As the woman was kicked and rolled down the last few steps, hitting her head on multiple edges she quickly lifted herself up again.
"Natsumi, you dumb bitch!"
"You weren't paying attention, what can I say?"
"Fuck you, you ruined my glorious descent!"
"Aw, did your little divine act got ruined?"
"Drop dead!"
"Such hostility… Are you still mad because of last time?"
"Of course I am! And you've got some nerve, always just appearing wherever you want whenever you're least wanted! Like… Like a middle child!"
"For that I'd need a younger sibling… But anyway, I promise you this time will be different from all the other times we went at each other."
"Is that so…?"
"Very much, yes! Because this time, I actually prepared something that will 100% work in my favor!"
"Sorry, sis, but I really doubt that."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see!"
Natsumi suddenly opened her palm and an extremely blinding light flashed Yuki, and disoriented her for a bit.
"Urgh… That's just annoying…!"
Dashing forward, she grabbed onto Natsumi's throat despite not being able to directly see her yet, with a terrifying speed and precision.
"Now… Was I supposed to be blinded for longer, or…? Because otherwise, that was easily the worst attempt of them all."
But Natsumi did not respond. Instead, she lifted her hands up to Yuki's cheeks and squeezed her face right in front of her own, before kissing her on the lips. Yuki, utterly confused, pushed her away and rubbed with the back of her hand aggressively against her lips, to check if she smudged anything on them.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!?"
"I love Yamato!"
"…Excuse me?"
"I am desperately in love with him, and I wish to be with him forever!"
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
After Natsumi's declaration, Yuki had to genuinely take a moment and rethink what she just heard, as well as make sure she was not the one talking right now. Because if those were not her words, they sounded so weird that the thought of being sent into another universe seemed more likely than them being spoken by Natsumi of all people.
"I love him so much, I wish to procreate with him!"
"Okay, what the fuck!?"
"Huh, it's not even broken yet? Yuki, you have more self restraint than I thought!"
As Yuki turned around, there was a second Natsumi. The other one, to which she just talked to, still only repeated that she was in love with Yamato.
"By now you figured it out, I hope? That over there is just a dummy. Yeah, I know, it's kind of dumb, and can only repeat a few lines. But other than that, it feels and sounds pretty real. I was under the impression you would crush it after the first sentence, but it turns out I had much more time than I thought."
"You're weird!"
"Well, whatever. I needed time and after blinding you, I could swap myself out for the dummy me and have you talk to her instead."
"Okay, I get that. But don't kiss me!"
"I didn't. She did. But to think you'd be so shocked to let it happen… Kind of messed up to think about. But like I said, it was more thought as a punching bag."
"Fuck you! I'm not some animal you can bait with a stuffed whatever that thing is!"
"Okay, whatever."
Natsumi snapped her fingers and the dummy dissolved into light particles.
"Yeah, okay you had your distraction. Now what?"
"Now you're gonna go back with me into heaven and forget about Yamato."
"Get a grip, sister obsessed floozy."
"Oh my— Let go of the kiss, I'm sure it wasn't your first, so grow up!"
"I am disgusted."
"Urgh… Fine. It doesn't matter. I have Yamato, Yuki."
"…What?"
Yuki's demeanor changed in an instant. Her smile gone, replaced by a cold glare.
"…What do you mean by that?"
"It was difficult to get past your defenses, but that sphere thingy on your tower is pretty easy to enter once you break through the barriers. How many were there, like 33? Pretty overkill but okay. Anyway, I abducted him. His wellbeing is now in my control. And if you don't come back with me to heaven, I will kill him."
"You're bluffing."
"Am I?"
"…"
Yuki just stared at her. Natsumi hated Yamato and would do anything to get to Yuki. But she never lied to her, ever.
"You really want to do this, Yuki? If you promise to come with me I let him go right now."
She could lie and pretend to agree. But she would see through that. Yuki could not take the risk. If anything happened to Yamato…
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!!! Why, why, why now?! Why did this have to happen now?!?! What do I do? What can I do? Do I kill her? But then I don't know where he is…! Or if he even is! Fuck! No, no, no, nononononononono..… Ah but he has SoleSupremacy! No, he doesn't because I am not there… He can't fulfill the activation requirements… but… If I hurry I can fly around the globe and find him in less than a second! Agh, but Nastumi can fly just as fast, I can't escape her! FUCK!!! Boo, I don't know what to do…! Help me… help me, please be safe… I… I… AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
She started to hyperventilate and fell to her knees. Her head felt like exploding. Her thoughts excelled an immeasurable speed as she tried to find a way out of this but to no avail. She grabbed her hair as she was letting out a scream that was easily the loudest thing anyone there had ever heard. It kept echoing through the air like a constant background noise. It sent out a shock wave that destroyed all the buildings around, as well as anything else in her proximity and it knocked Natsumi off the ground, though she was able to catch herself with her wings midair.
"Yuki, wait! Ah—…"
She was interrupted as her mind got filled with thoughts that were not her own. Yuki's thoughts streamed out and the information contained in them was difficult to process even for an angel like Natsumi. All the civilians nearby as well as any remaining soldiers in the city died due to the information overloading their brain. Though most, if not all civilians already evacuated during Amael's fight with Cinderella. Natsumi was completely disoriented and could not keep herself in the air, causing her to fall to the ground and being thrown back into a crumbling building.
Just when Yuki was about to let out another scream, she felt someone embracing her from behind, their lips on hers. She opened her eyes in confusion, only to see him.
"There, there… It's alright, Yuki…"
"Boo…"
She whined as she hugged him, still crying. Her whole world just seemed to light up in a light brighter than words could describe. All the panic was gone and she felt a sense of fulfillment and absolute happiness, that could only be attributed to the immense relief she was experiencing.
"It's alright, I'm here… I'm right here…"
Natsumi pulled herself up but struggled to remain standing.
"How are you here? With that close of proximity to Yuki, your brain should be fried! Besides, how did you escape in the first place?! You were guarded with no way to escape!"
"Oh, you mean those guards?"
Suddenly, Natsumi was surrounded by the hooded figures she had specifically trained for this moment.
"What?! What are you guys doing??"
"Whatever I tell them to do, duh."
"Why would they listen to you?!"
Yamato let go of Yuki who had once again fallen asleep out of exhaustion in his arms, though this time the main reason for purely stress instead of actual physical exhaustion. So she should recover in a few minutes or so.
After he made sure she was unconscious, his demeanor completely changed. Just a moment ago he was quite friendly, for his standards. But all that was gone when he turned towards Natsumi.
"I've had quite enough of your reoccurring appearances every time things go my way… Going against god is blasphemy, you know?"
"What are you talking about?! Your not my god! And get your hands off her!"
She was still slightly staggering. When she lifted her hand and tried to use magic, one of the hooded people kicked her hand down again, which due to her weakened had it remain lowered.
"Ah… You traitors, you will regret this…"
She fell to the ground again. Yamato crouched down next to her. Pulling her face up her by the hair out of the ground.
"But I am. That's why you are down there and I'm up here. I'm done playing the nice guy with you."
"God…? Are you kidding me? You? And nothing about you was nice until now..."
"Nice is relative to the bad I could do. It's nice for me to not kill you if I can. I don't expect you to understand that philosophy. It does contradict quite a bit with your beliefs but I'm going to start changing that from now on. Isn't it only natural for you to fail understanding me? After all, that is what you do best, is it not? To fail."
"Go to hell!"
He dropped her head back into the ground, looking up at the scenery Yuki had created. The stairs remained even after she lost consciousness, though the ones nearest to the ground had been shot away by her little outburst earlier.
"By allowing you to exist next to me, I've already given you kindness that should fill your heart with gratitude."
"Nothing you ever did made my heart fill with anything other than disgust!"
He sighed and grabbed her hair again, lifting her face and turning it towards Yuki.
"What about Yuki?"
"What about her?! All I feel is love for my sister!"
"You say that. But look at her. This is not the first time she ended up like that because of you… Then look at you. What can you do!?"
He threw her by the hair towards Yuki, who peacefully slept at the ground in front of Natsumi. Yamato pulled her head up again, forcing her to look close up at Yuki.
"You did that! It's your fault she is lying on the ground! Your fault she had to cry! It's all you!"
"N-no… I… I just… I had to protect—…"
"—What a great job you did, sister of the century! You saved the day! Congratulations! Are you happy? Are you proud of what you accomplished here? Look at your accomplishments Natsumi. Tell me all about them!"
He turned her head towards all the dead people that Yuki had killed in her panic attack, which was not enitrely true. The hooded figuers had moved them there from around the city while Natsumi was faced the opposite direction.
"That… Yuki did that… because of you!"
"No… She did that because you pushed her! You hurt her! You did this! None of those people would even be here if you hadn't played the hero and tried to do all this, y'know?"
"I… I didn't mean to—…"
"—So it's Yuki's fault? Want me to tell her that? Or perhaps you want to tell her yourself?"
"What?! No, it's your fault!"
"Will she think that?"
"She… Of course… she…"
"No! She will either think it's your fault, or hers. Now, what's it gonna be? Don't you love her? How could you possibly tell her it was her fault?"
"It's… Yours… your... My…? I… I did this…?"
He let go of her head and she did not even try to stand up anymore. She just laid there after turning to look at Yuki again. Who cried because of her and was now sleeping peacefully and content because of Yamato. Not painting a very great picture of her. Was she in the wrong? A tear rolled down her cheek when she began to believe what Yamato said.
"She forgives you…"
She felt a whisper in her ear, though she did not turn towards it. Yamato was close next to her. Giving her forgiveness. But she did not want his forgiveness. She wanted Yuki's. Yet somehow, when he said she fargave her, it felt equivalent to Yuki saying it.
"You can make it up to her…"
Could she? Maybe she could. But why would she ever be forgiven? She had betrayed Yuki in the worst way possible. Trying to force her, even blackmail her into coming back to heaven with her, it made her feel like the worst person in the world.
"I can help you… Make you be sisters again…"
Now she was sure he was lying. Even he couldn not accomplish that, she was certain. But maybe he actually could? If it were possible for anyone, it would be him, right?
Her body already healed from all the injuries, though she did not attempt to move. What was the point, she thought. Even if she killed Yamato now, Yuki would just suffer more because of that. She realized that now. But what was the alternative? How could she go on with her life, knowing she failed to become sisters with Yuki again? She was the problem. She was the only source of unhappiness in Yuki's life. If she truly loved her sister, she could no longer be in it. Maybe she had to… Just when she thought about that, a hand extended in front of her face which was still lying motionless on the ground.
"Take it… Take it and I safe you… I forgive you… I guide you, back into sisterhood."
As if she would ever. There was no way in hell, she thought. But just when she thought that, she already reached out for it and desperately held on.