Chapter 29: After that—

Right now, I’m lying in a hospital bed.

The Fifth Deep Calamity somehow ended safely, and I—who failed to die along with it—am left like this, shrinking in on myself because I can’t quite bring myself to face anyone.

…Honestly, so much has happened that it feels like it’ll take a long time before I can sort out my feelings.

Apparently, Yuri had been inside me this whole time. It’s… complicated. I thought she had gone far away, but once I learned the truth, she disappeared.

Well, there are cases where a Curse Seeker’s power gets inherited by a Connector, so maybe it’s possible for something like a Connector’s remnants to remain inside a Curse Seeker too.

The whole Connect Link bond is, honestly, hard to understand. Things like that probably just happen.

…More importantly, how the hell did I even survive?

There’s no way to take down that massive swarm of Deep Calamity without going Abaddon.

So yeah—I had to go Abaddon.

Kisa held out for a while through sheer effort, but even if Akegami Sora has relatively stable specs, it still wouldn’t be enough. She’s an all-rounder, not built for annihilation.

As for my death route, it was supposed to follow the original story—my body collapsing in the Abaddon state, then passing everything on to Nagisa.

The title Last Inheritance carries the meaning of a final legacy. It refers to a dying Curse Seeker entrusting their power to someone at the very end… or at least, that’s what the developers said.

So at the end of Chapter 1, Shinozaki Nagisa was supposed to become the only Connector capable of using Curse Seeker skills, and go on to play an active role from Chapter 2 onward.

Not just a support-type protagonist, but one who fights alongside everyone.

…Well, that didn’t happen.

I mean, is this even okay? Won’t this mess up future progression?

I guess having a powerful Curse Seeker who came back from the Abyss still alive doesn’t exactly make us weaker, but still…

Also, as for my condition—I’m not exactly someone who returned from the Abyss. I came back from the brink of full Abaddon transformation, so my hair and eye color are still altered.

It’s apparently a very rare state, so they’re going to study me. Lab rat Akegami. Well, it’s not that bad.

That’s also why I’m in the hospital. They want to run a few tests.

…

Anyway, I’ve been rambling, but inside my head things are still a complete mess. I can’t even tell what I’m feeling anymore.

It’s like “I” and “me” are still mixed together.

Yuri gave me a push, but I still didn’t have anything I wanted to do. Then the protagonist asked me to help him… and once I was given a role, I figured maybe that was enough.

But seriously—when I say I don’t know what to do, is “please help me” really the answer you go with?

Then again, I’m the one who accepted that, so I guess I’m no better. I don’t even understand myself.

Honestly, when Yuri pushed me forward, I did think maybe it’d be okay to keep living. But I didn’t have the strength to walk forward on my own.

And then he handed me a reason to stand up.

What a sly bastard.

"Akegami-san."

"...What is it, Nagisa-kun?"

I turned to him. Nagisa-kun had been sitting beside my bed the whole time, holding my hand.

My condition is a bit unusual—if I let my guard down, the Abaddon transformation starts progressing again. So apparently, physical contact is needed to deepen the Connect Link.

It’s not like we have to stay like this constantly, but we do need to do it regularly.

I’m not planning on playing the “Akegami Yuri” role anymore. There are still traces of that persona, but there’s no need to pretend now.

So I don’t really feel like teasing Nagisa-kun either.

…Which just makes holding hands like this feel strangely embarrassing. That’s not really my character.

"So that’s your personality now, Akegami-san?"

"What do you mean, ‘that personality’? Got a problem with me acting like a girl?"

"No, I just thought you might be forcing it."

"As if I would, idiot."

I shot back bluntly, and Nagisa-kun let out a soft laugh.

That annoyed me, so I squeezed his hand a little tighter. He winced. Serves him right.

"By the way, now that I think about it, your way of persuading me back then was pretty reckless."

"...Yeah, now that you mention it, maybe it was."

"I thought you were going to reach out your hand, but instead you punched me in the heart and then asked for help. Who does that?"

"But if I had just reached out normally, you wouldn’t have taken it, right?"

"..."

I couldn’t argue with that.

I’m not the kind of person who gets saved that easily.

…Though really, I’m just being stubborn.

"By the way, I’ve been wondering something."

"Yeah?"

Our eyes met. His serious expression made me catch my breath.

"Why did you stick so close to me all the time, Akegami-san?"

"Do you really need that serious a face to ask that?"

"I’ve been curious for a while."

"There are way more important things to ask! Like what you saw through the Connect Link, for example!"

After everything, he told me he had glimpsed scenes from my past life through the Connect Link.

Not just Yuri—him too, huh?

Well, if I’m going to keep living, I figured I’d have to tell him eventually anyway.

"I mean, I am curious about that too. But if I saw it through the Connect Link, then it’s your memory, right? So this world is based on a game or something like that?"

"You figured that out way too fast."

"I don’t know why, but once I thought that might be the case, it just made sense. More importantly, was there actually a reason you stuck so close to me all the time?"

"…………I just liked your reactions."

"...Seriously?"

Nagisa-kun narrowed his eyes. Was that not a good enough reason?

That’s just how it is.

"It’s your fault for reacting so much."

"...Well, I think most people would react that way if someone like you kept clinging to them. What were you going to do if I had taken it seriously?"

"Who knows."

"You didn’t think about it at all?"

"Well, if you’d fallen for me, it might’ve made a nice memory."

"That’s awful."

"It’s fine, you didn’t actually fall for me."

"...Are you sure?"

"—Huh?"

His gaze sharpened.

My heart skipped. The hand I was holding suddenly felt hot.

Wait… what does that mean?

Seriously? Are you serious?

But… it’d make more sense if I fell for him after being saved. Why would he fall for me?

Wait—what do I mean I’d fall for him? That’d be weird too.

…I mean, I do acknowledge him. And I’d go a little out of my way for his sake.

At the very least, he’s part of the reason I thought maybe it’d be okay to keep living.

This is weird. I can’t organize my thoughts.

"Haha, sorry. Just kidding."

"...Hey, you—!"

My face burned.

I thought that was his way of confessing.

"But the old you used to do this to me all the time."

"Is that so."

I turned away and buried my face in the sheets—still holding his hand, which just made it more annoying.

It doesn’t feel right being the one getting teased.

My racing heartbeat slowly settled down.

"...By the way, we still haven’t decided on a team name. Was there one in the game?"

"...Blue Sky."

"Huh?"

"The team name in the game was Blue Sky."

The reason is… well, in the original story, Shinozaki Nagisa took Akegami Sora’s death really hard.

So he made that the team name. Kisa and Reina also cared a lot about Akegami Sora, so they went along with it.

Honestly, that team had issues.

"Hmm. Then maybe we should go with that."

"Wait, what?"

I shot upright without thinking.

"Our team wouldn’t work without you, Akegami-san. So it’s fine, right?"

"...Do whatever you want."

I’m already tired. Do as you please.

Is he messing with me or something? That’s kind of irritating.

—Rattle, rattle. The door slid open.

"Yuri—no, I mean, Sora-chan!"

"I’m glad you’re doing well, Akegami Sora."

"Akegamiii, how are you feeling?"

Kisa, Reina, and Honoka entered the room. Everyone already knows my real name.

But seriously—what’s with “Sora-chan”? Whatever.

Kisa came closer, Honoka snorted at me, and Reina watched us quietly from a distance.

Peace has finally arrived.

I never thought things would turn out like this.

Honoka officially joined our team too. At some point.

"What’s wrong, Akegami-san?"

"It’s nothing."

As I felt the warmth of his hand in mine, I found myself wishing he would call me by my name too.