《The Sum Of Nothing Is Zero And That Is Exactly What Everything Becomes》


 LOOP ?? Tsukino Kanons Return To Nothing

    This isn¡¯t it, is it? Is this how it all ends? So early, too¡­


    She fell to the ground with a thud. There was absolutely nothing graceful about the fall. When she tried to move, nothing happened. The only thing she could do was lay there and feel the three large gashes across her back. Deep wounds, they bled and bled until her clothes were stained a deep crimson.


    I can¡¯t let it end here. I need to survive! I need to do this¡­


    Her thoughts were trained only on the will to survive. At this moment she didn¡¯t care if she was incapable of doing anything, she just had to live, no matter what. The girl would do exactly that. Her story couldn¡¯t end here. If she was going to die, it would be after she accomplished something.


    Even after all her attempts to move, nothing happened. Yet she carried on, and on, and on, eventually vomiting from the stress and pain. Even after that, her throat felt dry. Yet what had come out of her mouth was not the contents of her stomach, but rather that of her veins. It was blood. The gashes were so deep they had penetrated her organs, causing blood to fill her digestive system. And with that, she had vomited.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.    Through increasingly blurry vision she stared at the pool in front of and around her, in surprise. She hadn¡¯t realised so much blood could come from just one person. It shocked her; both that this was all her blood and that there was so much. But she didn¡¯t know what it was that had attacked her still.


    And she couldn¡¯t turn around to look. She couldn¡¯t move; her spinal cord had been severed in multiple places. She was paralysed, and if she would survive this attack, she would be incapable of anything.


    The best thing she could do would be to accept her death. Everyone has a time and hers was now. There was nothing she could do about it.


    And in that moment Tsukino Kanon lost consciousness and then her life.

 LOOP 1: No Rest Before An Audience With Death

    [Ring, ring, ring.]


    Tsukino¡¯s phone rang. It rang, and it rang, and it rang. Eventually, it stopped ringing, and Tsukino then shifted to a sitting position. There was a clock situated at the corner of her bedside table; it read 7:21 a.m. Tsukino gave a large sigh, her small shoulders rising and falling in unison. For her, today was yet another day at school. The calendar date would have been 3/11, a Tuesday this time.  This was no time, then, for Tsukino to be sleeping.


    She groaned as she stood up and stretched - her body was sore, and it was clear she hadn¡¯t had a good night of sleep.


    ¡°Today should be rough. Brilliant.¡± Her voice was absolutely dripping with sarcasm, and she shrugged.


    A few seconds later Tsukino shuffled to her wardrobe to pick out her school uniform; a simple enough design, it was just a pleated skirt and a white shirt, accompanied by a red tie that would identify her as a second year. Once she had picked it out, she began to undress, discarding her pyjamas on her bed and replacing them with her underwear - which she had retrieved from the back of a chair next to her dresser, having laid them out the previous night - and her school uniform. When she was done, she began to button up her shirt, starting at the bottom and moving upwards.


    ¡°It¡¯s now 7:25¡­ that gives me about twenty minutes I guess?¡± She sighed again; she definitely had overslept. ¡°Of course, it would be today of all days, after Hoshinori told me to wake up early¡­¡±


    She grabbed a hair tie from her dresser, and examined it for a moment. A rather thin wisp of hair, a chestnut shade, was stuck to it. She quickly picked it off before tying her hair up into a messy bun. There was no time for her to brush it today, after all. Twenty minutes to prepare for school.


    ¡°Ten minutes to walk there. Five to get to class. That takes me to eight exactly, huh?¡±


    She slumped a little, before walking to her bedroom door. It was slightly ajar - as she usually kept it - so she pulled it open the rest of the way before she exited the room. Her next destination was the bathroom, where she washed her face and brushed her teeth. This took her all of five minutes itself, leaving her with just fifteen to eat.


    ¡°Fuck, I¡¯m going to have to be quick¡­ I¡¯ll eat on the way.¡±


    Tsukino gave a third sigh, and shook her head.


    ¡°I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡± she muttered, with a tone of disappointment in her voice. She quickly left the bathroom and ran down the stairs. Her family was most likely already awake - she was an only child, her father worked early mornings, and her mother was the family driver, meaning she would have been the one to drive him to the train station. As such, she didn¡¯t have to worry about waking anyone up. She did, however, have to lock up before she left.


    ¡°Maybe I should set my alarm earlier?¡± she pondered, opening the freezer door and peering inside. From it she grabbed a bottle of Bikkle and an apple.


    ¡°This will do.¡±


    She placed the Bikkle and the apple on the table before picking her bag up from behind the door. Next, she placed the bag down next to the victuals and opened it up. She checked to see if all of her stuff was there, and, when she was satisfied that it was, she placed the victuals inside too. Her final task was to put on her shoes and leave; the shoes were next to the door, and she had a key attached to her bag.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m leaving now!¡± she called out, to nobody in particular. It was a habit of hers to do this; announce she is leaving, even if nobody was around. It didn¡¯t feel right, to her, not to do so. She sat down next to the door to slip on her shoes; first the left, and then the right. After having finished that, she stood up and grabbed her bag. It was a standard, over-the-shoulder schoolbag, nothing too special. Her final action would be to walk out of the house, and lock the door. After testing the handle to make sure that it was definitely locked, she turned around and walked down her street.


    The street itself was relatively empty. Of course it would be; around here, most of the students were already at school or hadn¡¯t yet set off. For her, though, it was likely the former. Her school was a fair distance away from her house, making the journey there a rather boring one. The school had no reason to be so far away other than the fact that it was not an ordinary school by any means - Tsukino hailed from a family of magi. As such, this school was a school for child magi to hone their skills. Due to this, it was placed in a remote location not near any town, city, or village, for the safety of both humans and magi.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.   She lived in a small community of such magi, yet most of them were either younger or older than she was. She didn¡¯t know many of them, so she always walked to school alone. Her grade was, by far, the smallest in her school, with just three classes, rather than the usual six or seven. This was something she had no explanation for; all she knew was that it was much smaller, and that was that.


    Her journey to school was, also, very quiet. But she was used to this; that¡¯s just one aspect of walking alone. She did it almost every day and she had done for almost two years. It was second nature to her by now; she opened her bag, rooted around for her phone and earphones, slipped one in each ear, and began to play some music, placing the phone back into her pocket. After that, she plucked out the Bikkle and the apple, and began to partake in what would be her first meal of the day - albeit a rather lacklustre meal at that.


    It wouldn¡¯t be long before she received a text.


    [[Hoshinori-san]]


    {Tsukino-chan! It¡¯s your 204th loop! Unfortunately I don¡¯t have any instructions for you today, so please be extra careful and do your best!}


    She looked at it, and pondered over it. Hoshinori had been keeping this up for two hundred and four days, but still Tsukino let it happen. She knew it was a prank, but she just went along with it. There was no reason not to; it was all harmless fun. Of course, it looked like today she wouldn¡¯t have to do anything, which made her day much less complicated - at times, Hoshinori¡¯s instructions seemed like delusions of grandeur. But not today; today, there was absolutely nothing she had to do.


    All she had to focus on, now, was getting to school. And by the time she had read over Hoshinori¡¯s text and finished her not-really-a-breakfast breakfast, she had reached the gates. Luckily, rushing on the morning had meant she wasn¡¯t late. Upon checking her phone, she found the time was now 7:50 a.m, meaning classes started in ten minutes. That gave her enough time to walk to her classroom, Class 2-2, and sit down at her desk. By the time she had finished, it was just five minutes until the bell would ring to signal the beginning of homeroom.


    Which it soon did; the teacher, a young man, looking to be in his thirties at the latest, entered the room shortly after. Following that, the class stood up at their desks.


    ¡°Sit down, sit down. You¡¯ll all be stood up again for registration anyway.¡± He waved for the class to sit back down, and with the shuffling of desks, everyone eventually sat back down in the seats. Tsukino used this time to scan the room for Hoshinori - and as expected he was in school today, three seats in front of her and one to the right. That would have put him near the door at the front of the room, able to quickly leave when he wanted to.


    ¡°Lucky.¡± Tsukino muttered, slightly bitter. She was almost in the middle of the room, so it would have been much harder for her to do so.


    The teacher began to call out names, with the students standing up and announcing their presence. It wasn¡¯t long before Tsukino was doing the same.


    ¡°Yes, sir. I am here.¡±


    Yet before she could sit down, there were three big things that happened almost simultaneously.


    First, there was a loud bang, rather akin to a thunder clap. And then there was the smashing of glass.


    The third, and most immediate, was the sharp pain Tsukino felt in her left shoulder. She gingerly moved a hand up to where she could feel the pain, and then felt a warm liquid, and a large hole. All colour drained from her face when she realised what had happened. She had been shot. It was clear that the class knew this, too; they all scrambled to get down and some of them were either screaming or crying. The teacher was trying to calm them, but his efforts were fruitless. But Tsukino couldn¡¯t focus on anything other than her shoulder. Her breathing was shallow, and she was shaky; she knew she would die here.


    Slowly collapsing onto her knees, she muttered two words.


    ¡°Help me.¡±


    And as she did, another shot rang in the air.

 LOOP 2: The World Turned Upside Down

    [[Hoshinori-san]]


    {Tsukino-chan, you¡¯re on your 205th loop. This time, I want you to


    stay seated for registration. Or be late for class. Either works.}


    Tsukino sighed. Hoshinori wanted her to be late to school? His jokes were often harmless but this one looked like it could get her in serious trouble. She wasn¡¯t prepared for that, but she¡¯d make sure to question him when she got the chance to do so. Shaking her head, she carried on along her path to school; the road was empty and the trees either side of her were losing their leaves, a sign that winter was nearing and the days would soon be getting cold.


    Tsukino hated winter. She hated cold weather, so she definitely hated winter. Every year she would wrap up in layers and layers of clothes, just to keep warm; the truth was, she was highly susceptible to cold temperatures and often fell ill during the winter months.


    ¡°Luckily, school will finish soon for winter break¡­¡± she mumbles, walking at a fast enough pace to take her to the school gates for 7:50 a.m again. When she got to the gates, she discarded the apple core and the empty bottle of Bikkle before proceeding to her class. The school itself wasn¡¯t very big; a school for mages wouldn¡¯t be - but there was still a rather sizeable attendance. Most years, of which there were four, had around seven or eight classes of thirty each. The second year, however, which was Tsukino¡¯s year, had only two. The students never knew why, but they were constantly told by adults that their year was a bad year for births in the magus community. Tsukino never questioned it, but she was sure some students out there most likely did.


    She eventually arrived at her class, and, as she had expected, she was the last one to do so. The first thing she did when she arrived was confront Hoshinori about his text.


    ¡°Listen, Hoshi-san, sometimes a joke can be taken too far, you know,¡± Tsukino scolded him, but sighed after she finished speaking. ¡°Being late to school is like a capital offence!¡±


    Hoshinori shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m serious, it would¡¯ve been best for you to be late for school,¡± he replied, and he looked towards the front of the class. ¡°At the very least, just stay seated for registration. Nobody will notice.¡±


    Tsukino couldn¡¯t argue with that logic; she¡¯d done it before, and a lot of students do it from time to time. The teachers weren¡¯t particularly happy with the fact that students did this, but none of them cared enough to scold them for it. Tsukino decided it couldn¡¯t hurt much to humour Hoshinori, and she returned to her seat just as the teacher came in to the room, right on time at 8 a.m just as the bell rang.


    ¡°Sit down, sit down. You¡¯ll all be stood up again for registration anyway.¡± He commanded, sitting down at his desk. Tsukino did nothing; after all, she was already sat down at her desk.


    But a thought occurred to her for a moment. Hoshinori¡¯s texts never added up, they would always skip a few numbers.


    ¡°Yesterday¡¯s text was two-hundred and three¡­ and the day before that was one-hundred and ninety-two¡­ That¡¯s a bad joke.¡± She muttered, shaking her head.


    The teacher began to call out names from the register, and with each name it came closer and closer to Tsukino¡¯s own. Around halfway through the register, it did, but she didn¡¯t stand.


    She would soon be thankful for not doing so. Two names after she had stood up, at the name Kasumi, there was a loud sound, a bang, followed by the smashing of glass - Tsukino ¡¯s gaze snapped to the windows at the left side of the room, and she saw that one had been smashed. A split-second after and she heard a loud, pained cry from behind her; she turned around to see what had happened, only to witness the person in question, a girl in her class known as Rika Kasumi, writhing in pain, holding her shoulder. Her small hand was stained red, and her shirt, usually a pure white, was slowly becoming more and more dark with the same red tint. Tsukino stared in horror, while the screams and cries of other students pierced her ears.


    This was an attack of some sort, they knew that. It was even more obvious when another shot rang out, the bullet hitting Rika in the chest. Her shirt was becoming increasingly red, and a small puddle of blood began to pool around her. The girl coughed a little, with the viscous red liquid spluttering from her mouth.


    And then she ignited; her whole body went up in flames as pained, terrified screams drowned out most sound. Tsukino covered her ears, blocking the sound out. Her heartbeat increased, and she shook violently. A hand grabbed her and began to drag her away, towards the left wall of the classroom, where the windows were, but she screamed and fought against it.


    ¡°Tsukino, be sensible! I¡¯m trying to keep you alive, god damnit!¡± Hoshinori grabbed her, and she realised that it was Hoshinori who had grabbed her the first time. He dragged her towards him and positioned her up against the wall, and she sat there for a few moments before Hoshinori spoke up again.


    ¡°We¡¯re under attack. That wasn¡¯t an ordinary bullet, anyone could see that.¡± His voice had lost its usual aloof tone, and was now a grave, much deeper sound. Tsukino took a few, deep breaths.


    ¡°We need to get out of here, don¡¯t we?¡± Tsukino asked, her voice quiet. She was still shaking slightly, and her breathing was accelerated.


    Another shot rang out before Hoshinori could answer, hitting a male student. He met the same fate as Rika, and the students around him were equally as horrified. The teacher shouted out commands to the students, trying to get them to evacuate from the building, but most of them were too busy trying to stay alive to listen to him. Hoshinori tapped Tsukino¡¯s shoulder and pointed to the door.


    ¡°We run on three, got it?¡± he asked, waiting for Tsukino¡¯s answer.


    She nodded, and Hoshinori held up three fingers. He slowly put them down, one at once, and just as he lowered the third Tsukino ran for the door. In that moment it felt to her as if all of time had stopped and she was the only one moving - and as adrenalin kicked in she managed to run for the door at a much quicker pace than she had thought was possible. When she reached the exit to the room she flung herself against the wall on the right, and prayed that Hoshinori had made it out alive. As if in direct answer to her prayers, her friend tapped her shoulder.


    ¡°Relax, I¡¯m here.¡± He said, his voice taking on a reassuring tone. Tsukino let out a breath and nodded.


    ¡°Our next objective should be to find out what is going on.¡± She replied, crouching as she made her way along the hallway, all the while hugging the wall. Hoshinori followed on behind her. Eventually they managed to reach an old store room with no windows, and they decided to hide in there. Hoshinori spoke first.


    ¡°It seems like we¡¯re being attacked by an enemy force. It¡¯s absurd ¡ª we¡¯re defenceless!¡± He explained, punching a wall with the side of his fist. Tsukino sighed.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do for now except try to escape. But where to?¡± She asked, trying to visualise the layout of the school in her head.


    Hoshinori shrugged. ¡°Beats me. I think our best bet is far away from here,¡± He looked around the shelves in the room, trying to find any items of use. ¡°But there¡¯s a chance we might be tracked.¡±


    Tsukino nodded. The chance that they would be tracked, or followed, for that matter, was rather high.


    ¡°Assuming this group has a specific goal, if there¡¯s any chance we were to find out, they¡¯d want to kill us, right?¡± she asked, looking towards the door. ¡°Listen, Hoshinori. When we get out of here, let¡¯s get to the bottom of this, okay?¡±


    Hoshinori nodded. ¡°Sounds like a fine plan, but¡­ ¡®When we get out of here¡¯? That¡¯s a death flag, Tsukino.¡± He chuckled, before walking towards the exit.


    Tsukino couldn¡¯t blame him for laughing. He was trying to alleviate the situation, after all. It wasn¡¯t very effective, but with the gravity of the situation being what it was, she couldn¡¯t have made a better attempt herself. Neither of them had expected to be flung into this kind of situation, and neither of them knew for sure that they would even make it this far.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.   ¡°Wait, before you go. Where are we going to, anyway?¡± she asked, and in that moment a voice came over the P.A. System - that of a student¡¯s, which Tsukino knew to be the student council president¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Excuse me, I would like all students to listen carefully. We are under attack from an unknown group. This is an emergency, and I would like you all to go to the gym. The teachers will then conduct a headcount.¡±


    Tsukino looked towards Hoshinori.


    ¡°Guess it¡¯s the gym.¡± He sighed, and flung the door open. What they saw horrified them; dead bodies of students and teachers alike, both whole and dismembered. Suddenly, Tsukino felt sick. Her face was drained of all colour and her legs felt weak. She took just three steps forward before she collapsed, and Hoshinori caught her before she could hit the ground.


    ¡°Hoshi¡­ this is awful¡­¡± she muttered, and Hoshinori nodded.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t just an attack, it¡¯s a massacre. The other students are likely fighting their way to the gym, but judging by how quickly this floor was wiped out, they could be having a hard time of it¡­ It¡¯ll be a miracle if half of us make it out alive.¡± He replied, his own voice shaky. Tsukino¡¯s throat began to feel tight, and she struggled to even utter her next words.


    ¡°Do you¡­ do you think we¡¯re going to die here?¡±


    Hoshinori didn¡¯t answer her. Tsukino knew that he couldn¡¯t say for sure, and she began to accept the possibility that either of them could die in that moment. She pulled herself back up, wiping tears from her eyes afterwards.


    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go. We need to get to the gym.¡± She continued walking down the hallway, now stained with the blood of her friends and colleagues. She was careful not to disturb any of the bodies, out of respect for the dead.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t as if they died respectfully, but they deserve some peace¡­¡± she muttered, keeping her head down. She continued walking until she reached the stairs leading to the bottom floor of the building, and turned to make sure Hoshinori was still there.


    ¡°It¡¯s quiet in here¡­ do you think we¡¯re safe?¡± she asked, yet she knew the answer was going to be a no. Hoshinori confirmed her suspicions by shaking his head.


    ¡°We won¡¯t be safe until we¡¯re as far away from here as possible, you know.¡± He paused, looking at the stairs. ¡°I¡¯ll go first, you follow me.¡±


    He began to slowly make his way down them, wary of any potential attackers on the bottom floor, and Tsukino followed him. She was unsure of what lay ahead, but she needed to get out of here. She thought that if they could make it to the gym the teachers could begin to evacuate students, but she was unsure of whether the gym would now be safe or not. She decided it wasn¡¯t, but that it would be worth checking out anyway.


    When they reached the bottom of the stairs they paused for another moment, and Hoshinori pulled Tsukino against the wall.


    ¡°From here, we need to get outside. The nearest door is the length of two rooms away, so we can make it if we run.¡± He explained, in a hushed whisper. ¡°But if we do that, we risk exposing ourselves. What do you want to do?¡± he asked, peeking his head around the corner.


    ¡°Is there anyone there?¡± Tsukino replied, posing a question of her own.


    ¡°Nobody. We could do it.¡±


    Tsukino nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She answered, waiting for him to lead the way. He began to run down the hall, and she followed him. In around ten seconds they managed to get to the door in question and flung it open.


    And then they realised something. The school itself had been warded - they couldn¡¯t see what was going on outside beforehand, but now they were outside they could see the full scale of the situation.


    And it was a battlefield in all senses of the world. Screams, cries, shouts, spells, explosions, death. Everything that constituted a battlefield surrounded them and they knew this was going to end badly.


    ¡°Hoshinori¡­ we need to help them. We¡¯re a part of this too.¡± Tsukino pleaded, and Hoshinori nodded.


    ¡°But we need a strategy, or else it¡¯s just an effortless fight. This is clearly a planned attack and we have no leadership to speak of. What do we do?¡± he replied, and Tsukino was silent for a few moments.


    ¡°Exactly. There is no plan, is there? Even if we were to help out, what would that do for us? Would it prolong our deaths, or eradicate that possibility completely? It¡¯s admirable that you want to fight, Tsukino, but if there¡¯s no plan, it¡¯s just more pointless violence.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°I know, but that doesn¡¯t mean we won¡¯t have to fight later. This is a battle, now, Hoshi. We need to treat it as such.¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll humour you for now, but we need to come up with a plan. For now, let¡¯s still make our way to the gym.¡± He replied, and she nodded again, before turning around and beginning to run towards the east of the school grounds, where the gym was located. Hoshinori followed her, constantly looking behind him to make sure nobody was a threat to them.


    They managed to get halfway towards the gym before they encountered a threat - a tall figure, he was clothed in a pristine black suit and seemed to fight with ease. Before their very eyes Tsukino and Hoshinori saw two students die trying to ward him off, and a third was on the floor, recoiling in fear. The man raised his arm and began to recite an incantation.


    ¡°Peacach solas, a l¨¬bhrigeadh dhuinn chum ifrinn. Ni m¨° a chur¡ª¡°


    Hoshinori cut him off by tackling him to the ground, and Tsukino began to help the student, a girl from the first year, up. She quickly thanked them, and Tsukino turned to their assailant, trying to get a better look at him. However, he raised his hand again, in Tsukino¡¯s direction, and invoked another incantation, one much more simple.


    ¡°Deigh sleagh!¡±


    A block of ice shaped in the figure of a lance formed at the tip of his finger and shot forward at an incredibly fast speed, piercing Tsukino¡¯s chest and puncturing her left lung. She could feel the blood around her wound begin to freeze the moment she was aware of what had happened, and as she tried to breathe to calm down, she found herself struggling to get any air. This was coupled with the rapid freezing of her body and blood, and when she grabbed the ice spear to try and remove it, her arms were quickly unusable; frozen in place.


    It wasn¡¯t long before she stopped functioning entirely. Her heart had frozen rather quickly and within around half of a minute the ice had reached her head and her brain, causing it to stop functioning.


    Tsukino Kanon passed away yet again.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Chant</td><td>Meaning</td><td>Effect</td></tr><tr><td>Deigh sleagh</td><td>Ice Lance (from Gaelic)</td><td>Summons a large lance of ice that is


    propelled in the direction the user is looking.</td></tr><tr><td>Peacach solas, a l¨¬bhrigeadh dhuinn bho ifrinn.


    Ni m¨° a chur an c¨¨ill an gaol no fuath,


    gidheadh bualadh s¨¬os a h-uile a ''gealltainn blaisbheum.


    Thig a mach, agus a ''togail marbh!</td><td>Sinful light, deliver us from hell.


    Express neither love nor hate, yet


    strike down all who commit blasphemy.


    Come forth, and raise the dead!</td><td>The user sacrifices some of their life


    and willpower to raise the dead around


    them.</td></tr></tbody></table>