"Heaving heavily, Yuuto sensed the rope beginning to give way. 'It's going to snap...! Has it been rubbing against the roof's edge too much?' he wondered in alarm.
He glanced over at Chiyoko.
'The two of us are too heavy... I have to do something...!' he realized with urgency.
Chiyoko caught the shift in his gaze. Her eyes widened with fear as she felt the rope tear slightly, her body beginning to plummet.
In that moment, a single, instinctual thought crossed her mind, formed from her brief acquaintance with Yuuto and the nature of humans. 'He's going to let me fall to save himself,' she thought. Yet, there was no judgment or bitterness in her—merely a primal reaction, a sense that this was what her senior would do.
But Yuuto did not let go.
He gripped her shirt tightly, causing Chiyoko to gasp in surprise.
"MANIPULATOR, CATCH!!!" Yuuto shouted as Sato reached the edge of the roof.
Sato flinched, his eyes widening in shock as Chiyoko's body hurtled toward him, oblivious to the frayed rope. Bracing himself, he caught her by the shirt and leggings, his body leaning perilously over the ledge under her weight.
"Grgh...!!! I'VE... GOT... YOU...!!!" Sato grunted, his muscles straining as he hauled her up. Her clothing caught on the rough, jagged edges of the roof, tearing as it snagged on the building's neglected surface. The old structure's dirt and tar scraped her skin, leaving marks where the building's disrepair—crevices and cracks in the wall—etched onto Chiyoko's skin. A particularly sharp edge grazed her lower abdomen, drawing blood just as Sato finally managed to pull her to safety. Exhausted from the effort, he collapsed onto his back.
Without pausing for a moment to grasp for breath, not even noticing Chiyoko frantically nodding toward Yuuto, signaling for help, without noticing her wound due to the surge of adrenaline in her body, Sato crawled back to the edge of the roof, his mind a blank slate.
Then, without warning, the rope snapped before he could even look over the edge.
Chiyoko and Hiyori's eyes widened in shock as they watched the severed half of the rope disappear over the roof's edge.
Sato froze, struck silent, unable to utter a word of regret or even scream. He simply stared at the horizon, the silence broken only by the wind brushing against them and the sound of police and ambulance sirens drawing nearer and nearer.
The falling rope meant only one dire possibility: Yuuto had fallen, plummeting over 30 meters in his attempt to save Chiyoko.
'Sakurai... No...!' Hiyori thought, the only one among them capable of forming a coherent thought in that moment.
The silence stretched on...
And on.
...For what felt like an eternity. - Sato thought as 10 seconds ticked by.
A dreadful realization dawned on him. If Yuuto had indeed fallen, there should have been a sound—a scream, or the sickening thud of his body hitting the ground.
'It's impossible,' he thought. 'There's no way he could have held on after the rope was torn.'
Compelled by a mix of hope and dread, Sato approached the roof's edge, bracing himself to see Yuuto's lifeless body below.
If this were a manga or an anime, Yuuto would have miraculously held on. There would be tears of joy and relief, hugs exchanged in the euphoria of survival.
But Sato knew better.
'Reality is too harsh for such fairy tales...' he instinctively thought grimly as he inched closer to the ledge, holding his breath, his eyes wide open, unblinking.
"Hey, Manipulator." Yuuto called casually, holding onto a crack in the building, right near the ledge. The same one Chiyoko had grazed herself when Sato pulled her up.
'If it wasn't that girl's blood marking that crevice, I'd might have been in trouble,' Yuuto thought, his fingers nudged into the crack in the building.
"S-...Sa...Kurai..." Sato's voice shivered, truly believing his eyes are playing tricks on him as he saw Yuuto, casually dangling about on the crevice, with the body of Ichiji right below him.
Behind him, Chiyoko and Hiyori could only make out Sato's stunned expression. That look could mean either miraculous survival or tragic death. Given the grim reality they faced, they felt a sinking certainty—Yuuto had perished.
Chiyoko's eyes stayed wide as she stared down at the ground, struggling to breathe as she absorbed the shock.
"Are you gonna pull me up, or pull a Lion King moment on me? This would be the perfect chance to get rid of me..." Yuuto's voice called up casually.
Startled, Sato shook his head vigorously, scrambled to the edge, and reached out his arm as far as he could.
Sensing Sato's frantic movements, Chiyoko raised her head, her expression mixing curiosity with a spark of hope.
'Sakkun?' Hiyori thought, puzzled by his sudden urgency.
With a grateful exhale, Yuuto grasped Sato's hand. Sato pulled with all his might, but his underdeveloped muscles struggled against Yuuto's heavier, muscular frame.
Yuuto sighed again. 'Of course he can't pull me up... Need another plan...' He pondered as he clung to a crevice, considering his options. 'If I shift my weight to grab the skeleton manipulator here, we'd both end up falling,' Yuuto thought, scanning his surroundings for another solution.
"I'M.... NOT LETTING YOU GO...!!!" Sato grunted, his face reddening; on the verge of becoming blue from exhaustion.
Yuuto's gaze then snapped to Sato's desperate expression as he struggled to save his life.
Once more, the Anti-NTR Man had no remarks or quips.
He just watched.
Just as Sato's grip began to falter, another figure swiftly joined him, grasping Yuuto's arm just below Sato's hold.
'Harvester...' Yuuto recognized the newcomer as Shiyon, noting the bloodstains marring Shiyon's face and body.
Meeting Shiyon's steady, calm gaze, Yuuto instinctively released the crevice and grasped Shiyon's hand instead.
Together, they exerted their strength and pulled Yuuto to safety.
The three stood, sharing quiet looks. The sound of Sato's labored breathing filling the air between them.
As Yuuto and Shiyon scrutinized each other, a mutual thought linked the two of them.
'I'll find out the details later,'
Yuuto turned to Sato as Shiyon walked over to the downed foes on the roof, making sure none of them can surprise them.
"Sakurai..." Sato began, his voice shivering and shaking.
Yuuto then strongly tapped his shoulder, snapping his attention back to Yuuto's eyes.
"Your girlfriend's waiting for you. Go." Yuuto muttered confidently, signaling Sato with his head to go to Hiyori. "I'll free pipsqueak here."
Sato took a deep breath and nodded briefly before sprinting to Hiyori's side.
Meanwhile, Yuuto approached Chiyoko, who froze like a statue as he drew near. Her expression was inscrutable as Yuuto began to undo her bindings.
'This... Was too straightforward to be Black Letter... Too rough. A lower branch, maybe?' Yuuto pondered as he freed her hands and legs. He then knelt beside her.
"Look at me, runt. I'm going to remove the mouth gag, so lift your head to give me access," Yuuto instructed in a casual tone.
'Ahh... Sakurai-chun... Ever so blunt...' Shiyon mused silently, observing from a distance how Yuuto handled Chiyoko.
Chiyoko complied, slowly moving her body to a sitting position, lifting her head to give Yuuto access as she sat on the ground, her face hidden away by her pinkish, undone hair.
'Awfully compliant. Her shock must be in the sky. Typical. Well, she also got stuck with me undoing her bindings so there's that, heh. Don't worry runt, I want to get the hell away from you too,' Yuuto thought as he undid her mouth gag, while she sat on her knees, her palms placed neatly on her thighs.
Before long, the mouth gag was undone.
"There, it's done."
Just then, a brush of wind breezed by, removing the veil of her hair covering her eyes and face.
'...What's that look fo—' Yuuto thought, as she jumped at his bare form, pinning her head onto his shoulder as she gripped him tightly.
'H-hey... W-what...' Yuuto thought as she clung to his body. Her kimono covering his shirtless self as she hugged him while he knelt.
Shiyon then gave a knowing, weak smile and looked away.
'No... This... People are supposed to hate me... This... This isn't good...!! I should slap her and..!!' He thought as he raised his hand, aiming at her head.
[BACKGROUND MUSIC: Selin Soral - Ethereal]
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"Be nicer."
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'Right...' Yuuto thought as he relaxed his arm.
'...I made a promise,' He then gently lowered his palm placing it o@&(!%^(&)_(%^@)(&#%!(!^&$%(!#n his little sister's head.
"...@(*&^%!@TO-NII...!! Stop doing that, I'm not a kid anymore!!"
"Yes, you are. You will always be a kid to me. As your older brother, that's how I will always see you as." He added as he gently patted her head, gradually calming her down.
"...Dummy... I hate it... So stop..." Her booming voice was gradually growing weaker.
"Right, right... If you want me to stop treating you like a kid, you need to start being truthful~" He playfully teased.
"You like being patted on the head like this, don't you..?" He softly cooed as he smiled warmly at her.
"I don't... I don't like it..." She murmured, her body gradually relaxing as she fell asleep in his embrace@%(&%#(^$!%(^%)(^%#^&()*#%#@#
" You're going to be fine... I'm here. " Yuuto whispered as he gently patted Chiyoko's head, rustling her hair with practiced ease.
Unable to hold her tears, she bawled her eyes out as she cried on his shoulder, his other arm supporting her back.
" Shhhh... It's okay. " Yuuto whispered soothingly, his expression solemn as Chiyoko wept uncontrollably on his shoulder, her tears and sobs drenching his bare skin. Despite the intensity of her distress, his gentle strokes through her hair never faltered.
"I was so scared... I thought I was going to die... Thank you... thank you..." she murmured between sobs, her voice muffled and nasal as she struggled to speak through her tears, overwhelmed by relief and gratitude.