Sezel and Vesta sprinted away from the devastated part of the city, towards the deeper alleys, where they might be able to find a building with a proper roof and protection from the upcoming storm.
The wind scythed between the narrow alleyways in biting gusts, lashing their bodies like invisible whips, trying to shove them off balance with every step. They ran as if their very lives depended on it.
Because they did.
And yet, even as they moved with that desperate urgency, a more fragile wish burned beneath the urgency of survival, the hope that somewhere along their path, they would find Shiki and Mari. The chance felt impossibly small, like chasing a shadow through the rain, but the thought refused to die.
