"Become a part of me, Mana."
"What… does that mean?"
Being held tightly by another version of herself left Mana Ouma feeling profoundly out of place.
She had been dead for a long time. Even with her soul intact, she had spent most of it in a deep and dreamless sleep. It had been so long since she'd felt the warmth of another person's arms — truly felt it. And there was a cruel reality waiting in front of her too: outside of Inori Yuzuriha, there was no one left who could give her that warmth. Not even Shu could reach her.
Not unless Inori agreed to lend her the body for a moment — but with a personality like Inori's, there was simply no chance of that. And Mana understood. Inori had no fondness for Shu. Not the slightest. That was precisely why Mana had been so desperate to wake, to provoke her, to find some leverage for negotiation.
"I want you to be a soul pledged to me — like a knight sworn to their king. Though 'pledged' is too strong a word, isn't it? Because as you said: I am you, and you are me. This isn't a hierarchy. It's a partnership. Mutual cooperation. Mutual trust."
If Mana had never triggered the Lost Christmas, then Inori Yuzuriha — this version of her — would never have arrived in this world at all.
And if this Inori, the bearer of King Crimson, had never appeared — Mana would have simply drifted along the original story's current, lingering inside this body, until Da'ath's gravediggers came to collect her and implanted Eve's will back inside her. Until, in the end, she could do nothing but sleep alongside Gai at the edge of the Apocalypse world.
They needed each other. Without either one, neither was complete.
"I want you to understand that."
"I want absolute trust from you — the kind that would let you entrust your soul to me. In return, I will do everything in my power to protect Shu Ouma… and I will destroy the Eve who took everything from you."
"…I can't help you with anything."
Mana had no reason to refuse, and no ability to resist. But she didn't understand — she was nothing but a soul, useless, capable only of causing trouble. Why was Inori so determined to have her trust? Why was this entrustment so necessary?
Inori's King Crimson was already enough to bring her to the summit of fate — the power to erase the time of everyone in the world but herself. And Mana didn't even understand what a Stand was. She simply couldn't fathom why Inori wanted her so badly.
"Don't say that, Mana."
Her lips parted softly.
And then Inori moved — decisively, with the same unyielding force that her soul carried — and though her arms were as slender as Mana's own, they released a strength Mana found herself completely unable to resist. Inori took Mana's hands, fingers interlacing with fingers, leaning in with the pressure of someone about to overwhelm her — and stopped, nose almost touching nose.
Inori noted it herself: they really did look alike. Especially in the depths of those eyes — that crimson, exactly like her own.
Mana blinked. Unlike with Hare, this sudden intimacy didn't startle her.
"Only when you truly become a part of me… can I reach for that very first napkin."
Inori drew her into her arms again.
Her chin rested on Mana's shoulder. She looked back.
There, in the void, King Crimson's form materialized — and it was watching them both. Then, all at once: the second face on its forehead — the face that had always been sealed behind some invisible restraint — broke through. That small pink face opened its eyes for the first time, slowly, with great effort, as though a cicada cracking its shell.
A sensation swept through Inori that had no name.
She opened her eyes — her real eyes — and pulled back from the inner world, returning to reality. She was still in her room. Moonlight filtered through the blinds in pale strips. The old clock on the desk ticked forward, steady and unhurried.
"I'm back…?"
She shook her head slightly, flexing her fingers one by one. The transition — blinking out of existence and into a pocket dimension and back — wasn't something anyone could take in stride.
Then she heard a knock at the door.
"Miss Inori? Are you there?"
Ayase Shinomiya's voice.
"Yes."
She didn't hesitate — she walked over and unlocked the door, pulled it open—
And found no one there.
— Wait.
— What I just heard — Ayase knocking — was that a future image? Was that Epitaph?
Inori's pulse quickened, though she kept her expression still. She stood in the doorway, and a moment later, the girl in the wheelchair appeared around the corner at the end of the hall, rolling toward her room.
"Miss Inori?"
Ayase tilted her head, puzzled by the sight of Inori standing at her own open door.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Just stepped out for some air."
Inori smiled, just barely — a small, secretive thing.
"I see~" Ayase laughed, then made a face of mild exasperation. "Have you seen Shu? That kid still hasn't filled out his information form. I need it to put together a training plan for him."
"He's probably on the second-floor balcony."
Inori's answer came with a blink.
"Thank you!" Ayase exhaled in relief. "Good night, Miss Inori."
"Good night, Ayase."
"It worked."
"Exactly as I predicted. Mana — your soul was the perfect fit. A seamless integration. And with this, my King Crimson has finally awakened its second ability: Epitaph."
Inori didn't scratch at her scalp in delight. She simply held the excitement down, kept it from spilling over.
From the moment she'd woken in this world, gaining Mana Ouma's soul had been her first and most urgent goal. She needed it to awaken Epitaph. She hadn't expected that what she'd been searching for had been inside her all along. A disaster turned into a windfall.
"Is it because of me?"
Mana had seen it too — the small face that appeared on King Crimson's forehead.
Non-Stand users couldn't perceive Stands. But Mana existed with a soul's nature, and this was Inori's Stand — so she could perceive it as well.
It could be said that Mana was the first person in this world besides Inori herself to witness King Crimson's form.
It was ugly, to be sure — but more than ugly, it was baffling. The kind of appearance that went beyond ugliness into something that defied easy description. The addition of that small pink face on its forehead now made it more outlandish still.
"King Crimson always had two abilities. Thanks to you, Mana — because you woke — from now on I can hold the future in my hands."
Epitaph could see a brief window of future time. But as with all Stand abilities, it came with limits: after each use, there would be a short cooldown before it could be used again.
"Don't forget our promise, little Inori."
Mana didn't fully understand the details — but if she had helped, that was enough.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
"I'll stand in for you — as his older sister, in your place — and protect Shu Ouma. And then every last thing that has ever hurt you, person or virus alike—"
"I will destroy it all."