System Error: When the Heart Overcomes Adversity
"Sora…" a familiar voice was heard, a voice that seemed to shatter that wall of loneliness.
However, Sora realized it wasn't just one voice, but two completely different yet very familiar voices.
Slowly, Sora lifted his gaze toward the voices. He felt his stomach ache.
Standing in front of him were Shiori and Mochi. Mochi’s cheeks were red from the cold, while Shiori tried to stay calm without much success. Both of them looked exhausted.
Mochi was holding something in her hands, clumsily hiding it against her chest.
Sora blinked several times, wiping his tears with his uniform sleeve. The imposing figure of Aegis had vanished, replaced by the two girls.
"Mochi?… Shiori?" Sora said, his voice completely broken.
Sora tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't cooperate; they felt like jelly. The gaze of both girls was too much for him at that moment. He felt exposed and defenseless.
"W-what are you doing here…?" Sora managed to say, looking down. "Aren't you supposed to be with him?… Ren can… he can take you to better places than I ever could."
Mochi and Shiori took a step forward. "Sora… we…" Shiori began, but was interrupted by Sora's voice with an intensity that made both girls nervous.
"Don't come any closer!" Sora shouted as their footsteps drew near.
That shout carried everything he was feeling.
Mochi and Shiori stopped instantly.
"I want you to leave…" Sora said, his voice cracking again.
Sora kept his eyes on the ground. Suddenly, the streetlights began to look distorted, and a digital-like mist spread across the floor. For a moment, the place felt just like the world inside Frontier Online.
"I want you to look at them closely… Sora." Aegis's voice echoed again, but this time it didn't come from in front; it was a whisper directly into his ear. "You had one chance to win them back, but you're letting them go because of your cowardice."
Sora looked up by pure reflex, but what he saw took his breath away.
In front of him, Shiori and Mochi no longer wore their uniforms.
Shiori had become Maga Zero once more. Her presence was imposing, wrapped in dark tones, with the grimoire floating beside her as if it had never disappeared.
Mochi, on the other hand, seemed pulled from a warmer memory. Her light dress swayed gently, as fragile as the image Sora had of her.
But something was wrong.
Neither of them was looking at him. Their backs were turned, slowly walking toward the darkness devouring the park's horizon.
"In the game, they were your world," Aegis continued speaking, his translucent figure appearing beside Sora, pointing at the mirage. "They were the only ones who trusted your shield. But now, you'd rather watch them leave with someone who does have the courage to be their hero."
In the mirage, Mochi stopped for a second, but didn't turn her face. She only let a small flower of light fall, which withered upon touching the ground. Shiori, without a word, closed her floating grimoire, extinguishing the last trace of purple color in Sora's vision. Both vanished into the darkness, leaving Sora in absolute darkness.
Sora extended a hand toward nothingness, trying to reach even a trace of the girls, but his fingers found only the cold darkness.
"So they're gone," Sora whispered. "They're really gone."
But then, the darkness didn't dissolve with light, but with warmth.
Sora felt his heart slowly begin to warm, not from fear, not from vengeance, but from the sweet, warm embrace he received at that moment, breaking through the digital mist in his mind.
Sora lowered his gaze slowly. The mirage had vanished. No magical cloaks or grimoires. Just two girls clinging to him with desperate strength. They were real.
Seeing Sora's state, Mochi and Shiori didn't hesitate to hug him.
Sora froze in that position. The warmth he felt was so real it hurt.
"Let go of me," Sora exclaimed, but his voice had no strength. "All of this is my fault. I saw you in the school kitchen myself; you looked happy with him… and then the car…"
Sora let out a bitter laugh that ended in tears.
"I know all of this is my fault… because of what happened this morning… I treated you badly, and that's why you left with someone who can actually take care of you and give you a better life. I'm weak, I'm insecure… and I'm afraid… afraid of being alone again like when Frontier Online's servers shut down… But above all, I'm afraid you'll realize I'm not worth it and leave me alone again!"
The silence that followed was broken only by small sobs, sobs coming from the girls. Mochi tightened her grip, and Shiori let a tear run down her cheek behind her glasses.
"Do you really think that after everything we've been through… we would leave with the first guy who has a little money?" Shiori whispered without pulling away from Sora, burying her face against his chest.
"B-but I saw you…" Sora protested, his voice faltering. "In the kitchen you were… and then in the car. I don't think I can compete with that."
Mochi lifted her head with eyes full of tears that showed a mix of sadness and indignation.
"It's not fair!" Mochi exclaimed, her voice breaking as the tears flowed.
"We saw you talking with Mika in the hallways, the same girl who tried to humiliate us a few days ago," Shiori protested, raising her voice slightly.
"Are we the ones who aren't enough for you?" Mochi said quietly but with indignation.
Sora fell silent. That accusation hit him hard. He looked at Mochi's hands, still gripping his clothes tightly, and then at Shiori, whose breathing was erratic, trying to hold back a sob that threatened to break her logical demeanor.
"It's not the same," Sora reacted, trying to pull away even though his body begged him not to. "Mika… she just gave me some advice because I thought you were abandoning me…"
"You're a complete idiot!" Mochi exclaimed, tears overflowing.
"We don't want anyone else, understand? We want our captain, the captain who protected me against the level 100 dragon!" Shiori shouted, breaking into tears.
"I want my husband, the one who always took care of me every day and had patience even when I made him angry the most!" Mochi shouted.
Sora felt a small flash of light pass by his left eye. It sparked a sudden curiosity.
Slowly he turned his head to the left.
And then… he saw it.
That was when he understood.
While he was drowning in his fears, they never stopped trying to reach him.
And yet, they hadn't left.
On the very bench where he had been sitting, rested a small red box with a golden ribbon. It was what Mochi had been trying to hide from the beginning.
Seeing the gift and hearing the words the girls had said to him, Sora felt the wall of darkness crumble into pieces. The image of Aegis, the proud, solitary warrior, finally dissolved in his mind. There was no longer a Guild Leader and followers, just three broken people trying to hold each other up in a dark park.
Sora let out a groan that quickly turned into deep, liberating crying. He wrapped both girls in his arms, hugging them tightly, as if afraid that if he let them go, they would disappear like last time.
"I'm sorry…" Sora cried uncontrollably. "I'm so, so sorry! Forgive me for being a complete idiot, for not trusting you despite everything we've been through. Don't leave, please don't leave!"
Mochi also began to cry heavily, a mix of relief and the accumulated pain of having been misunderstood. Shiori, finally surrendering to her emotions, let her forehead rest on Sora's chest, crying silently while her hands clung to his back.
The three stayed there, kneeling in front of the park bench, under the streetlight glow.
There were no spectators or popularity rankings like in video games. Just the crying of three hearts beating at the same time, releasing the burden they had been carrying. These were tears of accumulated exhaustion, but also of pure, shared happiness.
But above all, they were honest tears.