Archive of Our Own ^beta

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As I step onto the roof, I see the sky again. Even with all of the weird things that have happened today, seeing the unending blue above me is still up there as one of the weirdest. Not as weird as finding out that we’ve been made immortal, or stabbing ourselves in the chest to transform, but it’s up there.

I wonder what’s going to happen over these next 100, or I guess now 99, days. Will we have to fight often? I hope not. Will I get used to seeing the sky when I go outside?

I hope so.

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There’s still a lot to get used to, but most of my day is spent wandering around and talking to other students. It almost feels like a tour of a normal school!

But it’s not a normal school, not even really a school since it has no schedule, and whatever we learn tomorrow will definitely erase any sense of normalcy. If we learn anything, that is.

I struggle to sleep that night, and when I step outside in an attempt to get some fresh air, I see a lot.

So many things.

I don’t know if I learn anything, though.

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The day goes by pretty quickly, as I use up my free time wandering around and talking to some of my classmates. (Are we classmates if we don’t really have classes? I guess so…)

We don’t hear about the truth, but I figure we’re bound to hear about it tomorrow then. Sirei would at least tell us if he wasn’t allowed to tell us anything, right?

I manage to sleep soundly for the entire night. It’s the first time everything feels normal since my boring everyday life ended.

It’s kind of nice to have a little bit of that again.

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Sirei doesn’t contact us all day- the usual wakeup message is prerecorded. For some reason nobody gets in trouble for taking from rations when they’re not supposed to, which is a bit weird but it’s better than killing us over simple disobedience.

After breakfast, I go exploring with Takemaru and the others and time flies by. When we get back to the school it’s already night. I hope we’re not in trouble.

It seems we aren’t, since Sirei still isn’t around. The goodnight message is prerecorded and I haven’t physically seen him in a while.

I hope nothing is wrong.

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Sirei still isn’t back and everyone thinks that’s weird. We start discussing what we should do next, and Eito suggests running away and figuring out the way home as we go along.

That’s a dangerous idea and everyone knows it. If the options are to wander around out there or stay here for the next 95 days, it’s much safer here. The place hasn’t been attacked in a while, so it’s kind of nice.

I wonder if everyone is okay at home. They’ve definitely noticed that I’m gone by now.

I wish I could at least talk to them again.

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Eito runs away and I go out to look for him. I go with Darumi and Takemaru, and we find him surrounded by invaders. We fight the invaders to save him, and he wakes up on the way back to school.

We don’t find Sirei, but Eito finds something and hands it to me before passing out. It’s a pin that looks like the one that was on Sirei’s hat. That’s a bad sign.

Hiruko asks me to show her where we found it tomorrow, and for once I have plans for the next day.

It feels nice, despite everything.

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Today is an eventful day that raises more questions than answers. And since we found Sirei all chopped up in the trash can, it’s possible we’ll never get those answers.

Fighting is still scary, and not everyone stepped up to protect the school today. But the important thing is that we all survived, and those who are willing to fight are strong enough to protect the school. For now. Maybe they’ll get stronger.

But as long as Hiruko is able to finish off the villains, at least we don’t have to do it.

I still feel weird about that happening.

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I don’t really know what to do with myself now that Sirei is gone. And Hiruko declares herself the new leader, but she doesn’t give any orders as she needs time to think about strategies. Luckily she doesn’t have to lead us in battle, as there are no attacks. I train with her and talk to people, and the day goes by quickly.

I don’t know if I want to follow Hiruko in battle, but I don’t think I’ll have much of a choice when the time comes.

Hopefully in 92 days I can just return to my average life.

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It’s harsh of Hiruko to not let people eat if they don’t want to fight. I thought she would get rid of that rule, not make it worse. Hopefully everyone will come around to fighting, but I don’t think everyone will.

In particular, I worry about Shouma, Ima, and Kako. Shouma because he’d probably say it’s a waste to feed him, and the twins because Ima won’t let Kako get into any danger. Which means no food for them.

I wish I could convince Hiruko to give them at least some food. She won’t just let them die, will she?

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We gain access to the Rec Room and Leisure Lounge, but I’m not sure I want to use them.

Instead I spend the morning listening to Hiruko ramble about a weird statue of a samurai wearing boxing gloves, and go on a bike ride with Takemaru. Perhaps not the best use of time, but I get to learn more about my classmates. Or teammates, or whatever.

We still have plenty of days left for training or exploring, or even using the pool in the Leisure Lounge.

As I fall asleep, I wonder how everyone else has been spending their time.

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Darumi knocks on my door first thing in the morning saying she’s not feeling well in the most Darumi way possible.

She freaks me out before admitting it was a joke. As my heartbeat returns to normal, I feel like maybe today’s going to be a good day.

Everyone is at the cafeteria for breakfast and I find out exactly why. I manage to convince Hiruko to not kick people out, buying them some time to decide to fight. I’m still not sure they will, but I’ll do my best to convince them to fight, or at least become friends.

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Eito and I make a fashionable sick pouch for Tsubasa, and it’s actually pretty easy. Getting the material takes a long time, but at the end of the day we can make the item in the new Gift-O-Matic and it looks really good! I give it to Tsubasa privately, and though she doesn’t immediately agree to fight she does agree to think about it now that her main issue has been addressed.

Tsubasa was probably the easiest to convince, so I’m only going to have to do more persuasion from now on. I hope it goes well with everyone else.

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In the morning I ask Gaku what he would want, and he says only money would convince him to fight. We don’t have money at the academy, so that’s difficult. I ask around to see if anyone else has ideas.

I feel kind of bad finding out Gaku lied to me. At least he was honest with Takemaru. The topic of clothes and sewing comes up a lot, and Darumi knows where an abandoned hospital is. I make plans to go there with her tomorrow and look for all the supplies needing for a sewing kit.

I hope it works.

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It’s another long day of adventuring with Darumi, but I manage to find everything for the sewing kit! I go to Gaku’s room that night with the kit. He still insists only money will convince him, but he likes the sewing kit.

That leads to Gaku ranting and, once I realize I can’t say anything to convince him, I let him vent until he realizes he doesn’t really want his family to die. And even if they aren’t his biological family, they are still his family.

He needs some time alone, and I leave, hoping he decides to protect them.

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I try to talk to Shouma, Kako, and Ima about if they want to fight, but they don’t want to hear it. Shouma has accepted his fate, and Ima has some plan for tomorrow.

Eito’s plan is to talk to Hiruko and asks for my help.

In the middle of our confrontation discussion, the bell rings and the goodnight message plays. Sirei’s message has a point, we need to get some rest while we still can. Hiruko says she’ll sleep well knowing she’ll get something off her chest in the morning.

Tomorrow will be a big day no matter what.

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The next day, Hiruko is gone. She didn’t take a fire extinguisher so she’s not exploring. But she’s not anywhere in the school- everyone checks all over the building.

At least Ima didn’t go through with his plan. It would’ve been interesting, but I’m willing to bet it wouldn’t have worked. It might actually make Hiruko kick him out faster (and of course Kako would go with him.)

We really spend all day looking everywhere, but it genuinely seems like she’s fallen off this plane of existence.

I don’t think she ran away. I hope she’s okay, wherever she is.

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The day goes by quickly looking for Hiruko, but the night is long. Invaders finally attack again, and the commanders are really tough. But almost everyone fights together and manages to defeat the invaders.

When it comes to dealing a finishing blow to the invader commander, nobody wants to do it. But somebody has to, or else the invaders could come back and attack us again. And this was a really long battle…

So I do it. I don’t want to, but if everyone else is hesitating, I might as well volunteer.

I try to not think about it after.

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The day goes by quickly, considering I slept for half of it. When I finally wake up in the afternoon I’m in pain. I really don’t want to move, but I know I have to go to the cafeteria to eat. It’s a long walk. I’m in pain every step of the way.

Ima and Kako get us food, which is nice of them, and we try to talk about what to do next, but we don’t decide on a new leader.

I spend a lot of time in bed trying to sleep, hoping an alarm won’t go off again.

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I wake up in less pain than the day before, but I’m definitely still not perfect. I get to the new facilities easily and take a look around at each of them, but when I get back to my room and think about what I want to do in my free time, I just want to sleep.

So I do, and I’m lucky to not be interrupted by anything. No alarms, no people knocking on my door, I even sleep through the announcement telling us to go to bed.

I hope I’ll finally be back to my full strength tomorrow.

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I’m surprised to find out that everyone else stayed up late last night. I’m glad they’re feeling better, but I’m kinda jealous. I could barely get out of bed and they were up all night!

Eito asks if I could be the new leader and I’m not sure about that. But Eito thinks I’ll be good at it, so I guess I can give it a shot.

I’m just worried about what happened to the other two leaders. I don’t know where they are, but I don’t want to go missing either!

I’m glad to spend the day just chatting.

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Since I’m feeling well enough, I decide to go outside and explore again. Eito and some of the others come with me and we find a lot of stuff, like poisonous mushrooms that I don’t eat.

I find a large piece of red cloth and decide it’s a superhero cape. I wear it for the rest of our journey, and considering how bad I’ve felt for the last few days, I feel a lot better wearing it. Maybe I can be a good leader after all.

I hope everyone else wants me to be the leader too, not just Eito.

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I decide to go to the library again now that I have the energy to read, and start reading a book about Celtic mythology. It’s interesting, but I make sure to have lunch and go back to my room. We have a barbecue in the afternoon, under the big unending sky. Everything feels kind of normal again, but different from the complex.

Shouma tells us about something really important he remembers, but when Ima brushes it off as just a dream, Shouma goes back to his usual self.

Still, I can’t help but wonder if what he said was true…

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This day does not exist to me, and I’m shocked when I hear that it’s Day 24 on the morning announcement. Did I sleep for an entire day?

Apparently I did, according to Shouma. Nobody except him left their rooms for an entire day, or at least he didn’t see anyone.

I guess we were all really tired after the barbecue, but still. I only slept until 1 PM the day after that battle, when I was in so much pain and all I wanted to do was sleep. Why did we all sleep for an entire day? That’s weird.

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It’s raining when I wake up, which I only know because Karua told me about rain as a kid. More importantly, we’re out of food due to a fire. The fire is its own problem…

Before we go out, I tell everyone about the ghost made of undying flames that I’ve seen a few times. Nobody believes me, but that’s the only explanation I have for who could’ve started the fire. As for why they would do it, who knows?

Going outside in a storm is the last thing I remember before getting hit on the head and passing out.

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I wake up away from the academy, alone. Is this the curse that befalls leaders? I wasn’t even officially a leader! I see someone who looks like Sirei. Maybe I can ask this one to take me to him…

But I don’t have the energy to do anything. I barely had the energy to wake up in the first place. I wonder if anyone is looking for me, or if they think I’ve disappeared like Sirei and Hiruko. Maybe they think I abandoned them and I’m not coming back. They probably miss me.

I’m unconscious for days 26 and 27.

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I stay unconscious on the ground for all of day 26. The rain probably stops eventually, but I don’t wake up. I don’t have strength to get up and have no idea where I would find food anyway. I’ve found poisonous mushrooms and things like that when exploring before, so I would be hesitant to eat anything I found if Eito wasn’t there. If I was smart I would’ve done research on that sort of thing before going to explore…

But it’s too late now. Since neither the storm nor hitting my head killed me, maybe poison or starvation will.

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I sleep through the entirety of day 27 too, but at some point someone finds me. I’m not aware of it in the moment, but they decide to rescue me for some reason. It could be my team or it could be invaders, I have no idea who it is or what they’re doing. Where will I wake up? Will I wake up? What if they’re dragging me to a ditch or something to abandon me there? What if they kill me? Maybe dying in my sleep wouldn’t be that bad…

But then I wouldn’t be able to protect Karua…

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I wake up in a room. Not my room. A different room. At a different academy, with different people.

I enter their gym and everyone stares at me. There aren’t as many of them, but they’re just as weird as the people at my academy.

Everything at this academy is similar, but different. Extremely similar, but different.

Especially Nozomi Kirifuji. She’s so similar, but everyone insists she’s a completely different person. But…

For the time being, I politely apologize and explain the misunderstanding.

I still think she’s Karua. She has to be.

But I need to move on for now.

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I return to the Last Defense Academy with my new allies and find everyone in the middle of a battle. We have no time for introductions now, but it’s clear the classes are very different.

The students from the main campus are really happy to have food again. I’m glad they’re still alive…

We decide it would be better for everyone to get some rest after that long battle. I go back to my room, glad to be back with my friends.

I hope we can all go back home in the future. Even Hiruko.

We all need to survive.

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Between both classes arguing and gaining access to new facilities, I don’t have time to do anything else. I’ll need to convince everyone to team up at a later date. I don’t think everyone will be convinced right away.

Eito stops by to chat and he asks about what’s going on with me and Nozomi. I tell him the truth, and once I tell him everything he brings up the idea of Nozomi and Karua being parallel world versions of each other.

But parallel worlds are a fictional concept, right? How would she get here from a parallel world anyway?

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I don’t get an opportunity to talk to Nozomi, and definitely not alone.

I decide to finish the book I started the other day (eight days ago) and feel motivated afterwards. I start another book about everything there is to know about the Tokyo Residential Complex. A lot of information is censored. I don’t have time to figure that out right now. Maybe some other time?

Or I could ask someone for help. Would Kako be able to do it? Probably not. She probably doesn’t have access to information about the complex that I don’t.

But perhaps in another world…

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Shouma seems weird at breakfast, but nobody knows what to do to help him. I check on him after breakfast and he just grumbles. I go back to the library to finish the book I started yesterday. Before I know it, I’m done the book.

I end up finding Darumi in the hall, and she asks if I wanna watch a movie with her. It sounds fun, but knowing her it’s probably gonna be something super inappropriate.

I end up spending most of the movie looking at the screen as little as possible, and it’s bedtime before I know it.

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Shouma tells everyone about a memory he recalled the other day, with some prompting from Eito. And it just raises more questions, of course. The students from the other academy think such questions aren’t worth thinking about, and Kurara takes it too far and punches Gaku. It’s a really impressive punch.

And that’s all before breakfast!

I spend the rest of the day exploring and fighting enemies. It’s a lot of fun, and my mind is blank when I fall asleep.

I manage to forget about my worries and sleep peacefully all night.

Maybe I’ll deal with my problems tomorrow.

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I do VR training in the morning, and I’m glad to fight alongside Hiruko again for a bit. She’s obviously just VR here, but I miss her. She’s so strong.

I learn the move Impact Stab and try it in another VR battle. It takes down the purple racoon(?) enemies really easily. And it’s really useful against big enemies with a lot of HP. I kind of hope I can use it in a real battle the next day.

…probably when exploring. I don’t want humanity to be under attack.

But I do want something interesting to happen around here.

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All the talk about parallel universes and stuff is confusing to me.

I do a VR battle in the morning, and in the afternoon someone rings my doorbell. It’s Nozomi, and there’s a fight in the cafeteria. I’ll never get to talk to her privately.

But it’s not a big deal, someone just ate Kurara’s curry. Except of course Kurara wants to execute them.

When Shouma admits that he did it, one thing leads to another, and suddenly we have until Day 43 to train Shouma to beat Kurara in a battle.

I hope there isn’t an invader attack tonight.

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Upon discovering Shouma’s allergy to conflict, I wonder why he was chosen to be here. Maybe it truly was random.

But we need to get him to fight one way or another. Instead of just trying to convince him today, I talk with everyone else to figure out what he might want. Eventually, I have a plan to make a shiba inu plushie for him.

But it’s starting to get late, and I can’t go out right now. Everyone would worry about me, especially if there was an invader attack.

I make plans to go out exploring the next day.

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I go out exploring in the morning and lowkey forget that I’m supposed to be looking for a collar. But I get a lot of stuff, including the collar, and I go back to the academy and get the plushie made immediately.

I give Shouma the plushie and he thinks it’s cute. I’m glad. But he doesn’t want to fight, and definitely doesn’t think he’ll win against Kurara.

But that’s okay. I’ll have faith in him regardless. Today, and on Day 43, and even after we leave the academy. Even if Shouma doesn’t have faith in himself, I have to.

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Starting today, it’s all on Shouma to start his training and be ready to challenge Kurara. I talk to Eito and Tsubasa to pass the time. I don’t see Shouma all day. I hope he’s doing okay in his room. I don’t check on him, as I don’t want to bother him. Though he probably doesn’t want to bother anyone else either, so that might be why he’s staying in his room…

I hope that he’s had a good day and I have faith in him that he’ll be ready to fight Kurara on Day 43, and I fall asleep.

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I am greeted by good news when I get to the cafeteria first thing in the morning. Shouma is still not confident in himself at all, but he has decided he’s going to fight. Which is awesome!

Takemaru takes it upon himself to train Shouma, and I don’t even have to help! Well, I helped convince him to try in the first place, but that wasn’t really a big deal. Takemaru and Shouma are the ones actually putting in work.

For me the next few days go by really quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it’s day 42.

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Takemaru and Shouma start training as soon as Sirei announces that it’s time to wake up. They go to the Leisure Lounge and close the door. I want to ask what they’re doing, but I don’t want to distract them.

After having something to eat for breakfast, I go back to my room and lie down on my bed. I don’t sleep, I just stare into space until the nighttime announcement.

And before I know it, the day is over.

I wonder if Shouma is doing well but I don’t check on him. He definitely needs to get some sleep.

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Takemaru and Shouma are up and training in the lounge first thing in the morning again. I don’t know how long they trained yesterday, but I hope Takemaru knows what he’s doing and lets Shouma take breaks so Shouma will actually have the energy to fight and not just be all sore two days from now.

But if I have faith in Shouma, I should have faith in Takemaru too. Without his help, Shouma would probably have no idea where to begin in his training.

So I have faith in them and stay in my room for the entire day.

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The last few days have gone by really quickly, and when I realize the duel is tomorrow, I spend the rest of the day worrying about the duel. I have no idea if Shouma is ready for tomorrow. He’s been busy training with Takemaru, who doesn’t want any distractions. Luckily there hasn’t been an invader attack in these few days.

But I have faith in Shouma. Even over a few days he’s probably made a ton of progress. Tomorrow’s a really big day for him.

No matter what happens, I’ll be proud of him at the end of the day.

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Shouma looks very different when he arrives to the gym. Nobody can believe all that muscle grew in just a few days! But he still can’t use hemoanima. So they duel without it, basing it on pure strength. And though Shouma keeps getting hit, he keeps getting up again. Eventually Kurara is out of breath, and Shouma takes off her tomato mask to help.

And just like that, without using any violence, he wins the duel.

We take an unconscious Shouma back to his room for some very deserved rest, and the day goes by in a blur after that.

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There’s an attack first thing in the morning, but I don’t fight the commander. The second academy students want to defeat it alone because the commander took their friend Moko. But that doesn’t mean we can’t deal with some of the other enemies. There are a lot of them! And it’s more difficult when the other team gets brainwashed.

Luckily, Shouma of all people comes to the rescue!
I consider asking Shouma to finish the commander, but it’s a big ask and he can barely fight. Yugamu does it instead.

It’s an eventful day and we haven’t even had breakfast.

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Shouma has decided what he wants the other team to do, and though everyone else has different ideas, Shouma only has one: to be friends with us. The next few minutes of my life are straight out of a corny sports manga, but I don’t mind it. I wish Ima and Kako would join in for a minute, even if it’s a little cringe.

After breakfast, I run into Shouma, and he’s all muscular again! For a second, at least. We stop to talk for a bit, and somehow the whole day goes right by.

I sleep well that night.

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First thing in the morning, Nozomi comes to my room and wants to talk. About World Death. With everyone else.

She also suggests I tell her about Karua sometime, but first, I head to the War Room.

We learn a lot.

I go outside and explore after our history lesson. People lived here, on the surface, and their lives were very different from ours. I wonder what it was like without invaders, and when the buildings and stuff weren’t all destroyed.

I find a cassette player and listen to some nice music.

I wonder how long ago it was recorded.

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The morning is lively, with curry for breakfast and briefly trying to chat with Nozomi. After breakfast, I go to the training room. I do a VR simulation with almost everyone. I hope we can fight alongside each other like that for real sometime. Not that I want the school to be attacked. It’s just so thrilling.

I decide to talk to Yugamu in the afternoon, and it turns out he’s testing a poison on himself. He’s very interesting. I think I understand him better, but I’m not sure.

I try not to think about poison as I fall asleep.

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During breakfast Eito tries to talk to me privately about the parallel world theory, but our whispering catches Nozomi’s attention. And saying it’s nothing just raises more suspicion.

I try not to think about Nozomi and Karua again, and I go to the metals shop. I talk to Kurara and find out she made a gun to shoot Gaku with. I’m not sure what to do after that so I go back to my room.

I decide to avoid Gaku and Kurara in the afternoon and talk to Shouma instead. He’s been exercising a lot lately. I’m proud of him.

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Ima and Kako have been isolating themselves lately, and when they don’t show up for breakfast, I realize I’m worried about them. Mostly Kako if I’m being honest. I feel like I’ll never get an opportunity to talk to them.

The night is more eventful, because it rains again. And I see the big rock again. What was it called? The moon. The flame ghost person shows up again, and I try to fight them, but there’s a huge sound and blinding light in the darkness, and I fall over.

At least I’m still on the main campus this time.

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I wake up on the roof and after a moment of confusion, I remember the night before. Eito tells me about thunder and lightning and I’m suddenly glad I didn’t die last night. And it wasn’t an attack.

There are no gifts in the cafeteria, but there is an invader attack before breakfast. Which is much worse.

But it’s not an invader, it’s Moko! Which is much better. She must’ve escaped the invaders somehow. She sounds so strong and brave. I’m sure she’ll be a good team member once she’s recovered enough to fight. Maybe I’ll ask her about it.

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Moko still isn’t awake. I decide to read about the biosphere of the Tokyo Residential Complex. It compares us to a ship in a bottle, and it’s hard for me to follow.

I decide to do something else and check out the courtyard for the first time. It’s nice despite the weirdness. I talk to Shouma, who’s looking for worms and bugs to keep as a pet.

I forget to tell anyone about what happened during the storm, and it’s too late to wake everyone. We need to get some sleep while we still can.

Luckily, the night is calm.

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I decide to tell everyone about what happened during the storm at breakfast, but I’m distracted by Ima and Kako. Kako wants to fight, but Ima is Ima and thinks we’ve poisoned her mind. Note that he’s kept her locked up…

Takemaru stops them from leaving and confronts Ima. Ima stabs Takemaru, and though I know he’d be revived, I work to save him. Ima and Kako leave while we’re distracted.

I spend the rest of the day in Takemaru’s room, taking care of him.

It’s late when I return to my room and find a note on the floor.

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Ima greets me in the morning and asks if I’m hiding something. I say no and he asks again. I’m worried about getting stabbed as I admit I found the note, but he doesn’t hurt me.

He asks me to convince Kako not to fight, and I feel like I don’t have a choice as I say yes.

I feel bad talking to Kako in the library, but I try not to dwell on it and get all the material for a scooter. I give it to her that night, but the persuasion is kinda intense.

I hate it here.

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I finish the book about the biosphere of the Tokyo Residential Complex, and the morning goes by quickly as a result.

I talk to Shouma in the afternoon, and he says there’s a ghost in the school bathrooms. At least there is according to Gaku. I tell Shouma ghosts aren’t real and Gaku’s making stuff up, and Shouma is disappointed. I decide to not tell him about the ghost I’ve seen a few times. This isn’t the right time for that.

I wonder if Gaku has seen the same guy that I have, or if he just made it up.

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I go out exploring again today, and upon returning to the academy, the alarms go off. Ima and Kako show up fashionably late and can deal with the mist that some of these invaders make! It’s a lot easier when we can see, but the battle is long.

The commander looks human. She speaks a foreign language, and though we can’t understand what she’s saying, she’s terrified and crying. Nobody wants to kill her.

We end up taking her prisoner and keeping her in a cage in the courtyard, unharmed. I hope she’s grateful, and that she sleeps well tonight.

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I wake up in the afternoon and decide to keep resting. I’m exhausted from the long battle the night before, and my bed is so comfortable. It was stressful being unable to see the enemy! I wonder if invaders can see in the mist. Maybe if I’m ever able to communicate with the invader, I should ask.

I don’t think too much about that as I fall back asleep. Nobody wakes me, or if they do I don’t hear them. I hope they decide to take the day easy too.

And the 56th day at the academy goes by quickly.

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It seems everyone else slept all day yesterday, but I want to be productive today. I go to the courtyard and see the prisoner. She’s clearly stressed, and I don’t talk to her. We wouldn’t be able to understand each other anyway.

I talk to Ima in the cafeteria. I find out he loves sugar, but I don’t try any of his food.

I talk to Eito in the afternoon because he seems really happy, and it turns out it’s about his laundry.

The day is uneventful and goes quickly. I guess I wasn’t super productive with my free time.

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I see Nozomi very briefly in the morning on my way to breakfast, and she says Moko has a fever but she’ll be fine.

I tell everyone about it at breakfast, and the discussion about killing and reviving Moko is too long for comfort. Obviously we don’t kill her.

I decide to go out exploring again to get my mind off of killing, and we manage to find a lot of cool things. We also nearly all die due to getting attacked, but we manage to live without incident.

Just like that, the day is over before I know it.

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At breakfast, Shouma tells everyone about how he talked to the invader and she smiled at him. I don’t worry about the invader, that’s Shouma’s job and he’s happy with it.

I hit a bullseye on the dartboard, and talk to Ima about hair care products briefly. Though he offers to teach me more I decline his offer. I do an old battle in the VR simulator. It goes by quickly, unlike real battles. Well, there are also less enemies compared to our real battles nowadays.

Nothing interesting happens. It feels too calm. I wonder if something big will happen.

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I run into Nozomi, and she’s going to look for medicine. She doesn’t want to drag me along, but I drag people out exploring all the time! I insist on going with her.

We find everything we need, but it’s raining and there’s lightning again. We hide in a nearby building. The risk of getting hit by lightning is too high.

We talk about hemoanima. Nozomi says something about not being an official member but she can’t tell me what that means. She tells me a bit about being an experiment.

I hope she’ll tell me more on day 100.

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Nozomi and I get back to the academy in the morning and find out Moko is okay! She’s awake and doing fine and says we should get some rest. She’s glad Nozomi is okay. It’s nice to see them reunited.

I’m glad Moko is okay and even if the exploration to find medicine wasn’t needed in the end, I’m glad I did it. What if things had gotten worse?

I try not to think about that and immediately fall asleep.

I’m glad I get the opportunity to rest, and that I don’t wake up to an invader attack or anything.

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I get to the cafeteria and since Moko is there, I decide to ask about what happened to her. She claims to not remember anything, and claims she ended up here by dumb luck. Yeah right. Gaku says maybe they did something to her memory, but then she should still remember how she escaped…

I don’t worry about it and eat some snacks with Darumi instead. It’s all really unhealthy but it tastes absolutely delicious. I make sure to have something actually nutritious for lunch.

In the afternoon I study with Eito, and the day manages to go right by.

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Moko is the same as the day before at breakfast, which really lightens the mood. I’m glad she’s okay, but I remind myself that invader attacks are still possible for the next month or so. I wonder if they’ll attack more often as we get closer to day 100. Or they’re going to go all out on day 99 or 100 or something. I train in a VR simulation, wanting to be prepared for what feels inevitable.

In the afternoon I wander around the cafeteria and find Takemaru, threatening to attack whoever stole his pudding. I wonder who did it.

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At breakfast, Shouma tells everyone that the invader talked today! She said the word 'beautiful'. Which is nice, but not very useful. I hope Shouma isn’t actually developing feelings for her, that would make things complicated…

I go to the courtyard, but don’t talk to the prisoner. Gaku is there crying, missing his siblings. We’re from different situations, but I know that feeling.

Nozomi talks to me after lunch, saying Moko is acting strange. I encourage Nozomi to ask her about it, and she can talk to me about it after if she wants. I hope that conversation goes well.

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The day is eventful, with Nozomi and Moko’s conversation. But the night is more interesting. Something is wrong with Moko. I’m glad I’m there to protect Nozomi.

Luckily everyone else realizes something’s up and comes to fight. Yugamu says Moko’s an invader with an imitation ability, and we all feel less bad about fighting it. Kurara and I focus on Moko while everyone else focus on the clones.

After the battle, this commander can speak our language. Until it disables its copy ability.

I kill the clone. I’m not sure what to do about the prisoner.

I struggle to sleep.

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The morning goes by in a blur, and the rest of the day is very eventful but confusing and overwhelming. I don’t know what to do to comfort Kako. Nobody does. We can’t even leave the school to go looking for Ima, though Tsubasa tries to tinker with the fire extinguishers all day. The prisoner really did everything possible to stop us.

Or maybe the undying flames invader did. Who else would’ve been able to do it?

I close my eyes and manage to stay in bed for the entire night, but I don’t know if I properly fall asleep.

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I feel like I can’t do anything to help anyone, so I talk to Takemaru to pass the time. He appreciates the decor in the hallway. I think I had this conversation a long time ago, like two months ago. In the afternoon he invites me on a motorcycle ride and I say yes. We can’t leave the campus, but it’s still a nice way to pass the time. He’s a good friend.

I hope Tsubasa is making progress on repairs. And Kako is feeling kind of okay.

I don’t manage to sleep at all.

I hope Ima is alive.

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Things go from bad to worse when Nozomi collapses out of nowhere. If she dies she’s gone forever.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t understand what she means about rejection symptoms, and nobody else will know either. The girls won’t let me help Nozomi and I don’t feel like talking to anyone, or fighting in the VR machine, or anything.

I end up sleeping all morning. And through the afternoon. And all night. I fall in and out of sleep, and eventually I manage to stay asleep long enough to have a dream. Or a flashback? Same thing.

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Sirei plays rock music for day 69, which is annoying. It ruins the mood as I help Kako drop off food at Nozomi’s room.

I try to ask what she meant by her rejection symptoms, but she hits me with a question I can’t answer. I leave quietly, and apologize to Kako for not being able to get information.

I refuse to stay in my room and sleep through the afternoon. I find Kako in the Rec Room, and she wants to play roulette and pretends to be a celebrity.

It’s a nice way to pass time, all things considered.

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Tsubasa announces that she managed to fix a fire extinguisher, or rather recreate one, and things are looking up for once! Kako, Eito, and I go out exploring bright and early. We find gasoline and manage to get back to the school without needing to fight any invaders!

We get back very late, and because of that, I manage to fall asleep with almost no worries. I have no idea what to do about Nozomi’s sickness, especially if she won’t tell me anything. But I feel good having made progress on everything else.

I manage to sleep through the night.

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We get on the bus in the morning ready to save Ima, and things are looking good. The tracker works and we get to our destination in good time.

Then we see it.

We can’t fight that many invaders with just the four of us. Even if we didn’t have to worry about our health, it would take forever. I wonder if they can make more invaders here, since this is their base.

We turn around and go back to the school to make a plan. We’ll definitely need one in order to save Ima.

We can make one tomorrow.

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Nozomi wants to speak to me before we leave, and we talk about hemoanima and cryptoglobin. Neither of them make much sense to me, but I head back to my room and try to relax until it’s time to leave.

We’re seen by the enemies when we invade their base. The battle is long, but not as difficult as I imagined. Even against the commander! It’s a bit difficult but we don’t die. Nozomi finishes the monster off, as she requested before we leave. It works, and her symptoms go away.

We search the entire base all night for Ima.

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The day has good news and also bad news.

Good news: we don’t have to kill the prisoner. I do feel a little bad that she died. Shouma cared about her, after all. And we take out an entire enemy base.

Bad news: we can’t find Ima. Even after searching the entire base.

But he has to be alive. We can’t give up on him.

But we gave up on Hiruko, didn’t we? Like, we accepted we’ll probably never see her again. I think about her sometimes.

We talk for a bit before going back to our rooms to sleep.

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Nozomi talks to me privately after we’ve had a chance to rest. She tells me about her life, and how she got involved in her mom’s experiments, and how she managed to join the academy. It’s a lot to take in.

But we have only 26 days left. Less than a month left! We just need to make it a little longer and reach our happy ending.

We talk all morning, and we have tea together at lunchtime.

I rest in my room, trying to process everything Nozomi told me.

With everything that’s happened lately I deserve a lazy day.

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Everyone (or a lot of people) is worried about Kako at breakfast, and I decide to talk to her during my free time. She asks if I want to watch a movie with her, and I consider it, but don’t feel like hanging out in the dark and creepy room. But I hope she enjoys it.

I do VR training in the afternoon, and it goes well. Of course it’s just training, but I’m confident in our strength.

Luckily we don’t have any real battles, and though I’m scared about what the future holds, I’m sure we’ll get through it.

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At breakfast, my relationship with Nozomi is interrogated briefly. I’m not in love with her or Karua, but I do care about them a lot. And I do acknowledge them as different people now.

I go exploring with some of my friends all day and when we get back it’s already dark.

I’m glad nothing bad ever happens when I go out exploring. It helps the day go by quickly and it’s fun! I hope my friends enjoy it too.

I wonder if these last few days will go by quickly and uneventfully. Or if something big will happen tomorrow.

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I go out exploring again and extinguish a lot of undying flames to get to a bunch of new areas. I don’t explore them all because there are so many places to go, but I hope I can explore them before the 100 days is over. I ride a bike around the ruins a lot, and it’s really useful for getting places. But I don’t take it home with me.

Nothing interesting happens at the school. I hope no news is good news. Maybe these next few days really will go by without any attacks.

I sleep well that night.

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Gaku visits me first thing, telling me to go to the gym. I hurry and arrive to the festival he and Eito planned, and I know today will be a good day.

Kako really likes it too. I’m happy for her. Gaku plays music, and not many people like the song, but Kako does. So I can’t complain. I’m glad she’s happy.

Nozomi wonders if we’ll still be friends after the 100th day. I hope we will.

For now, we have the festival. And it’s really fun.

I fall asleep in the gym, not wanting to return to my room.

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I wake up in the gym and open the door to invaders. How did they get in here? The alarm didn’t go off! There are holes in the schoolyard. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Regardless, we manage to defend the school. We also find Ima after all this time, and we don’t know what to do to save him.

We manage to defeat the invader, and Kako gets the honour of finishing it off.

We, or at least Yugamu, get to work trying to save Ima, at Kako’s request.

I wish I could do something to help…

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I need to distract myself, so I go to the library and chat with Eito. He’s reading one of the scariest horror novels of all time, apparently to get used to horror. I decide to do that too! It definitely keeps me occupied.

In the afternoon I talk to Nozomi, who’s complaining about the infirmary. It’s supposed to be spotless, but it’s not like we clean it regularly. She asks me to help clean, and of course I do.

The day ends uneventfully, but I struggle to rest.

I wonder how Ima is doing. I hope I’ll see him tomorrow.

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At breakfast Kako announces she had a vision where Ima said he was completely fine. I decide to trust her and go to the training room. I do a battle and in the afternoon Yugamu says he’s done fixing Ima. I hurry to the lab and find out Ima was saved.

And he looks like Sirei. Which he’s fine with, because he’s alive.

So I’m happy for him. He even has information on the invaders, but he doesn’t want to talk about it right now.

I hope Ima and Kako have a good sibling reunion.

I sleep peacefully that night.

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I feel a bit weird seeing Ima as Sirei, but I try to ignore it. Ima is still the same, despite looking different and not having to do things like eat.

Ima tells us about the invaders and their plans to investigate the other academy. And the Supreme Commander, who we’re going to have to fight eventually. And win. Maybe on day 100, maybe before.

I decide to train in the VR simulator with the toughest battle I can access. I can handle it, but I’ll need that practice soon.

The day flies right by, and I go bed early.

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Ima announces the team to go to the other academy and reminds everybody of the ability Sirei has to detonate the bombs implanted in our bodies. I lowkey forgot about that.

Anyway, I’m not selected to be on the team. Which is kind of disappointing, but defending this school is important too. I read a book about Tokyo Residential Complex languages. Apparently foreign languages used to be more common. I wonder what all these languages sounded like. Maybe the invaders speak English.

But I don’t think I can learn another language. It seems like a lot of work…

Oh well.

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I don’t know what to do before everyone leaves. I don’t need to prepare to leave, so I talk to Takemaru about painting the bus (we don’t end up doing it) and to Kako about romance. She’s never been in a relationship, but we talk about the concept of romance and dates. I hope Kako gets to go on a date with someone when this is all over. Not with me, just in general.

The day goes by quickly, and I go to sleep easily.

I have a nightmare that night.

Or is it a vision?

I hope it’s not.

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Tsubasa sees the ghost invader at night, and we talk about it in the morning. She got mildly injured, not from the invader, and I ask to switch with Tsubasa. I need to protect Nozomi.

On the way to the academy, we find Hiruko’s body. I feel awful, but we take some time to give Hiruko a grave and bury her. I’m glad to have that closure.

I wish Hiruko was still alive and going to the academy with us. Maybe in another universe, she is. Though I’m not sure parallel universes really exist.

We travel all day and night.

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We use a drone to look around before attacking the academy, which feels weird. We beat the commander but it has time reversal powers, so it’s not that easy. It’s a bit of a pain to deal with, but Gaku’s special attack really helps since he can attack from such a distance. Since he was such a help, he gets to finish it off.

We learn a lot about the Tokyo Residental Complex thanks to Nigou, even though he dies.

I look at the Artificial Satellite in the sky as we leave. I wonder if we’ll ever see it again.

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Upon returning to the academy I think I’m on drugs. Or in a parallel universe. Maybe both. But it’s nice to go to a normal school. Even if it’s still called the Last Defense Academy for some reason.

There’s a new student at this school and he walks directly toward me.

I’m suddenly engulfed in undying flames, and I panic. The ghost speaks very calmly to me despite the fire, and then we talk for a bit, but it just raises more questions. I forget to ask for his name.

And that’s just the start of a very eventful day.

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I don’t feel well today. Neither does anyone else. I don’t think anything really happens besides a couple mental breakdowns and talking about information I can’t comprehend.

I want to help everyone feel better but I need to focus on keeping myself sane first. If an invader attack were to happen now, we would be doomed. All of humanity would be doomed.

But the rest of humanity is in space. So actually only we would be doomed.

I keep thinking all night, though I don’t want to. My mind is too stressed to relax. I struggle to get any sleep.

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The day is gloomy. It feels like day 9 again, with people hesitant to fight. I go out exploring, wondering how many more opportunities I’ll have to do so.

I wonder if the ghost knows anything about the invaders or their plans. But I can’t talk to him. And he can’t appear at will, considering he doesn’t answer my plea.

But there’s only a few more days until day 100. And then it will all be worth it, and our lives will go back to normal. Right?

Even if nothing goes back to normal, please let it be worth it.

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Breakfast is quiet and awkward due to the lack of people. I hope everyone eats sometime today.

I decide to focus on training, glad to do something productive. In the afternoon I do a VR simulation again. Both Hiruko and Ima are in the simulation. I wish they could fight alongside each other for real.

The nighttime announcement is different today, with Sirei telling us that the end is in sight. He says he’s fully confident in us, but would Sirei really be confident in us?

Regardless, we need to be a team and get through this.

We need to.

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I wake up and see Karua at my bedside. She says I’ve been unconscious for a week, but I’ll be okay now. I’m at the complex. The Last Defence Academy was all a weird dream. None of it was real.

And then I wake up again. At the academy.

Fuck.

Eito speculates that we’re destined to die on day 100, and I don’t know what the point of anything is anymore.

Somehow Eito mentions Nozomi’s mom working at the hospital and other things I didn’t tell anyone. I don’t know how they know.

I just know we need to survive.

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I wake up to Sirei giving a cheerful speech about starting a new era in humanity’s history. But I don’t think we’re doing that. Humanity has most likely forgotten about us. That’s why nobody ever contacts us, not even our families. It doesn’t matter if we live or die if everyone who maybe cared about us thinks we’re already dead.

I stay in my bed for the entire day. What is the point of doing anything? It’s not like I even had a choice in deciding not to fight anymore. Or being here in the first place.

I just sleep.

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I wake up with the overwhelming urge to fight. But it’s interrupted by the Tsukumo twins asking me for information and I have no idea what to tell them.

I stay in bed until someone rings my doorbell. Eito invites me to the cafeteria. Since it’s the last day before we all leave here, I might as well go. It’s not like I have much of a choice.

The mood is cheerful and chaotic. This is the last time we’ll ever be here. And then it’ll all be over.

I see the ghost again. I wish I learned his name.

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The Supreme Commander tricks everyone and even kills Ima.

The door closes on them and I’m glad I didn’t get on the ship. It’s me and Nozomi against this monster.

But it’s too strong for just two of us.

Nozomi Kirifuji, AKA Karua Kashimiya, dies.

The rest of us need to fight. We need to get justice. For Ima and Nozomi and everyone else. We need to defy this fate where we all die at the end. We need to win. We need to survive.

I need to survive.

And we need to bury them. It’s all we can do.

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After everything, Eito suggests trying to find out what’s in the Defence Room. If we’re all gonna die anyway, what’s the harm in finding out now? We go to the door in our class armor but before we can attack, he appears.

And he can finally speak to us. Or at least to me. He’s on our side, as in he’s here to protect the academy. But he is going to kill us in a few days.

Before that, at least we get to learn the whole truth. It’s the last thing I expected.

I need to kill Eito Aotsuki.

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The school is completely dead. It’s not destroyed, but nothing works anymore. We’re all still alive, and we have some food and stuff to sustain us, but there’s no reason to do anything. I don’t want to eat or talk to anyone. So I go back to my room to waste my day by just sleeping. There’s no point in even doing that anymore.

I want this to be over.

I want to die.

But I need to survive. Just four more days and these 100 days will all be over.

I need to survive just a little bit longer.