"There you are!"
A voice rang out, clear, urgent, and unmistakably familiar.
She had been searching desperately across the entire area, her heart restless with dread.
And then—
At the shadowy corner of a bridge, where darkness clung like a shroud that devoured all hope, she found her.
Yumiyo, curled up like a wounded fledgling, trembling in the bitter winds of this cruel world.
At the sound of that familiar voice, Yumiyo flinched.
She looked up, tears welling in her eyes, meeting Kyouno's emerald gaze.
"Are you alright? That bastard hurt you, didn't he? It must've hurt so much…"
Kyouno's voice quivered with both fury and concern.
But contrary to her wrath, the girl simply lowered her head, her voice barely a whisper, soft as morning mist melting beneath the sun:
"Please… don't speak ill of my papa… He's like that… because of me."
Kyouno froze.
"What… are you saying? He hit you, Yumiyo! And then he said all those things to tear you down! How can you defend him?! What did you do wrong?!"
Her voice cracked, each word clenched through gritted teeth, her fury barely contained.
She wanted to break that man, tear him apart.
But despite the girl's physical and emotional wounds, Yumiyo only murmured, as if choking on each syllable:
"It's my fault… Mom died… because of me."
A thunderclap.
Kyouno stood in stunned silence.
"What… what are you talking about?"
Yumiyo lowered her face further, as if sinking into the shell of guilt someone had long ago forced her to wear.
"If it hadn't been for me… Mom wouldn't have died. Papa loved her so much. That's why he takes it out on me now"
"So if… if I could reach the Heavenly Realm… if I could see mom again, bring her back, then maybe… he'd love me again. He'd stop blaming me. So....this isn't Papa's fault. It's mine. I have to atone."
Kyouno fell silent. A storm of emotions surged within her.
Even though she couldn't fully grasp the meaning behind the girl's words, and even as thousands of unanswered questions surged through her mind.
Kyouno chose to remain silent. She understood, now wasn't the time to press for answers or demand an explanation.
And even though she didn't understand what Yumiyo truly meant by what she said.
She had come to understand one thing—
This was why the girl wanted to see her mom again.
This was why she longed for the Heavenly Realm.
It wasn't just to see her mom.
It was to reunite her family.
To bring back the father who once loved her.
Now, Kyouno didn't know what to say anymore.
She had lied to the girl.
When Yumiyo turned 18, and learned the truth—
That she could never reach the Heavenly Realm, that everything had been a fabrication…
How devastated would she be?
And yet, what could Kyouno possibly do?
The place Yumiyo longed to go, the realm of gods—could only be reached by ascending to the Divine -Tier.
Even mom had never achieved that level!
So how could she, a powerless girl, possibly do it?
Would she simply stand by and watch Yumiyo crumble into despair, just as she once had?
To let another soul drown in the same sorrow?
Suddenly—
A reckless thought sparked in Kyouno's mind.
Wild.... Irrational..... Impossible.....
And yet, It's seem to be the best option
She decided.
She would follow it.
Beside her, Yumiyo still sat, head bowed in silence.
Then—
A gentle hand rested on Yumiyo's head.
The girl looked up, and saw Kyouno smiling.
A smile like morning sun dispersing the fog.
And in those eyes, an unshakable resolve.
"Sister… Kyouno?"
Yumiyo's voice trembled like the first breeze of spring.
Kyouno took a deep breath, then spoke.
Her tone was steel wrapped in velvet, firm, yet tender beyond words:
"I promise you…"
"Mm?"
"Ahh, um… Last time, I said it too casually. This time… I want to do it properly."
As she spoke, Kyouno reached out and took Yumiyo's small hand in hers.
"Sister… Kyouno, what is this…?" - Yumiyo gasped, eyes wide.
"Well, didn't you say… this is how people here make sacred promises?
Then—
Setsuka Yumiyo, hear me now: I, Kyouno Heather, a Fairy, solemnly vow:
The moment you turn eighteen, I will personally take your hand, and bring you to that damn Heavenly Realm. So you… can see your mother again. So your family… can be whole once more."
Her voice rang out, resolute and proud.
That promise, clear, unwavering, was not only for Yumiyo.
It was a vow Kyouno made to herself.
She had decided.
She would live on, with one goal:
To reach the Divine Ascension Tier.
To reach the Heavenly Realm.
Not just to save the little girl, but to save herself.
To see, one more time—Those she loved the most.
Yumiyo, hearing that sacred vow, trembled.
Then, in that quiet moment, she extended her pinky—
Hooking it gently with Kyouno's.
A small gesture—
Yet one that bore the weight of an eternal promise.
A vow that would never be broken.
But then, suddenly—
"Ah… hah… hah…!"
Kyouno's mind reeled.
Her vision swirled. Her knees buckled beneath her. She gasped for air, as if the whole world were collapsing around her.
"Sister! Kyouno, what's wrong?!"
Yumiyo's voice rose in panic.
But to Kyouno, sound was fading, dissolving into silence. Her thoughts unraveling into mist.
Nothing around her remained clear.
The world melted into a canvas of white, limitless, boundless.
But in that final moment—
Kyouno still reached out.
She grasped that tiny hand, tightly. As if, even in the face of her own dissolution
She would protect. She would comfort.
In that moment—
The world went dark...
.....
.....
END OF CHAPTER 2