4 July 2018

  *sobs sobs sobs*

  Yuki and Neo are currently on the snow, crying and sobbing about Karin.

  "Kouhai, *sobs* I've cursed her, kouhai, *sobs*"

  "I kept calling her names *sobs* I kept saying that I'm going to kill her *sobs*"

  "I am so stupid *sobs* I was never on her side *sobs* Yet all she could think about was me *sobs*"

  Neo is ugly-crying. He spoke as his sentences kept being interrupted by his painful cry. He kept gripping his chest as he continued to cry and kneel in the snow.

  "Senpai, *sobs* judging from the timing *sobs* I could've saved her *sobs* I was already a Judge *sobs* yet I didn't know such a thing *sobs * was happening to her *sobs*"

  Even the emotionless Yuki was ugly-crying. This is the first time she has been fully engulfed by her emotions since becoming a Judge. She kept wiping her tears, but more kept coming out. She sat on the snow on her weak knees.

  "If only I were *sobs* the Judge of Lust instead *sobs* I would've found her *sobs* before she would even be harmed *sobs*"

  Neo continued to sob even harder.

  "Senpai, *sobs* the first time I heard *sobs* about Karin-senpai cheating on you *sobs* I already sensed that *sobs* something doesn't add up *sobs* because the Karin-senpai that I know *sobs* wouldn't even dare *sobs* to even think of doing something like that *sobs*"

  "Kouhai, *sobs* I already became a Believer *sobs* when all of that was happening to her *sobs* but instead I was consumed by vengeance and hatred *sobs* and now I lost her *sobs*"

  "Senpai. . .*sobs*"

  Yuki hugged Neo as she kept crying.

  "Kouhai. . .*sobs*"

  Neo hugged her back as he kept crying.

  “I was *sobs* fantasizing about *sobs* torturing her *sobs* along with that *sobs* garbage brother of mine *sobs*”

  Neo hugs Yuki tighter as he grips her body with his hands harder as well.

  “I was ready *sobs* to even use her and that garbage *sobs* as my experimental guinea pigs *sobs* to develop a special technique *sobs* regarding my Faith power *sobs*”

  “I was ready *sobs to humiliate them *sobs* as much as possible *sobs* that I even planned to *sobs* stream all of it to the internet *sobs*”

  “Senpai *sobs*”

  “Seeing her treated like that *sobs* really hurts *sobs* and it almost made me puke *sobs* why would something like this *sobs* happened to such a *sobs* gentle and caring girl *sobs*”

  They both kept ugly crying as they hugged. They kept exchanging their regrets and sorrows towards each other.

  .

  .

  .

  About 30 minutes later, Claudia finally wakes up.

  ". . . ."

  Claudia's body was no longer frozen. She got up and sat on the sand.

  "Sand?"

  She realized she was no longer in the middle of the ocean. She is now sitting on one of the beaches in Japan.

  ". . . .They carried me here?"

  "Claudia-san."

  *!!!*

  Claudia immediately looked behind her in shock.

  The appearances of these three are very similar. They all have wounds all over their body, they have holes all over their clothes, and they bleed a bit on various parts of their body.

  "Don't scare me like that!!"

  Yuki and Neo are standing behind her. They both sat on the sand together with Claudia.

  "Can I ask you something?"

  "What?"

  "How did you know where Karin-senpai was kept?"

  “You’re talking about. . ."that" huh? Wait, how did you know? I haven't told you anything about that!"

  "Let's just say, as a Judge, I can peek into someone else's memories."

  "The heck? Invasion of privacy? Hm. . .well, let's just say I have a colleague who can read and scan people's minds on a global scale."

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Is it someone from the Ten Commandments of God?"

  "Beats me!"

  "(She's obviously playing dumb. . .)" said Neo in his head.

  ". . .Is it okay if we visit Karin-senpai's as well as your parents' graveyard?"

  ". . .There aren't any. I cremated their bodies. . .with my magma. . .as I uttered my final 'I love you' to them. . ."

  "I'm sorry, Claudia-san. I didn't know it was personal to you."

  "*Sigh* It's fine already. . . I had a feeling that. . ."

  Claudia suddenly shed tears.

  "They'd probably preferred it that way. . ."

  And then Neo walks to Claudia's front. He bows his head, touching the sand, towards her.

  "Claudia-san, I apologize! Because of my inaction, your sister was harmed! Because of my selfishness, your sister became a victim! Because of my own self-centered hatred *sobs* she lost her precious life!! *Sobs* I'm sorry!"

  ". . . . "

  Claudia didn't say anything.

  "Claudia-san, if you wish for it, you can take my life! That was your main goal, wasn't it? That was the original reason Yuki fought you! She was just trying to protect me! Please don't hate her! You can take my life! I'll gladly take it as a punishment!"

  ". . . ."

  "For some reason, my chest felt very light. Previously, when I confronted you, I was blinded by rage, pride, hatred, and the desire for vengeance. But my intense hatred for you was just gone when I woke up just now. Now that I properly think about it, I shouldn't have hated you. You were the one who was hurt the most by Karin in all of this. I don't understand it myself, but I just had a dream. I was experiencing your life and memories with Karin. But that felt more like an actual memory rather than a dream. *Sigh* I'm sorry, I must sound crazy, this doesn't make sense to me."

  Claudia looked towards Neo.

  "I was just so frustrated. . . Because I have the capability to prevent all of "that" yet I wasn't in the right place at the right time. It frustrates me to no end, so you became the place to lash out."

  "Plus, not like Yuki-san right here will just let me hurt you so easily."

  Yuki nods.

  "Claudia-san. . ." said Neo.

  "But I also have a feeling that Judge-san right here did something to me, isn't that right?"

  Yuki nods again.

  "I prayed so that God took away all of your regrets, hatred, anger, sorrows, tears, sadness, bitterness, and self-blame. That was all."

  ". . . God, huh? Seems like this God of yours was completely different from the one I know."

  "Huh? What do you mean? There's only the One True God. There cannot be another." said Yuki.

  Claudia suddenly got up.

  "Sorry, I got summoned! I have to go!"

  ". . .Alright. . . I apologize for harming you that much, Claudia-san."

  ". . .Nah, it's cool! It was a great fight! You're strong, Yuki-san! And it puts me at ease that someone like you is that strong as well. You'll probably be ranked number 5th if you could join us!"

  "I apologize, but I don't really care about ranks. Also, I already have my duty from God as well. Plus, I am also busy taking care of my beloved senpai."

  "Heh, figures!"

  Claudia creates a magma platform. She hopped onto it and turned around.

  "I gotta go! See you two later! Hope we can meet again someday!"

  "Goodbye, Claudia-san," said Yuki.

  Neo got up and stood.

  "Goodbye and thank you, Claudia-san!" said Neo.

  Claudia flies high towards the sky, but then she immediately stops and turns around.

  She suddenly bows her head and cries.

  "Neo-san, thank you for loving my sister! If things had gone differently, I would've addressed you as my brother-in-law! "

  Hearing that, Neo let out a lot of his tears. He tries to hold back his tears to respond.

  "Claudia-san, thank you for being a loving sister to Karin!" said Neo as he cried and smiled.

  Claudia also cries harder seeing Neo's tears and hearing his words. She then wipes her tears and waves her hands.

  "Until we meet again, my supposedly brother-in-law!" said Claudia as she smiled with teary eyes towards Neo.

  "Until we meet again, my supposedly sister-in-law!" said Neo as he smiled with tears in his eyes while also waving his hands.

  And so, Claudia flies higher towards the sky and eventually vanishes, with Yuki and Neo looking at her.

  "Senpai, she's a kind person. . . I'm glad that she's the type of sibling Karin-senpai had."

  "*sobs* Yes, I am really glad *sobs*"

  Neo wipes his tears as he tries to calm down and stops crying.

  "Kouhai, why did we get Karin's memories instead of hers? Shouldn't it be the person's memories about their strongest negative feelings?"

  ". . . The only thing I can think of is Divine interference. God wanted you to know that you were never betrayed, senpai." said Yuki towards Neo with endearing eyes.

  ". . . Yeah, I can live with that."

  "(Thank you God! Thank you!)" said Neo inside his head.

  "So, what do we do now?" asked Neo.

  "I wanna do our Judge duty, but at the same time, I am so exhausted and my body aches all over. We need to treat our wounds as well."

  "Alright, kouhai! We can't really be helping people if we can't even help ourselves first."

  "Okay, senpai, let's find the nearest hospital."

  "Wow, I'm a bit scared of the bill later."

  "Senpai, the real scare will be when we purchase new clothes for us both!"

  "URGH, you're right! We can't really walk around wearing clothes full of holes!"

  They turned around and walked away from the beach. Yuki creates a giant bird made of ice.

  ". . . ."

  "Senpai?"

  "Hold on a minute, kouhai!"

  It is currently around 5 pm, and the sun is almost setting on the horizon, which makes the sky turn orange and purple on the beach. It is very beautiful and cinematic.

  Neo turns around and walks through the beach towards the water. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

  "Karin, thank you for loving me! I'm sorry that I couldn't save you! But I'm sure you are already in a better place! As for me, Karin, I'm going to move on with my life. Thank you for all the memories, my sweetheart. I love you, Karin!" said Neo with his eyes closed and his right hand on his chest.

  Neo kneels on one knee on the sand and bows his head.

  "Rest in peace, my beloved!"

  From behind, Yuki saw what Neo did, and she felt bittersweet. Then she also puts her right hand on her chest and closes her eyes.

  "Karin-senpai, thank you for loving Neo-senpai. I will always protect, take care of, and love him. Farewell, dear love rival." said Yuki as she bowed her head.

  *!!!*

  But then Yuki felt that someone had touched her right shoulder. She immediately looked to her right.

  "Take care of him!"

  Yuki saw Karin next to her. She showed her brightest and purest smile to Yuki. Then she immediately fades away.

  *sobs sobs*

  Yuki shed tears and cried again. She loses her expressionless face as she ugly cries again.

  "Leave it to me, senpai!" said Yuki as she looked towards the sky with a smile, with tears rolling down her face.

  *?*

  “Kouhai? Why are you smiling?”

  Neo was standing in front of her after she said her farewell to Karin.

  “Nothing. I just thought that. . . the sky is really beautiful now!”

  “Really? I mean, yeah! But, not to the point of making me smile like you just now.”

  “Hmm. Senpai, you have no romance in you.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Exactly as I’ve said.”

  “Still don’t understand. . . *sigh* Seems like I still have a long way to go to understand this kouhai of mine.” said Neo as he smiled at Yuki.

  “Senpai, please don’t blurt out flirty lines like that so randomly. It will work on me 100% of the time. . .”

  “Geh?! Guess I really do still have to learn a lo---!!!! Eh? What did you just say?”

  Yuki hops onto her giant ice bird. She turns her head to Neo and offers a hand.

  “Nothing. Now, let’s go, senpai.”

  Neo saw the sun hitting Yuki with her pose, offering him a hand, and she looked so beautiful and charming in his eyes. He also saw her smile a bit, adding to the beauty of her appearance. That made Neo smile.

  “Alright!”

  Neo takes Yuki’s hand, and he hops onto the bird, and they fly away from the beach.