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, poorly written paragraphs, or you just want to talk about the story please don't hesitate to contact me :) )
May this work of fiction bring you comfort and closure in the empty void in our hearts that the manga has left us with.

(REWRITE / REPOLISHED ON 26TH DECEMBER 2019)

It was already past noon when Chito opened her eyes, above the vast mechanical city they left behind just 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 climb. She remembered some part of her dream where she was walking hand in hand through a wheat field together with Yuuri and it almost felt like they were happy and in heaven. A little bit dazed from the short slumber, it took her a moment to realize her current predicament. They spent what felt like a whole lifetime climbing up to the last layer to find just a strange derelict block settled long before their time.

Opening her eyes, Chito rose up from underneath the only blanket they had left in the world, careful not to wake Yuuri up. Although she was used to sleeping on hard surfaces, it always left her cramped the next day. Soaking the warm sun from above, she stretched her arms and yawned. "Mmm… the sun feels so much warmer up here." Chito thought to herself as she stretched. Looking at the far distance, the sun vastly illuminated the derelict city beneath them, melting some of the snow from the night before on the top layer. She couldn't help but enjoy the view of the unobstructed horizon as it went on forever in the distance of the deserted city below.

Yuuri was still in a deep slumber laying down on the cold ground, mumbling and smiling in her sleep as she always used to do. Chito with a smile kept watching her and couldn't help but think about how she was probably dreaming about all the tasty food she could eat in her dreams. "Even after all we've been through, she still only has food on her mind."

They spent the whole night climbing the exhausting and dangerous stairwell up to the last layer and a short hearty slumber was all that she needed for now to calm her mind. After Yuuri wakes up, they had to come up with a plan of what they were going to do next. For now, she didn't have the heart to wake her up just yet, as her dreams were probably giving her more comfort than what this cruel existence could offer.

Feeling slightly peckish, Chito leaned to scour through their backpacks to see if she missed something the other day. Besides a few items they managed to keep, she could feel the solid edges of the package they found back on their journey, containing the bomb with the lightable fuse. "I guess… we could use this to blow ourselves up... in the end…" she thought to herself "I hope it will be painless, she doesn't deserve to suffer…" closing her backpack, her expression changed to one of sadness at the thought of losing the only person in the world that matters the most to her. The grim thoughts were always clouding her mind like the darkest and most frightful darkness that follows you around.

Still, the whole concept of death seemed sublime to her, even after they were surrounded by it from the very start of their lives. Friends and everyone else in the world are 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 and faces. The killing for what little food remained in the world, never seemed to stop. It felt like blind luck that they have lasted this long and managed to leave that war of hunger behind. Probably just like their grandfather, they had to eventually accept their fate. Food was just so scarce in this world that giving up and dying from starvation was a common occurrence. If the concept of heaven was true everyone they loved waited for them on the other side and she and Yuuri would eventually join them soon.

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

"I guess… our first priority is to look for food... We ate up the last ration packet last night." she thought to herself, looking down at the empty packet of ration they had the last night. Their backpack weighing even less could make the rest of their journey easier. "Maybe there is something edible up here on the last layer… I guess we will worry about that when Yuu wakes up... For now, I just want to enjoy the warm sun laying next to her."

Having her thoughts to herself, the next hour she kept repeating the same questions in her head. "What's next for us? - What is this place up here? - Could there be more to this layer that we didn't see last night in the darkness?" She knew that it was crucial to make a decision right here and now if they were going to go back down or continue their journey on the last layer. The option to just sit here and accept their fate and eventually starve or freeze to death was far from what she had in mind since last night, but no matter what they decide it still felt kind of hopeless. Living sure has been nice, but all she wanted was to make even more memories with Yuuri. However, unless they find a shelter or food up here, 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 life, she wanted to spend what little time she had left with her friend. "I can't give up for Yuuri..." grasping her own hand beneath the blanket she thought to herself. "I just... can't…"

A short time passed before Yuuri woke up from her slumber, mumbling as she brushed her eyes and drool from her mouth… "Uhhhh….. hey Chii-chan… you are awake…" she softly mumbled and yawned stretching her arms.

"Hey, Yuu. I've been for some time now - I didn't want to wake you up. You looked so adorable sleeping and mumbling there next to me." Chito replied to her, as Yuuri continued stretching her arms. "Do I have to guess that you were dreaming about food again with all that mumbling?"

"You know me Chii-chan…" she smiled "It sure was a tasty dream. We were eating a lot of fish we caught from a lake just like the one we saw in a picture that time - I really want to have a fishy again… soooo tasty" slightly smacking her lips, the thought of eating fish was making her peckish again. "Ahh, the sun… it's so warm. Chii-chan, I love this view, I feel like I can reach the sky from up here if I just held out my hand." she smiled reaching up to the midday sky, covered with just a few clouds one could hope for on a clear day.

"Yeah, at least the view was worth coming up here Yuu!" Chito replied as she kept looking into the far distance. However, something kept worrying her and she had to talk to Yuuri about the questions that have been troubling her ever since she woke up from her slumber.

"So, umm - Yuu - What do we do next?" Chito with a worried look turned around to face her "I mean we got up here… but we have no supplies, food and we had to leave our broken 'Kettenkrad' behind. So far 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..."

Yuuri looked back at her as her expression changed with a worrying look on her face. "Oh right - yeah - um.." sitting back on the cold ground she looked around, she felt speechless about their current situation as well "…maybe we can explore this layer or go back down and look for something? I mean we didn't see much in the darkness what's out there in the distance... 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?"

Yuuri seemed unsure what to say next as her eyes filled with worry staring back at Chito. It was the first time since they left their village that they were unsure what to do next. Up to this moment, they had supplies and a simple goal to survive as they reach the top of the city with the hope that they will eventually find a home, food or someone else, even other survivors that could help them out. But without any supplies and food left, she felt hopeless about what they would do next.

"Do you think we made a mistake climbing up here Chii-chan?" Yuuri asked her.

"I don't know what to do - I just really don't know Yuu - !" Chito replied with tears in her eyes as she looked back at her. "I was thinking of it before you woke up Yuu - even if there is no hope for us - I just - I am really scared..." Chito squeezed her own hands looking down on the ground with sadness in her eyes "I really don't want to die Yuu..." slowly tears started clouding her eyes as little droplets fell down on the cold ground "Yuu - please promise me that - you won't die too… Let's just keep on trying to survive and have wonderful memories together - even if it's for just a little while." she could barely muster any words as tears streamed down her face, unable to keep herself from crying.

"Please… Yuu - Promise me - I don't know what I will do, without you!" sobbing loudly she laid her head down on Yuuri's chest, holding her tight. She felt as if the whole world fell on her shoulders and losing her only friend in the world, was the worst nightmare she could ever imagine. "Please Yuu… Even if the world and everyone else we know is gone, I know that we only had each other... Even if there is nothing after this - I know that while we were alive you were there by my side..."

Yuuri kept trying to hold her tears in, seeing Chito in a distress always felt like a sharp needle punching deeply through her heart. "Chii-chan, please don't cry!" Yuuri said clinging her arms close around her. "We will figure something out - You are the smartest person in the world … Don't cry please…" She laid her head on top of hers, as tears started flowing down her face as well "You know that I will never leave your side - Chii-chan." Yuuri gently wiped the tears of Chito's face with her hands looking down at her and gently smiling.

"I never wanted to give up Chii-chan - Let's explore this layer as well there must be more here! We will find more supplies if we work together just like before - " Yuuri hugged her even tighter, sobbing as well. "Let's continue our journey we still have so much to explore in this world together - I want to find that lake in my dream with all the fish, and catch tasty fishy with you." gently holding Chito's hand she placed it near her heart "as long as my heart beats, I will always be there for you Chii-chan."

Looking up at Yuuri, Chito's hand kept shaking from fear as she felt the rhythmic beating of Yuuri's heart. The organic machine that pumped life through every human in their lifetime was beating only for her. Sobbing even louder she felt completely helpless and scared as she tightly held onto Yuuri's chest. "Yuu... what are we - gonna do?!" It was like mountains of pain that she accumulated through their journey was rushing out of her, in a form of emotion that she could only feel for her close companion.

"I will be there for you Chii-chan - I promise." Yuuri smiled through the tears, being close to Chito was comfortable enough in all kinds of situations. "We will figure something out - I want to spend the rest of my life on a journey with you - Chii-chan."

Composing herself, Chito always felt serene holding Yuuri close to her. 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 always had for her since a long time ago. She kept reminding herself of all kinds of vivid dreams she had of Yuuri where they were together and living a peaceful and comfortable life. With tears in her eyes, she felt that before they were gone from this life she had to tell her about one of this dream that she kept buried deep inside her for months.

"Yuu - do you remember back in that place - where we watched the moving pictures?" Chito said laying her head on Yuuri's chest squeezing her jacket tightly "I - I was a bit embarrassed to tell you - but I had a really vivid dream when I fell asleep. In my strange dream, I felt like we were in a completely different world where we were happy. We had a place we can call home, and we made all these plans about getting married, traveling the world and try all kinds of delicious things we can eat. And at the end of the dream - you leaned to kiss me. But just before you did I woke up." she gently smiled as her face flustered through the tears. "Yuu - Do you think our dreams are just our lives in an alternate reality and our happy versions of ourselves really exist somewhere? Is it that selfish of me that I only ask our reality to be a happy one as well Yuu? I want to be happy and alive with you, I really want that more than anything in my life."

"Chii-chan, even if something bad happens to us, I will try to give everything in my life to make this a happy reality for you. Chii-chan - you are the only thing that matters to me in this world." Yuuri replied and blushed still holding her close. "We will keep trying to live together even after everything - If not at least we will be together at the very end Chii-chan and... we can be happy after that too..."

"Yuuri… I just - I love you more than anything - in this empty world…" Chito replied flustered as she confessed her true hidden feelings for Yuuri that she held so tightly hidden in her heart. To her friend that she felt like she spent a whole lifetime with since she could remember. Being so close in her arms she always felt at harmony, even if she felt like the whole wide world wanted them erased.

"Hey, Chii-chan…" Yuuri said through her smile "I remember that scene from that moving picture where the guy and the girl did something they called a kiss... and I remember you told me that is what when someone loves another person they do that - kissing thing - " she smiled as her cheeks flushed locking her teary eyes with Chito "- and Chii-chan... I wanted to do that with you ever since then... and I heard that when a person feels bad they also kiss too and - I know you feel bad at the moment and - I don't want you to feel bad anymore"

Blushing Chito looked at her through her tears and she let out a gentle smile, it was all that she could do laying peacefully in her arms. "Yuu - I want nothing else in this world right now but to kiss you as well..." Looking in each other's eyes she felt as if her heart would jump right out of her body. They slowly leaned towards each other and softly locked their lips together, blushing as if their faces would permanently stay red.

Kissing for the first time felt like the whole world stopped in its tracks. For them, nothing could ruin this moment, not even the cruel reality that these two lonely souls were born in. It was as if for a brief moment they were transported in the dream that Chito cherished forever, the one where they could plan their future together, where they would get married, travel the world and share mountains of delicious food they could find. It was where the warmth of their home and family gave them comfort, happiness and all they desired in life. And when they would eventually grow old and perish in each other's arms, they would have something to show to the world that they were together and nothing could ever tear them apart. Not even the mountains of difficulties one individual could endure in their existence.

Shortly after they broke off from their kiss, both of them blushed and softly smiled as they looked in each other's eyes, embracing as they laid back down on the ground - The ground didn't feel so cold anymore. "Chii-chan - I am so happy every time I see you smiling." Yuuri giggled softly as she blushed a bright color of red "I feel so wonderful!"

Chito smiled back at her as this serene moment she shared with her friend, made her warm all over "It's like that time we drank that mysterious beer drink. It made me feel so warm and happy inside, I've never been happier in my life being here with you, even if it's up here at what seems like the end of the world -"

"Chii-chan - I love you more than food…" Yuuri replied and giggled, still embracing her. "Oh, Yuu… You always think about food, even now when we kissed. I swear you will eat me one day." Chito said with a wide smile on her face.

"Hey - it's Chii-chan first - then all the yummy food second!" Yuuri grumbled playfully in her embrace.

"Yuuri… you are sooo, crazy…" Chito replied unable to help herself as she laughed "I swear - I will drown you in a hotpot when I get the chance" they both giggled loudly laying down on the cold ground. Laughter felt like the right medicine at this moment.

"Hey, Chii-chan - I know!" Yuuri exclaimed as she kept looking at her "Let's get married when we find a home!" her face flustered even with more with this question out of nowhere. Chito with a surprised reaction on her face kept looking back at her not sure what to say.

"You remember in that moving picture, that guy gave the girl a ring and they got married and they loved each other forever - 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 said and smiled as she left Chito dumbstruck by the sudden request she made. "Look - I even found this thing that looks like a ring after we watched that moving picture." 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. But - I want to give you the ring right now!" Yuuri kept smiling as Chito blushed even more.

"Yuu - " Chito was left speechless as she looked at Yuuri who stoop up and got down on her knee 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 - I remember you told me it's called proposing. So this is what I propose to you - that we will find a home and get married and we will be happy - Chii-chan..."

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

"Yuu - I - " Weeping again she fell down in Yuuri's embraced and hugged her tightly as if she would have floated away otherwise "Yuu! I - promise you that we will find a home and we will get married!"

After some time passed both of them lay 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 years ago as corrosion had to show for it, discarded in one of the wars that were raging on for years on the bottom layers. "Yuu, I really hope the grenade didn't kill someone. Sadly, these are the remnants of the world before us. I will never completely understand why humankind was so spiteful to each other and every living being. Instead of happiness, they kept inventing horrible ways to destroy each other. I am really happy that the bomb we found was never used to kill someone. But it makes me sad that we had to destroy the construction machine."

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

"Yuu - I promise we will find that home - and I will find you a beautiful ring for you as well."

Moment of tranquil washed over them as they laid 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 the world was hopeless, they still found strength in each other to make it work for them.

"Chii-chan. You know last night we couldn't see what was up here it was really dark. But I think we should see if we can find something." Yuuri got up from the ground as she held out her hand to help Chito up as well. "You are right Yuuri. Let's inspect this stone. I had a strange dream that we could pass through it and we were in a wheat field or something..." Chito replied as both of them walked around the stone inspecting every corner. "But I am not sure what it could have meant."

In the back of the ruined part 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 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 they never noticed before.

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

"I can't understand the whole scripture - but I think this writing here says 'Towada-Hachimantai'?"

"What does' Towada-Hachimantai' mean Chii-Chan?"

"I have no idea Yuu. It's maybe the name of the city?" Chito replied back as she ran her fingers on the smooth surface of the stone just trying to look 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 forever in the distance. At first glance, the layer seemed 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 back at her as she kneeled down and placed her hand on the ground. The ground was a strange metallic construction filled with pipes and tiny holes that went off in the distance.

"Chii-chan. Maybe grandpa told us to come here for a reason but he couldn't tell us why. My last memory was that he shouted something back at us but I couldn't hear him well because we were really far away."

"Yuu... I don't remember all the stories he told me, but I think I remember that he was telling me once about how the city was built and that he came from somewhere beyond our village. But after some time he stopped telling me stories about the outside world as if he was afraid of something. He always feared that if other people found us they could hurt us. He told us to come up here to escape them and that we would find more food, but maybe there was something else he knew..."

"Yuu... Maybe what we are seeing is not there, but far into the distance. Or inside the layer?" Chito replied back 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 replied smiling as she looked back at her "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 at the back of the other side of the stone monument where they slept the night before. Grabbing the knife from her backpack, she ran back to where Yuuri was standing. "I remembered that once I read in a book that people in the past when they climbed a mountain always left a message of hope for their friends and family behind, and I want to do the same."

Chito placed the sharp edge of the blade on one part of the stone and started inscribing her 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, Chito and Yuuri started their long hike towards whatever was there in the distance of the last layer. "Chii-chan, you better keep your word for drowning me in a hotpot!" Yuuri said smiling as they walked into the horizon, hand in hand towards their new journey to the center of the mysterious layer.

• • •

Years of mechanical advancement made these machines in the city virtually self-sufficient. It all had its own place in the circle. The atmosphere provided energy and water so that the machines can produce electricity to supply itself and run its own gears. The machines needed oil, as mankind needed food to run its course. To feed the machines, mankind stripped mother earth of its own creation, searching for oil and resources on every conceivable spot on this planet. Eventually, they ran out... It's what ruined the human race, their greed, persistent hunger for humanity to achieve self-sufficiency and toying with the course of nature through the use of machines, drained their home. It pretty much drove them insane. The lack of food played a gigantic role in the destruction of the human race. Suddenly mother earth couldn't feed them any longer as they depleted her of every natural resource they could. It was later when they resorted to violence. Every single weapon and tool of mass destruction that they produced, turned on them. It felt like the solution was simple, eradicate all other life so you can feed your own glutenous needs. Taking out humans and organic life out of the equation, meant that the machines might take every living corner of this world, making itself self-sufficient in a rudimentary kind of way. This in a way could be what was occurring in the layers of these cities and why in some way it continued to live on even without humanity's constant need for interruption. Once used to house mankind and their needs, they learned to adapt without their help and run on its own. It's the reason that there was still electricity, water, and oil and the machines continued to work even with the absence of mankind to bask in its glory. Some of the species and life that were left learned to adapt and even evolve to be able to devour humanity's last creation, Nuko's species could survive eating on human's dangerous garbage. Somehow the layers were consistent in a way to provide self-sufficiency, the top layer in a way could be the one that could use the atmosphere to its own needs and provide water, electricity or maybe fresh and clean air to the layers beneath.

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!
Come find us, we miss you.
Chito & Yuuri.