It hurt.
Everything hurt.
But it was okay.
It was all over for her now.
She had done what she could.

A final tear fell from Sakura's eye.
And she died.

...

Time: 21:13, October 23

She was slipping in and out of consciousness. It felt like, every single time she closed her eyes, she was being pulled into restless, painful slumber.

Her arms and legs.
She couldn't feel them. But she could still feel the crushing load of rubble which had encased them. She could feel blood pooled around her left shoulder, which hurt to be laying upon. But she couldn't bring herself to move.

Was she dead already?
She couldn't tell.

Through the flutters of her consciousness, all she could see was darkness, with all but a draft of light through the hole in the brick wall in front of her.
It was the last thing she had remembered.

Eunchae had thrown her through the wall. And now, she was all but a heap on the floor, completely spent and incapable of saving herself if needs be.
But Chaewon hadn't been alone in fighting Eunchae.

"Sa- Sakura..." she muttered in a hoarse whisper, barely more than a breath.

Where was she?
The atmosphere was completely silent. A deathly silence rung in the air.
No.
There was nothing.

It was so hard to concentrate, as she continued to drift on and off between being awake to insensible. Her head spun and ached, unable to cope with her condition.
The world felt like it was warping around her. She strained her eyes to even be able to make out her surroundings.

Chaewon was fully spent.

She could do nothing, but lay there, powerless.

Slowly and gradually, the drowsiness started to overcome her, and she started getting pulled back into unconsciousness.
But, however, before she did, she caught something.

A glimpse through the hole in the wall.
Two figures.
One was alive, and standing over the other, though slightly crouched, almost slumping.

And the other one, however, wasn't moving.

The other one was on the floor.
Lifeless.

...

It had felt like a sword of overwhelming sorrow had pierced her heart. Without warning, it had come out of the blue like a backstab.
Her heart ached.
And she didn't know the reason why.

She glanced at Yunjin.
Maybe it was because of how dejected the girl felt. Maybe it had rubbed off onto her.
But it felt deeper. Much deeper than the shallow feeling of sadness.

It was a sudden grip of anxiety, misery and heartbreak.
It felt wrong, almost too sudden.

Way too sudden.
She had a strong sense of dread dragging behind her, weighing her down. But yet, still, it felt out of place in a way. Almost like a foreshadowing.

Kazuha walked on in silence, keeping her feelings concealed.
Something about the pang of worry that had hit her felt... off. It had been unexplainable, almost too strong of a feeling to shake off.

She looked around her.
Nothing had changed.
There was no danger looming the dark night, neither had there been any change of spirit in the group. Good nor bad.

So, why?
Why did she feel dread? And it wasn't the same type of dread she had felt before, when they had first set off; it wasn't a fear-induced dread.
It felt more like regret than anything.

But, the question lay; what was it?
What had been the trigger?

Her heart felt uneasy, like a piece of its weight had been removed to leave it lopsided. It also felt like it felt heavier, almost like she had suffered a loss.
Or even a defeat.
But, the fight against Eunchae hadn't even started between them.

So, why did she feel like the battle had already been lost?
The feeling was unsettling, like it was creeping behind her, intimidating her in a way.
Like she was prey, and it was the hunter; like it was ready to destroy her at any moment.

Or even, maybe a piece of her had already been destroyed, and she didn't know it.

Kazuha placed an uneasy hand on the back of her neck. She had felt the prickling sensation of fear coursing down her involuntary, and she could feel the chills running down her body.
The air felt colder, and the wind felt stronger, but perhaps it was just her senses becoming hyperaware to her surroundings.

No.
That guess was wrong.

The air really was becoming piercingly cold, and the wind really was picking up speed. Kazuha could see it. Her hair blew around her shoulders, and in just a moment she could feel herself bringing up her hands to her arms, shielding them from the sudden icy wind.
She saw the others as well; Sunghoon was taking glances around them, startled by the sudden gusts, and he was subtly trying to shield Sunoo by acting as a windbreaker. Jake had done the same as she did, and crossed his arms as he walked on, yet nobody said a word.

It was an awful silence.
Kazuha could only hear the swish of the wind in her ear, and their muffled footsteps.
But not a single whisper from the group.

It was like their souls had been stolen from them, diminished to a point that it was no longer existent, or wounded to a point of no return.

Kazuha looked at Yunjin.
Her demeanour, even with the icy wind, didn't change. She was still staring blankly at the ground, and walking on, her face sullen.
Ever since the incident with Heesung and Eunchae, she hadn't acted the same way.

She was like an empty shell of her former self, glum and unresponsive.
And it broke Kazuha to see her like that.

It seemed like everything they had done up to this point had been in vain.
They had carried on. They had pushed through their struggles.

They had wanted to save Eunchae.

Why?

Because they cared. And they wanted to make everything right.
But, it seemed like, the further they had thrown themselves into trying to achieve that, the farther they got.
They were reaching for a solution, only to grasp onto another problem.

They had gone so far into it.
And, at this point, they didn't even know if they were able to cope.
A lump formed at the back of Kazuha's throat.

Everything had changed. They'd never be the same again.
They had spent all of this effort, all of the time by putting their lives at constant risk to try and get back to how it had used to be.
But it was all just a waste.
It was all in vain.

...

The rain fell as heavy as her emotions.

Rain poured down, and the skies had gone dark. Thunder erupted in the heights, booming like death bell.
As quickly as the rain clouds had arrived, the group was drenched. Kazuha could feel the drops falling from the sky onto her head, and her hair sagged down, sticking to the shoulders of her uniform, where water had also seeped through the linen.

The rain was cold. And it made her colder than she had been before, pairing with the bitter wind. Goosebumps formed up around her arms, and she could feel the tips of her fingers going red as they felt more progressively frozen by the second.
The metal handle of her wakizashi felt like a block of ice, and it took a little more effort to be able to grasp her hand around it, even if its sheath was still attached to her belt.
Her hands felt less controllable, or numb, even.

Kazuha could hear the droplets of rain splashing on the ground around them, and she was almost blinded by the lightning strikes as they flashed their bright luminescence.

But, the light did show her what was in front of her.

She looked up.
Everything was all too familiar.
Kazuha knew this place like the back of her hand.

In the flash, she saw a long, winding gravel path between two tall bushes in front of them. The same one that led up to their headquarters.

They were here.
It was time.

Jungwon, who was at the front, stopped.
He turned back to them, brushing his soaked hair out of his eyes.

After a moment of waiting, he nodded, and pursed his lips.

"Get ready. We're here..."

He looked to the side, where there was a clump of disturbed vegetation; sticks and branches had been broken from their places, as if someone had pelted straight through them, leaving some hanging on by a thread.
Other pieces laid upon the ground, scattered in a messy sprawl among the bushes.

But someone had been here before them.
And Jungwon knew exactly who it was.

"We are here... but so is Eunchae."

...