It wasn't long after Sands waited in front of the ruins for the child to emerge that a dusty child emerged from the ruins. A bad premonition never fails. The child's LOVE was 6. When the child emerged from the ruins, its LOVE had never been higher than 6. There would be no living in the ruins now. The smile was wiped from Sands' face.
She looked at her dirt-stained, striped clothes and remembered the dirt on her coat from the waterfall. For a moment, she saw a reflection of herself in the child, but she denied it. I'm not like that kid.
...Do you really think so?
An unknown question came from the depths of her mind, but she couldn't answer it. While Sands was briefly distracted by her inner question, the child lunged for her. The sound of the little thing pounding the ground brought him back to his senses and he summoned his gas blaster.
"Don't you think the pattern is stuck?"
The child rolled on the ground as soon as he saw the Gaster Blaster. Instead of firing the Gaster Blaster, Sands threw a bone at the child. The gas blaster was a trick. The child's eyes widened at the unexpected attack, and he quickly ducked his head to avoid it. His center of gravity collapsed.
"What-"
Sands raised his left hand and slammed the flailing child against the ruined wall. The child's soul shattered against the bones that rose from the ruined wall, like the blood spurting from my chest. Sands gained EXP from the child. Sands' LOVE increased.
Time reverted to the moment before the child emerged from the ruins. Sands' LOVE went back with it.
...Really?
* * *
Back in front of the ruins, Sands was waiting for the child to come out of the ruins when he suddenly had a pleasant thought.
Heh, wouldn't it be pretty ridiculous to eat a bunch of 'gol'?
Sands giggled at the thought, then gasped in horror.
I didn't think so. My God, what was that?
The child from the ruins looked at Sands with a furrowed brow. Sands summoned his Gaster Blaster. The child eyed the Gaster Blaster suspiciously. Sands shrugged and fired the Gaster Blaster at the child, hoping that it would not blow a bone. The child, who was struck by the Gaster Blaster, cried out in indignation, not caring that his body was spitting blood.
"Hey, that's cowardly!"
"I thought you said you were stuck in a pattern?"
As soon as the child heard the words, he became ridiculous and threw his toy knife at Sands. It was a blind throw, and his aim was terrible. Sands didn't even teleport, just moved and dodged. He didn't expect to get hit, but the fact that she dodged made him even angrier. Ai glared at Sands and spat out words.
"I didn't mean fuck you like this!"
Sands shrugged, and soon the child stopped moving.
Time continued to rewind. He was no longer worried about thoughts he hadn't had.
In the loop of time, Sands killed the child, gaining EXP and increasing her LOVE, but as soon as the child called in a save, her LOVE returned.
* * *
But all was not lost.
...You're getting away from you.
* * *
How many times did it repeat itself, she couldn't tell. Sands suffered from a heavy fatigue, not physical, but mental. A mind that was stretched thin with fatigue, leaving a gap between action and inaction. The child quickly realized this and pounced on Sands' pause. She lunges and tries to release the blade, but her reaction time is too late to avoid it. The child slashed down with the toy knife across Sands' chest. The child grinned with satisfaction at his accomplishment.
