His body was cold. He didn't know how many times his consciousness had awakened and faded. When he closed and opened his eyes, he was face down on the ground, and even when standing, he couldn't take a few steps before collapsing again. The sensation in his lower body was faint. He could move, but couldn't control it as he wished. Kenji spat out the rainwater that had entered his mouth, ptui, and crawled in a prone position to lean against the wall.
"Haa…… Heu-eup……."
Breathing wasn't easy. It felt like death was floating in his mouth. His sense of taste should have already gone, but for some reason, that sensation was felt vividly. It was clear he would die from excessive bleeding if he kept moving like this. He didn't know how many times he had already vomited blood and spat out pieces of organs.
Even so, he had to move forward. Staying still here wouldn't do any good. He had to get out onto the street first and ask someone for help. There was no other way.
He was trying to press on the wound as much as possible to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't working well. It also seemed like rainwater was getting into the wound and would fester. Then even if he sutured the wound, he'd have to open it up again to clean out the pus—just thinking about it was horrible. Still, there was no choice. Whether he pressed the wound or not, the rain getting in was the same, so pressing it was better. At least the gushing blood would go back in.
"Hoo……."
Kenji exhaled a white breath and shakily got up from his spot. He had only sat for about a minute, but he shouldn't waste time uselessly. If he delayed, he would really die. To keep his promise, he couldn't die here.
"Kkeu-euk…… Heu……."
His body screamed with every movement. Because he had lost too much blood, his vision was blurry, and the edges of his sight were tinged dark red. The piece of organ sticking out from the hole was forcibly shoved back in. His legs trembled, and burning pain heated his abdomen.
-Thud, thud.
An empty alley. Kenji moved toward the street, facing the cold air and chilly rain.
He collapsed.
Got up. His vision reversed in an instant, and he lost consciousness again.
Regained consciousness. Placed his hands on the ground and raised his body. During the collapse, the organ he had barely shoved back in was sticking out again. He twisted the corner of his mouth and put the organ back in again. If it weren't raining, he would have cauterized the wound with a lighter. He grumbled inwardly and moved his steps while leaning on the wall.
-Thud, thud.
The sound of footsteps came. It seemed to have been audible for a while. It wasn't Kenji's. His footsteps were unsteady, not as neat as that sound.
Then, whose was it? Kenji concentrated his blurry vision and glared beyond the alley. Then, a single figure came into view.
A familiar man. Kenji recognized him and let out a hollow laugh.
"What is it?"
"The contract was suddenly terminated, so I came to see what happened."
He was a man overall tinged with black. His skin was like broken black glass, and the black suit he wore reminded one of a luxurious brand. The umbrella he held was also black, as were his gloves, shoes, and tie. Only his shirt was pure white.
Kenji looked at him and let out a small laugh.
"I see."
"Yes. But…… the situation seems a bit different from what I imagined."
The Black Suit muttered that and walked quickly toward Kenji. Soon the distance between the two became close enough to face each other. Kenji looked up at the Black Suit with dazed eyes. The Black Suit looked down at Kenji with his single white eye.
In that gaze, there was no hostility. It seemed to be seriously examining his condition.
"The Madam's doing, I see."
"Who else but that bitch, heu…… would do something like this?"
"Still, it's fortunate your goal was achieved. After all that provocation, you finally see the results. How do you feel?"
"……Like I'm going to die."
"My, my."
The Black Suit placed the umbrella over Kenji's shoulder and carefully guided him to sit leaning against the wall. Kenji didn't refuse the hand. More accurately, he couldn't. His body was so broken he couldn't even throw a punch, let alone kick—how could he resist? He exhaled a long breath, hoo, and looked at the Black Suit.
"So, what are you going to do now? Since I'm no longer part of Gematria, are you going to finish me off?"
"How could that be? How many times must I say, I personally just want to become friends with you."
The Black Suit chuckled and knelt to meet Kenji's eye level.
"You'll die soon."
"Probably."
Kenji readily admitted. Frankly speaking, there was no hope. The alley was long, and even if he desperately moved forward, reaching the street was impossible. Even if he miraculously reached it, his life would likely be cut off before he could ask for help. Maybe he'd die during transport to the hospital.
Whichever way, there was no way for him to survive. Even the Black Suit's arrival didn't change that.
"What if there is?"
The Black Suit dug into Kenji's thoughts. He looked seriously at Kenji and put his hand in his pocket.
"What if there was a way to survive?"
"……What nonsense. Are you going to perform surgery here?"
"I just brought some simple medicine. In case of unexpected situations. Fortunately, it seems it was the right decision."
The Black Suit took out from his coat several vials containing various reagents.
"High-performance hemostatic and antibiotics. And also painkillers. With this, you should be able to hold on, right?"
"……."
During the conversation, Kenji's mind grew distant. It seemed he was losing consciousness again. But this time, the signs and feeling were different. When he closed his eyes, it felt like he might never open them again. What that implied was only one thing.
There were no options. He didn't know what purpose the Black Suit's goodwill held, but to survive, he had no choice but to accept it. And, at worst, what more could happen than dying? Kenji forced a twisted smile and leaned his head back. His gaze was fixed on the sky.
"A little…… help. I don't want to die."
Instead of answering, the Black Suit chuckled and opened the stopper of the vial. Kenji felt the liquid inside entering his mouth and closed his eyes.
Soon, his mind grew distant.
His eyes opened to light pouring from all directions. Light mixed with pink, yellow, and blue created a beautiful form in itself. Kenji looked at that light with a dazed face. An unknown sacred emotion struck his chest like a receding tide.
Then, a headache as if his head was splitting in two suddenly arose. Kenji grimaced sharply and pressed his forehead with his hand. The pain, like a red-hot iron skewer scrambling his brains and a heavy blunt object striking the back of his head, made him let out a suppressed groan and stagger.
The basis of the pain was memory. Like a huge wave crashing, a massive amount of memory scrambled Kenji's mind. Memories from Earth surfaced one after another, followed by memories from Kivotos. And so, the endpoint. Upon reaching the memory of losing consciousness, he opened his eyes wide and raised his body.
'Where is this.'
He frowned and looked around. And soon realized.
It was a familiar place. A place no modern person could not know.
A subway. He was sitting in the middle of a long seat.
Light poured from outside the window. Kenji frowned and looked at that light. Even upon seeing it again, it was a divine light. It was so holy one might think such light could be created by harmoniously mixing various colors at sunset. So Kenji stared blankly at that beautiful light, then slumped down in his seat with a bitter smile.
"……Am I dead."
Apparently, this seemed to be inside a train heading to the afterlife. The Black Suit seemed to have given him medicine, but it must have been ineffective. Seeing as he woke up in such a strange place. Still, it didn't seem to be a train heading to hell. The possibility of such a holy light-pouring train going to hell would be virtually nonexistent.
"I should go ahead and wait."
The moment he muttered that to himself. Ahem, a fake cough sound was heard. Kenji's head swiftly turned toward the source of the voice.
"Um…… first, I'm sorry?"
A girl was sitting there. Blue and pink two-toned hair. A hairstyle covering one eye. Pure white clothing and various dangling accessories. A noble-like girl. Sitting neatly, holding an awkward smile, she seemed to exude elegance.
When Kenji looked at her with a puzzled gaze, she spoke in the brightest voice possible.
"This isn't heaven."
"……."
"Just a dream."
Ehehe.
She laughs. But Kenji's expression wouldn't ease.
Kenji looked at the nameplate on her chest.
[Student Council President]
It was a name he had seen in the newspaper. He hadn't examined her appearance in detail, so this was his first time seeing her, but the name was familiar. Wasn't she the head of the famous Student Council? The Student Council President is a person who could wield enormous influence across all of Kivotos, essentially the top of the world government. Such a person was now before him, saying this was a dream.
……Even thinking about it, it sounded like nonsense. A woman with no connection suddenly appears after he fell into Kivotos, and on top of that, claims this is a dream? Do dream characters usually declare themselves as dreams? He had seen various stories about lucid dreams but never such content.
Still, just in case, he tried a reality check. Swoosh*, his index and middle fingers reached his wrist without any resistance. Seeing there was no pain, it was definitely a dream. But why did the Student Council President suddenly appear in this dream? Kenji looked at her with a confused expression.
"……Your head is complicated, right? I understand. But I had no choice either. This was the only way to meet you……."
"……Do you know me?"
Since she used formal speech, Kenji also answered formally for now. Even if not, it was clear she was someone to be respected given her status.
"I know about you. But that's only by the name Student Council President. I don't know anything about your personality, speech, appearance, or acquaintances. And isn't it the same for you? We've never met before, it seems."
"Yes, we haven't. In this timeline."
This timeline? Kenji frowned and pondered those words. The Student Council President waited until he finished thinking. After that short time passed, Kenji uttered in a tentative tone.
"Another timeline."
"……."
"Do you perhaps know a 'me' missing one eye and one arm?"
"Yes."
An immediate answer. Kenji let out a hollow laugh and stared at her as if glaring.
"What is your identity? Are you perhaps a regressor?"
"It's not that. I'm just a remnant, after all. The me here is a different person from the 'Student Council President' outside, in the present. When the time comes, she too will know everything, but not now."
"……."
"I know it's a hard story to believe. But I want you to believe me."
Her gaze was straightforward. It was the look of a virtuous person. He could vaguely understand how she could rise to the position of Student Council President. But that and the current situation were separate. Just because she was virtuous didn't mean suddenly entering the consciousness of an unconscious person was理所当然.
As he thought that, the Student Council President smiled bitterly and murmured.
"It was my mistake."
"……?"
"My decisions. And all the situations caused by them."
"……."
"If I had trusted the Teacher and trusted you, all those tragedies wouldn't have come. They were all failures brought about by my shortcomings and immaturity."
"……."
"I came here to correct all of that."
She looked straight at Kenji. Kenji also peered into her blue eyes.
"About a year and a few months from now, I will disappear. And the 'Teacher' will come to Kivotos. That person is someone from outside Kivotos, just like you."
"……."
"Please help the Teacher."
Kenji said nothing and looked at her. Suddenly, a story heard quite a while ago came to mind.
-Protect her. Even at the cost of your life. Trust the Teacher, and use your power for her. I came to deliver this message.
The Imaginary World. The other 'me' met there had definitely left such words. The Student Council President before his eyes was saying something similar. What kind of existence was this 'Teacher' that two people with similar experiences were saying similar things? Kenji opened his mouth with a rather serious expression.
"What kind of person is this Teacher?"
"An adult."
"……An adult?"
"Yes, an adult. Someone who always cares for the students, doesn't care if their own body is shattered, a role model for everyone. Sometimes playful, sometimes serious, occasionally showing a bit…… strange aspects, but even so, gets angry for the students' sake. That kind of person."
"……."
"The Teacher is such a person. You too were well-behaved before that person. Sometimes the two of you even drank together. They said I was too young and didn't include me."
She puffed her cheeks slightly and grumbled. Be that as it may, Kenji tapped the seat with his finger, then asked in a serious voice.
"Is it someone who can be trusted?"
"Yes. I can be certain."
"Then……."
He paused briefly, then spoke in a voice slightly tinged with pleading.
"Mika, Nagisa, Seia. And Arius. Can they make those kids happy?"
"Yes. Definitely."
She smiled brightly and nodded.
"They will definitely show you a miracle."
An immediate answer. That was enough.
Kenji, as if having made a resolution, let out a faint smile.
"What should I do?"
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