Azuma woke up.
There was a black emptiness outside his window, and the haze of that dream-like world still lingered in his mind.
He was not sure how to feel about all that had happened.
It was all too sudden, and strange.
As soon as the blue space dissolved, Azuma tried to reach out for it. He looked around, almost frantically. The old man knew something, and Azuma couldn't just ignore their unfinished talk.
However.
In the absolute silence, he heard the faint ghostly chortle. The voices and hisses clamoured into that unnerving sound he had heard before the final phase.
There wasn't Shiro's voice this time.
But he heard the barest sound of laboured breathing.
It sounded like her.
"Perhaps I am losing my mind," he muttered as he recalled that feeling, something about that glimpse of her voice made his heart race.
Azuma didn't want to reach the worst conclusions.
