Yuuku Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru
Togo Mimori stared blankly at the ceiling of her hospital room. The feeling of despair she first felt when she learned of the world's 'Truth' was nothing compared to this.
Her mind kept repeating itself over the final battle - when Yuuna once again took the field against the Vertex, and where things went horribly wrong...
"I can't accept that I'll just forget about Yuuna and everyone else!" Togo shouted in dispair. "If I'm going to lose what's most important to me..."
"You won't forget!" Yuuna yelled back, trying to get up from the blow that Togo inflicted on her.
"Why do you say so?" Togo responded, thinking back on her own memories...
"Because this is what I wish for! Because this is what I'll continue to think no matter what!"
Togo stared at Yuuna, taken back at the answer. It was so like Yuuna to say something like this, but then she remembered what happened to Sonoko and how she was bed-ridden due to her fights.
"We must have thought the same thing..." Tears started flowing out of her eyes as bitter emotions started to overflow from within her. "I can't remember anything from before except for the sadness..."
In the end, isn't that what she was fighting for? Togo could not help but yell, "I don't even know why these tears are flowing!" while lashing out in a whirl of emotions.
"I don't want this anymore! I'm scared! You'll eventually forget me too! That's why..."
"But as long as you don't forget me, we'll meet again."
Togo's eyes widened at Yuuna's declaration. "Even now, you still remember those emotions made with your friend, don't you? Then all I have to do is never let you forget about me!"
A bright flash covered Yuuna and her already Mankai-state seemed to shimmer. "HaaaaaaaAAAAAA!" She yelled, and light seemed to explode from within the girl. All around them, the Vectors that were nearby instantly dissolved as if pierced by spears of light coming from Yuuna.
"Stop..." Togo muttered, a dazzled by what Yuuna was doing. Until she realized that the light wasn't ending, nor did Yuuna plan to end it. "No. STOP. Yuuna... You can't!"
Behind Yuuna, an image of the Mankai glowed a brilliant white, completely blinding Togo and causing her to cover her face with a hand. "YUUNA!" She yelled, her other hand trying to reach out to the white figure in front of her.
And then, a flash.
"This is a punishment, my dear friend Togo." Yuuna's voice seemed to whisper in Togo's ears. "A punishment for being a bad girl..."
And the world went white.
When she woke up, Togo found herself in a hospital bed. She had immediately asked about Yuuna, but nobody would tell her anything. A few days passed, and the rest of the Heroes showed up with news that nobody seemed to remember Yuuna - thought it seemed like all the parts that were sacrificed for the Mankai were recovering.
But to Togo, none of it mattered. Yuuna wasn't here. The entire reason that Togo had fought, the one person that she was willing to destroy the world for - she wasn't here.
And she realized that this was hell - one that was created by herself, and fit for the crime that she had almost committed.
A week passed.
But to Togo, who had lost her will to live, it was merely another day that she suffered the agony of no longer being with Yuuna.
Like always, she merely stared at the ceiling trying not to think - trying not to remember and trying not to feel the hole that she had dug in her heart.
The door to her room opened. Like she had for every other time since she learned Yuuna had disappeared, she ignored it.
She could hear footsteps outside of her room, but her door was closed soon and a pair of light footsteps approached her bed.
Togo neither turned or responded when the person was near her bed. But the person leaned into Togo's vision range - she was wearing a hat that covered her hair and a veil was hanging down from it covering the entire face. But the veil was thin, and she could make out the face of a female behind it...
"This is her punishment to you." The person whispered lightly in a familiar voice. "Thus it is also MY punishment to you."
Togo froze. That voice... she turned her head slowly and looked at the person beside her. The visitor was dressed in rather traditional whites that seemed similar to the servants of the Taisha, but she had never seen patterns like that before. But more importantly, the figure would fit what she remembered..
"Yu..."
A finger was placed on Togo's lip. "She gave herself to Me, and I have received it." The figure said softly. "Remember her words. And remember that I'll be waiting for your response."
With that said, she turned around to leave, leaving Togo stunned but quickly attempting to get out of her bed. "Wait, Yuuna! Wait for me!"
She didn't even manage to make a single step before she fell to the ground. "YUUNA! COME BACK!" She yelled, her outstretched arms reaching pointlessly towards the door that the figure left through.
Outside the hospital, a limo was waiting for the white figure along with a line of attendants for the Taisha. The white figure got onto the limo where Miyoshi Karin and Inubozaki Fu awaited her, both looking rather grim.
As the vehicle started moving, it was Fu that broke the silence first. "Yuu..., no, Taisha... I"
The figure in white shook her head and said, "It's alright to call me Yuuna. She is part of us as we are part of her."
The figure lifted her veil to show the face of Yuki Yuuna, but her eyes were pure white and one could barely see any iris within it. Both girls had managed to hold in their reactions, but only because it was not the first time they've seen it.
"Then Yuuna. How did the meeting with Togo go?" Fu asked, still unable to shake off the formalities as she intellectually knew that she was speaking with the Deity that saved the world.
Yuuna turned to look at her. While the face was that of the girl fro the Hero Club, no emotions from the girl could be seen - the face might as well be a mask, and for all Fu and Karin knew, it could be. "It went... well. I remember the reason why Yuuna placed such a 'curse' on Togo Mimori. When she is ready, she will come find me and I will explain what has happened. But until then, neither of you are to tell her. Understood?"
Both Fu and Karin felt that Yuuna/Taisha was being much too cruel to the other girl, but neither was about to disobey their superior. It was, indeed, a punishment that would burn its way through Togo's soul forever...