"No--!"
The crowd outside screamed.
The mother tightly covered her daughter's eyes.
Sato Miwako's heart sank to the bottom instantly. A tremendous sense of weightlessness washed over her, and the shadow of death once again enveloped her.
Is the nightmare of three years ago about to repeat itself?
Matsuda......
This time, it's my turn...
At this critical moment!
A figure, moving faster than the elevator itself, leaped down the stair railing like lightning, precisely smashing through the elevator shaft's maintenance door. Just as the elevator car reached the height of the next floor, the figure forcefully followed it inside!
"Bang!"
Yuzuru landed heavily inside the elevator car. The enormous impact caused the already fragile car to groan under the strain, and its downward momentum paused, as if it had hit the buffer device in the shaft or gotten stuck somewhere, but it was still dangerously suspended in mid-air.
The lights inside the elevator car were completely turned off, with only the emergency lights emitting a faint glow.
Sato Miwako was still in shock, her mind blank, like a bewildered little girl, looking at Hanyu Nanasu who suddenly appeared in front of her like a god descending to earth.
"Why...why..."
Her voice trembled with fear and lingering terror, "Why did you jump down?! You'll die! Do you know people can die?!"
Why would someone knowingly jump down into hell, into a certain death, like a fool?!
This is not worth it at all!
At this moment, the Metropolitan Police Department's "flower" is on the verge of emotional collapse. Cracks appear in her strong exterior. The familiar scene, the familiar despair—in the end, will she be able to protect no one?
Even this boy who came to help him is going to be sacrificed?
A profound sense of powerlessness gripped her heart like a poisonous vine.
Just then, a warm, dry hand, carrying a strange and reassuring power, gently pressed on the top of her head and ruffled her slightly messy hair.
Yuzuru accurately located her position in the darkness, a gesture that carried a strange, comforting power.
Then, his calm and clear voice rang out in the small, dark, and perilous space:
"Because I promised Yumi that I would protect you."
The reason is simple and direct, yet carries immense weight.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a reassuring power that pierced through the fear in Sato Miwako's heart.
"You are willing to sacrifice yourself without hesitation to protect the people."
"To protect you, I'm willing to jump down too."
"That's fair."
“You are not an all-powerful savior. You will also be afraid and need protection. There is nothing shameful about that.”
"You are a police officer, so you can only focus on the people who need protection. That is your greatness."
Yuzuru looked at her, and even in the darkness, Sato Miwako could almost see the gentle yet unwavering light in his eyes, like the stars.
"But I'm not a police officer."
"So, in my eyes..."
"It can be just you."
"Officer Sato."
These words, like the warmest sunshine, instantly dispelled the gloom that had accumulated in Sato Miwako's heart for three years and her fear of death at this moment.
The phantom of death, which had been haunting her and represented sacrifice and regret, was, at this moment, completely annihilated and vanished without a trace, as if by an invisible yet incredibly dazzling sword of light.
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