"She" (1) - 8

Her full body appeared, just like how I had remembered it.

This exact scene had been ingrained into my memory, as the words of the original piece flowed in my mind.

"As she stepped through the portal, the world seemed to stop, as everyone couldn't help but be blinded by her beauty, that greater than a goddess'. The room seemed to sparkle more and more with her presence and it seemed like a pale light was always shining on her, highlighting her every move, majestic and graceful, for all to see." I murmured under my breath, as the exact scene described above played out in front of me.

Yet, there was one key difference between the scene described above and the reality of the situation.

There was one person that had grown unable to be blinded by the goddess, a person that didn't hold their breath, a person who's heart rate didn't quicken and who's mind didn't blank as he took one look at the goddess before leaving to do his usual day to day tasks.

Yes, that was me.

She was the same age as me, so we had gone through almost everything together in my past regression, with her being at the top of everything she did whilst I was always barely scraping by at the bottom of the barrel, teetering on the edge of death and acceptance.

And then there was the betrayal...

Anyways, what I was trying to get at was that I had been around her long enough to not be stricken by just looking at her anymore. That had stopped around the second year we had started living together at the Ranch, with my mindset being too focused on surviving to think about anything else.

I couldn't waste even a single second back then, that had been how desperate I had been.

And so, I had quickly gotten used to her looks. It was a necessity, something that I had to learn in order not to die.

Time was life, that was the philosophy of the "me" back then.

Alright, back to the current situation, I was walking through the corridors of the Ranch, as I headed towards the first place she would go to.

I mean, she would only come here when night fell because it would be weird, to say the least, if someone caught her snooping around in this area, but it was a well known fact that I fancied myself a shut-in in this area, so nobody would question what I was doing inside the south wing of the estate, as I stood in front of a teleportation circle that was inscribed into the floor.

This was the supply chain room, the room where all the materials needed to sustain the Ranch were gathered, taken from different places from all three walls, and it was also the place where my liquor would arrive on a set day each week.

That day also happened to be today.

'Welp, I planned this 3 years ago, but seeing it come to fruition is satisfying nonetheless.'

Yes, I had set up for my meeting with 9th Sister a long time ago, I would have been a dumbass if I had done otherwise.

This time, I needed to have us be one hundred percent loyal to each other, because if we weren't, well, I would need to get rid of her.

And I would hate to do that... for old times sake.

I mean, even right now, I didn't know if it was even necessary to trust her again.

My mind was telling me to cease all interactions with her. She had been my only weakness in my past regression after all, the reason I had lost the final battle against the protagonist.

Yet, my heart...

"..."

Was she still my weakness? Even now?

Ah, I still had a longing for love in my heart.

I knew this fact, I had accepted it long ago.

She was the only one that had truly loved me in this world.

I knew that for a fact.

Even when the protagonist stabbed his staff through my heart, she didn't know this, but I clearly remembered her face at the time, as she stood there, behind the protagonist, clearly showing me what side she stood on.

As she tried to maintain a cold expression, unconsciously shaking as her mind overheated, probably still processing her own betrayal, I had done something that was unforgivable in itself, in the way it had destroyed her everything.

This one move had probably dealt her more damage than I had ever dealt to enemies in my lifetime, and that was saying something.

In the end though, it had only been a simple act of mine that had caused all this damage.

I had smiled, as I only looked at her, keeping my eyes trained on her face as my life force shattered into oblivion.

Yes, it wasn't any form of physical damage, no, I had dealt her a blow greater than any attack had done before in any world, this was a guarantee.

I had broken her heart.

And, to drive the nail even deeper into her heart, the final nail in the coffin as people on Earth say, I had mouthed to her only 3 words.

"I. Love. You."

The last thing I remembered was that my eyelids were slowly closing, the world around me growing black, as I saw what seemed like a singular, precious diamond glitter, as it streamed down her cheek.

My work had been done, and the damage had been irreversible.

Later, after my reincarnation, I had learned what she had become after the fight.

An emotionless human, one that had just killed a few gods before disappearing from this world herself.

The kid, surprisingly, had never elaborated on what happened afterwards.

That was the end of 9th Sister's story.

Clutching my chest, I realized that my heart had started beating a little too heavily, as I reminisced over my past.

'If only...'

"..."

Well, there was no point thinking about "What ifs", I just had to move forward.

I would play it by ear, trusting in her just enough, always carrying at least 3 backup plans everywhere I went in case she betrayed me once again.

If I would have my heart broken a second time, then I would do it whilst keeping my life.

This was a vow that I buried deep in my heart as I looked up from my spot, turning around with my hands clasped behind my back, taking a look at the newcomer to this estate.

"Ah, Yukina, you came."