Vol. 4 Ch. 2 Ep. 22: Yesterday and Tomorrow

(...Why am I still here?)

(I only...followed my orders to bring back SRT Academy...)

(...What am I doing here, holding a detonator?)

...No need to overanalyze this.

I just have to sort what's necessary for the mission and throw out everything else. Like I always do.

The mission's objective...

...is to trigger this warhead.

Kept you waiting, huh?

FOX 4...? What are you doing here...?

I got held up trying to evade our underclassmen via the ventilation system.

It seems like sector W isn't sealed even during an emergency.

I'm still hurting! Did you see Saki? She shot me five times! After I was down!

I taught her to always make sure your opponent is neutralized, but that's a bit excessive.

She had to ensure her squad wouldn't get shot in the back by her carelessness.

Saki did her job as a front woman.

...Why?

Why didn't you retreat?!

Huh?

Because our squad leader is still here...?

I ordered you to return to the surface if the enemy breaches our defenses...

It was painfully obvious you were going to blow yourself and everything else up as soon as we left.

The complete disregard for your own life... Yukino...

...

...It had nothing to do with the success of the mission. There was no need for you to...

Of course there was a need!

We need you! Not because you're our leader, but because you're our friend!

And friends should shoulder things together! Every bad thing you've done Yukino, we've done right alongside you! So we're going to face every consequence right by your side too.

That's not the way a special forces veteran should be speaking.

I'm the one who makes the final call for this squad, every time. So responsibility for our actions falls on me as well.

Yukino.

I never liked this operation much.

We've done awful things in the name of bringing back SRT.

I'm ashamed at how much we've compromised SRT's justice for our goal.

I... None of us would be able to stand adding the shame of letting our squad leader sacrifice herself for a mission we all took together.

But I also know that we've gone too far to stop now. We can't let our underclassmen shoulder this responsibility either.

We'll bear the cross of the dishonor we've brought to SRT and finish this. So we can send those rabbits back to their rightful home.

I get it.

This is all...

For the rebirth of SRT Academy!

Ugh...

(The shock wave... the detonator...)

"I got it! The detonator!"

"I secured the detonator!"

Great job, Sensei!

Don't lose focus on the battlefield, Tsukiyuki!

I'm right here!

Augh!

You're always full of openings. If I were grading you, that would've been a fail.

Luckily, you don't get to test me in real life...

You're the one who taught me how different reality is from our books!

And I've learned that in reality, justice will win as long as you have the resolve to fight for it.

Justice will win? Resolve?

Sometimes it feels as if you're willfully refusing to grow up. If 'reality' played by your idealistic little rules, we wouldn't be here in the first place.

Let me teach you your next lesson then. Reality has a habit of destroying people's dreams.

Foxtrot.

(That sounds like a flashbang...)

...Gotcha!

You were right about one thing.

By headbutting instead of using my hands, I sped up my response time by half a second.

Stand down, FOX 1.

*sigh*

For someone who usually does exactly as she's told, why did you stop listening to me?

What do you mean?

I told you I would trigger the warhead if you set foot in the control room.

I wasn't bluffing.

I was fully prepared to give my life for this mission.

So why... Why did you press on without a second thought?

It never even crossed my mind that you'd really risk all of our lives like that.

You told me before that all of this, the crimes, the suffering, was for the future students of SRT.

Someone that invested in tomorrow...

...just didn't seem like she would just let the people who look up to her most die.

...I showed you the world's harsh truths.

I drilled into you that it's better to play dirty and win than play fair and lose.

And still, you trust me?

You once said something else.

That no matter the obstacle, SRT's justice never wavers.

Even if it starts to dim under the world's darkness, it'll always shine through at the end.

It was your beliefs that gave me the strength to stand up for my own.

It was our dream to be like the FOX Squad.

Why would we ever have walked down such a treacherous path if we didn't believe in the future it led to.

So, don't walk out on us now.

...We've strayed from our path.

We were given immense power but lacked guidance.

After the General Student Council President vanished, we searched for direction. Someone else who could shoulder our responsibilities.

But we didn't find someone like that. Instead of relinquishing the power like we should have, we clung to it, desperate.

And now, at the end of the road, I'm faced with a ghost from the past. How ironic.

Squad Leader Tsukiyuki, this warhead needs to go off.

It's time I close this chapter and face the consequences of my actions.

So, please. Just...get out of here.

Yukino...!

"It's hard to take responsibility. I can understand that."

"But what you're doing right now is running away from it. I can't let you do that."

...Sensei.

It might be hard for you to relate.

You've always balanced power with responsibility so well.

But if you were in our shoes...

What would you do?

"...I'd go to sleep. Then, tomorrow would come."

...Tomorrow?

How would that make a difference?

History would just repeat itself.

Obsolete weapons should be scrapped, not saved for the next day.

"But you're not a tool. You've never been a tool."

"The great thing about people is, they can always do better next time."

Next time...?

After everything we've done... Is there even a remote possibility of a second chance?

"If you don't know something, you learn about it..."

"If you feel stuck, you ask for help getting out..."

"If you're struggling, you lean on those around you..."

"Until you become an adult and can take full responsibility..."

"The people around you will help shoulder it."

Until I do...

...We still have a lot of growing up to do, don't we?

Ugh, Saki got me again! That was definitely on purpose!

That's why I told you to add another layer of ballistic plating on your chest.

But it's hard to breathe with that extra layer, especially in combat...

...Not like there's much there to protect anyway.

Sh-Shut up!

...So you failed, FOX 1.

I did.

Is Sensei as weird as they say?

As weird as they come.

But I think with an adult like Sensei around, we might be okay.

This is our loss, Squad Leader Tsukiyuki.

FOX Squad is officially waving the white flag.

We're putting our faith in you...

Prove to us we didn't make the wrong decision in choosing tomorrow.