(Ake’s Viewpoint)

  [Present Day]

  Yoiya laid in Rea’s lap, his breathing steady.

  ~Maybe I was worried for nothing? If he’s sleeping near Rea, he should be okay… right?

  I looked at Yoiya’s sleeping face as Rea brushed her hand against his cheek. It was so cute and adorable.

  He seemed so peaceful.

  But that quickly changed.

  Yoiya’s face suddenly contorted, like he was in pain. He let out a small cough.

  Raneko quickly stood up, his gaze fixated in our direction.

  Mashiro stopped singing and Eliba looked at him.

  “Oho, you want a turn that badly, my little familiar? Feel free to have a go!” Mashiro grinned at him as she leaned over.

  “Ah…!” He scratched his head. “We still have over three hours left on the reservation but we forgot to get snacks and drinks.” He looked over to Mashiro and Eliba. “Sorry to ask, girls. But could you go and get some for us at the nearby convenience store?”

  “But the convenience store is like five blocks aw–” Eliba began to refuse but Mashiro quickly spoke up.

  “Oh! You’re totally right!!! Snacks are important! Drinks too! Operation Snack Run is a go!” She declared, grabbing Eliba by the arm. “Let’s go! I’m going to need a warrior to help me carry our supply and secure our route!”

  “H-hey!” Eliba spurted out, followed by a groan. She glared at Raneko as the door shut behind them.

  Raneko peeked out the door, as if double-checking they were gone. Then he quickly made his way over to us.

  Rea’s hand had frozen. She placed it over Yoiya’s head as if checking his temperature. “Is… he okay…?”

  Yoiya curled up in Rea’s lap, his hands reaching out as if trying to grab something. He coughed again.

  This time something flew out of his mouth. It was some kind of thick liquid, but it was dark with an iridescent glow.

  “I-is that b-blood!?” Rea shouted. It was the first time I had ever heard her shout like that. Her eyes had gone wide. Yet still, she had reached out and grabbed one of Yoiya’s hands anyways. She was clutching it tightly.

  “S-stay away… Go… away…” Yoiya mumbled in his sleep, coughing more and more as he did.

  “He’s having another episode…? I read the nurse’s report about it, but I didn’t think it was this bad.” Raneko murmured as he kneeled down. He dipped his thumb into the strange liquid, inspecting it. “This isn’t blood, though. Nor is it like anything I’ve seen before though.”

  “It wasn’t this bad last time!” I shouted out. I couldn’t seem to contain my fear either.

  I looked at Yoiya. His teeth gritted together, his lips were trembling.

  “A seizure perhaps…?” Raneko looked at Yoiya.

  “No… That doesn’t explain this strange substance.” Raneko muttered to himself as he held his thumb up to the light to better inspect it. “Poison?” He looked at me. “Has Yoiya consumed anything strange lately?”

  “No. As far as I know, he’s only been eating Mia’s sandwiches and a bit of my cooking.”

  Raneko looked at me. I could tell he believed me from his eyes, but it didn’t seem like he was fully convinced.

  “I’m calling Mia. I managed to get the phone number from the nurse.”

  Riing.

  Click.

  “Good. You picked up.” Raneko said, holding his phone up to his ear.

  “Huh? You sound like you’re in a rush. Did something happen?”

  “Ah, no. It’s nothing to worry about. I was just curious about something. Has your brother consumed anything strange recently? Anything that could cause discoloration?”

  “No! Of course not!” Mia answered immediately.

  “I see.”

  “Hang on! Wait what is this ab–”

  Raneko quickly ended the call. He probably decided it was best not to worry Mia any further over this.

  “Not poison either… Could it really be…?”

  He pressed his thumb against his finger, testing the texture.

  Then he went over to his bag and pulled out a pocketknife.

  “Huh…? Isn’t that… the knife you use for crafting…?” Rea spoke, her voice quivering slightly.

  “Yes. I’m just going to check something.”

  He quickly pricked his thumb on the opposite hand and pressed the blood against his fingers.

  “...There’s no doubt. This is his blood… but it’s not human.”

  “Not human…?” I muttered the words back to him.

  I looked over to Rea. Her eyes had gone wide, she had frozen in place. But her grip on Yoiya’s hand had not loosened— rather it had tightened.

  Yoiya continued coughing. A cut formed around his free arm and that luminous blood began to slowly seep out.

  I quickly grabbed his other hand, looking closely at the arm.

  “What—” I couldn’t find my voice. It had failed me. Tears swelled in my eyes.

  Rea started to sob, pressing her face against the hand that she held.

  Raneko kneeled down to inspect the arm. “Whatever this is… whatever He is… It’s clear that he’s in danger. But… how can we help him? We have to figure out what he is…”

  The blood began to dissipate, fading away as the cut closed itself. More cuts appeared after, all following the same process as the first.

  “Regeneration…?” Raneko mumbled. “This is something you’d only see in fantasy novels…”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Rea’s words hung in the air like a fragile thread, trembling with every shaky breath she took.

  “Yoiya… said… he liked fantasy novels…”

  Her voice broke again, and she pressed her forehead against the back of his hand, as if grounding herself in the warmth of his skin. As if that warmth meant he was still here. Still reachable.

  But the cuts kept appearing.

  Thin, sharp lines tearing across his arm like invisible claws. Each one opening, glowing, bleeding that impossible light… then sealing shut as if time itself was rewinding.

  I felt sick.

  Not because it was grotesque.

  But because it was him.

  Because he was hurting.

  Because he was fighting something we couldn’t see.

  Because we were watching him fall apart and couldn’t do anything.

  Raneko exhaled shakily, wiping his thumb on a tissue that was already stained with fading iridescence.

  “This isn’t normal regeneration,” he murmured. “This is… something else entirely. Something beyond biology.”

  He looked at Yoiya with an expression I’d never seen on him before — not fear, not confusion, but a kind of quiet, horrified awe.

  “Whatever he is… he’s not just sick. He’s not just fragile. He’s—”

  He stopped himself.

  Rea lifted her head, tears streaking down her cheeks. “He’s Yoiya,” she whispered. “He’s still Yoiya…”

  Her voice trembled, but her grip didn’t loosen.

  I swallowed hard, my throat burning. “Rea…”

  She shook her head violently, as if refusing to hear anything else. “I don’t care what he is. I don’t care if he’s— if he’s something out of a book. I just… I just want him to be okay…”

  Her words cracked open something in my chest.

  Because I felt the same.

  Because I was terrified.

  Because I didn’t understand any of this.

  Because I didn’t want to lose him either.

  Raneko lowered his gaze. “Wanting him to be okay isn’t enough. Not this time. We need answers. We need to understand what’s happening to him.”

  “But how?” I whispered. “He won’t tell us anything. He never has.”

  Raneko’s jaw tightened. He rubbed the sides of his head with his palms in small circular motions.

  “Ahh… Maybe Mia knows something…? I can try to call her again.”

  He took out his phone but he quickly stopped. His eyes going wide as he seemed to realize something.

  “No… Mia doesn’t know anything, most likely.”

  “Huh? She’s his sister, isn’t she?” I spoke up, my voice a bit frantic. I was desperate. Desperate for an answer — any answer that could give us a way to help him.

  “No… My brother mentioned something to me after his last episode when I tried to look into Yoiya.”

  “A-Ashura did…?” I stuttered.

  Ashura always acted like he knew everything. Everything he said always seemed to carry this sense of precognition, a sense of wisdom, an invisible weight.

  “He said… he visited the cafe where she worked to meet up with his former seniors. There he learned something.” Raneko closed his eyes, deep in thought. He opened them once more as he quoted his brother. “They said that Mia randomly brought Yoiya into work late into a rainy summer day.”

  “She just… found him…?” Rea asked.

  “Yeah.” Raneko murmured.

  A heavy silence filled the air. The lights seemed to dim as Yoiya continued to cough.

  I thought about the words Raneko spoke— Ashura’s comments.

  I remembered, too. I was curious about Yoiya myself. So, I had asked Ashura about him as well.

  “The legendary transfer student, huh? My brother asked about him as well. Mia picked that kid up off the streets, I heard. No identity, no family, no past, wouldn’t even give a name at first. He was just there— a small white-haired boy staring at his reflection in the glass.” Ashura had told me, as he reclined in the chair and sipped a soda.

  Rea pulled Yoiya’s body close to hers, hugging it tightly. “So… he’s been alone this whole time…?”

  Rea’s question didn’t sound like a question at all.

  It sounded like grief.

  Like realization.

  Like something inside her was breaking in slow motion.

  “So… he’s been alone this whole time…?”

  Her voice trembled against Yoiya’s shoulder as she held him, as if she could shield him from the truth even while saying it aloud.

  I felt something twist painfully in my chest.

  Alone.

  The word echoed in my mind, heavy and suffocating.

  A boy with no name.

  No past.

  No family.

  No identity.

  Just a small, white?haired child staring at his reflection in a rain?soaked window.

  My stomach churned.

  Raneko lowered his head, his bangs shadowing his eyes. “If Mia found him like that… then she doesn’t know anything. She couldn’t. She’s been treating him like a normal kid because she thought he was one.”

  Rea let out a shaky breath. “But he’s not…”

  Her fingers brushed through Yoiya’s hair, gentle and trembling.

  “He’s not human,” she whispered, as if saying it too loudly would shatter him.

  Yoiya’s body jerked again — a violent spasm that made all three of us flinch. Another glowing cut tore across his arm, then sealed shut just as quickly.

  Rea gasped. I grabbed his hand tighter. Raneko leaned in, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and fascination.

  “This isn’t just regeneration,” he murmured. “This is… something instinctive. Automatic. Like his body is fighting something we can’t see.”

  “Fighting what?” I whispered.

  Raneko didn’t answer.

  Because he didn’t know.

  Because none of us did.

  Because the only person who could tell us was trapped somewhere we couldn’t reach.

  Rea’s tears dripped onto Yoiya’s sleeve. “He must have been so scared… all alone… with no one who understood…”

  Her voice cracked.

  “And he still smiled at us,” she whispered. “He still tried so hard to be normal. He still tried to fit in. He still tried to—”

  She choked on the words.

  I felt my own eyes burn.

  Because she was right.

  Yoiya had always been gentle.

  Always quiet.

  Always trying.

  Always apologizing for things that weren’t his fault.

  Always shrinking himself so he wouldn’t bother anyone.

  And now we knew why.

  Raneko finally spoke, his voice low and steady — but there was a tremor beneath it.

  “He wasn’t just alone,” he said. “He was hiding. From everyone. Maybe even from himself.”

  The room felt colder.

  Yoiya’s breathing hitched. His fingers twitched weakly in mine, like he was reaching for something — or someone — far away.

  Rea leaned over him, her voice barely a whisper.

  “You’re not alone anymore… Yoiya… please… come back to us…”

  Her words hung in the air, fragile and desperate.

  And for the first time, I realized something terrifying:

  We weren’t just trying to help him.

  We were trying to pull him back from somewhere he might not return from.

  “Then we just have to wait. And when he wakes up… we ask him. Directly.”

  Yoiya’s body jerked suddenly — a violent, involuntary spasm that made Rea gasp and cling to him even tighter.

  His lips moved again, barely forming the words.

  “Don’t… come… closer…”

  Rea’s breath hitched. “Yoiya… please…”

  I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

  He wasn’t talking to us.

  He wasn’t even here.

  He was fighting something inside his own mind.

  Something that was tearing him apart.

  And all we could do was watch.

  And wait.