Aoi came from the left-hand path.

Takeshi saw her appear before Yuki noticed. She was walking fast, holding a sword and with her gaze fixed on the bench.

Yuki heard the footsteps and pulled away from Takeshi before turning.

The two looked at each other.

The park was almost empty at that hour. The light had faded without Takeshi noticing during the conversation. The path lamps were on, but they didn’t reach the lake area well.

"I knew you were here."

Aoi said as she looked at Yuki.

"And yet you took your time."

Yuki replied to what Aoi said.

"Takeshi, step away from the bench."

Takeshi stood up and calculated distances. Aoi was about six meters away, while Yuki, who was to his right, was less than one.

"Hey, calm down."

Neither of them looked at him.

The tone of the conversation was controlled, direct words, neither of them raising her voice yet.

"What you’re trying to do isn’t going to work."

Aoi said, to which Yuki responded.

"You know this isn’t your decision, right?"

"I won’t let you manipulate him just because of your selfish feelings."

Yuki stayed silent for a second at that.

"Were you spying on us?"

Yuki asked.

"I didn’t need to. You’re way too obvious."

"Is it obvious to you because you understand, or because you’re doing the same thing?"

Aoi didn’t answer right away.

"It’s not the same."

She said finally.

"No."

Yuki refuted.

"Yours is worse. Chasing down a couple with a sword in hand isn’t my style."

The tone rose from there. Aoi took a step forward and Yuki didn’t back down.

’This isn’t going to end well...’

Takeshi tried to move sideways to get out of the two women’s range. Yuki noticed and shifted without looking at him, closing the angle effortlessly. It wasn’t a threatening movement toward him, but rather one meant to keep him inside the area without interrupting the argument.

’I can’t get out this way.’

He looked toward the path, but Aoi was blocking it, and going around her would take time.

The argument escalated until both of them summoned their weapons.

Takeshi backed up two steps toward the lake and stayed still. At that exact moment he checked both of their stats.

[AOI MIZUHARA]

[Life: 100%]

[Sanity: 5%]

[Confidence: 100%]

[YUKI TACHIBANA]

[Life: 100%]

[Sanity: 4%]

[Confidence: 70%]

The fight started fast. Aoi advanced with a sideways cut that Yuki dodged low, responding with a dagger toward the right side. Aoi blocked it with her blade and pushed. Yuki rolled backward over the grass and got back up in less than a second.

Aoi attacked three times in a row, and Yuki blocked two while dodging one, using the second movement to close in and force Aoi to fight at short range, where the long sword was less useful.

Aoi compensated by spinning and using her elbow to create space. She connected and made Yuki step back once.

The chat was active.

[both of them are serious]

[place your bets]

[I don’t think this is ending with both of them alive]

Takeshi tried to move toward the path while the two were focused on each other. He got three meters from the bench before Yuki saw him with her peripheral vision and adjusted her position without stopping the fight, blocking his shortest escape angle.

’She can watch me and fight at the same time!?’

Aoi took advantage of Yuki’s position adjustment to attack from the left flank. Yuki blocked late and the sword blade passed across her right arm. It wasn’t deep, but Yuki retreated two steps with her arm folded against her body.

[YUKI TACHIBANA]

[Life: 87%]

[Sanity: 2%]

[Confidence: 60%]

Takeshi saw it and worried about Yuki.

Yuki, seeing the worried look on his face, got back up and completely changed the way she moved. She stopped blocking and started dodging everything, using the terrain to constantly change angles. Aoi had to adjust every time, and the adjustment cost her fractions of a second.

In one of those adjustments, Yuki found the opening.

It was fast.

One dagger knocked the sword blade outward while the other slipped into the side that was left open.

Aoi didn’t fall right away. She stayed standing for two seconds with her gaze lowered before her knees gave out and she dropped onto the grass.

[AOI MIZUHARA]

[Life: 0%]

[Sanity: 2%]

[Confidence: 100%]

The park fell silent.

Takeshi didn’t move.

Yuki stood in front of Aoi, daggers still in her hands. She was breathing in a controlled way and the wound on her arm was still there, but she paid it no attention.

She looked at Takeshi and sheathed the daggers.

She took a step toward him with her arms slightly open, like someone approaching a person who needed to be calmed.

"Finally... I finally won."

Takeshi couldn’t do anything but run. His feet moved before he finished processing the situation and, by the time he did, he was already on the path.

"Takeshi."

Yuki’s calm voice along with the darkness of the night made him run even faster.

The park had several paths and Takeshi took the first one he found without calculating where it led. The light from the lamps was enough to see the ground, but not to see well beyond about twenty meters.

He looked back and didn’t see Yuki, but his danger sense was screaming at him to run.

He turned right at a fork, then left. He found an area with tall bushes near the outer wall of the park and slipped between two of them, pressing himself against the wall and controlling his breathing.

’What am I supposed to do?’

Suddenly, the sound of a party popper startled him.

[You have received a donation from Senpai2: I like that donations show up like this]

’God, I hate the donation notification!’

Takeshi waited a few minutes before moving. From his position he could see the main path and part of the fork he had come from.

He started calculating whether he could reach the park exit from there. The main exit was to the north, probably about four hundred meters away. There was another secondary exit to the east, closer but narrower.

Without warning, another party popper went off and made Takeshi let out a choked shout.

[You have received a donation from Light_Salvatore: wonderful stream]

Takeshi calmed down and decided to head for the secondary exit. He stood up slowly and came out from between the bushes.

’I just hope Yuki didn’t hear me.’

When he raised his gaze, he found Yuki standing on the path four meters away, looking at him.

She hadn’t made any sound at all.

Takeshi turned and ran in the opposite direction.

This time Yuki ran too.

The distance between them closed faster than Takeshi expected. Yuki was faster than him and he could hear her footsteps behind, getting closer each second.

He turned at another fork. He saw an area with wooden picnic tables and circled around them to break the straight line.

The footsteps didn’t stop.

Takeshi reached a straight stretch of path and accelerated as much as he could, but suddenly he felt something on his right ankle.

His right leg completely stopped responding on the next step and the ground came up sooner than he could process.

He fell with his hands in front and the grass cushioned part of the impact.

He tried to get up, but his right leg wouldn’t support his weight. He looked at the back of his ankle and saw that the tendon had been cut. He couldn’t see well in the darkness, but the leg wasn’t responding and that was enough information.

He tried to drag himself forward with his arms.

Yuki’s footsteps stopped behind him.

"I’m sorry."

She said.

Takeshi kept dragging himself.

He heard Yuki crouch down and then felt a solid blow to the back of his head, precise and without excessive force.

The path became blurry and then, absolute darkness.