This was the end for Nanami.

In the end, she couldn’t do anything at all. It was impossible for her to win an unbeatable game and yet even so she still hoped against all odds. Even now with her broken body, her spirit wasn’t shattered at all. She was still holding on to hope. Not just hope for her but for her classmates.

“Everyone…” She started as memories of the all the cherished persons in her life flashed behind her eyes. Her vision blurred as she called out her feelings for them. “I love you all…”

Tears flowed from her eyes and mixed with the blood on her face.

“I…” She cried with all her heart, with all that’s left of her life. “I don’t want… to die.”

But she was dying.

“I wanted to stay…” She yearned with desperation as she remembered all of their memories together. “with my classmates…!”

But she’s separated with them.

“I wanted to play games again…” She cried harder. And her voice was now barely above a whisper, her throat was raw and her lungs were giving out. “with Hinata…”

But Hinata wasn’t himself anymore.

She tried to reach out to him with the last of her strength. “We could’ve played games again…”

She reached out.

Only to have a warmth envelope her hand.

“…Perhaps, we still could.” Kamukura replied with an unreadable face and emotionless tone.

Her vision was already fading but she wanted to hold on to the hand holding on to her. “Hinata…?”

“…No, I’m no longer Hinata.” He answered cryptically. “But it is precisely because I am no longer my former self that I can save you.”

“You can… save me?” She breathed out.

“Yes, I can.” He paused as she felt his grip tighten slightly. “And I will.”

The warmth of his hand was a nice contrast to her cold body and it took all of her willpower to stay conscious. But she wasn’t afraid anymore. She wasn’t alone anymore. And she believed in him.

His hand was still holding on to her just as she was holding on to hope.

“I… knew it.” She smiled, this time there was no fear or desperation marring it. Her smile was one full of trust and hope. “If it’s you… you can do anything.”

Before Nanami blacked out, the last thing she saw was Kamukura’s face and how he was crying just as much as she was.

This wasn’t the end for Nanami not when Kamukura just gave her an extra life.