“DIVA-CHAN!!”

  She is just standing in front of me, and she’s staring down at the sand with a blank expression on her face.

  “Diva-chan!”

  I grab both of her shoulders.

  “Diva-chan! Are you okay? You’ve been taken hostage by that demonic thing! You should’ve never resorted to using demonic stuff!”

  “. . .”

  She did not respond to me.

  “Diva-chan?”

  She slowly looks up and stares into my eyes.

  “Traitor.”

  *!*

  Her one-word reply cuts deep through my heart. It hurts so much, especially because what she was saying was true.

  I did betray her and leave everyone behind.

  My facial expression quickly turns to sorrow.

  “I’m sorry for leaving you, Diva-chan!”

  “. . .”

  “. . .”

  We did not say anything for a while.

  The entire dessert at night felt stagnant. I don’t think time passes at all right now, or at least that’s the feeling I’m getting.

  “You don’t get to apologize now after intentionally abandoning all of us that day.”

  “. . .”

  I cannot respond to her. She is fully within her rights to say that.

  “Are you still mad about that?”

  “What do you think?”

  “. . .”

  Somehow, this conversation feels normal for people who are in a relationship.

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me anything?”

  *!*

  Diva suddenly shed a tear.

  “Do you not trust the rest of us that you keep your own problems to yourself??”

  “I. . .”

  “And then you get caught up in whatever was on your mind, and you just leave us.”

  “. . .I’m sorry.”

  “Then you gave me a letter instead of showing yourself to me, saying goodbye like a real man! Unbelievable!”

  “I was. . . scared to say goodbye to all of you. Because I do care about you all. . .”

  “But your actions didn’t match your words. You’re not making sense. If you care about us so much, then why even leave us in the first place?”

  “. . .I’m sorry.”

  “You abandoned the mission and made us wait for hours before we eventually went out of our own volition to search for you. And we spent more hours searching for you, where our anxiety went through the roof, thinking that you were captured, tortured, or killed.”

  “. . .I’m sorry.”

  “Raiya-chan and Martina-chan were crying all day when we realized we couldn’t even find your corpse.”

  “. . .”

  “Robert-kun and Raven-kun were sulking for an entire week. They show no enthusiasm at all during the missions for that entire week.”

  “. . .”

  My heart feels heavy.

  “We, the girls, have to cheer at the two of them, to finally get them back up on their feet. An entire week where all three of us had to babysit two young men from the Underworld.”

  “. . .”

  And I somehow felt jealousy towards their closeness.

  “Robert-kun almost got Raiya-chan killed during the first day of their sulking. He didn’t see a sniper that was stationed outside the building we were in. Raiya-chan used her gauntlet to push Robert out of the way, and she was shot in her torso. The bullet misses her heart by just a few centimeters, so thankfully, her life was not in danger, but that was very close!”

  “. . .”

  Now there are these small voices in my head telling me that maybe I shouldn’t have left them.

  “Another time, Martina-chan was almost killed as well because of Raven-kun. A missile was coming towards him, but he was just standing there. At the time, she was using her two black disks to cover me, Raiya, and Robert from hundreds of bullets. She had to drag Raven out of the way with her Vein armor. Thankfully, Raven wasn’t using his so she got him out of the missile's range. But her back did get burned from the explosion a little bit. If she were to push him a little bit later, she would’ve died along with Raven-kun.”

  I know she’s telling me stuff about the negative effects of my departure, but seeing their closeness never changes, but increases as well, making me feel a bit jealous.

  “I’m sorry. . .”

  “. . .”

  “I apologize. . . I have no idea that I was affecting all of you guys’ daily lives that much.”

  “. . .”

  Diva did not respond.

  “I’m sorry. . .”

  “STOP SAYING SORRY!!”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  *!*

  *BRRSS*

  Diva suddenly shouts right into my face, and it startled me greatly, so I fell on my butts to the sands.

  I look up towards her and see that tears are falling down her face harder than previously. Seeing her tears hurt my heart and broke my spirit somehow.

  Wait a minute!

  I came here to convince her to let go of the past!

  And yet, I was the one who got caught up in her pace instead.

  Hearing her stories of what happened after I left hit my psyche like a truck.

  But this won’t do!

  I have to be strong!

  I have to be the one to convince her!

  Mari-chan is fighting outside right now!

  I know she’s way stronger than whatever that demon is, but since it’s immortal and Mari is not, she’ll get exhausted if this takes long enough!

  I have to finish this quickly!

  For Mari-chan’s sake!!

  And for her sake as well!

  I stand up and stare into her eyes.

  My gaze is completely different from what it looked like a second ago.

  My determination is firm now.

  “Diva-chan! Please leave the Underworld!”

  *!!*

  Diva has a strange and confused look on her face.

  “W-What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

  *inhales exhales*

  I took a long and deep breath. I am about to say something so arrogant it might even work to make her forget about me!

  “You love me all this time, didn’t you?”

  *!!*

  She sees me saying that sentence with a very stern facial expression.

  “I. . .I. . .”

  She was flustered. It was very unexpected. I genuinely thought that she would get offended by what I said, given my wording. She looked down, and her face looked sad. She continues to cry without sobbing.

  “I do. . .*sobs sobs*”

  “Diva-chan! Please forget about me!”

  “. . .”

  “Our relationship is over the day we destroyed our country! After all, we only decided to date to build trust between each other to delete any hint of betrayal until both of us achieved our dream. Am I right?”

  *Sobs sobs*

  Diva nodded her head as she kept sobbing.

  “Whatever we got going on afterwards doesn’t feel like we’re in a relationship, right? Do you agree?”

  “. . .”

  Diva thinks to herself for a second.

  “First and foremost, I have no idea what dating is in the first place. So naturally, I have nothing to compare our experiences to.”

  “Well, let me check! Have you ever thought of doing naughty things to me?”

  “Naughty things?”

  “Sexual stuff! Oh, c’mon! We both have lived long enough in the Underworld! You know what I am trying to say, right?”

  “. . .”

  Diva nods.

  “But. . . we did share that first kiss.”

  “Well, that was before we achieved our dream. And not to mention, I was the one who couldn’t hold myself back, and I stole your first kiss from you because of it.”

  I bow my head towards her.

  “I apologize! I learned how important first kisses are for girls after I left the Underworld! I am sorry once again!”

  “. . .”

  “That also means I stole your first kiss as well, so there’s no need to apologize! I kissed you back at that moment after all! I am partially at fault!”

  “It doesn’t work that way for boys though. . . But I do appreciate the thought.”

  “But why do you insist that I leave the Underworld? This is who I am! That’s the place I was born in and grew up in! You’re basically asking me to throw away who I am! Isn’t that a little too far, Eissen-kun?”

  *!*

  That is the first time she has called me by my name since I met her inside her consciousness.

  “Because I love all of you!”

  “Eissen-kun! That doesn’t make sense at all!”

  “What doesn’t?”

  “Because if you love us, WHY DID YOU EVEN LEAVE US?!”

  “The reason I leave you all and the fact that I love you all are two completely different matters! Do not get the two mixed up!”

  “So why did you leave us?”

  “. . .”

  I close my eyes for a moment to prepare myself to finally be open about what I’ve been feeling throughout my life.

  “I feel like everything that happens in my life is a choice that I didn’t get to make.”

  Diva was surprised. She has never heard this from his mouth all this time.

  “And then killing people felt wrong to me after a while.”

  I look down, and she can see that there is guilt in my eyes.

  “Eissen-kun. . .”

  “I know it’s ridiculous coming from someone like me! The guy who killed people left and right without a second thought throughout my life. My mindset was that, if I don’t take their lives, they’ll take mine! So that’s why I never hesitated. . .”

  I look towards her with teary eyes.

  “But once I realized that everyone that I killed also had an entire life behind them, I started to feel that what I am doing is wrong. The guy with the rock Faith power and that female twin sibling with the heat Faith power were the ones who pushed me into this direction. I heard both of their last words. They both terrified me to my core, that sometimes I can still see their dying expressions whenever I close my eyes.”

  “. . .I had no idea that you’ve been carrying these feelings for a while, Eissen-kun. Why didn’t you tell us about any of this?”

  “I apologize! I feel guilty talking about this to all of you! I saw your faces and how happy you guys are whenever you land the killing blow on someone. I am afraid of weirding you guys out. Not to mention that I was the leader of Scorpio at the time! A leader of a group of killers is having second thoughts about killing people, which would make us look like a joke in the Underworld.”

  “Eissen-kun. . . You’ve been thinking about us this whole time. . .”

  “I was also afraid of feeling like I didn’t belong there! Because I love you guys and I wanna stay with you all until I die. . .”

  “. . .”

  Diva’s face was saddened after I told her about my wish that never came true.”

  “Are you happy with your current life, Eissen-kun?”

  *!!*

  I did not expect that question at all from Diva.

  I shed tears without realizing it, as I gave her my answer.

  *sobs sobs*

  “Yes! I do!”

  *sobs sobs*

  “Diva-chan! I am an assassin from the Underworld! And then I met God during that mission where I disappeared! He led me out of the Underworld! He took care of me and provided for me! I am a killer, and THAT was how God treated me even after I said stuff like ‘there’s no god in this world!’!”

  *sobs sobs*

  “Pretty unfair, don’t you think?”

  “. . .”

  Diva almost teared up as well, seeing how vulnerable my current facial expression was.

  “He led me to several different places as I made my way towards a certain location in Japan. He made me realize that my Faith power is actually useful outside of combat as well! Did you know that I can use my warp to help grab a little girl’s kitten that got stuck in a tall tree? My Vein armor is strong enough that I can carry an old lady to the nearby police station to help her out!”

  Diva smiles while tears are rolling down her face as she hears my story.

  “And then He led me to a crying girl all alone inside a forest in front of six gravestones. God chose me as a helper for that crying girl! After that encounter, that girl, the girl you saw who was with me, Mari-chan, went around the world to help people and save them from their acts of sin.”

  “. . .”

  “Do you see what I am getting at, Diva-chan?? I was an assassin leading a group of several other assassins as well, and yet God has helped to change my ways, and now I am helping people because of Him!”

  “. . .”

  Diva was hesitant, but she was listening very carefully.

  “It’s been an entire year since I met Mari-chan, and yet I no longer have that feeling of aimlessness and directionlessness ever since! This time, I feel like I am doing something that God Himself has created me for in the first place!”

  “. . .”

  “Diva-chan! Please leave the Underworld and find your purpose elsewhere! I am not gonna force you to come to God, though it would be delightful if you do, but at least please leave your Underworld life behind!! I guarantee you, it will only lead you to destruction!!”

  “. . .”

  “Forget about the creed that I told you! I came up with those rules when I wasn’t even sure that what I was doing was the correct path or not!”

  “. . .”

  “Diva-chan. . .”

  Diva suddenly turns around.

  *!!!*

  And without realizing it, the entire scenery has changed from an open, endless desert to a cramped, closed space of our old and flooded bunker that we both used to live in.

  “This is--!!”

  “Eissen-kun! Thank you for telling me your honest feelings!”

  “. . .I should be the one saying sorry! If I had talked to you guys properly, none of this would have happened in the first place! You wouldn’t even resort to using a demon to accomplish my stupid creed.”

  “I feel. . . a lot better now. . .”

  *!!!*

  Hearing her say that instantly releases an invisible heavy burden from my shoulders.

  “Eissen-kun, I think I am ready! No more longing for the past! After seeing how you are doing after you left, I felt so happy. . .and relieved. From now on, I wanna live towards the future, just like you!”

  “Diva-chan!”

  “Although it’s quite unfortunate that I don’t have you anymore on my side, seeing how happy you seemed with your current life, for some reason, it makes me feel at ease. I feel like I can properly move on without regrets now.”

  I smiled at her. She finally accepted the reality of our relationship.

  “I apologize for troubling you and your new girlfriend, Eissen-kun! I’ll let go of that demon! I was holding it back with my will, that’s why it kept regenerating, no matter how many times your new girlfriend defeated it. I am sorry for involving her in our mess!” said Diva as she bowed her head towards me.

  “W-WE ARE NOT DATING YET!!”

  “E-EH? REALLY? HOW COME?”

  “A-Anyway, let’s save that for later! Are you ready to return, Diva-chan??”

  I smiled at her, and I offered her my hand.

  “Yes, Eissen-kun!”

  She smiles at me and takes my hand.