Jessica pulled her hand away from his, wrapping her arms around herself. "I understand. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. This is my problem, not yours."

"Jessica, you have nothing to apologize for," Satou said. "You can't control how you feel. None of us can. But I need you to know that just because I can't return those particular feelings doesn't mean I care about you any less. You're still incredibly important to me."

"I know," Jessica said, though her voice was thick with unshed tears. "I just need some time to figure out how to deal with this. Can we not talk about it right now? Please?"

"Of course," Satou said. "But Jessica, I need to tell you something important. Something that happened at the summit."

Jessica wiped her eyes and looked at him. "What happened?"

"I was accepted to the demon lord council provisionally," Satou said. "But one of the demon lords, Chronus, challenged my worthiness. He's forcing me to fight his champion in one week. If I lose, I die."

Jessica's eyes went wide. "What? No! You just got accepted and now you have to fight? Who's the champion?"

"His name is Richard Clay. He has an ability called Decay that kills everything he touches. He's killed multiple heroes before." Satou tried to keep his voice calm, matter of fact. "Loki is going to help me prepare, but the odds aren't good."

"Then don't fight," Jessica said immediately, grabbing his arm. "Decline the challenge. Tell them you need more time. Something. Anything except walking into a fight you'll probably lose."

"I can't," Satou said. "If I decline, I lose all credibility. Everything I said about building a new civilization, about proving we can be more than just monsters, all of it becomes meaningless. I have to fight."

"You have to die, you mean," Jessica said, tears starting to flow again. "You just told me you don't return my feelings, and now you're telling me you're going to die in a week? How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"I don't plan on dying," Satou said firmly. "I've survived everything this world has thrown at me so far. I'll survive this too. I just wanted you to know, in case something goes wrong."

Jessica threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest as she started crying in earnest. "You can't die. I just figured out how I feel about you. You can't die before I even have a chance to... to..."

"To what?" Satou asked gently, holding her.

"I don't know," Jessica sobbed. "To figure out how to stop feeling this way, I guess. Or to accept it. Or something. I don't know what I'm doing."

"None of us do," Satou said, stroking her hair comfortably. "We're all just figuring this out as we go. But Jessica, I need you to be strong. If something does happen to me, the settlement will need you. Lyra will need you. Kelvin will need you. Can you do that? Can you be strong for them?"

"I'll try," Jessica said, her voice muffled against his chest. "But you better not die. Because if you do, I'll never forgive you."

"Noted," Satou said with a slight smile. "I'll do my best to stay alive."

They sat there for a few minutes, Jessica crying while Satou held her, both of them processing the complicated emotions and the looming deadline. Finally, Jessica pulled back, wiping her eyes.

"I should go," she said. "You need to talk to Lyra, and I need to... I need to think. About everything."

"Jessica," Satou said as she stood to leave. "Whatever happens, whatever you decide about your feelings, you'll always be important to me. That won't change."

"I know," Jessica said, managing a weak smile. "That actually makes it harder, but I know."

She walked away, heading toward the healing hall, leaving Satou sitting alone on the steps.

He'd handled that about as well as he could have, but he knew it wasn't over. Jessica was going to be dealing with these feelings for a while, and there was no easy solution. He couldn't change how he felt about Lyra, and he just felt wrong accepting the feelings of Jessica who he has always seen as a little sister.

But right now, he has other problems to deal with. When he gets back he will try to talk things once more with Jessica.

He stood and entered the administrative building, finding Lyra at her desk, reviewing documents by lamplight. She looked up when he entered, her face brightening immediately.

"You're back! How did it go? Were you accepted?" Then she saw his expression and her smile faded. "What happened?"

"I was accepted," Satou said, sitting down across from her. "Provisionally. I have one year to prove myself worthy of the seat."

"That's wonderful!" Lyra said, then hesitated. "But you don't look like it's wonderful. What else happened?"

"One of the demon lords, Chronus, challenged me to combat," Satou explained. "He's forcing me to fight his champion in one week. A man named Richard Clay who has an ability called Decay. He kills everything he touches, and he's killed multiple heroes before."

Lyra's face went pale. "One week? That's barely any time to prepare. Can you decline the challenge?"

"Not without losing all credibility and withdrawing my candidacy," Satou said. "I have to fight. Loki's going to help me prepare, but I need to be realistic about the odds. There's a good chance I might not survive this."

"Don't say that," Lyra said sharply, standing up and moving around the desk to face him. "Don't you dare talk about dying after last night. After everything we just started building between us."

"I have to say it," Satou replied gently. "Because it's possible. And if something happens to me, I need to know the settlement will be okay. That you'll be okay."

"I won't be okay if you die," Lyra said, her eyes starting to glisten with tears. "We just figured out how we feel about each other. I finally allowed myself to be happy, to think about a future beyond just surviving. And now you're telling me you might die in a week?"

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