Nimbus Child I: Games of War

Past 4

"Nee-sama..."

"I know."

"I'm scared..."

"I know, Hiei", Kongō brushed through her sister's hair, "I know."

The whole class was inside the CCS, their physical bodies too far away from each other.

Haruna and Kongō were sitting beside each other, arms and legs pressed together, Hiei on the eldest's lap, Kirishima on Haruna's.

Both Hiei's and Kirishima's legs were dissolving, the nanomaterial beginning to fall apart in colourful hexagons.

It was a terrible day, it would be a terrible new morning – they wouldn't be alright, they couldn't be.

Haruna had stopped speaking at some point, only holding her dying sister's hands because every word she tried to form ended up as a garbled mess choking her from deep within.

A shudder went through Kirishima, making her curl up a bit more: "I'm actually a bit cold, girls", she gave a small chuckle, "the water isn't even that cold."

No one laughed.

"...That's a very scary face, Kongō."

Haruna broke out into a violent sob above her, which made Kirishima turn onto her upper body onto her back in a way that didn't dislodge the four sisters' hands but still allowed her to touch Haruna's cheek in a panic: "I'm sorry, that wasn't funny! Haruna, don't cry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

It felt like she was apologizing for more than just making her sister cry.

Hiei felt that too and tightened her grip on both Kongō's waist and everyone's intertwined hands: "Nee-sama...", she choked out, then fell into a string of choked sobs, "it hurts... nee-sama."

"You can sleep, if you want", Kongō caressed her cheek, "it'll be alright, you hear? You are allowed to sleep."

And dream a sweet dream. Forever, for all eternity.

Because Kongō knew, the moment her stinging eyes met the blurred ones of Hiei, that beautiful pale sunrise, that she wouldn't come back.

The sunrise had come too soon, or maybe it had come too late – sleeping past their suffering, past Ironbottom Sound – and their hands were empty and their laps were cold.