Kentaro and Aria stood rooted, paralysed before the advancing army of metallic monstrosities, Null units, their eyes glowing, malevolent steel limbs poised for carnage. Terror gripped them both like a vice until.

"RUN, KEN!!" Tenka's voice tore through the static, snapping Kentaro from his trance.

He pivoted just in time to see a flying metal net hurtling toward them. Instinct overrode thought; he snatched Aria's hand, yanked her aside with all his strength. The net slammed into empty air, crackling as electric arcs sizzled across its surface.

Kentaro turned before his heart could stop, spotting Aria crawling slowly to her feet. Without hesitation, he seized her hand.

"WE NEED TO GO NOW, ARIA!" He shouted, yanking her toward the edge of the rooftop.

Aria jerked back reflexively, panic flashing in her eyes. "I won't trust you, human! I-I-" Her voice broke.

But Kentaro didn't falter, even as he sprinted toward the ledge. His voice was gentle, firm.

"Aria, please, trust me. I know you've been hurt. I know you're terrified. But I'm not like them. We're not like them. Remember that girl… With dark brown hair? And the other… Purple-haired one?"

Aria's pace slowed. She glanced sideways, breath ragged.

"Yeah. I remember. What about them?" Her voice was softer, a hint of curiosity through fear.

"They're the same as you," Kentaro said, glancing back at Serica's ice-borne sublimation and Yura's purple tendrils. Aria's eyes widened, dawning comprehension glimmering in them.

Kentaro offered a small, hopeful smile.

The explosions around them detonated closer and closer, rending the air, yet their moment felt serene.

Aria managed a breathless laugh, incredulous. "You… Seduced them or something?" Her voice cracked from breathlessness and vulnerability.

Kentaro chuckled. Dodging another net mid-stride, he replied lightly, "Seduce them? Me? Hahaha, I'll let Tenka explain that one. When we're safely aboard the ship."

Aria's face heated in pink embarrassment. "Shut up… What ship?"

"Vaelion, our ship," Kentaro said with warm confidence. "You'll see. Yura and Serica they care about you to the point where they're fighting danger for you. We're one big, protective family."

Aria's whisper was awed. "A… Happy family…"

Kentaro dodged another net. Explosions sent glass fragments dancing in the air.

"Yeah. Yura nearly killed me once, well, not me personally, but a friend's stupid comment, more like. We almost died from falling on an amazing private island, but now…" His chuckle broke the tension.

Aria didn't laugh. She watched him quietly, the glow of his courage illuminating her fear-blackened heart. Her voice was soft, trembling.

"Do you… Love them… Enough to never let them go… Never let them be alone?"

He slowed, heart pounding, not from the chase, but from the depth of her question. Their world was burning, but in that moment, her vulnerability froze everything.

They reached the rooftop edge, no path forward, just a gaping fall.

Behind them, the Null were closing. Rusted steel claws flexed, intent to kill.

Aria's voice cracked again, echoing off concrete. "Answer me, Kentaro!" Tears glinted on her cheeks. "DO YOU LOVE THEM… AND WILL NEVER LET THEM GO… NEVER LET THEM BE ALONE?"

Kentaro closed the distance, wrapped her in a fierce, protective embrace, shielding her from all trauma, external and internal. His voice, barely above a whisper, carried through the chaos.

"Yes, Aria. I love Serica and Yura. I'll never let them fall back into despair, I will always protect them… And that includes you."

Aria's tears flowed freely now. That warmth, his sincerity, was something she thought lost to her. A safe harbour. She breathed his name, "Thank you…" Her voice broke with grace.

She pulled back, settling courageously beside him. "Okay. I'll go with you. Save me, Kentaro."

His face blossomed with relief and determination. "I promise. I'll save you from your pain."

But before they could hold the moment, Tenka's urgent shout crackled in Kentaro's ear:

"WATCH OUT, KEN!"

Kentaro snapped, horror flooding him. A Null, faster than any, materialised mere yards above, its arm had morphed into a serrated blade poised over his head. Time slowed. His body froze.

Then.

"Now, Siren!"

Aria's voice rang out, not shouted, but sung. Reality snapped back. The Null stopped mid-swing, frozen as though enraptured.

A swift, powerful kick from Aria sent the Null's head tumoring. Sparks and static skittered across its neck as it dropped.

Kentaro staggered upright, disbelieving.

"Aria… What was that?"

She offered a weak smile. "If you're going to save me… At least let me save you."

Her guitar glowed, enveloping them both. As her triumphant music swelled through the night, the Null began to dance, erratic, joyful. For a moment, the battlefield became a surreal tableau of joy.

Kentaro's jaw dropped in awe.

But then Aria coughed, and blood flecked her lip. Her frame flickered; her strength was draining.

"Now flip the switch… FLIP!" She cried, urgency in her voice.

The dancing Nulls confusedly attacked each other, self-destructing.

Kentaro shook himself. "Okay. Time to seal this now."

He approached, placing a trembling hand near her ear. Aria watched with bright, hopeful eyes, perhaps misunderstanding the intimacy of a seal.

"Anchor is connected. Seal it."

They both closed their eyes.

"Kentaaaaaaa-"

A horrifying scream bulged from behind them, Serica's voice, before...

SCRRRRWWWW

A blade tore into Kentaro's gut. Blood blossomed across his shirt. Aria screamed.

"KENTARO!" Tenka's scream split the air.

Kentaro looked up through blood-clouded vision.

Standing there, smirking coldly, was Velza, her sword dripping with his blood.

"My my… Just in time. Kentaro Takamiya… Your time's up."

Kentaro whispered, "Aria…" Before his knees buckled, and he collapsed.

Aria stood still, frozen mid-scream, her fingers trembling as if her body couldn't catch up to the horror before her eyes. Kentaro's body lay crumpled on the ground, blood spreading out beneath him like ink on ruined paper. His name, his name, was still caught in her throat, stuck between disbelief and a plea that came far, far too late.

And then, Velza's grip tightened around her collar.

She didn't even feel her feet leave the ground as they ascended into the smoke-stained sky, the chaotic battlefield blurring beneath them. But through the haze, Aria saw them.

Rin, Serica, Yura… and Kira, all of them sprinting, flying, screaming, tearing across the rooftop like the world itself had ripped apart and left only him behind.

"KENTAROOOO!!"

Yura's voice cracked, shredded by panic. Serica's was guttural, a sound that didn't sound human, raw grief erupting from her throat, a scream that came from somewhere so deep she didn't know it existed until now.

Serica hit her knees beside him, shaking hands reaching for his face, but she couldn't touch him. She was afraid, terrified, that if she touched him, he'd fade away. That he'd stop breathing. That the warm smile from earlier was the last one they'd ever see.

"Why… why… why… why-" she kept whispering, her hands trembling over the blood-soaked floor.

Shogo stumbled to them, wide-eyed. His gun clattered from his fingers as he saw Kentaro lying motionless, Rin's silhouette frozen behind him, too shocked to speak.

Yura had collapsed beside Serica, clutching Kentaro's hand like it could anchor her in the moment, like she could still feel him.

And then, Tenka's voice exploded through the comms:

"IT'S A FRACTURE BLOOM EVERYONE GET AWAY NOW!!"

The rooftop trembled.

A sharp blast of blue energy surged from Serica's body, cold, beautiful, deadly. Her aura spiked, slamming outward in every direction like jagged crystal shards growing faster than they could run.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!!" she screamed, voice cracking under the weight of loss.

Shogo's instincts kicked in; he grabbed Yura with one arm and hoisted Kentaro's limp body over his shoulder. Try as he might, he couldn't budge Serica; she was stuck to the ground, her hands still frozen.

"WHY HIM?! WHY HIM?! WHY HIM?!" Her voice fractured more than her powers.

Yura tried to reach back, her tear-stricken face turned to Serica.

"Serica, please, snap out of it!"

But Serica didn't answer. She couldn't. Her body trembled uncontrollably, her lips quivering as she chanted the only question that mattered anymore.

"Why him… why him… why him…?"

The Fracture Bloom detonated fully instantly, creating a blue barrier around the surrounding area, a shockwave of blue ice spiralling upward, ripping through every remaining enemy soldier, shattering the last of the Spire drones and Cradle scouts like glass dolls.

Tenka's voice came again, cracking through with barely restrained panic.

"NOW! INITIATE PHASE TRANSFER, GET THEM OUT!"

A bright pulse of light surrounded Kentaro, Yura, and Shogo—then they were gone, ripped from the scene by emergency teleportation.

The others fled, drones laying covering fire, Mika, Yumi and Riku setting off their last traps. But Serica?

She was still kneeling in the blood, the ground beneath her fracturing with blue light. A soldier reached for her and was instantly frozen solid before he could even scream.

Rin didn't wait around. She knew there was nothing she could do; she took one last look at the devastated Serica before vanishing into the Tokyo night.

Everyone was gone, either frozen or injured, but Serica was the only person still kneeling. The fracture bloom around her froze everything, leaving no one alive who was in the area. She stared at her hands still covered in Kentaro's blood, frozen in a spiral of sorrow and rage, glowing faintly in the moonlight.

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