Everyone’s eyes widened.

  There stood Strikeka, trembling. In front of him—Hajime, unmoving.

  A blade of black void pierced straight through Hajime’s chest, stabbing him directly in the heart.

  Blood sprayed behind him like a fountain.

  His head dropped.

  His body started to fall.

  Sockoo (screaming):

  “HAJIME!!!”

  Emily gasped. Bella froze. Rizra, Daka, Amy, Bondo, Yu—all of them went silent.

  Strikeka, breathing heavily, muttered:

  “You were strong… but not strong enough.”

  Hajime’s lips parted… and a single word came out, barely audible.

  Hajime (weakly):

  “Rage… on.”

  He fell to his knees. Strikeka’s hand still impaled in Hajime’s chest, his smug grin faded into confusion the moment Hajime didn’t fall.

  Instead… Hajime grabbed his wrist.

  Hajime (gritting his teeth, blood pouring):

  “Not… done…”

  ??CRACK!!

  With a raw scream, Hajime headbutted Strikeka, snapping his head back violently. Blood spattered from both their foreheads.

  Strikeka (stunned):

  “What the hell…?”

  Hajime’s body trembled, every cell in him on the verge of collapse. His mouth opened—not in pain, but in fury.

  ?? FLASHBACK

  Ray stood in front of a younger Hajime in the mountains, arms crossed, face serious.

  Ray (stern):

  “Listen, Hajime. This move… it’s not a technique. It’s a suicide command. You’ll burn your life. Your soul. Everything. You understand?”

  Hajime, serious as ever back then, just turned his head from Ray.

  Young Hajime:

  “Whatever.... I won’t use it something that is completely useless to me....unless i have to”

  Ray (grabbing him by the shirt):

  “No, you don’t get it. If you ever use it—you won’t come back the same. If you come back at all.... please Hajime don't you ever use this ability.”

  ?? PRESENT

  Hajime, his whole body shaking, roared to the sky.

  A blue flame ignited around him, so intense it melted the floor below.

  Hajime(whispering):

  "Sorry Grandpa Ray."

  Emily (panicking):

  “What is he doing?! That magic… that aura—it’s unstable!!”

  Daka, crawling toward him with blood on his face, froze.

  Daka (shocked):

  “No… he’s gonna nuke him. He’s going to burn himself and Strikeka alive!”

  Bella (wide-eyed):

  “That’s not just a spell… it’s a magic execution. He’s sacrificing himself!”

  The flames began to swirl upward like a tornado—Hajime was becoming the core of a living explosion. The pressure around him was so heavy everyone nearby was pushed back.

  Hajime (screaming at the top of his lungs):

  “BLUE FLAME MAGIC: BURIAL NOVA!!”

  ?? The energy wrapped around both him and Strikeka, forming a burning cocoon of doom.

  Strikeka (realizing too late):

  “WHAT IS THIS?! YOU’D KILL YOURSELF TOO?!”

  Hajime (gritting through blood, eyes glowing):

  “If it means taking trash like you with me… then YES.”

  The core of the flames imploded, and the next moment—

  ??????

  A massive eruption of blue fire engulfed the battlefield, sending a shockwave so massive it threw Duella, Bella, Baku, Emily, and the others off their feet.

  Everything turned white. Then silence. As the smoke cleared from the massive blue inferno that had engulfed the battlefield, silence hung like a noose.

  The once mighty chamber where Strikeka reigned now lay in ruin. The floor was scorched black. Craters filled the ground. Blue embers still drifted through the air like dying fireflies.

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  Sockoo, her voice gone from screaming, staggered through the debris. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her lips trembled.

  “H-Hajime…?”

  She fell to her knees, crawling forward, her hands scraping against the broken floor as if trying to feel for his presence.

  “No. No, no… please no…” she whispered, breathless.

  Then she saw it.

  A body—charred, twisted, collapsed face down. Pieces of armor and cloth barely hanging on. Hair burned at the ends. It was unrecognizable… but the boots…

  The boots were missing.

  Sockoo’s eyes widened.

  “No…” her voice cracked, “NONONO!”

  She reached out, hands shaking violently as she turned the body over.

  It was him.

  Or what was left of him.

  “Hajime…?”

  Her chest tightened. Her throat let out a scream so broken, so raw, it made the heavens cry.

  She clutched his barely breathing body, hugging it to her as tears poured out of her.

  “I told you to stop doing this… I told you to stop being a hero…!” she sobbed, burying her face in his burned shoulder.

  Behind her, Emily collapsed to her knees, trying to hold back her tears but failing.

  Amy clung to Bondo’s sleeve, crying silently.

  Even Bondo and Yosuke—the calmest, most composed members of the Music Club—stood frozen. Their eyes low. Their fists clenched.

  They didn’t cry openly.

  But you could see it in their eyes.

  That pain.

  That guilt.

  That powerless sadness.

  Yosuke, who always wore a cool smirk, just stared at the ground.

  “He… really did it,” he muttered. “He gave everything. Again.”

  Bondo turned away, his voice low and serious.

  “Hiding behind seriousness won’t change what we lost.”

  And for a moment… nobody spoke.

  No witty remarks.

  No jokes.

  No comfort.

  Just the sound of fire crackling… and Sockoo’s voice, crying like a broken child. Daka, bruised and breathing heavy, stumbled toward the group with Rizra supporting him. His eyes locked onto the body Sockoo was crying over—and then suddenly, they widened in realization.

  “Guys… wait!” Daka shouted, voice urgent.

  “That’s not him!”

  Sockoo paused, her sobs hitching.

  “W-What…?”

  Rizra, barely conscious and coughing, pointed with a trembling hand.

  “That… body… it’s burned beyond recognition.”

  He nodded past the rubble.

  “I-I saw… Hajime… He’s over there. That’s the real one.”

  Everyone turned sharply.

  At the edge of the blast zone, just beneath a collapsed support beam and scattered concrete, a hand twitched. A familiar boot—burnt, but still intact. Gray-blue hair matted in blood.

  “HAJIME!” Sockoo screamed, immediately dropping the charred body and sprinting toward the real one.

  Yosuke and Bondo followed, lifting the rubble with desperation as Emily and Amy rushed in behind.

  There he was.

  The real Hajime.

  His face was pale, lips slightly open as he gasped faintly for air. Blood trickled from his mouth, and burn marks covered his arms. His eyes fluttered weakly—barely conscious.

  But he was alive.

  Barely.

  “Hajime!” Sockoo cried, holding his face in her hands.

  “Say something! Please… please…”

  Hajime’s cracked lips moved slowly.

  “…rage… on…” he whispered weakly.

  Sockoo laughed through her tears, her hands trembling.

  Emily dropped to her knees, tears streaming as she prepared to heal him.

  “We have to move fast,” she said, her voice shaking.

  “He doesn’t have long. But if I use my full healing… I might be able to bring him back.”

  Bondo stood tall, looking around as he gave orders like a leader.

  “Everyone. Surround them. Make a wall. Nobody gets through while Emily works.”

  Daka and Rizra stood on one side. Bella flew above. Yosuke unsheathed his blade. Amy stood beside Bondo, ready to strike.

  And there, in the center of it all—

  Hajime, broken but not defeated.

  Sockoo, clutching him as Emily’s magic began to glow.

  The blue flames around his chest slowly flickered back to life.

  It wasn’t over.

  Not yet. Emily continued channeling healing magic into Hajime, sweat dripping down her forehead as her hands glowed brightly over his chest wounds. Everyone stood in tense silence, watching the fragile thread of life hang in the balance.

  Then Amy, who had stayed surprisingly calm through the chaos, finally broke the silence.

  She looked over to the charred, unrecognizable corpse Sockoo had cried over earlier—

  the one everyone had thought was Hajime at first.

  “Hey… that body over there,” Amy said, pointing slowly.

  “That’s Strikeka, right?”

  Everyone turned to look.

  The body was completely burned, limbs twisted, armor melted into the flesh. A faint, blackened horn lay nearby—

  undeniably belonging to Strikeka.

  Daka nodded grimly, holding his bleeding side.

  “Yeah… that’s him.”

  “That final attack Hajime used… that was enough to incinerate him. There’s no way anyone survives that.”

  Bondo crossed his arms, eyes narrowed at the corpse.

  “So… Hajime took him down. But nearly took himself down with it.”

  Sockoo looked back at Hajime, tears running down her cheeks.

  “You idiot…” she whispered, “You really would’ve died just to keep your promise…”

  Yosuke, quiet as ever, muttered,

  “He’s still breathing. That means he won.”

  Emily smiled through her exhaustion.

  “He’s not out of danger yet… but yeah. He did.”

  Bella floated down, gently landing beside them.

  “We need to move. This place could collapse. But first…”

  She looked toward Hajime.

  “…Let’s make sure our hero lives.

  [Sockoo’s POV – 3 Months Later]

  It’s been three months since that day.

  Since Strikeka.

  Since Hajime nearly died.

  Since he saved us all… and never woke up again.

  I visit his hospital room every day. I sit by his side. I hold his hand. I talk to him, sometimes pretending he can hear me—

  like he’ll blink or shift or maybe smile like he used to.

  But he never does.

  He just lies there. Pale. Still. Breathing, but not alive.

  The doctors said he had extreme nerve and brain exhaustion… that the blast overloaded his body, inside and out.

  But they said… he’d wake up in a week.

  That was three months ago.

  They stopped giving me timelines.

  Now they just give me looks.

  Pity. Guilt. Doubt.

  I don’t want their sympathy.

  I want him.

  I keep wondering—

  Was it something I said?

  Was it because I got in the way?

  Was it because I… wasn’t strong enough to stop him?

  If I had been better… maybe he wouldn’t have needed to burn himself out just to protect us.

  I can’t lose him.

  Not Hajime.

  Not the one who made me laugh, who annoyed me endlessly, who yelled “rage on desu!” in the dumbest moments and still made it feel right.

  The one I—

  …love.

  I rest my head on his chest. It’s warm.

  I can hear the soft, steady heartbeat.

  “Please…” I whisper, squeezing his hand.

  “Please wake up, Hajime. I can’t do this without you.”

  A single tear hits his blanket.

  “Please… I love you.”

  The heart monitor continues to beep.

  Steady.

  Unchanging

  **\[Narration – Weeks Later]**

  School feels… *empty* without him.

  Sockoo walks the halls like a ghost of herself.

  Her blazer is wrinkled, her eyes tired.

  She barely looks at anyone anymore. Even when friends say hi… she just gives a weak nod, or sometimes nothing at all.

  She used to **run** to Music Club after class.

  Now?

  She avoids it.

  The music room sits untouched most days—dust gathering on the instruments, the air quiet, too quiet.

  Every now and then, someone tries to play something, to bring life back…

  But without Hajime, it just doesn’t sound the same.

  And Sockoo… doesn’t stay.

  As soon as school ends, she heads straight for the hospital.

  Same path. Same bus stop. Same elevator.

  Every single day.

  **\[At the Hospital]**

  She walks into Room 407 like she always does.

  The nurses greet her with gentle smiles.

  They’ve gotten used to her.

  They’ve even stopped asking if she wants to take a break.

  They know the answer.

  She sits beside Hajime again, like always.

  She pulls up her chair, brushes the hair from his face, and starts talking.

  **"Hey dummy... another day of boring school. Emily made Bella laugh so hard she choked on her juice. You would've lost it."**

  No response.

  She smiles weakly anyway.

  **"Rizra told a bad joke again. You’d have rolled your eyes and said something snarky... I miss that. I miss you."**

  *The machines beep softly in the background.*

  She places her forehead against his hand.

  **"...If you’re stuck somewhere… just fight, okay? Like you always do. Just fight your way back. Rage on, right?”**

  A beat of silence.

  She closes her eyes.

  **"...please come back. I’ll be here tomorrow. Just like always."**

  Burial Nova—a forbidden power meant to erase both himself and his enemy from existence. Strikeka was reduced to ash, his reign ending in blue fire.

  His body breathes.

  His heart beats.

  But his soul remains silent.

  The world moved on—but Sockoo did not.

  Every day, she hopes.

  Every day, she whispers the same words to the boy who saved everyone… and never woke up.

  Will Hajime fight his way back…

  or was Burial Nova the end of the hero who always chose to burn?

  Rage on.