Pink To The Future (K-On! Fanfic)

Chapter VIII: Crumbs Of Utopia (The Orphans of Boom)

The whole world was there, watching silently as history was unfolding right before their eyes. Then suddenly, the broadcast stopped, and the mindless mob that once was humanity lied in wait. 

The same scene happened everywhere, and Hugging Square was no exception. Men, women and children of any race were one next to each other staring, breathing, waiting for the end of their world. First, it came as a sound of something crumbling from the distance. Then they all turned to the Fuwa Fuwa Clock Tower as they watched it fall.

(taken from the lyrics of "I Was Born For This" by Austin Wintory, translated by Chris Smith)
To each his day his given
To each his day his given

Inside the clock tower, Yui was finally ready to spend her last moments with her beloved Azu-nyan, but she wasn't prepared at all at what was in front of her: Azusa's face was covered in tears.

"Why is she crying ? Is she sad ? Did I do something wrong again ?" she thought. Then, she realized that those were a kind of tears she didn't see in years: tears of happiness. Just as she came to that conclusion, Yui saw Azu-nyan smile at her as she kept crying, and the one the world came to know as the Moempress was awestruck as never before: it was undoubtedly the most beautiful, radiant smile she ever seen in her own life.

Yui wanted to finally hug her friend, but Azusa was quicker: before she could even move a finger, she felt Azu-nyan's humid cheeck land on her own. While Azusa moved to hug her as everything was falling around them, Yui could hear her cry some words - those very words that she wanted to tell her herself: "YOU'RE BAAAACK !!"

It was finally time: Yui closed her eyes to feel that moment with all her heart. Her arms moved to hug back Azusa, and when she felt that the Pink Fluorescent Light Stick she was still holding in her right hand was in the middle, she simply let it fall. She didn't feel any regret in doing so: it was quite the opposite. It felt good. It felt right. It felt perfectly perfect.

This time that I fare from you 

The tower was falling, and a myriad grains of pink candyfloss started floating all around like tiny petals carried by the wind. They flew all over the city, engulfing everything and everyone in a surreal, harmonious, bittersweet atmosphere. 

One by one, everyone started to feel something wet flowing from their eyes. At first they would touch that strange liquid to understand what it could possibly be. Then, as if they awakened from a long dream, all the people slowly began to realize that the cause of those strange drops originated from a long forgotten feeling.

Lost is my homecoming
Lost is my homecoming

Mio, Ritsu, and all the others gathered together, and as the sadness started to take its grip, they would hug each other to face that sorrow together. The only exception was Ui.

I was born for this 

As tears were flowing from her face, Yui's little sister opened her arms as if she wanted to get as much candyfloss as possible. Ui was the saddest person in the world, and yet a deep sense of gratitude and joy filled her very soul: her big sister was no more, but she left her last will in the form of a game for humanity to play together. But most of all, she felt that Yui was finally free: free from a world who constantly asked her for guidance. At the bottom of that desperation and unerring sense of loss, Ui felt a touching, deep happiness. True happiness.

Along this road
Goes no-one

Near the river, a man watched the Pink Fluorescent Light Stick in his hand: without even realizing, he walked forward and threw it into the water. One by one, everyone followed him until the river itself became a stream of pink, fluorescent light.