"A shield can't be a weapon."
Everyone laughed at Kokonoe Tooru's Blaze—a pitiful, dinner-plate excuse for a soul armament. But they don't know why he enrolled at Rakuryou Academy. They don't know about the little sister he buried two years ago. And they don't know that the man who killed her is still out there.
Tooru doesn't need their respect. He needs strength. He needs a partner.
But in a school where Blaze partners are bound by fate and compatibility, who would ever choose to stand besid
Absolute Duo if: The Other Duo - The Shadow of Sakaki, the Abyss of Despair — The Promise That Could Not Be Kept
I woke up.
Thin morning light seeped through the gap in the curtains.
Kokonoe Tooru sat up in bed.
(…So I did manage to sleep, after all.)
His head felt heavy. He'd barely slept last night.
Tsukuyomi's words echoed over and over in the back of his ears.
—Narukou Sakaki is waiting for you.
Sakaki.
The man who killed his little sister, Otoha.
That man was here, at this academy.
Tooru clenched his right hand around the black wristband wrapped around his left wrist.
Otoha's keepsake.
Its touch calmed his heart.
No—it was trying to calm it.
(The target of my revenge is right there.)
Deep in his chest, a black flame burned quietly.
Tooru let out a long breath.
—Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Tooru, are you awake?"
It was Tachibana Tomoe's voice.
Tooru's Duo partner.
Straight, long black hair. Stern, jet-black eyes. A dead-serious girl who jumped to conclusions, and was hopelessly dense about romance.
"…I'm awake,"
Tooru answered shortly.
The door opened, and Tomoe peeked in.
Today her hair was tied back in a single bundle. Her training hairstyle.
"We're going to morning practice. You look pale."
A faint crease formed between Tomoe's brows.
It was her habit when she was serious.
"I'm fine. …Just a little short on sleep,"
Tooru said that and got out of bed.
Tomoe stared fixedly at his face.
"…Are you still thinking about yesterday?"
Yesterday.
Miyabi's confession.
And Tsukuyomi's attack.
Tooru didn't answer.
He couldn't answer.
Tomoe let out a small sigh.
"Don't push yourself. You always shoulder everything alone, right away."
Tomoe's voice was a little softer than usual.
Tooru looked at her face.
This girl was always like this.
Without caring about his circumstances, she stepped straight in.
But that directness—right now, it hurt, just a little.
(I can't drag her into this.)
He couldn't tell Tomoe about Sakaki.
This was his problem.
He had to end it himself.
"…Tomoe,"
Tooru opened his mouth.
"I'm skipping morning practice today. …There's something I need to think about alone."
Tomoe's eyes widened slightly.
"Alone? Think about what?"
"…Various things,"
Tooru answered without meeting her eyes.
Tomoe looked like she wanted to say something.
But she didn't ask any further.
"…Fine. But eat breakfast. I'll be waiting in the cafeteria."
Tomoe said that and left the room.
Tooru was alone.
A quiet room.
Birdsong came from outside the window.
Tooru opened his desk drawer.
He took out a single photograph.
It was a photo of Otoha.
She was smiling.
Innocently, smiling.
"…I'm heading out,"
Tooru tucked the photo into his breast pocket.
And then he left the room.
Behind the school building.
An old storehouse.
Tooru stood before it.
The sky had been cloudy since morning.
Heavy gray clouds covered the entire sky.
Each time the wind blew, the storehouse walls creaked.
(Is he in there?)
Tooru put his hand on the storehouse door.
The iron door was cold and heavy.
Giiii…
With a rusty sound, the door opened.
Inside was dim.
The windows were high, letting in only a sliver of light.
The smell of dust stung his nose.
And one more thing.
—A human presence.
The back of the storehouse.
In the shadow of stacked wooden crates.
There, he stood.
A black coat.
Long black hair.
And cold eyes looking straight down at Tooru.
Narukou Sakaki.
Goosebumps rose all over Tooru's body.
His core froze in an instant.
The scene from that day two years ago flashed through his mind.
The burning dojo.
Otoha collapsing.
The smell of blood.
And that man's expressionless face.
"So you came, Kokonoe Tooru."
Sakaki's voice was low and cold.
Like a voice slowly stabbing your heart with a blade of ice.
"Sakaki…!"
Tooru gritted his teeth.
Anger washed away the fear.
He manifested his Blaze in his left hand.
Tooru's Blaze—a shield.
Pale blue light gathered in his left hand, forming a single shield.
A defensive ability, the manifestation of Tooru's soul.
"A shield. How dull."
Sakaki muttered quietly.
The corner of his mouth twisted slightly.
A sneer.
"Shut up!!"
Tooru kicked off the floor.
He charged at Sakaki at full speed.
With his shield held in front, he went for a body slam.
But—
Sakaki didn't move.
He simply shifted half a step to the side, easily evading Tooru's charge.
Tooru's body cut through empty air.
"Slow."
Sakaki's voice came from behind him.
Tooru swung his shield around as he turned.
But that, too, cut through air.
"Futile."
Sakaki had seen through every one of Tooru's attacks.
As if he knew every move Tooru would make.
Tooru attacked again and again.
He slammed his shield, launched kicks, threw his whole body forward.
But not a single blow landed.
Sakaki kept evading with minimal movement.
His face even wore a bored expression.
"Is this your full strength?"
Sakaki's words made Tooru's anger blaze even hotter.
"Not yet… I'm not done yet!"
Tooru reset his shield.
He would devote himself to defense.
The shield's ability.
It wouldn't become a weapon.
But it could protect.
With this shield, he'd block that man's attacks and create an opening.
That was what Tooru thought.
But.
Sakaki slowly raised his right hand.
Light gathered in that hand.
A white blade.
A black edge.
A sword created from light—a Brilliant Fang.
"I'll cut through that shield along with you."
Sakaki took one step forward.
—Fast.
Tooru's eyes could barely follow Sakaki's movement.
Only a white light came straight at him.
Tooru instinctively thrust his shield forward.
—Gakiiiiin!!
A violent metallic sound.
Sparks scattered.
But the next instant—
—Crack.
Tooru's shield shattered cleanly in two.
As if it were paper.
"What…!?"
Tooru's thoughts stopped for an instant.
The shield had shattered.
His defensive ability, in a single blow.
And the white blade continued straight into Tooru's left arm—
—Zuban!!
A dull sound.
His vision turned red.
Fresh blood sprayed.
Tooru's left arm—everything below the elbow—was gone.
Severed.
The part below the elbow fell to the ground.
With a wet, heavy thud.
"—!?"
The pain arrived late.
A searing pain burned through his left arm, through his whole body.
"GAAAAAAAH!!!"
Tooru's scream echoed through the storehouse.
He collapsed to his knees.
The blood wouldn't stop.
A red pool spread across the ground.
Tooru pressed the stump of his left arm with his right hand.
Hot.
It hurt.
And blood kept spilling out between his fingers.
"Just like two years ago. You can't protect anything."
Sakaki's voice rained down from above.
A cold, emotionless voice.
Sakaki looked down at Tooru, collapsed in a sea of blood.
There was no emotion in his eyes.
He simply stated the facts.
"You couldn't protect your sister. You couldn't protect your comrades. And you couldn't even protect your own arm."
Sakaki's words carved deep, deep into Tooru's heart.
"A shield protects nothing. You protect nothing."
Leaving those words behind, Sakaki turned his back.
"Wai… wait…"
Tooru murmured in a trembling voice.
But Sakaki didn't turn around.
The back of his black coat receded toward the storehouse entrance.
"Wait… Sakaki…!"
Tooru reached out with his right arm.
But his body wouldn't move.
He was losing too much blood.
His consciousness was fading.
His vision blurred white.
Then—
He heard a voice from far away.
A nostalgic, gentle voice.
"Big brother, I'm sorry."
Otoha's voice.
The last words he'd heard two years ago.
Tooru's consciousness fell into darkness there.
Tomoe had finished morning practice and was heading to the cafeteria.
Tooru hadn't come.
Even though she'd told him to eat breakfast.
"Honestly, that guy…"
Tomoe let out a small sigh.
That was when it happened.
"Tomoe-chan!"
A voice came from behind her.
She turned to see Hotaka Miyabi running toward her at a light jog.
Her fluffy chestnut semi-long hair was tied with a large ribbon.
Gentle amber eyes.
Tomoe's Duo partner.
"Good morning. Where's Tooru-kun?"
Miyabi asked, clasping her hands in front of her chest.
Tomoe's friend, who harbored feelings for Tooru.
She had confessed to him just yesterday.
"…If you mean him, he said he had something to think about alone today. He skipped morning practice too."
"Huh? Alone?"
Miyabi's face clouded with worry.
"Yeah. …I'm a little concerned. He's been acting strange since yesterday."
Tomoe said that and started to walk off.
But Miyabi gently caught Tomoe's sleeve.
"…Tomoe-chan, today's the day I'm supposed to join your practice, right?"
Miyabi's voice was small and trembling.
"Miyabi…"
Tomoe looked at Miyabi's face.
Miyabi was staring fixedly into Tomoe's eyes.
Those eyes were moist, as if she were about to cry.
"…Please. Stay with me today. I'm worried about Tooru-kun too, but… right now, I don't want to be alone."
Miyabi's words left Tomoe hesitating.
She was worried about Tooru.
But Miyabi was in an unstable state right now, too.
She had just confessed yesterday, and hadn't received an answer yet.
"…All right."
Tomoe said that and took Miyabi's hand.
"Thank you, Tomoe-chan."
Miyabi smiled, looking relieved.
That smile looked just a little forced.
In her heart, Tomoe apologized to Tooru.
(Sorry, Tooru. Just wait a little.)
That slight hesitation pulled Tomoe away from Tooru.
—Thud.
The sound of something falling.
And a scream.
It was a few minutes later that the sound reached Tomoe's ears.
She was on her way to the training grounds with Miyabi.
Something had made a noise from behind the school building.
A person's scream.
"What was that just now…?"
Tomoe stopped in her tracks.
Her heart gave a heavy throb.
She had a bad feeling.
"Tomoe-chan…?"
Miyabi also looked at Tomoe's face uneasily.
"…Let's go check."
Tomoe broke into a run toward the back of the school building.
Her bad feeling was turning into certainty.
—Tooru.
—Please. Be safe.
Tomoe ran desperately.
Her heart was pounding.
She could barely breathe.
She rounded the school building and came out in front of the old storehouse.
The door was open.
The smell of blood drifted from inside.
A metallic, raw smell.
"Tooru…?"
Tomoe called his name in a trembling voice.
There was no answer.
Tomoe stepped into the storehouse.
The dim storehouse.
And then—
Tomoe saw it.
A red pool spreading across the ground.
At its center, Tooru, collapsed.
And Tooru's left arm—everything below the elbow—was gone.
Tooru's left arm, fallen on the ground.
Tomoe's mind went blank.
"…Huh?"
Her voice trembled.
Her eyes refused to accept reality.
But the smell of blood, the sight, forced reality upon her.
Tooru's left arm was gone.
Blood was flowing.
Tooru was collapsed.
"No… Nooo!! Tooru! Tooru!!"
Tomoe's scream echoed through the storehouse.
Tomoe dropped to her knees in the sea of blood.
She clung to Tooru's body.
"Tooru! Stay with me! Tooru!!"
Tomoe shook Tooru's body.
Tooru's face was drained of blood, deathly pale.
His eyes were closed.
His breathing was shallow and weak.
"No… no… Tooru…!"
Tears spilled from Tomoe's eyes.
They wouldn't stop.
Regret, fear, and despair tore Tomoe's heart to pieces.
—Why did you go alone?
—Why did you leave me behind?
—Why couldn't I protect you?
Tomoe pulled out her Blaze terminal with trembling hands.
She had to call for emergency transport.
Her fingers shook so badly she couldn't operate it properly.
"Please… please…"
Tomoe desperately operated the tear-blurred screen.
At last, she managed to send the emergency request.
"Tooru… please, open your eyes… don't leave me…"
Tomoe clutched Tooru's right hand in both of hers.
Tooru's hand was cold and limp.
Just then, another scream came from the storehouse entrance.
"No…! Tooru-kun…!?"
Miyabi stood at the storehouse entrance.
She sank to the ground on the spot.
The color drained from her face.
"Tooru-kun…! No… no, it can't be…!"
Miyabi covered her mouth with both hands, trembling.
Tomoe looked toward Miyabi.
"Miyabi
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