For a long moment after Aergia's suicide, no one moved. No one was able to properly process what had just happened.
There was a lot. From Aergia's sudden decision to reveal the truth behind their plans, their abilities, their leader and their goal.
All at once, before finally ending it with the notion that she gave them all of this information to prove that no matter how much you tried, you would still fail in the end. That final part was something only Suijin would've understand, seeing as how she had fought and conversed with Aergia.
And finally, using her wind attack to slit her own throat? It was a jarring decision in the eyes of everyone. Why give up so easily? Shouldn't she have kept on fighting?
However it was especially jarring for Suijin, who couldn't understand why Aergia would choose to give up in such a fashion.
Throughout their entire battle she was rambling on this nihilistic point of view, and she believed there was no point in trying nor taking major action because the end was inevitable and unavoidable.
So, for her to take an action as deliberate as choosing the end of her own life came as a shock.
In her mind, she probably justified as the inevitable death that was always coming for her.
However, Suijin interpreted that final act to be the side of her that didn't completely buy into the philosophy she had grown into.
The part of her that used to try, before she was broken.
Making one final decision, and this one, to take control of her own life, even if that control was just ending it.
They probably would have spent even more time standing in stricken and confused silence had it not been for the person to come flying through the wall.
A student crashed through what remained of the lobbies walls and landed a few feet away from the stunned group.
She was coughing blood and clutching their sides in pain. Her clothes were tattered and covered in dirt and grime.
They all snapped their head in the direction of the fallen girl, when a massive explosion of flame could be seen coming from outside.
The flame reached high into the sky, making contact with the barrier where it was vaporized. The blinding light drew the attention of everyone, snapping them out of their daze and reminding them of the task at hand.
They were still in danger.
There was a battle to be fought of grand scale, orders to be given, news to be relayed.
Immediately, Suijin snapped her attention towards the coughing student,
Rushing forward, she helped them up before using water magic to close of their wounds.
As soon as the girl's pain had subsided, she asked, "What's going on out there?"
"W-we were pushing them back." She grimaced in pain. "The men in the python tattoos." She clarified. "However just as we thought we were actually going to fight them off, reinforcements suddenly showed up."
Silence.
"Reinforcements!" Suijin shouted in confusion. "That shouldn't be possible!"
"T-that's what we thought as well. But their there. They're not magicians either. They're this force of non-magicians, who have these suits that nullifies mana. The w-whole army. Theres almost 300 of them."
Suijin's blood ran cold. Mana nullifying technology was something that had just started to be given to the public. Even some richest people in the world would be hard-pressed to afford eve just a piece of the tech. To get an entire suit? And enough to provide an army?"
"They're winning background. And fa-" She vomited blood, and SUijin patted her on the back.
"Don't move, you've done enough. Just rest. We'll handle the rest of this." Suijin reassured the girl before standing to face the rest.
"This is bad. If they have mana nullifying tech, that leaves us severely outmatched." Suijin began to speak, slowly listing off the list of problems that they currently had. "There are still two major enemies working under this so called "witch" left, and worst of all, we don't know where her target: Raiden is."
Seeing how Suijin was beginning to spiral, Yuri placed a hand on her soldier. "One thing at a time."
"But we can't afford to take one thing at a time. If we do, then people will die! As th-"
"Don't try and bring up the fact that you're the student council president as some be all end all as to why you should try and overwork yourself. One thing at a time."
Yuri was adamant about this, stressing every single syllable of that final line.
Realizing that she was doing what Kami and Homura had just lectured her for, Suijin nodded, and took a few deep breaths.
"First, we need to assess the situation on the outside battlefield. Figure out a way to regroup everybody and discuss a strategy that would be effective." Suijin spoke as slowly as she could in order to get the words out.
"Then, we need someone to head to the group manning the P.A. system currently and tell them to send a broadcast asking for all able members to come to gather in the front of the school. As well as a message addressed to Raiden and anyone who finds him.
Everybody else listened in closely as she spoke. All except for Masayoshi, who was still staring at the dead body of Wrath. His eyes were filled with guilt and disgust.
"We need to do all of that, without the help of the headmaster nor the magic association. Whatever's happening is keeping them held up, and so we can't become reliant on their assistance. We need to do this on our own."
Suijin finally stopped speaking, before looking towards the other three students that stood in front of her.
In their eyes, she saw fear. She saw tension, and she people who were tired. People who wanted to rest but were forced to fight for their lives.
But aside from that, she also saw determination. A will to fight, and a refusal to give up.
Stretching out, Erika said, "Then that's what we'll do. We didn't trump over the impossible to stop because the next wall looked just as high."
Despite the tiredness evident in her figure, the ghost of a smile played around on her lips.
Nova played with her curls for a bit, looking up at the sky. "What's new? A shame that we'll have to fight in such brutal rain, with the sun nowhere in sight." Nova complained noncommittally.
"Whatever you say, Suijin." Yuri said, a small smile on his face. "Just like it's always been."
Suijin looked Yuri in the eyes for a few moments, as something passed between them. They'd known each other for pretty much their entire lives, so Yuri could have been referring to a lot of possible moments.
Suijin finally turned to Masayoshi, who was still standing in the rain.
"You heard me, didn't you?"
She ventured, not knowing if the boy had actually heard her.
Masayoshi kept his head down for a few moments, before finally looking towards Suijin.
"Yeah..." There was no emotion in his voice. He avoided eye contact with her.
Remembering how Masayoshi had helped her back at the beginning of all this, she took a step forward.
He was the one to deal the final blow. He must be feeling guilt and disgust at himself. She thought to herself. She reached out a hand to pull him out of the rain, however he drew away.
Suijin looked at him with shock.
From behind her, Yuri placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what's going through his head, but I know even the best words you can think of would clear it away."
Still, Suijin didn't want to leave him there. Looking so broke, standing in the rain over the corpse of the man he'd killed.
Unbeknownst to Suijin Masayoshi's state was a mix of many things. His murder of Wrath. The destruction of his philosophy. The destruction of his justice. The realization that he was just like the man he had dedicated 15 years of his life to trying to prove wrong.
He was just like his father.
"I'll try." Were the words that Yuri said. Suijin looked him in the eyes and saw something that she only ever saw on rare occasions.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you then." Letting out a deep breath, she turned to the rest.
"I have an idea, but it's going to be pretty hard to actually execute."
Everyone listened in closely.
"I'm going to head to the frontlines and rally the troops. I'm going to rely on Masayoshi and Yuri to create a distraction among the newly arrived reinforcements-" Suijin paused, as she analyzed Yuri's mana levels. They were low, and due to overexertion, his brain was close to its limits.
Noticing this, Suijin shook her head. "No. Instead, it'll be Masayoshi and-"
"No. I'll do it." Yuri said.
Suijin looked at him as if he was crazy.
"You're not being serious, are you?"
"I said I'll do it. What am I here for if not to fight?"
"God you're a hypocrite." Suijin's voice began to rise. "Look at the state you're in right now! You just lectured me about the fact that I don't need to push myself, and here you are doing the same thing."
"I can't just let you put your life on the line on the frontlines while I stay safe." Yuri said, as if that would answer everything.
"And what makes you think I'd want the same for you? Your about to run out of mana, you aren't going on the front lines, period."
Suijin turned away from Yuri, exasperated. He had always been like that, but only when it came to her. He would always lecture about knowing her limits, knowing when to take a break, and not throwing her own life away needlessly.
And yet he would do the exact same things. It was as if he couldn't understand that she didn't want anything bad to happen to him as much as he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
"Masayoshi and Erika will cause the distraction. Nova and Yuri will take our message to the P.A. system and return back here."
"Got it?" She looked Yuri in the eyes during that last sentence.
Everyone nodded their understanding. Even Masayoshi, with a weak nod.
However, Yuri did not nod.
Suijin saw the look in his eyes, his posture, and the expression on his face, when you grow up with a person, you tend to notice the signs that they aren't in the right mindset. And combine that with being deathly tired.....
"Yuri. Do. You. Understand?"
Suijin took a step closer, clapping her hands in front of his face.
Yuri's eyes raised to meet hers. "Suijin."
"Yes?"
"I refuse to lie to you." After leaving that cryptic message behind, he turned to leave.
Nova looked between the two in a few moments of brief shock, before rushing to follow Yuri.
As she passed by Suijin, she said, "I'll look after him. Make sure he doesn't overwork himself out there."
Suijin watched the two leave with an expression of confusion and worry on her face.
Yuri only ever shut her out like that when he was planning to do something he knew she would hate.
"Please do."
Suijin decided to put her faith in others, and not let her concerns pile up, and drown her.
Maybe she would have picked differently if she knew what the outcome would be.