Flashback, Day Four, Yuna’s Office
Ryuga stands at attention while Yuna reviews mission reports. Another perfect success. Zero casualties on their side, objective completed in half the projected time.
"Exceptional work as always." She sets the tablet down, not looking at him directly. "You've exceeded every metric we've established."
"Thank you, sister."
“You did well in District 7.” Yuna reviews the reports. “Though your methods were…excessive.”
“It worked.”
“Indeed.” She turns to face him fully. “You’re ready to know more about what we actually do here.”
“More?”
"Tell me, Ryuga. Have you ever noticed things that don't quite fit? Technology seems too advanced in the wrong aspects. The geography doesn't quite match your memories. Small details that feel artificial, almost like they were built by someone?"
Ryuga doesn't respond, but his silence is answer enough.
"Right now, we are in the world you know. However…when I send you on missions, you travel to a different place entirely. That world I send you to is not in the same world your past life remembered, Ryuga. We're in an alternate reality. An alternate dimension that was once whole but is now broken."
Ryuga thinks for a moment. "I do actually remember some memories from my past body. When he was young, he seemed to be something like a noble. Servants. A large estate. But then later he was just a regular kid. A nobody." Ryuga frowns. "I never understood how those two lives could belong to the same person. I don’t remember the kid making a big deal when his life changed, so I assumed him being a noble was either a fantasy or a corrupted memory."
“And there are reasons he wouldn’t have remembered. What was his name again? Ryota?” Yuna pauses, thinking. “Yes, I do remember him quite well. Your memories do not deceive you; Ryota was a noble. And the missions we conduct…they’re in the original world. Your original world. Where Ryota and I are from. Though you don’t remember it.”
“How did you get here?”
“Good question.” Yuna pulls up a holographic display. “This place – the memorial world – exists in dimensional space parallel to the original. Like sheets of paper stacked together. We have crystals that allow small groups to move between layers.”
“Small groups?”
“The first massive evacuation to the memorial world…thousands of people at once. The dimensional stress corrupted them. They became what you call shifters – biologically unstable, constantly changing.” She gestures to herself. “I was in a later, smaller group. Two or three people can travel safely. A hundred become monsters.”
“So when I went to District 7…”
“You were in the real world. Your world. The people there don’t remember you because I sent you to a foreign country. But that was your original dimension.”
“What about Yuko? She-”
Yuna’s face goes pale. “Who did you say?”
“Yuko. I met her. She was running the gang.”
“Ryuga, that…that wasn’t Yuko.”
“No, it was. I saw her. I’ve known her for a while. Crazy to see where life took her.”
“No, Ryuga. That wasn’t her. I know because I knew Yuko. She was…” Yuna pauses, struggling with something. “She was my friend. At the time your group and the larger shifter group went to the other world, Yuko and I had been…away. Preoccupied with something. We weren’t with your group when you guys went, so we were confused when everyone was gone. We knew about the plan but missed the time. So, in desperation, we went ourselves. Because our group was smaller – only two people – we kept most of our memory, and most importantly the memory of our coming here and our original life. When we got to this world, we were…eventually broken apart.”
“What happened to her then? Where is she now?”
“She’s dead, Ryuga.” Yuna’s voice is careful. “Has been for years. Whoever you saw…that person probably didn’t even exist.”
“But I saw her. I talked to her.”
“Did anyone else?”
Ryuga opens his mouth, then closes it. Marcus was dead by then. The team had left. It was just him in that chapel, him in those streets.
“The sign though. The message about disbanding the gang. Someone wrote that.”
“I’m…not sure. The team you abandoned was still working the assignment.” Yuna pulls up a file. “They must have dealt with that…”
“No, that’s not… I destroyed the gang. I made the leader watch while I—” He stops. The leader. The one he thought was Yuko. The mother in the hospital.
“While you what?”
“There was a woman in the hospital. The gang leader’s mother. I used my ability on her.”
Yuna checks another report. “District 7 General reported equipment malfunction in their cancer ward. Some machines failed, but no casualties mentioned.”
Ryuga’s mind races, back through the mission.
“Wait. The others saw her. Ryota’s friends. She used to go to our school. I remember now.” Ryuga’s voice gets steadier. “They saw her too. We couldn’t have all been hallucinating, right?”
“Yes, that’s…actually where she died.” Yuna looks away. “At school. Three years ago.”
“At school? How?”
“Yuko was found with…various injuries. In many places.” Yuna’s voice is carefully neutral. “The investigation was shut down quickly. The family had connections.”
I'm sorry, Ryuga, Yuna thinks, keeping her face still and voice steady. That person at school was probably just a random shifter who disguised themselves to look like her. That wasn't Yuko. But if you knew the truth... if you knew what I did...you'd never forgive me. I'm sorry.
Ryuga processes this.
Ryuga thinks.
“So when I saw her during the mission…”
“You were seeing someone who’s been dead for three years. Someone whose death was…” Yuna pauses. “Violent. Traumatic. The kind that might stick in your mind, especially if you knew her before.”
“The gang leader I tortured. Their mother I destroyed. Was that real?”
“The gang was real. Your actions were real. But the person you thought you were fighting? No. That was your mind creating a narrative.”
Ryuga’s hands are trembling now.
Ryuga thinks, looking down at his open palms.
“How many other missions?” Ryuga asks, voice shaky.
“What?”
“How many other missions have I been seeing dead people? Fighting enemies that weren’t there?”
Yuna doesn’t answer. That silence says everything.
“D-did you know something was wrong with me?”
“I knew you were effective. That’s all that mattered.” But even Yuna looks unsettled now. “I didn’t know you were this far gone.”
“Why tell me now?”
“Because you’ve proven yourself useful enough to know. And because I need someone who can operate in both worlds without questioning the implications.”
The weight of it settles on Ryuga. Every mission, he’s been returning to a world he doesn’t remember, killing people who might have known him before.
"This information is absolutely confidential," Yuna continues, her professional demeanor returning. "No one else knows the truth about dimensional travel except me, Yuko, and you. Although I'm sure Yuko's twisted spirit didn't tell anyone, as it would have ruined the 'surprise.'"
“Understood,” Ryuga manages. He's still processing. His hands haven't stopped shaking.
Yuna watches him for a moment. Then she walks to the window, fingers drumming against her thigh. A nervous habit she rarely shows.
The silence stretches.
"You know, Ryuga, you are free to leave whenever you like."
He looks up. The trembling slows. "I know, sister. But I appreciate how much you've led me to grow. I am honored to serve as your bodyguard."
She takes a breath, composing herself. "Tell me something. In all your missions...do you ever think about what comes after?"
"After the mission?"
"After all of this." She turns, maintaining professional distance. "You won't be my bodyguard forever."
"I serve until you no longer require—"
"And then?" Her voice carries something he can't identify. "What happens to you then?"
Ryuga doesn’t respond immediately. "I...haven't considered it."
"Well, I have." She sits, crossing her legs. "Ryuga, you've given me months of perfect service. Protected me from unknown dangers. You've earned...more."
"I need nothing beyond—"
"A wish." She cuts him off. "One wish. Anything within my power to grant. As a present for being my strongest, most trusted guard."
He's quiet. She continues, keeping her tone level despite her racing pulse.
"The only condition is that you return to me once it's done. Not as my bodyguard, but as..." She pauses, choosing words carefully. "Something more."
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"Something more?"
"A partner. In the business, of course." Too quick. She slows down. "Someone who stays because they choose to. Because they want to build something together."
Ryuga tilts his head slightly, analyzing. "You're offering me a promotion?"
"I'm offering you…a future. After you settle whatever's haunting those fragments in your mind."
"The memories that aren’t mine.”
"Yes. I can sense they are still causing you trouble, despite the training." She opens her drawer, hands trembling slightly as she pulls out files. "The faces you see. The people from the life."
Photos spill out. She watches his expression, looking for any crack in the armor.
"I wish to help them," he says finally. "The people from before. To thank my past self for his sacrifice by protecting what he left behind."
Her heart sinks a little. Of course that's what he'd choose. Duty, even to a dead version of himself.
"These people?" She taps the photos, professional mask perfect.
"If they mattered to Ryota, then yes."
"Nishihara Sutori. I’ve received a call…he'll need protection soon." She gathers the photos, fingers lingering on one. "Help him, help them, and your debt is paid."
"And then I return?"
"Then you return." She meets his eyes, allows one moment of truth to slip through. "And we discuss what kind of future you want. What kind of...partnership might work. In the real world."
Something flickers in his expression. Recognition? Understanding? But it's gone too fast.
"I accept these terms."
He starts walking toward the door but stops halfway there.
“Wait, Yuna. I have one more question.”
"Yes?" She holds his gaze. There's something in her expression he hasn't seen before. Softer. Unguarded.
He finds himself not wanting to look away.
“Before…you said you sent me to a foreign country? Why?”
Yuna looks to the side, anxious. “Well…my fortune wasn’t obtained by chance; it was given, as a reward. In the original world, I was a princess, the only heir to the throne. The reason I was wrapped up in all this is because I was visiting the king of your country when it all happened. Yuko, one of my most trusted advisors at the time, was also brought to your king, which is how she ended up in this.”
“The king?”
“Yes. He…” She pauses. “He was the one who ordered all of it. He ordered us all to go into this dimension.”
“And erase all our memories? He did all of that?” Ryuga’s voice grows with exasperation. “So one stupid person damned us all? No, I need to do something about this. My mission will be to find this king and him. So who was it? What’s the name of this king?”
Yuna's eyes dart away from his. Her fingers tighten on the edge of her desk.
I have to do this. So he comes back to me in the end, Yuna thinks.
I can't say it.
"I... I don't know," she says.
Ryuga stares at her. She can feel him searching her face, looking for the lie.
She keeps her expression neutral. Barely.
The silence stretches. Then he exhales and looks away, accepting her answer. Or at least choosing not to push further.
She should let him leave. Should keep the professional distance. But something in her chest won't let this moment end like all the others.
She moves toward him, closer than strictly professional. "Your past self chose his friends. I'm curious what you'll choose when you're truly free to decide."
"I'll complete the mission first."
"Of course." She steps back. "You always do."
He returns to his position, then turns and leaves.
The door closes behind him.
But she caught that flicker. That moment of something.
Yuna thinks, smiling.
Old District, Present
Absolute silence.
Niche gets up and walks away. His body moves on autopilot while his mind has gone somewhere else entirely. Somewhere safe. Where friends don't die twice and reality makes sense.
Somewhere that doesn't exist.
By the time his legs start shaking, he's deep in the residential district.
His power's almost gone now. Each step costs more than the last.
He stumbles and catches himself on a street light that dents under his grip.
Then he smells it. Salt air. Ocean. The beach where normal kids did normal things.
Where he was human.
He slowly crawls towards it, legs giving out at the waterline. Knees hit wet sand. The waves don't care that he's a murderer. They just keep their rhythm.
He looks at his hands. The ones that just tore apart dozens of shifters. They're shaking.
"What now?" he asks the ocean.
It doesn't answer.
He looks at the dark water, then down at his bandaged hand. Slowly, he unwraps it. The parasite wound is worse than ever, blackened and rotting. For some reason, it refuses to regenerate even without the parasite.
He plunges the infected hand into the ocean. The water instantly boils. Steam rises.
"For Ryuga," Niche seethes. "So I can feel a fraction of what he will feel for eternity."
He keeps his hand submerged and watches the water bubble and hiss.
The pain spikes and his head jerks away, eyes squeezing shut.
When he opens them, he sees two silhouettes against the sunset. He only cares about one.
His fire explodes back to life. Adrenaline and oxytocin flood his body. The wound begins closing. For the first time in days, he feels whole. Complete. Like whatever essential piece was missing just clicked back into place.
He gets up and starts running.
But immediately his body temperature spikes to an unstable limit. He's exhausted his body enough already. It overheats now, melting sand to glass beneath his feet. He needs to push through.
The closer he gets, the more the second silhouette fades. Burned away by his light. He doesn't care about that one. He'd burn it alive if he had to. It was just a shadow.
The main one walks away from Niche, casual, unhurried, but somehow the distance between them grows with every step she takes, like she's moving through a different version of space where walking means something else entirely.
He pulls out a knife, heats it until it glows, and drives it into his thigh while running. The pain floods adrenaline through his system. He shoots forward, sand exploding behind him.
Still not fast enough. She's getting further.
He rips the knife out and stabs again. Faster. The beach blurs around him.
He stretches his hand forward. Still out of reach. The second silhouette is gone now. Just her.
One more. He aims for his heart and the blade slides between ribs. The rush is massive and he rockets forward, finally closing the distance.
His hand catches hers as he crashes to the ground.
Everything slows. She turns, and for a moment they're frozen there together, him bleeding out on the sand, her confused, her eyes searching his face through the heat distortion rising off his skin.
"Who are you?" her voice quivers.
The words sting, but then—
"OW!” she winces. “You're burning me!"
She yanks her hand away and clutches it to her chest, red marks already forming.
"Maruka—" His voice is hoarse.
But she's already backing away, holding her burnt hand, staring at him with genuine fear.
"Stay away from me! I don't...who you?" Her voice shakes. "Why did you grab me?"
"Maruka, it's me—" He reaches out again, struggling to his knees.
"DON'T!" She stumbles backward, nearly falling. "I'll scream. There are people—"
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"You already DID!" She holds up her burnt hand. "You've probably already poisoned me with whatever sickness you have. Whatever's inside you."
He looks down at himself.
Physically, I’m a
wild-haired stranger covered in blood. Radiating heat. Glowing eyes.
Of course she doesn't recognize me.
I barely recognize myself.
"I'm sorry…I don’t want to kill you." Niche’s voice cracks. "I just... I needed..."
"I'm calling the police." She's backing away faster now, her good hand fumbling for her phone.
"Wait—"
But she's already running, the terrified sprint of a girl who thinks she barely escaped something horrible.
He collapses in the sand.
Something fundamental breaks inside him. His speed and reflexes feel duller now, like whatever connected him to quickness just…severed.
Niche stays there until his regeneration kicks in enough to move. The knife wounds seal slowly as his body prioritizes survival over speed.
He gets up slowly, stumbling home through empty streets. The failed trial weighs on him. Maruka's terrified face. The smell of her burnt skin.
Halfway there, his left arm starts tingling. He looks down and it's fading, disappearing in and out of existence.
"The original world," Raizen says. "It's trying to pull you back."
"Now? After everything?"
"Your connection to this reality is weakening. If you get pulled back fully, the infinite energy difference will force-start the merging. Cut it off before it spreads."
"Cut off my arm?"
"Remove the infected part before it takes all of you."
Niche doesn't hesitate. He grabs Raizen, positions the blade, and swings. His arm falls and vanishes before it hits the ground.
New flesh and bone spiral from the stump, reforming in seconds.
He keeps walking. Three blocks later, his leg starts fading.
"Fuck."
Same process. Cut. Regenerate. Keep moving.
By the time he reaches home, he's severed and regrown six different body parts, each disappearing quicker than the last.
"This isn't sustainable," he pants, fumbling for his keys.
"No," Raizen agrees. "You need a hard reset. Kill yourself completely. I'll ensure you regenerate."
"That's your solution?"
"That's the only solution."
Niche enters the house quietly.
He heads upstairs, finding his father's gun in the closet. As he's loading it, he hears the front door unlock.
He slides the gun into the bathroom and runs downstairs. His mom is walking in, phone in hand. She looks up with relief when she sees him.
"Niche, I've been trying to reach Mika for days. She won't answer, and she
hasn’t sent me the document I asked for." Mrs. Sutori sighs.
"It's with Maruka. I already sent it to her."
"No, I want the physical copy. I can't trust you teenagers." She starts looking around the living room. "Let me just find it real quick."
His shoulder starts fading. He keeps his body turned so she can't see.
"Mom, it's not here. Just go."
"It'll take two seconds, Niche."
"Sure." He forces his voice steady. "Take your time."
He walks upstairs. Calm. Measured. The second he's out of sight, he runs to the bathroom and locks the door.
The gun is heavier than it should be.
One shot. Clean through the skull.
He's dead before he hits the tile.
Footsteps thunder up the stairs. The door bursts open.
"NICHE!"
His mother sees everything. Her son's body. The blood. The gun.
Then Raizen works his magic. Bones knit. Brain matter reverses its trajectory. The hole seals.
Niche gasps awake to his mother's horrified face.
"Mom—"
She's already running. He chases her, naked and covered in blood.
Something shifts behind him. His coat flies from the bathroom, the rest of his clothes trailing after it. They hit him mid-stride and wrap around his body, fabric folding into place as he takes the stairs.
Her hand is on the door handle when he reaches the bottom step. Fully dressed. Clean coat. The blood is still on his skin but the clothes are pristine.
He pulls out the memory device he took from Usui, aiming it.
His finger hovers over the trigger.
She turns toward Niche, tears streaming, mouth opening to scream—
FLASH.
The beam hits her directly.
Her eyes go blank. Not unconscious. Empty.
The tears stop mid-fall. Her expression smooths out.
Then she blinks. Refocuses. Looks at him with mild confusion.
"Where was I going?” Mrs. Sutori asks. “I seem to have forgotten."
The words are perfectly normal. Her tone is perfectly normal. But it's wrong.
A mother who just saw her son's brains on the bathroom tile should not sound normal.
Niche reaches into his coat, finding a crumpled paper. He hands it to her.
"Here. This is what you came for."
She takes it. While opening the paper, Mrs. Sutori looks around the hallway like she's never seen it before, then back at the paper as she starts reading.
"'Dinner was lovely. 9 PM tomorrow. Don't be late. - J.'" She looks up. "Who's J?"
"Doesn't matter. You needed it for the trip. Mika's waiting."
"Oh." She folds the paper, putting it in her purse. "Right. Okay."
She nods. No urgency. No concern.
She reaches for the door handle but pauses. Stares at Niche for a while.
"You look tired, honey. Make sure you get some sleep."
"I will, Mom."
She leaves.
The memory device weighs heavy in Niche’s hand.
He watches her car pull out of the driveway until the taillights disappear.
Either way, the disappearing has stopped.
He walks upstairs and fills the bathtub. Steam rises as he pours salt into the water.
He sinks into the water, letting it sting.
"So," Raizen says casually, propped up on the wall, "how was it? With your memories?"
Niche looks at the ceiling. "Strange. I remembered everything when they came back. Us, our parents dying, the original world...everything."
"You sound almost happy about it."
"Happy?" Niche turns his head slightly. "Why would I be happy?"
"You don't remember all the things they did to you? All the torture you endured...with the roaches?"
Niche's eyes widen. Images that he didn’t notice before flash through his mind. His whole body tenses.
"I..." His voice comes out strangled. "Yeah…I forgot about that."
"Interesting how the mind protects itself,” Raizen observes. “Burying the worst parts until someone reminds you they exist."
Niche's hands grip the tub's edges. His regeneration flares. Wounds open and close on his arms like his body's trying to reject the memory physically.
"Was it real?" Niche asks quietly. "Or are you putting things in my head?"
"Does it matter? If you remember it now, it's real to you."
Niche stares at nothing, processing trauma that may or may not have happened, unable to tell the difference anymore. Time passes.
"Raizen."
"Yes?"
"I said at the beginning that if I failed my mission to end this cycle, I would die rather than being sent back to the other world."
"You did."
"Now I would like to make another agreement."
"Hm?"
"My persistence is faltering. I think I will give up before my task is complete." He takes a deep breath. "So I make the contract that I will prevail, and if I lose, the whole world ends."
"That's—"
"Because the risk is greater, the completion of my journey is almost guaranteed. However, should I fail..."
He sits in the tub, staring at nothing.
"Should you fail," Raizen finishes quietly, "I suppose we'll all burn together."
"Better than burning alone."
