Accidentally become a father-Chapter 86: What Was Left Behind

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Time continued to pass.

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The sand kept shifting.

Added to.

Smoothed out.

The roads multiplied.

Grew longer. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Branched out further.

More houses appeared.

Not same.

But still following a pattern.

A few buildings took shape.

It would be quite terrifying.

If it collapsed.

—

The children’s hands began to slow down.

Not as haphazard as the beginning.

They observed first.

Before making a move.

Yuna was beside me.

Still in the exact same spot.

Her hands were dirty, covered in sand.

Left uncleaned.

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"...there’s still an empty spot right here..."

She filled it in.

Neater than before.

I didn’t help.

There was no need.

She already knew what to do.

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The sounds around us shifted.

Growing sparser.

The laughter faded.

Footsteps walked away.

One child stood up.

"...I’m heading home..."

The others nodded.

"...Me too..."

They left.

One by one.

Leaving fewer of us behind.

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An adult called out from afar.

A name was spoken.

The child who had been helping stood up.

"...I’m going home..."

"Watch out! Don’t step on it."

"Sorry..."

He left.

That was close.

The city was almost flattened by a Titan.

Now there were only a few left.

And then—

just two.

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Yuna’s friend stood up.

Dusting off her hands.

"...Yuna..."

"...I’m gonna go home now..."

"...yeah, get home safe..."

She glanced at me for a moment.

"...see you later, Mister..."

"...Yeah, get home safe."

I didn’t expect her to speak without hesitation.

Unlike before.

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She left.

Footsteps fading away.

Silence.

Only the sound of the wind.

And the faint shifting of sand.

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I stopped.

My hands stilled.

I looked up.

The sun was high.

Higher than before.

It had been too long.

I checked the time.

11:35

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Past the time we were supposed to leave.

It was already noon.

"...Yuna, let’s go home."

Yuna didn’t answer immediately.

Still looking down.

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A city of sand.

A complex yet orderly structure.

A few seconds passed.

"...okay..."

She stood up.

Slowly.

Sand fell from her hands.

Little by little.

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I took my phone out of my pocket.

And took a picture of it.

From several angles.

Horizontally.

From the top.

The bottom corner.

The top corner.

Up close.

The end of the street.

From above the buildings.

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Ready to be edited.

Add some visual effects.

A cinematic background.

A scene is brought to life.

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I stood up.

Taking one last look.

Unconsciously.

The corners of my lips lifted.

A faint smile forming without me even realizing it.

The main roads remained intact.

The houses still stood.

The tanks were still in place.

A few tall buildings defied the sky.

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It wasn’t perfect.

But.

It stirred the urge to become a Titan and trample it all.

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I turned around.

Yuna followed.

Her steps slow at first.

Before falling into step with mine.

We walked out of the park.

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Behind us—

the little city remained.

Unguarded.

Unprotected.

Undestroyed.

We didn’t look back again.

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