Boom~~~
Yurei's dimension collapsed completely.
"We did it! Hahaha!" Dango declared in triumph. "The wasp virus has gone completely. All that's left is for the small unit to self-destruct… but there's one more piece of bad news. That chip overwrote more than seventy percent of her brain. That means Kurayami's body… no longer truly belongs to her."
The supernova blast turned the digital world into a blinding white void. Looking up, Sok-jang saw Kurayami's true self, dressed in a hospital gown, falling from the shattered fragments of the black moon. The white-haired man immediately flew up and caught her.
"Kurayami-san"
She slowly opened her eyes from her long slumber and saw her brother's face.
"You did it… thank you, big brother. I guess… it's time now…."
In the next instant, Seoki was violently pulled back into the real world.
With the little strength she had left, Kurayami raised her left hand and removed the visor from his face.
"B-Big bro… ."
She could barely speak. Below them, the people finally regained consciousness, hurriedly taking off their glasses in confusion.
"It's already two in the morning! How did I even end up here?!"
The chaos within the city gradually settled back into normalcy as Seoki hurriedly stood up and supported his sister. Then—the rooftop door burst open.
Seto came running up, gasping for breath.
"Kurayami!" he shouted from behind. With his metal-coated severed arm, he rushed forward. "I'm here!"
He joined Seoki in holding her. The girl lay on her back, her eyes still gazing at the moon in the sky, half-hidden behind drifting clouds. "...…" Seto hugged her, tears spilling freely. Majima and Kozo stood nearby, lowering their heads—there was nothing they could do either.
"Don't cry, big bros," Kurayami said softly. "For me… I lived life to the fullest." Her voice was sincere. "Seoki-chan, Seto-kun were always there, teaching me, taught me how to read music, helped me see clearly what was right and what wasn't. But the mistakes I made… they can't be taken back anymore. Maybe this is the final step of my staircase." She smiled gently, just like when she was a child. "So I want to choose how I end it myself. And besides—I'm eighteen already, ya know."
"A kid like you shouldn't have had to go through any of this," Seto said through his tears.
"That's nonsense, hehe," she laughed lightly. "Maybe the gods—Kamii—had already written my fate this way. And you don't have any ties left here anymore, right? Walk your own path."
"Legacy of Bito will end here, along with Yurei's curse. But I believe my spirit will still remain… so everyone can smile, even on the darkest days."
"...…"
Dango, listening to her farewell, fell silent.
"May happiness… be with your present… and your future," Kurayami said, looking at both of her brothers one last time, before closing her eyes and returning home.
"Let's go home together, Kurayami," Seoki said quietly, lifting her body in his arms as he turned toward the dawn of a new day.
"You're late, everyone~ Today, Yurei will be taking her leave now. Sayonara~~~"
Her voice, once known as Yurei's, echoed from the giant billboard, accompanied by a music box playing the final refrain of /\bsolute Lullaby.[1]
♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫
Na~~ Na~~ Na~~~~ Na~~~~~~
Fumu~~ Fumu~~ Fumu~~~~~~~
(That's Absoru~ Lullaby For Me~)
Fumu~~ Fumu~~ Fumu~~~~~~~
That's Absoru~ Lullaby For You
♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫
[1] Top Down OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lhn4hxT9eM