The night air clung to Jolene like a second skin, every breath sharp and painful, each inhale tasting like dust and iron. Blood seeped into the cracked pavement beneath her, sticky and warm against her skin. Her body screamed in protest every time she tried to move. One of her ribs had snapped, and sharp stabs of agony shot through her side with every shallow breath. But it wasn't the pain that weighed the most. It was the sight of Takeshi—motionless, pale, eyes half-closed as if he'd just fallen asleep.
Her hand twitched toward him, desperate to reach him, to shake him awake, to make him stand. But deep down, she knew. Takeshi wasn't getting back up.
Footsteps echoed on the asphalt, slow and deliberate, each step sending a ripple of tension through Jolene's battered body. Kazane stopped a few feet away, her shadow looming over both of them. Her gaze flickered from Takeshi's lifeless form to Jolene's broken body, and a small, satisfied smile curled on her lips.
"You always were a stubborn one," Kazane said softly, her voice like silk draped over steel. She crouched down, resting her elbows on her knees, and tilted her head with a mocking grin. "Tell me, Jolene... Was it worth it? Did he die the hero you thought he'd be?"
Jolene's throat tightened as rage burned hotter than the pain. "Shut up."
Kazane's grin widened. "Ooh. Still got some fight in you, huh? That's adorable." She reached out and brushed Jolene's hair away from her bloodied face, the gesture disturbingly gentle. "I bet Takeshi thought he was protecting you. That's what makes all of this so tragic. You keep throwing yourselves into this fight, and for what? Just so I can knock you down again?"
Jolene coughed, a wet, rattling sound. "We're... not done."
Kazane laughed—a soft, musical sound, though it was anything but kind. "You're lying in a pool of your own blood, and Takeshi's over there, looking very dead. Face it, sweetheart. This is the end."
Jolene tried to push herself up, but her arms wobbled uselessly beneath her. Her teeth clenched as she forced words through her cracked lips. "You killed him... and you're just going to walk away?"
Kazane's smile faltered, something darker stirring in her gaze. "Walk away? No, no. I don't walk away, Jolene." She leaned closer, her voice dipping to a whisper. "I win. And winning means knowing exactly when to leave someone alive... and when to end them."
Jolene's vision blurred, her muscles screaming as she tried to prop herself up just a little more. "Why... Why did you do it? Takeshi didn't deserve this."
Kazane sighed theatrically, as if Jolene's question was tedious. "You still don't get it. This was never about who 'deserved' what. You two were always in the way. Too stubborn to see the truth. Takeshi's death isn't personal—it's necessary."
Jolene's breath hitched as she fought the sob building in her throat. "You talk like... you know everything. But you're just..." Her voice faltered, her strength ebbing. "You're not Yuto. You're nothing but a shadow."
Kazane's eyes narrowed, her playful expression evaporating. "A shadow?" She exhaled slowly through her nose, her lips twitching into something colder, sharper. "Is that what you think I am?"
Jolene glared, blood dripping down her chin. "Yuto wouldn't do this."
Kazane's gaze hardened. "Yuto did this. I am Yuto." Her voice cut through the night air like a blade. "He tried to be something he wasn't—a savior, a saint. But that was a lie. I'm what he was always meant to become. You... and Takeshi... you just never saw it."
The words sliced through Jolene like a dagger, and for the briefest moment, her defiance wavered. Could it really be true? Had Yuto been someone else entirely beneath the surface, a darker version hiding behind the noble mask they all believed in?
"You wanted Yuto to be your perfect little hero," Kazane whispered, her voice dripping with contempt. "But heroes don't survive in this world. He knew that better than anyone. The only way to save something is to destroy what's broken first."
Jolene shook her head weakly. "No. That's not him. He... he was better than this."
Kazane's eyes gleamed with a cruel kind of satisfaction. "He thought he could be. But in the end, you don't get to rewrite who you are. He and I are the same. And that's why I'll always be stronger than you."
Jolene clenched her fists, blood slicking her palms. "You're not stronger. You're just... alone."
Kazane's smirk returned, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Maybe. But alone is better than being weak. And I don't have to carry anyone's dead weight anymore." She flicked her gaze toward Takeshi's body, her smile twisting into something venomous. "See? No attachments. No weaknesses."
Jolene's heart cracked open wider at the sight of Takeshi's lifeless form, but the fury inside her swelled even more. "You think being alone makes you strong? You're nothing but a coward."
Kazane laughed, the sound bitter and sharp. "A coward?" She stood slowly, towering over Jolene. "You're the one bleeding out on the ground, and you have the audacity to call me a coward?"
Jolene's vision swam, but she held Kazane's gaze with as much defiance as she could muster. "Cowards run from love. From people. From the things that make them human."
Kazane's expression faltered, if only for a second. But then her features hardened, her lips curling into a sneer. "Love only gets you killed, Jolene. You'll learn that soon enough."
Jolene tried to lift herself one last time, her muscles quaking under the effort. "If love got Takeshi killed, then I'll take that over being whatever the hell you are."
Kazane's eyes narrowed, her hands clenching into fists. "You're delusional."
"And you're empty," Jolene whispered, sagging back to the ground, her strength giving out. "Yuto was afraid of becoming someone like you. That's why you had to be born in the first place."
Kazane's jaw tightened, her nostrils flaring. For the first time since the fight began, there was a flicker of something vulnerable in her expression—something almost human. She shoved it down quickly, shaking her head with a bitter laugh.
"This is your last moment, and you're wasting it on a speech?" Kazane sneered. "You really are pathetic."
Jolene closed her eyes, letting her head rest against the cracked pavement. "Better pathetic... than empty."
Kazane stepped back, her gaze lingering on Jolene for a moment longer than it should have. There was a shadow in her expression—something unspoken, something unsettled. Then she turned sharply on her heel and walked away, her footsteps fading into the night.
Jolene lay there, gasping for air, her broken body refusing to move. She stared up at the night sky, the stars blurred and distant. Every inch of her ached, and the world felt impossibly heavy. But somehow, despite the agony and the grief, she found herself clinging to a fragile, stubborn thread of hope.
Because the fight wasn't over. Not yet. Not while she still drew breath.