Étude of Humanity

Final Chapter

It was the bittersweet midnight of January fourth.

Snowing quite faintly with a somewhat lit lamp post nearby, everywhere else was covered with a layer of snow. The night was now calm, no more barbaric and violent utterances and intents around.

The world could never be more sane than it is now.

"Sayre...!"

That was Akko from a distance, calling out my name as his footsteps became louder and louder.

I felt his warmth beside me, tendering it towards me. Not only that, he laid his hoodie around me as a sort of blanket.

I was shivering not only from the cold, but the pain that was inflicted on me.

I took some deep breaths before looking at him, "A-Akko! I'm alrighty as you can see-y! See? Hahahaha...!" I said rather wispily.

"You got snow all over your hair, god damn it." He brushes my hair with his hand, but his face looked like it changed topic, "Wait."

"Hmm...? What is it?"

"This isn't snow."

Sayre hasn't paid attention to her peripheral vision because of all this dizziness and tiredness that Mr. Killer put into me, so I did just that. I'd normally see my fluffy side bangs, but in this case,

They're white. Coldly as white as the snow around us.

It was no longer the dark teal hair that I got from papa.

Is this what Mr. Killer meant by taking a portion of my life? Taking away one of my sentimental possessions?

My arm gave up from supporting itself again, so I fell again to the ground.

That was the best time for me to cry at least.

I can't bear how disabled I am now.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not...!" Sayre tries to laugh with this down voice. "I'm done."

"Done with what?"

"MAME. I'm done with everything. I want to live a normal life."

That was the entire plan—the part where I struck Mr. Killer's explosives on his waist was plan B.

It was Akko's plan all along together with the help of Chihiro and eventually Yumi and Yukki-chan that they'll help me escape from the dreadfulness and cruelty of MAME. They say it's entirely impossible to do so just because how sophisticated and a surveillance they are. They say once you escaped from MAME, you'll certainly be sent back. A second time and you'll be dead.

Of course, you getting sent back and killing you dead isn't all that there is to it, just like what they have done to mama and papa when they recruited me.

I heard him scratch his head, seemingly lost at first, "Uhm, you want to go home? The plan's done."

"No, not yet! How about his body?"

Both of us looking at Mr. Killer's body, it's beyond recognition—mainly because he exploded with those things he has on his waist from explosives to chemicals. Had I shot him in the chest successfully, the original plan was to stage a murder; either Jack the Ripper style or hang him in the park's forest.

There was one trade off though: it wouldn't be stealthy. Akko and I neither have anything to conceal our fingerprints and whatnot that could be used against us. I mean, this isn't free real estate!

But this is plan B, where Mr. Killer looks like he got overly toasted in a toaster, so that plan wouldn't work!

"What? Do we leave him there?" he asked.