"Look, I really didn't mind the fact that I died and reincarnated into Ansatsu Kyoushitsu. I didn't really mind that you gave me a hole in the heart. That was a real dick move, but I didn't complain. So god, Void, whatever, I'm sorry I punched a stu...
This chapter is very specifically AsaNao. Like, I've written them as genfic readable in the entire main story, but you can't do that here. They're very much in love in this chapter. And no, there's no happy ending here either.
Sorry. Not sorry. I really liked writing this chapter. It's very self-indulgent. The inspiration for this chapter is this song I've put up there ^ Listen to it after reading this chapter if you would like to cry.
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Nao didn't come from a world of soulmates, but when he learned what they were, he wondered why he had any at all.
Everyone had a soulmate, or two, or three.
"Half of them are usually platonic, a few of them would give you a bond that transcends anything else, but only one of them is the one you'll love forever," Ms Sakurai told him, "that's how it's usually said. Of course, that's just the blanket explanation— every human connection varies."
Soulmates existed, not for romantic reciprocation, but to ensure you always have people by your side to lead you onward. Nao was accustomed to being alone. He was living on borrowed time, surviving for no real reason— so truthfully, he didn't need any soulmates.
He felt sorry for the ones that were stuck with him.
He didn't know how to live for someone else.
(No one had ever lived for him.)
Nao's bonds were something he treasured— the kanji for Liberty closed directly over his already inordinate heart, promising something eternal— and yet, Kazane threw him aside for a man whose red string connected to hers.
You're not supposed to tear it apart like that, people always assured him, as he grew up with an ache in his heart that made him too sick to lift his head some days. Consent is important when parting your circle. Your sister was a terrible, inconsiderate woman.
But Nao longed to be her.
Nao longed to be full of dreams and life, capable of selfishly running forward without regard for anyone around her— she surged onward, never looking back, and she continued to live, free as the wind. She is the main character of her own story, while Nao was fated to always be an outsider to someone else's.
To him, she is liberty.
The liberty to love, the liberty to live, the liberty to pursue grander, unimaginable dreams, destined for a grand story of epic proportions.
She is the Liberty he was born without the right to have.
(The lightning scars at his chest reach desperately toward his heart, longing for the promise that was no longer there.)
