji... can you promise me something?"
said Elizabeth,
"It's my wish... for you..."
"Anything..." Yuji said with a smile.
"..."
"....."
"...."
"Can you do it?" said Elizabeth.
"Of course," Yuji replied with no hesitation.
"I see..." Elizabeth said, as her voice begins to fade.
"I guess... I'll be off then..."
"Please... Live... Yuji..."
And with her final words, she lost her grip on Yuji's hand, as her eyes closed, with her face looking at Yuji, with a happy expression, smiling beautifully.
Yuji's chest began to tighten, as his head bowed down to the ground, with feelings of grief, and sorrow, about to burst after building up.
He held her hand tightly not feeling her pulse by her wrist.
And finally, he cried.
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Cover illustrated by: @s0ft.b0i.art -IG
@s_b_art- twitter
Author- @Ryk- Twitter
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