The sky above the campus was still dark.

  Bck clouds swirled overhead, as if signaling something terrible was about to happen.

  At the end of the hallway, Erika still stood with an enigmatic expression.

  Azami Yuki—the female version of myself—said nothing, but there was something in her gaze.

  Alertness.

  Awareness.

  And…

  Acceptance(?).

  As if she khis moment would e eventually.

  Azami Yuki—myself—g her.

  “…What is this? What’s really going on here?” I asked, seeking an expnation.

  There was no immediate answer.

  However, when Erika finally spoke, her words cut deeper than any sword.

  “This is the first time we’ve met, right? Oh, existence from another world, do you want to know why you suddenly ended up in this world?”

  Azami Yuki—myself—froze.

  Erika smiled.

  “Fufufu…” Erika chuckled lightly. “Why did you suddenly move to this world? Why are all these strahings happening? And why… you return to your inal world or not?”

  I held my breath.

  “The answer…” Erika raised one finger and pointed directly at one person.

  The alternate version of myself in the form of a woman in this ied world, Azami Yuki.

  “…What?” I stared in disbelief.

  Azami Yuki—myself—froze in pbsp;

  I shifted my gaze to Azami Yuki, the female version, who still stood silently, her expression cold.

  “…Azami?”

  Azami Yuki—the female version—didn’t answer.

  Didn’t deny.

  Didn’t evade, as she usually had all this time.

  She just stared in silenbsp;

  Erika chuckled softly.

  “You’re not going to deny it, are you? After all, only you could do this.”

  Azami Yuki—myself—still couldn’t process all of this.

  But, slowly…

  Small pieces in his mind began to e together.

  Azami Yuki—the female version—was the only Indepe Wit history.

  She could manipute reality without limits.

  She was the only oh the power t someoo this world.

  And she had been avoiding all his questions from the start.

  “So…” my voice sounded hoarse, “…so you did this?”

  Azami Yuki—the female version—sighed.

  “…Yes.”

  That simple answer shattered all remaining doubts within him.

  “…Why?” I asked.

  At this point, I didn’t know what to feel.

  Anger? fusion? Disappoi?

  But what frustrated me the most was—

  I couldn’t uand her reason.

  Azami Yuki—the female version—looked at me.

  Then, she spoke in a soft voibsp;

  “…Do you remember what I told you about the world’s rules before?”

  I didn’t answer, but I nodded.

  About the world’s rule that stated: “only one name exist in oen this world.”

  Then there was the rule written by Azami Yuki—the female version—when she was still at her peak as an Indepe Witbsp;

  The rule that stated only “Azami Yuki” could reach the pinnacle as an 'Indepe Witch'.

  And now…

  In this ied world, there were two Azami Yukis. A fact that I should have realized long ago. However, I failed to notice it.

  Where this might be the cause of all this, I wasn’t sure, because from the start I was just an ordinary human who actally got involved in the world of Witches. I barely even knew how magic worked in this world or how they, the Witches, could bey.

  Azami Yuki—the female version—closed her eyes for a moment before speaking again.

  “I’ve lived too long.”

  The first sentence sounded light.

  But the more she spoke, the heavier her voice became.

  “I’ve seehing… Uood everything… Felt everything.”

  Azami Yuki (male) held his breath as he heard the tinuation of that sentenbsp;

  "And I’m tired. I’m lonely, and also alone… I want to have someone who be by my side, e, and make me feel at ease. I’m tired of all this immortality, always being alone forever. I want to fall in love, I want to know what it feels like to be loved, I… just want someoo love me and always be by my side…"

  When Azami Yuki—the female version—poured out all her thoughts, I could only stay silent. I didn’t know how to react or what to say. I was fused, very fused.

  “That’s why I called you here, even though it made me break the world’s rules,” Azami Yuki—the female version—said in a faint voibsp;

  Erika tilted her head.

  “You know that what you did was a major viotiht?”

  Azami Yuki (female) nodded.

  “Of course. I k.”

  “I ’t believe it,” Erika said. “You, who created the world’s rules, ended up breaking them yourself. And you’ve lowered your rank this far.”

  Azami Yuki—the female version—smiled faintly.

  “Haha.” Azami Yuki let out a dry ugh. “I didn’t even expect that,” she added.

  “…And now yoing to let this world colpse?”

  Azami Yuki—the female version—finally opened her eyes, looking at Erika with a determined gaze.

  “I no longer care about this world.”

  I tensed.

  “You… You don’t care?!”

  Azami Yuki—the female version—turo me.

  Her face was calm.

  “…Hey Yuki, from your perspective, I might seem like a monster,” she said with a forced ugh, making it seem uhe her I knew.

  I couldn’t argue.

  “You know, Yuki, the few months we spent together felt so enjoyable to me. For the first time, I felt so happy. I felt alive, and I felt loved, loved by the person I love the most. But for the old me, all of this, this world was just—” she, Azami Yuki—the female version of myself in this ied world—raised her hand, letting purple light flicker at her fiips, “—a narrative that could be bent at will. I didn’t even know there could be such warm feelings like this before, the feeling where you give everything you , all your attention, all your affe to someone you sider so precious. That’s why, Yuki…” Azami paused for a moment.

  “Thank you fiving me su extraordinary gift before I disappear from this world. Thank you, Yuki. And then, goodbye. I… love you, Yuki,” she said with a smile, a bright smile I had never seen before, a smile so sincere, beautiful, yet at the same time made my chest tighten.

  “Erika, you start your task,” Azami Yuki—the female version—said to her.

  Erika let out a long sigh.

  “…Alright.”

  She then raised her hand.

  And in that instant—

  A voice echoed throughout the world.

  A judgment.

  > [Judgment has been passed.]

  [Viotion of the world’s rules ot be tolerated.]

  [The guilty Witch will face the sequences.]

  While I was still trapped in a dilemma,

  Golden light desded from the sky.

  Reflexively, I took a step babsp;

  “…What’s happening?”

  Erika just smiled faintly.

  “…It’s time for her to face her punishment.”

  Azami Yuki—the female version—still stood tall.

  She didn’t run.

  She didn’t hide.

  She just looked at the light calmly.

  Then, she whispered softly.

  “…Finally, hey Yuki, thank you for everything.”

  I wao move.

  But before I could do anything…

  The golden light desded and enveloped Azami Yuki—the female version’s—body.

  And in an instant—

  She disappeared forever.

  I couldn’t move.

  “…Azami?”

  No answer.

  “…Azami!”

  I ran to where Azami Yuki—the female version—had been standing.

  But there was no ohere anymore.

  Just empty air.

  Erika looked at me with a calm expression.

  She then spoke. “You should prepare yourself.”

  I turo her with a sharp gaze.

  “…For what?”

  Erika smiled faintly.

  “Because now, everyone will be after you.”

  And in that moment—

  The sky above began to crabsp;

  My world had ged.

  And this was just the beginning.