It was in the middle of summer, yet the haze created a suffocating nip in your throat, while the burning sand scalded your feet. Just like the day you met her for the first time. The sun had long set over the horizon, but your vision remained tinted with a red hue, incomprehensible in nature. Voices murmuring in your head got louder and louder, drowning out the eerie nature of the overbearing silence around you, the beach devoid of the sound of crashing waves, summer cicadas, or rustling wind, at the summer resort.

When did this begin? Was it entering her Senior Year? Was it after the Queen Elizabeth Cup II? Or had it always been inside you, slowly begging to be released, a sweet thorn enrapturing your very mind, blooming into the seeds of insanity?

Your thoughts were interrupted by a familiar sight. Despite being late into the night, shining brightly under the moonlight was your beloved Trainee. You were overseeing her overtime training, and you were reminded of the very reason you were here. You had fallen in love with her running. So much so, you couldn't get enough of it. Of how beautiful it was. Of how it made her enemies succumb to their misery when they lost. Just the sight of it made your heart race. The voices grew louder, spiralling into a symphony of madness as you lost any sense of self, corrupted by the monster inside Still in Love herself.

"I want to see her run. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see it. I want to see her run."

Hazy thoughts resembling reason struggled to take over. Neo Universe warned you about this. Continuing to train her like this would eat you alive, from the very core, without any help. This wouldn't just lead to insanity.

It would lead to death.

A sudden cold touch landed on your cheek, snapping you out of both your demonic voices and garbled thoughts. A look of concern, one resembling the girl you knew before she made her official debut with you. This is... no, was, Still in Love.

"...Trainer-san? You look... tired."

She whispered, a tone laced with concern, yet filled you with the sobriety of hope, only to be crushed in an instant, the monster inside taking over.

"Why are you distracted? Is it because I lost recently...? Oh, Trainer-san, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please don't look away from me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. I will win the Triple Tiara, so you don't have to look anywhere else! Please, Trainer-san!! Did you forget me? Are you forgetting me? Do you hate me now?! But I love you."

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

Her crimson eyes shone brightly, holding onto your throat. Her voice sounded like it was submerged under a deep ocean of despair in your ears. This had to stop now. You had to do something about it when you still could... There had to be a way.

But... This didn't hurt either. No, it didn't. In some sick, twisted way, this felt good. Exciting. Why?

After all... You were still in love with Still in Love.