A Creature That Can Only Follow Its Own Ego

And Aria, who entered after swapping places with Kuon… came close and stared at Kikori with a slightly angry face.

Unable to withstand that silent pressure… Kikori nervously spoke up.

“Um… well. Are you, perhaps, angry?”

“I’m very angry. Do you know why?”

“Because I collapsed… maybe?”

“Because you did something reckless. Where was the need for Kikori to be reckless?”

He absolutely could not say it was for Aria.

Thinking about it afterward, things might have worked out even if Kikori hadn’t interfered… and it wasn’t like he had challenged it with certain victory.

It had literally been reckless enough to risk his life. Even though it ended in victory, there was no excuse.

“Um, I’m sorry.”

So Kikori apologized without making excuses.

Aria stared intently at his expression.

“The reason.”

“Huh?”

“You had a reason that led you to be reckless, right?”

Faced with Aria’s pressure that he surely wouldn’t say there wasn’t one, Kikori instinctively looked away.

Because there was no way he could say it.

For your sake… saying something that pushy.

He didn’t want to irresponsibly claim he risked his life for someone else.

“Kii-ko-ri?”

“Um, sorry. I can’t promise I’ll never do it again, but I do regret it…”

Kikori had risked his life purely for himself… to follow his selfish desire to protect Aria.

Something like that didn’t need to be known.

Saying I’d risk my life for you… was far too heavy and nothing but a nuisance.

At least, that was what Kikori thought.

“That doesn’t count as reflecting at all!”

“Ugh… I really do regret it. But even if I redo that moment, I’d do it again.”

“What’s with that stubbornness? Hm?”

Though she looked troubled, Aria suddenly hugged Kikori tightly as if she realized something.

“Wah!? A-Aria-san!?”

“I get it now. It was for me, wasn’t it!?”

“Huh!?”

“Haha! That reaction confirms it! You were definitely thinking some pretentious ‘this is my selfishness’ kind of thing!”

“Pre-pretentious…?”

“You just say it’s for your sake! Here, go ahead!”

“U-um… it was for your sake?”

“That’s heavy!”

“Hey, that’s harsh!?”

Still hugging Kikori, Aria laughed and pulled him closer.

“But I forgive you. Berserkers are creatures that can only follow their own ego.”

“…”

“If you berserked enough to collapse, you understand now, right? Berserkers run forward because they want to accomplish what they’ve decided no matter what. That strength of will itself is power.”

Saying that, Aria looked down at the Kikori she was hugging.

“So since I understand your feelings, does that mean we’re officially a couple now?”

“No, well… for me right now, familial affection is stronger…”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You coward!”

“That’s cruel!?”

Even while making a racket like that, Kikori and Aria laughed together.

Their voices echoed far away, beyond the sky.

Neither the world’s surrounding circumstances nor life in the Fortress City changed in the slightest.

Even so… the result he had wanted to obtain was certainly here.