Make Them Love Me Or They'll End The World-Chapter 139: A Fracture Bloom?!

"Kentaro… It's the girls. They've collapsed. The monitors, it's going haywire, like they're about to produce Fracture Bloom!"

Haruka's voice tore through the comms, urgent and uncharacteristically shaken. That alone made the weight of the situation sink into both Kentaro and Tenka like ice in their veins.

"Will it happen?!" Tenka's voice echoed with fear behind it.

"I don't think so, but I'm not too sure, it seems something is happening to their bodies internally..." Haruka replied.

Kentaro whipped his gaze back to Shaula, the one wearing the headband. His jaw clenched so hard that veins pulsed across his forehead.

"SHAULA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM?!"

The roar that left his throat wasn't just anger. It was primal, like his chest couldn't contain the rage that threatened to consume him. For a moment, even Tenka, the commander who had seen Kentaro face Alberline after Alberline, flinched. His fury bled out into the rooftop air, forming an aura so dark and raw it almost seemed to glow.

And for once, Shaula did not laugh.

Her usual sly smirk had vanished. She only stared at him, then glanced at her other selves before returning her gaze. When she spoke again, her voice was flat. Hollow.

"From the day I met you, you were too nice. Far too nice for me to ever trust you."

Her lips curled upward, slow, unnatural, like it hurt to smile.

"And now your precious girls are slipping away. I want to see the real side of you, Kentaro Takamiya."

Kentaro froze, his teeth grinding. "What…?"

Shaula's laughter suddenly cracked the stillness. Arms stretched wide, she shouted, her voice straining with manic glee:

"Yes, Kentaro! Show me your true colours! Show me you're just like the rest of them, selfish, ugly, desperate! Show me the filth you keep hidden behind that fake kindness!"

Her words echoed in the sky, shaking something deep in him.

"…My real self?" He muttered, taking a step back.

He looked over his shoulder at Tenka, but she had no words either. She was already preparing to door-cross, her fingers trembling as she pressed on the comm.

Kentaro's chest tightened. The day he had first met Shaula… He hadn't hated her. Not once. No matter how erratic she was, no matter what she'd done. But the Shaula before him now radiated venom. It was pouring from her on purpose, almost like she wanted him to hate her.

He closed his eyes, whispering to himself: "Think, Kentaro. Calm down. What's her motive? She wants me to break. She wants to see that side she believes exists inside me."

When his eyes opened again, they locked onto hers.

"Listen, Shaula. This twisted side you're looking for… I'm sorry, but it doesn't exist."

Her eyes flickered, surprised.

"Whatever you've done to the girls, it might be unforgivable. And yes, I'm angry. Furious, in fact. But know this, Shaula-" His voice softened, steadier now, as a faint smile touched his lips.

"I will never hate you. I can't, the Serica, Yura and Aria were just like you, they didn't trust me or want me to help them, and now they've embraced me and this life, and they don't regret it."

The rooftop stilled.

Even the wind seemed to pause, carrying his words out into the vast evening sky.

Shaula's lips quivered, her smirk collapsing into something jagged and hollow.

"Don't, don't say you don't hate me, Kentaro!" She cried, her voice raw. "If you don't, then what happens when I mess up again? When I lose control? When I ruin everything, like I always do?"

Her hands shook violently as she pressed them to her chest, like she could hold herself together if she just tried hard enough.

"You think I haven't seen it? The looks people give me the moment they realise what I am. The whispers, the fear?!" Her voice cracked, tumbling into a scream. "They don't stay. They never stay. And if you don't hate me now… Then it'll only hurt more when you finally do!"

Her words echoed, stripped bare, leaving no laughter, no games, just a girl terrified of being abandoned the moment someone saw her too clearly.

It wasn't Kentaro who was exposing himself anymore.

It was her.

Kentaro stood frozen for a second, taking in everything that Shaula (Green-Headband) was saying.

"Well, Shaula…" Tenka finally stepped forward, her voice calm but firm, standing at Kentaro's side. "Looks like you're the one showing your true colours."

Shaula's breath hitched.

"NGH!"

She staggered back, her heel striking the rooftop railing. For a second, she looked down at the dizzying drop below. When her gaze flicked back up, her face contorted into a smirk, desperately stitched together to hide the panic she'd revealed.

"Keep talking like that. When the play begins, when I win, and when everyone dies… You'll have to show me your true self." Her voice dropped, almost a whisper, almost a confession. "…Because I know no human is like you. I've seen the truth of them all."

Her words trembled.

A wound deeper than any blade.

Kentaro's eyes narrowed, but he stepped closer, conviction burning in his chest.

"NO. Shaula, whichever one of you is the real one, I don't care. I want you to know this: I'm not like the people who hurt you. I won't hate you. I won't leave you. That is something even I , a weakling, can promise"

His hand extended forward, trembling but steady with intent.

"So please… Stop this. Come back. Live with us. Every day can be a happy life, and you can be a part of it."

For a brief, fleeting moment, her eyes widened.

"Does he really mean it?"

Her heartbeat quickened. Her breath shook.

"Can I trust him…?"

But the thought was crushed before it could take root.

"...Tsch. Don't give us that."

The three Shaulas, headband, necklace, earring, spoke in unison.

Kentaro's face fell.

Tenka tugged at his shoulder. "Kentaro. Let's go. The girls come first, we still don't know what she's done, and she's clearly not one to reason."

"But… Shaula, why?!" Kentaro's voice cracked, raw with desperation. "After everything, letting you in, letting you live with us, you really think I'd hide some twisted side?!"

None of the Shaulas answered. Their gazes lowered.

Finally, the one with the necklace raised her head. Her expression softened, a trace of sadness flickering in her pink eyes.

"…If you win the battle, we'll answer your questions. Until then, my mission is complete. We'll meet again, Kentaro, on the big stage."

She smiled faintly, though it looked hollow.

"And remember, you still don't know which one of us is the real Shaula… So make sure you take notes hehehe"

Without warning, the three leapt from the rooftop, vanishing into the air below.

"WAIT! SHAULA!" Kentaro cried, but his words were swallowed by the wind.

Silence returned.

Kentaro's knees trembled, his fists clenching helplessly. What the hell… What is she hiding?

"Kentaro." Tenka's voice was firm, dragging him back. She opened the door behind them, but instead of the stairs, it shimmered into Halcyon's base. "Let's move. Now."

"…Right."

They stepped through.

The room was filled with tension so thick it suffocated. Haruka and Shogo stood at the centre. Both turned as Kentaro and Tenka entered, their expressions heavy, guilt weighing down their eyes.

Kentaro rushed forward. "Haruka! What happened?!"

But Haruka looked away, her shoulders trembling.

Shogo approached slowly, his usual smirk gone, replaced by a hollow sadness. He placed a hand on Kentaro's shoulder. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"…I'm sorry, Ken. She got to them before I could intervene."

Kentaro's world dropped.

"What?!" His voice cracked. He swung his gaze to Haruka, still silent, still unable to meet his eyes.

"WHAT DID SHE DO?!" His scream tore through Halcyon. No one answered. The silence was deafening.

Kentaro's chest heaved, his breath shallow and ragged. His legs buckled.

Tenka moved quickly, pulling him away from Shogo. She gripped his shoulders firmly, then pulled him into her arms.

"Calm down, Ken. Let's go see them together."

She could feel his heart hammering against her chest, erratic, desperate, breaking.

Kentaro's mouth opened, but no words came. His body trembled in her embrace. They can't be dead. They can't be. Please…

Haruka's fingers flew across controls, linking Halcyon's doors.

And then Kentaro and Tenka stood outside his apartment, the door that had once been just home, now the gateway to the unknown.

Kentaro stared at it, his hand hovering inches from the handle. Behind it were the people he loved. The people he'd sworn to protect. The people who had made him believe again.

And now, they were slipping away, and he could do nothing.

It wasn't like Reiden, where he could fight his way to victory. It wasn't even like Shaula's games, where he could grin and endure. This was a helplessness far crueller. One where he couldn't swing, couldn't scream, couldn't save.

His chest caved under the weight of it.

But then, Tenka's hand reached out, lacing with his.

Her eyes locked with his, steady, grounding.

Kentaro inhaled deeply, forcing his trembling legs to still.

"…I'm ready."

And with that, he opened the door.

Together, they stepped inside, into whatever awaited them on the other side.