Corpse March

Chapter 50 Bites The Dust

Minutes Earlier. 

“Excuse me, Miss Asuka? Hostile presences have been detected in the first and second floor bathroom.” 

“Hm.” A quick glance at the first second floor bathroom is all she needs to confirm that yes, there is indeed a bomb in the second stall. Even more curiously is that there’s a dead body next to the door, and Councilor Florence is holding the gun. Downstairs, Asuka sees that Haru’s engaged in combat with the lanky girl she’s seen hanging around Gleam. “Hostile presences confirmed.”

“Should I alert the others?

“No.” There’s a reason why Haru’s going it alone downstairs. If Asuka had to guess, it’s most likely because a panic is the last thing they need. If a panic were to occur, then Gleam wins. She’s proved that there’s a hostile threat in Takakumo. 

Technically, the lanky girl is an outsider by Takakumo standards. As for how Councilor Florence fits into all this? Asuka isn’t exactly sure. But what she does know is that this, all this, has to be resolved as quietly as possible. 

“Leave this to me.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Asuka opens the bathroom door. At the far end of the room, she sees the bomb attached to the wall. It’s so close. All she has to do is remove it and dispose of it safely. But she doesn’t dare make another movement. Lest the still hot barrel pressed against her temple fires. She crosses her arms. In the distance, the beeping slowly but surely begins to accelerate. 

“Not another step.” 

To her side, wearing his usual red cloak and severe demeanor, is Florence.

“I’m going to give you a choice here, child. You can turn around, leave, and pretend like nothing happened. The bomb goes off, sure, but you live to see another day.” In spite of his severe facade, Asuka sees that his heartbeat and breathing are accelerated. He’s nervous. 

“...”

“Or you can stay here and I put two bullets into your skull and the bomb goes off anyway.” 

“What do you stand to gain here, Florence?” 

“A clear conscience knowing that someone who didn’t have to die didn’t die.” 

“You’re planting a bomb where all of Takakumo’s elite are gathered and you’re still concerned about lives?”

“People who murder people are scum, but people who murder children are far worse.” 

“And yet, you’re still pointing the gun at my head.”

“There are worse things to be than scum.” Florence sighs. “Takakumo is diseased, child. Even Lady Kentomi and Lady Tsubame understood this long before they died.” 

“Lady Kentomi? What did she have to do with all this?”

“She entrusted her dream to me. A dream of a reformed Takakumo that will rise from the ashes of the old Takakumo. It’s only natural that sacrifices will have to be made during the birthing pangs of the new era.” 

“That’s what this is about? You’re doing all this for the sake of someone else’s dream?”

“I have yet to earn my absolution. I’ve made mistakes in my pursuit of power, and I find that now it is my power that is pursuing me. I intend to rectify my sins before it’s too late. Right now, the disciplinary committee is out of control and I’m no better than a puppet.” 

“How noble of you.” 

“I’m an ignoble person working towards a noble dream, I don’t see what’s so noble about that.” Florence licks his lips. “I’ll ask you one last time. Would you like to walk away? Or would you like to die here?”

“...”

“Regardless, your options are limited. There’s no way for you to defuse that bomb. If you cut any of the wires, it goes boom. If you try to destroy it, the igniter will spark and it goes boom. If you try to defuse it, I’ll just detonate it remotely. I have you in zugzwang.” 

“Not quite.” Asuka subtly slips her left hand into the interior of her jacket. “Lady Tsumugi gave me another gift today.” 

“What are you–?!” 

“Just in case.” Two loud gunshots ring out and two holes open themselves on the side of Asuka’s jacket as she fires the gun that she hid in the interior of her jacket twice. The first bullet ricochets off of the barrel of Florence’s gun, knocking it off-course while the second bullet buries itself deep into Florence’s stomach. He stumbles backwards, blood trickling from his mouth. As he falls to the ground, he sees Asuka throw aside a chrome gun with pearl grips while she breaks into a full sprint towards the bomb. 

There’s no time to figure out any other way. 

Living was painful. It is sad but it is true. Living was cruel. It is strange but it is true. Forgive me, Lady Tsumugi. I couldn’t find a reason to keep living. Asuka wraps herself around the bomb, trying to get as much of her body as possible around it. The beeping begins to accelerate as the timer nears its end. Even after all this time, she couldn’t escape her fate. 

A hot wind blows through a desert, etching jagged lines into its sand. Man of the world, watching over this city, fulfill your duty then vanish without a trace. She hears laughter. Not jeering, joyous and youthful. Like the ones that will fill this place soon. Perhaps it’s merely a mirage, but for the first time in her life, Asuka feels that her fate isn’t one that she has to escape from. This is how a soldier dies. Silently. Quietly. For someone else’s dream. Without a single tear being shed. 

Gertrud, Eliza, Kiko, Rika. I’m coming home. 

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

It’s been a full hour since Tsumugi started digging through the rubble. Even through her physical enhancements, her fingernails have started to bleed. Sweat drips off of her chin. 

Haru and Gleam look at each other, unsure of how to talk to Tsumugi. They should be at each other’s throats. They’d have half a mind to kill one another but right now the thought doesn’t even cross their minds. 

“Well?! Don’t just stand there!” Tsumugi’s voice is frantic, verging on the tip of hysterical as she redoubles her efforts, lifting huge chunks of rubble and throwing them aside. “Help me!” 

“Tsumugi...” Haru averts her gaze. “I don’t hear Asuka’s heartbeat anymore.” 

“She’s still in there.” 

“Tsumugi.” Haru places her hand on Tsumugi’s shoulder and looks into her eyes. Her stare is gentle but firm, solid, as though trying to give Tsumugi something to hold onto. But Tsumugi does not meet her eyes, out of fear of what she might realize. 

She tries to break free from Haru’s grasp but she places both her hands on her shoulders and shakes. “Tsumugi!”

“She’s… she’s gone. She’s gone, isn’t she?” 

“...Yes.”  

Tsumugi finally looks Haru in the eye. Tears peek out from under her glasses. She’s clenching her teeth, mustering every single ounce of strength she has just to keep that brave face on. Then it breaks. Haru pulls her in close. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” That’s what you’re supposed to say when something awful happens, right? The words feel foreign in her mouth. “She didn’t die in vain.” 

“I wish she didn’t have to die at all. This place was supposed to be for her. This was all for her, Haru.” 

“I know, I know.” She places her hand on her back. “I know.”

“What… what am I supposed to do now?”

“Keep moving forward. It’s the only thing we can do.”

“She was so young.”

“I know.” 

Haru stands there in silence, still hugging Tsumugi, afraid that she might fade away into nothing if she ever lets go. It’s strange. She knows that Asuka was a soldier, she knows that soldiers are meant to die and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she died. And yet, she feels a pang in her chest when she thinks of her. A pang that she hasn’t felt in a very very long time, maybe ever. 

Without fully understanding why, Haru too sheds a tear for Asuka. Her comrade, in the loosest sense of the word. She knew her for all of a few weeks and spoke to her maybe twice. But for some reason, her heart aches.