The battle was chaos.

A powerful Shadow towered over the battlefield, its form shifting like smoke and steel. Junpei shouted orders, Yukari fired arrows, Fuuka’s voice echoed through the comms with support spells, and Akihiko charged in, fists crackling with lightning.

Makoto stood at the center.

Calm. Focused. The eye of the storm.

Until the Shadow turned on him.

Its attack came fast—too fast. A jagged burst of dark energy, aimed straight for Makoto’s chest.

You didn’t think. You moved. Your body collided with his, knocking him out of the way. The blast hit you instead.

Hard.

You fell.

Makoto caught you before you hit the ground, arms wrapping around you like instinct. Your eyes fluttered, breath shallow, blood staining your uniform.

And Makoto—

Makoto broke.

“No,” he whispered, voice cracking. “No, no, no—”

Junpei turned, eyes wide. “Makoto—?”

But Makoto didn’t hear him.

He was on his knees, holding you, shaking, his composure shattered like glass. “Why would you—why the hell would you do that?”

You didn’t answer.

You couldn’t.

The Shadow roared again, but Makoto didn’t move. Not yet. Not until Yukari’s arrow struck its core and Akihiko drove it back with a final blow.

Fuuka’s voice trembled in his ear. “Yuki… is she—?”

“She’s breathing,” he said, barely audible. “But she’s not waking up.”

He pressed his forehead to yours, eyes closed, jaw clenched.

“You weren’t supposed to protect me,” he whispered. “I was supposed to protect you.”

And for once, the leader of SEES—the boy who carried the weight of the world—let himself break.

Because you mattered.

And he wasn’t ready to lose you.