SPOILER ALERT…

This work of fan-fiction takes place after the ending of the "Girls Last Tour" manga.

The story takes into consideration the events that transpired in the anime, manga, and some of the anthology comics.

Please feel free to read at your own pace and any feedback, thoughts, and critique are greatly appreciated.

(If you find any typos or poorly written paragraphs, or you just want to talk about the story please don't hesitate to contact me :) )

It was past noon when Chito slowly opened her eyes, above the vast mechanical city they left behind the day before. With barely any sleep, her vivid and strange dreams seemed to skip through a lot of the events that transpired after they left their home up to the last stretch of their journey. A little bit dazed from her short slumber, it took her a moment to realize her current predicament. They spent what felt like a lifetime climbing up to the last layer, only to find a strange derelict block settled long before their time.

Rising from underneath the blanket, she stretched her arms and yawned. Although she was used to sleeping on hard surfaces, it always left her feeling cramped the next day. "Mmm… the sun feels so much warmer up here." Chito thought to herself soaking in the afternoon sun. Looking at the far distance, the sun vastly illuminated the derelict city beneath them. She couldn't help but enjoy the view of the unobstructed horizon as it went on forever in the distance of the abandoned city below.

Next to her, Yuuri was still sleeping on the cold ground, mumbling and smiling in her sleep just like she always did. Chito glanced at her with a smile and thought to herself how she was probably dreaming about food again. 

"Even after all we've been through, she still only has food on her mind."

They spent the whole night climbing up the exhausting and dangerous stairwell up to the last layer, and a short slumber was all that they needed to gather up their strength. After Yuuri woke up, they had to figure out what they would do next.

Feeling slightly peckish, Chito leaned to scour through her backpack to see if she missed something the other day. Besides a few items, she could feel the solid edges of the package they found way back during their journey. It was the package containing a bomb with a fuse.

"Well... this is inedible!" Chito thought to herself. "I guess... we could use this for something - hopefully not on ourselves..." Her expression changed to one of sadness at the thought of losing the only person in this world that mattered to her. Since they lost their trusty kettenkrad, the grim thoughts seemed to continuously cloud her mind. 

Still, the whole concept of death seemed sublime to her, even if they were surrounded by it from the very start of their lives. Friends and probably everyone else in the world were currently in their graves, perished from war and hunger. Some of them passed so quickly in their lives that they never managed to remember their names. The killing for what little food remained in the world, never seemed to stop. It still felt like some kind of miracle that they lasted this long with the small number of supplies they had left. Probably just like everyone else, they had to eventually accept their fate. Food was scarce in this world and giving up and dying from starvation seemed like a reasonable end to their adventure. If the concept of heaven was genuine, she hoped that everyone they loved waited for them on the other side and she and Yuuri would eventually join them and finally be at peace.

Nevertheless, even if this reality was hopeless and devoid of any happiness, she had a constant urge to keep fighting for her friend's sake. She would never abandon the only companion in the whole world that brings her joy and a reason to live, even with all the incredible and painful memories they shared.

"I guess, our priority is to look for food..." she thought to herself and carefully closed her backpack. "We ate up the last ration packet last night." Their backpacks weighing even less could make the rest of their journey much easier. "Maybe we can find something edible up here - I guess we will worry about that when Yuuri wakes up."

Laying back next to Yuuri, she covered herself with the blanket and stared at the far horizon. Having her thoughts to herself, she kept repeating the same questions in her head "What's next? - What is this place? - Could there be more up here? - Where do we find more food?" She felt it was of utmost importance to make a decision right here and now if they were going to survive. 

The option to just sit here and eventually starve or freeze to death was far from what she had in mind last night, but no matter what they decide she still felt hopeless. Living sure has been nice, but all she wanted was to make more memories with Yuuri and keep on exploring. However, unless they manage to find shelter or food, they would eventually starve or freeze to death.

Chito felt like she couldn't be selfish in this situation, she had to fight for Yuuri's sake. Even if she felt disheartened at this moment and everyone she knew was gone from this existence, she wanted to spend what little time she had left with her friend. "I can't give up on Yuuri - I just... can't… she deserved more than this!"

Some time passed as Yuuri finally woke up from her slumber. "Uhhhh.... her Chii-chan - you are awake." she softly mumbled and yawned.

"Hey, Yuu. I've been awake for some time now - I didn't want to wake you up." Chito answered as Yuuri stretched her arms. "Do I even have to guess that you were dreaming about food again with all that mumbling and smiling you were doing?"

"Hehe - You know me too well Chii-chan…" she let out an embarrassed chuckle "It sure was a tasty dream. I was dreaming that we were eating a ton of fish we caught from a lake just like the one we saw in a picture that time - I want to have a fishy again… soooo tasty" smacking her lips, the thought of food was making her feel peckish yet again. "Ahh, the sun… it's so warm!" she smiled reaching up to the midday sky, covered with just a few clouds. "Chii-chan, I love this view, I feel like I can reach the clouds from up here if I just held out my hand."

"At least the view was worth coming up here." Chito replied. However, she still had to talk to Yuuri about all the questions that have been plaguing her mind ever since she woke up. It was important to decide what they would do next.

"So, umm - Yuu - What do we do next?" With a worried look, Chito turned around to face her "I mean we got up here and that was our goal… but we have no supplies or food and we had to leave the Kettenkrad behind. We only found this strange block. I thought grandpa told us to come up here for a reason but - we found no one and nothing..."

"Oh right - yeah - um..." With a tense expression, Yuuri turned to face Chito as she sat back on the cold ground. "…maybe we can keep on exploring or go back down and look for something? ...There must be a place where we can call home Chii-chan." she replied scratching her head. "But - hey, at least we reached the top together. Wasn't that our plan all along?" 

Unsure what to say next, her eyes filled up with worry. It was the first time since they left the village that they were unsure of what to do next. Up to this moment, they had supplies and a straightforward goal to survive as they reach the top of the city with the expectancy that they will eventually find a home, food, or someone alive that can help them. Perhaps even other survivors in this desolate world?

But without any supplies and food left, they both felt unsure about what would happen to them.

"Do you think we made a mistake Chii-chan?" Yuuri asked.

"I don't know - I just - " Chito answered with sadness in her eyes. "I was thinking of it before you woke up Yuu - even if there is no hope for us - I just - I am really afraid..." slowly tears started clouding her eyes as little droplets fell on the blanket "I don't want to die Yuu..." 

Unable to hold back her tears, she started sobbing. "Please Yuu - promise me that you won't leave too!" Losing the only person that mattered to her in this life was the worst nightmare she could ever imagine. "Even if the world and everyone else is gone - we only have each other... even if there is nothing - "

Seeing Chito in distress always felt like a sharp needle piercing deeply through Yuuri's gentle heart. "Chii-chan - " Yuuri worriedly spoke and gently embraced her distressed friend. "We'll figure something out like we always do. You are the smartest person in the world so we can find something … Please don't cry…" Even though she rarely cried, Yuuri couldn't keep her tears as well.

 "You know that I will never leave you - Chii-chan. I know that we will find more supplies if we work together just like before, and we can find a home too if we keep on trying. I want to find that lake in my dream with all the fishies... and catch tasty fish together with you. Look Chii-chan!" Gently she took Chito's hand and placed it close to her heart. "My heart still beats - that means I am still alive." 

Looking up at Yuuri, Chito's hands kept shaking from fear as she felt the rhythmic beating of Yuuri's heart. The organic machine inside her chest still kept pumping life, and it wasn't about to give up. Sobbing even louder she felt helpless and scared as she tightly held onto Yuuri. "I just - don't know - what are we gonna do?!"

"We will figure something out." Yuuri gently spoke and smiled through the tears. "No matter what, I will be there for you Chii-chan..." 

Composing herself, Chito always felt safe in Yuuri's warm embrace. Just like when she squeezed her hand on that last climb, she felt a sense of serenity and safety every time she was close to her. It was a feeling she had for her since she could remember. 

Every time Chito lay in her embrace, she kept reminding herself of all kinds of vivid dreams she had with Yuuri. In those dreams, they were together living a peaceful and comfortable life in the old world, before humankind decided to wipe itself from existence. With tears in her eyes, she felt that before they were gone from this life she had to tell her about those precious dreams that she kept buried deep inside of her. 

"Yuu - do you remember back in that place - when we watched the moving pictures?" Chito asked, laying her head on Yuuri's chest. "I - I was a bit embarrassed to tell you - but I had a vivid dream when I fell asleep. In my strange dream, we were in a completely different world where we were happy. It felt like the old world, as life used to be then. We had a place we can call home, and we made plans about traveling the world and try all kinds of delicious foods. It made me so happy that we could carelessly do all these plans for our future, but then I woke up... Is it that selfish of me that I want for us to be happy?" she asked through the onset of tears.

"Chii-chan... Everyone wants to be happy." Yuuri replied still holding her close. "I am happy when I can eat tasty food, but I am happier when I see you smile, and I am happy when I listen to your stories and explore this strange world with you. And we will keep on being happy until the very end because we are together Chii!" 

Closing her eyes, Chito spoke through another onset of tears. "Yuu - I - I love you more than anything - in this empty world..." Being so close in Yuuri's arms she felt at peace. Even if it felt like the whole world wanted them dead, all she wanted was to be alive with Yuuri.

"Hey, Chii-chan… Remember when we watched that moving picture and the guy and girl did something that they called a kiss?" Yuuri asked her and smiled "I remember that you told me that a kiss is something people do when they love each other - and that it makes them happy and smile. And Chii-chan, I wanted to do that kissing thing with you ever since then, because I know that when sometimes you feel bad, I want to do something that makes you feel not bad anymore!" 

Chito sniffled and let out a soft chuckle, it was all that she could do laying peacefully in her arms. "I remember and... I - well..." nervously she looked away. "I kinda wanted to try that with you as well, to keep your mind off from food when you felt hungry - even in my dreams we did that too... few times..." she admitted and blushed a deep shade of red. "...If it's gonna make us happy..."

"Well - let's give it a try!" Yuuri suggested and gently smiled. 

Looking into Yuuri's beautiful eyes, Chito always felt that she had a connection with her on a deeper level. She loved her survival companion more than life itself, but could never seem to admit it to her. Even after all they went through, the joyful and painful moments they shared, she felt like she wouldn't change it for anything else in life. Yuuri was the whole world to her and she was happy that she could share every living moment close to her. 

Closing their eyes, slowly they leaned toward each other and gently locked their lips. Kissing for the first time, it felt like the whole world outside stopped in its tracks. It felt as if for a brief moment they were transported inside Chito's dreams that she cherished forever. In her dreams, she could plan their future without worries, and the warmth of their home gave them comfort happiness, and something to live for. But most of all they were alive together and eventually when they would grow old and live their happiest life.

Shortly after they broke off from the kiss, both of them blushed a deep shade of red and glanced away. "See? A kiss did make you happy Chii-chan" Yuuri happily spoke even though she was a bit embarrassed.

"It's like that one time we drank that mysterious beer drink," Chito stated, she felt like she was about to die from embarrassment. "It kinda made me feel so warm and happy inside!"

"Chii-chan - I love you more than food…" Yuuri exclaimed and let out a chuckle as she turned around and embraced her again. 

"Oh, Yuu…" Chito let out a chuckle. "You always think about food, even now after we kissed! I swear you will eat me one day." jokingly she stated.  

"Hey - it's Chii-chan first - then all the yummy food second!"

"Yuuri… you are sooo, crazy…" Chito reacted unable to help herself as she started giggling "I swear - I will make the best foods for you when I get the chance". For her, laughter did feel like the right medicine at this moment.

"Hey, Chii-chan - I know! Let's get married when we find a home!" Yuuri excitingly suggested. 

With a dumbstruck reaction, Chito stared back at her. "Wait what!?" 

"In that moving picture, that guy gave the girl a ring and they got married - I remember you told me that marriage is when two people want to stay together for the rest of their lives and that is what I want us to do Chii-chan!" Yuuri spoke with a smile.

Chito was still left dumbstruck by her sudden request. 

"Look - I even found this thing that looks like a ring." Yuuri pulled out a grenade pin from her pocket that she found way back on one of the layers they passed before. "I was keeping it all this time to give it to you someday when we found a home."

"Yuu - " Chito felt speechless as she stared at Yuuri presenting the ring to Chito. 

"As I remember, the man in that moving picture got down on one knee like this and held out the ring to the girl." Yuuri indeed got down on one knee and held out the grenade pin to her. "You told me that this is called proposing, so I propose that we will find a home and get married and will always be happy - Chii-chan!" 

With tears in her eyes, Chito gently held out her hand as Yuuri placed the oversized grenade pin on her finger. "I promise you Chii-chan - we will always be together!"

"Yuu - I - " Weeping again she jumped into Yuuri's embrace and hugged her tightly. "Yuu! I - promise you - that we will find a home and we will get married!"

Laying down embraced on the ground, Chito held out her hand up to the sky to inspect the grenade pin. The pin used to house a live grenade many years ago as corrosion had to show for it. "Yuu - this ring is from a grenade. I hope it didn't kill someone." she spoke. "Sadly, these are the remnants of the world before us. I will never completely understand why humankind was so spiteful of each other and every living being. Instead of happiness, they kept inventing horrible ways to destroy each other. Even if the bombs we found did help us on our journey, it makes me sad that we had to destroy the machine below."

"Chii-chan, we had to do that to save the life of the fishy." Yuuri replied gently holding her hand "When we find a home we will make it up for all the destruction we also caused below."

"Yuu - we kinda caused a lot of destruction." she embarrassingly admitted. "There is a lot we have to do - to make up for that."

Moments of tranquility washed over them as they lay up there on top of the world, even at the edge of existence they could still find happiness in just being next to each other. Even if everything felt hopeless, they still found the time to laugh or make each other happy.

However, they were losing time and daylight so they had to get up and figure out what to do next.

"Chii-chan. You know, last night we couldn't see what was up here it was dark. But I think we should see if we can find something." Yuuri stood up from the ground and held out her hand to help Chito up as well. 

"You are right," Chito said and stood up as well. "I had a strange dream about this stone last night too, but I don't remeber what it was about"

Walking around the stone they kept inspecting every corner to see if they missed anything. In one of the ruined parts of the stone, they found a strange inscription that was written in a language that probably belonged to the machines they found on the layers underneath.

"Yuu, I saw this in my dream but I have no idea what it means, I think I noticed it last night too but..." Chito said as she trailed her hand along with the strange inscribed part of the stone. She could feel a strange vibration and a faint electrical sound coming from inside the stone that she never noticed before.

"Do you think it means something Chii-chan?"

"I can't understand this scripture at all." Chito replied, still curiously examining the smooth surface of the strange stone looking for any other clues that might help them solve this new mystery. "Do you think that maybe there is something up here Yuu?"

"Chii-chan look - out there in the distance!" Yuuri replied as she pointed far beyond the staircase. The sun illuminated more of the world and it seemed like the layer went on endlessly in the distance. At first glance, the layer did seem empty, but if you looked carefully there was something in the far distance.

Chito and Yuuri felt that there was something strange about this layer, something that they couldn't notice in the layers underneath them. "Yuu. Even the sound and the vibration of the layer seemed different from the ones below. Like it is alive underneath all that snow." Chito replied to her before she kneeled and placed her hand on the ground. The ground was of strange metallic construction, filled with tiny holes that went off in the distance.

"Chii-chan. Maybe grandpa told us to come here for a reason?"

"Yuu... I don't remember all of the stories that he told me before he started being forgetful, but I think I remember that he told me once about how the metropolis was built in layers that each serve a purpose. But after some time he stopped telling me stories about the outside world as if he was afraid of something. Remember that he always told us to be cautious of other people and that they could hurt us for food..."

"Yuu... Maybe what we are seeing is not here, but far into the distance. Or inside the layer?" Chito presumed as she got up from the ground. "If I had the scope I would have checked out what's out there but - I lost the scope too."

"Sooo… Chii-chan… Let's go see what's out there before the night falls?" Yuuri responded and smiled "Even if there is nothing up here - we can always just go back and look for supplies below. Maybe we will be able to find another stairwell to go down or somewhere else - there must be a reason why this layer is up here after all."

"Sure Yuu... but wait I have to do something first!" Chito ran to the back of the other side of the stone monument where they slept the night before and grabbed their backpacks. Taking out the knife from her backpack, she ran back to where Yuuri was standing. "I read in a book once that people in the past when they climbed the highest peak of a mountain always left messages. I want to do the same!"

Placing the sharp edge of the blade on the stone, she started inscribing a message. 

"What does it say?" Yuuri asked after she finished writing. 

"It's just a message for our lost friends, that we made it and we are still alive!"

Packing up what was left of their belongings and their helmets, hand in hand Chito and Yuuri started their long hike towards whatever was there in the distance of the mysterious layer.

• • •

Back at the stone, the message on the concrete slab that Chito left read:

Kanazawa, Ishii, Ojichan, Nuko

We made it, we are up here!

Chito & Yuuri.

 

(Continued in Chapter 2)

(LATEST REVISION: 26th November 2022)