“Huh, where am I…”

  For some unknown reasons, I’m surrounded by nothing but darkness. There’s no light, yet I can still see things, mainly due faint aura glowing all over my body. However, that still doesn’t change the fact that I’m stuck inside this infinite void.

  I don’t even know how I got here or where this pce is, and that’s far from the most concerning thing.

  “My memory…why can’t I remember anything…” I worriedly thought. “What is going on with me…”

  I soon realize that there’s a massive gap in my memory, and that fact alone scares me. My life, my friends, everything that should be there…they’re all gone. I can’t recall even one small thing, and the more I try to, the less the results come back.

  “How is this happening to me…what have I done to deserve this?”

  Panicked by the situation, I can only kneel down on my knees, shaking and sweating nervously. Darkness isn’t the only thing looming over me, and as much as I want to ensure myself that everything will be fine, I can’t, not when I still haven’t figured out what’s going on.

  Once again, I look around, hoping to find someone, or maybe something, that can get me out of this nightmare, and just as I expected, the result is still an absolute zero.

  “Please, someone, help me…I know you’re there somewhere…” I weakly whimpered.

  I then start tearing up. I try to cope myself by thinking this is just a bad dream, but as time flies, it became clear to me that I might stuck here for eternity. To me, that’s even worse than any punishment known to man.

  At this point, my spirit has completely shattered. I don’t care if it’s an angel or demon, I don’t care if it’s the ugliest creature in this universe or a beauty beyond human’s comprehension, I don’t care if it’s a savior or a reaper. I just want to escape this pce, escape this hellhole and return to where I’m from.

  “So please, just help me…I don’t want to die alone…” I whispered quietly.

  “Oh don’t worry, you’re not alone, and you certainly are not dead at all.”

  “Huh…”

  All of a sudden, I hear a weird twisted voice echoing somewhere in this infinite void. I immediately look up and turn my head around. All my fear has temporarily disappeared and repcing it are curiosity and concern.

  Whipping the tears off my eyes, I get up and start looking for the source of the voice. I can’t see anything, and since there’s virtually nothing to be seen in the first pce, all I can do is hopelessly wandering around.

  “Just what the hell is that voice…”

  It’s definitely a voice I haven’t heard before in my life, yet…it’s uncannily familiar. I have this feeling that it has something to do with my lost memory. Once I found where it came from, I might find the answer.

  And I was right, it just that…it’s revealed in a way I didn’t anticipate at all.

  “The real question here is “Where will that voice lead you to?”. Good news, I’m kind enough to answer that, so now, let’s have a little bit of rewind shall we?”

  As soon as that voice responds to me, multiple screens start appearing in front of me. As they’re pying in sync, I stop to watch them all. I don’t know what the meaning behind all of these is, but I soon learn about it, and that’s when the panic comes back and haunts me once again.

  “Impossible…Isn’t that me…but then…does that mean…”

  What is shown on the screens are me, more specifically a corrupted beast version of me, doing terrible things to everyone, including me: Turning myself into a drug addict then fleeing the scene; kidnapping a girl then locking her up in my own house; beating a student while also spreading fear to the rest of the people inside the stadium.

  “I’m that monstrous creature…It was me that terrorized everyone and put them into trouble…”

  Shocked by what I’m watching, I slowly walk backwards in denial. I know that’s me on the screens, but to think I’ve done such terrible things like that…I should be locked up by now, not roaming free in wherever this is.

  “Oh trust me buddy, you did get locked up. Just be patient and watch.” the voice seduced me.

  As annoying and irritating it is, I can’t deny…the voice has a point.

  I may have beaten Nahoka-chan into a bloody pulp, but then…I was put down by the freshman Yasutaira Waka and his best friend Takenada Mitsuko. Despite being somewhat equal in power, in the end, they got the upper hand and defeated me.

  Unfortunately, contrast to what the voice has cimed, this is where all the clips end.

  “Huh, what the…that’s it? Is that all of it? Where’s the rest?”

  “Oh right, I forgot…I should have told you that I lied. Silly me.” the voice jokingly said.

  Hey hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean?

  You’re telling me that all these times, what you’ve shown me are just completely fabricated? That I might die for real, and this is just a somewhat twisted, sickening punishment in the afterlife.

  “Why you…Grr…YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY!?? EXPLAIN TO ME NOW, WHEREVER YOU ARE?” I shouted in rage.

  “Fine fine, I’ll tell you, jeez…” the voice responded. “Yeah I lied to you, but just the “be patient and watch” part. After that day, you were put in a really long coma. Your memory stops there, of course your conscious can’t just show it to you since you know, there’s nothing to be recorded.”

  “So that means…my whereabouts will still be a mystery unless I wake up…and I have to stuck here with you until then…” I whispered. “Well, at least it’s not that bad…”

  “Oh but that’s the best part Kuroto-kun…”

  “Huh, what the…”

  Suddenly, my face starts sweating and I can feel a massive shiver running down my spine. I slowly turn around, only to be hastily fallen back in shock of what’s in front of me.

  “Because the only person who understands you the most…is you, am I right?”

  The voice that has been guiding and pulling strings on me the entire time…it has manifested and taken the form of me. It’s just standing there, hunching and giggling with a scarlet smile on its face.

  To make matter worse, it also drowns itself in some sort of bck, ominous mud that’s keeping dripping on its feet with a reeking aura. It’s like…I’m watching an even more corrupted version of myself than the one on the screens.

  “Oh wait…this isn’t right at all…Can you hold on for a second, let me just…”

  As if I’m not surprised enough, it starts twisting itself. I still hasn’t managed to process everything, and now I also has to hear and witness pretty much a few minutes of consecutive bone crackling and body reshaping into a “better shape”, at least that’s what it try to showcase me.

  “Ahh, this is better… Don’t you just love it when you can move more than just your mouth?” the voiced satisfactorily excimed. “Anyways…I should probably reintroduce myself…I’m Arazaki Kuroto, also known as, well, you. Judging by my look, I’m sure you’ll just going to prefer me as “Dark Kuroto” or “Evil Kuroto”, and I’m totally fine with whatever it is. Although…the former one feels a little bit…you know, double down…”

  Even though it hasn’t made any move, the way its voice keeps getting smaller and scarier…it’s not just concerning, it’s frightening. Despite that, I still try my best to stand up, which luckily, it doesn’t interrupt me.

  I think I have an idea, but I still don’t know who’s having the upper hand at the moment, so I can’t do anything stupid. Regardless, my guts told me if I don’t try something quick, I might regret it for the rest of my life.

  “Here goes nothing…” I whispered.

  I take a deep breath. After that, I slowly approach the dark me before grabbing its colr, at least that’s what it appears to be.

  “Alright, “Dark Kuroto”…Ah damn it, that just doesn’t sound right…Screw it! “Evil Me”, I don’t care what you are or what’s this all about. I know you’re hiding me something else, if you don’t tell me right now, I can assure you I’ll personally make your life worse than hell, got it?”

  About that “hiding something else” part, I totally made it up, but it didn’t come out of nowhere.

  Despite only lied to me once, I just don’t trust it at all, not with that wicked, flippant voice. It certainly knows a lot about me, so I suspect that it didn’t tell me everything.

  Of course, suspicion isn’t a rock-solid proof, but making him talk will, and that’s what I’m going for.

  “Oh my, so aggressive…” it responded. “But fine, I was going to tell you anyway, so you can let go of me. I must warn you, you should CARE about what I am…”

  Ignoring the st part, I do what it told me to. Unfortunately, that is the worst decision I’ve made here.

  “Hmmph?...”

  As soon as I let it go, it immediately grabs my mouth and lifts me up. I try to resist, but the grip keeps getting even tighter than before. At some point, I can feel my cheeks about to be broken with just a little more push.

  “Because let me remind you something: I am the one responsible for putting both of us in here, and since I am you…that means it was your own action that led you to this.”

  How can I be so dumb?

  I should’ve recognized by now that it wasn’t only me who did all of that…he was also controlling my body as well. He’s the one kidnapping her and fighting against all the juniors, but most importantly…

  “Hmmph…”

  If it wasn’t for my [M.B.S] addiction, my childhood friend wouldn’t suffer, they wouldn’t get hurt, and he would’ve not been here in the first pce. He wasn’t just born because of me…

  I am my own demon.

  “Ahh, so you’re not that stupid after all.” it mocked me. “I was expecting way less in you, yet you managed to subvert it. Although…”

  It then sms me to the ground and press me down. Surprisingly, my back doesn’t break at all, and neither does the ground. However, my mouth almost bleeds out, but that’s far from the most concerning thing.

  “It doesn’t matter if you know everything or not. You still don’t get it, do you? You’re stuck here with me, so whatever I’m about to do to you…Nobody is going to save you from it.”

  Using the other arm, the evil “me” aggressively grabs my stomach and pushes it down. I can feel an even greater pain than the sm, but since it’s still gagging my mouth, I can only endure it all while my scream reaches to no one.

  “Hmmph…hmmph…”

  Of course, I try to resist its rampage, but just like st time, the evil “me” goes a step further and grow cws out of its fingernails, stabbing my stomach even more.

  “Hmmph…hmmph…!!!”

  Horrified by the sudden attack, I struggle even more, to the point of kicking air chaotically. My scream is even more intense and panic, so much so that my throat and voice almost give up.

  But I can’t give up, not here, not in this moment.

  I haven’t done anything to repay for all the heinous crimes I’d committed. Giving in to that thing means I’ll get away with it, and that’s not who I am, at least not who that thing tries to portrait and gaslight me this entire time.

  I’m done running from my own problems, and I’m done hiding myself from it. I want to make things right not just for me, but for those I’ve hurt, and also for her. It’s the only way to fix it.

  The evil “me”…it represents a darker, more corrupted part of me, and I need to kill it off once and for all. In order to do that…

  “Hghh!!!”

  I must face my own demon.

  Using all of my strength, I slowly push its hand out of my stomach. At the same time, I also grab its other hand to make it let go of my mouth.

  “Why you…oh so it’s on huh? Very well, if you wish to suffer, I’ll bring you suffer!”

  The evil “me” put more pressure on its hand and try to push me down. Of course, I retaliate against it, and we proceed to struggle for quite a long while.

  “I see…you’re even more stubborn than I expected…too bad it’s not going to help you! I am the one in control now, so your little effort is nothing but a st breath of a dying man. So please, just give up and let me kill you already!”

  For some reason, I don’t feel tired or exhausted at all. It’s like I’m having unlimited stamina, which helps a lot. Using that, I muster out even more power to turn the table, and eventually, I succeed.

  “Huh, what the…how are you…where did you get that much power from!???”

  Slow and steady, I pull the hand out of my stomach, revealing multiple small stabs it makes. At the same time, I manage to get its other hand off my mouth, and now, I can finally talk and breathe freely.

  “What, I thought you said I’m you? If you’re that strong in the first pce, so do I. Why are you so surprised?” I mocked.

  “Do not twist it, you damn buffoon! You’re nothing but a piece of utter garbage, waiting to be taken over and died like a pathetic little shit he is! You’re not strong, I am, you hear me!???”

  The calm, composure evil me from earlier has now slowly descended into its true nature: vile, repulsive, cunning and hot-tempered. The st part is the most important of them all, as it can be exposed and used against him, which is what I’m doing right now.

  “Oh dear, have you ever looked back at what you said? Better yet…”

  Waiting for the right moment to come, I head-butt the evil “me”. The surprise attack caught it off-guard, and as the result, it takes a few steps back while holding its forehead.

  As it’s still screaming in pain and agony, I quickly get up and push it back with my shoulder. As the result, both of us fall down the ground, only this time, I’m the one on top.

  “Never look down on those you consider “inferior”. They taught us that lesson, and you should’ve let it get into your thick skull, not tossing it away like a piece of trash.” I said while grabbing its colr.

  The moment I regained my memory, I quickly learned that valuable lesson, although it’s not too useful in the current situation. Regardless, my st-ditch effort has finally fruited, and I’m confident that I can do this.

  Or so I thought.

  “Hehehehehe…Ahahahahahahahaha! Gehahahahaha!!!!”

  All of sudden, the evil “me” starts ughing maniacally while holding its forehead. Red veins start appearing on its eyes, and the ughter echoes through the entire pce.

  Needless to say, it’s not just shivering, it’s frightening.

  The way it’s cracking up uncontrolbly combines with that devilish voice…If you put someone inside a solidary room with it being py 24/7, they will go insane and do anything to make it stop, even if it means ending their lives.

  Fortunately, I can take it, but not for long.

  “Tsk, why you…Hargh! Stop ughing you son of a bitch!”

  I punch it in the face as I’m continuously shouting it to stop. There’s blood spilling out of its mouth, which normally is quite questionable, but in this instance, I’m way passed that stage already.

  “Gehahahahaha….Hahahahahaha!!!!”

  “Stop it! Just shut the hell up will you?”

  Despite my effort to shut it off, the evil “me” still remains its ughter, louder than ever. I try punching it even more, but it’s not working at all. At this rate, there’s no telling what might happen next, and I’m starting to get frustrated.

  Unfortunately, things only get even worse.

  “Ah me…just when I thought you’re smarter than I thought…you went on and proved the exact opposite. I’m amused…and disappointed at the same time.”

  “Huh?”

  As I’m still confusing on what the evil “me” just said, it slowly disappears like smoke. Not to mention, it also smirked at me suspiciously, raising even more questions than ever.

  “Hurgh!!!”

  Before I even realize it, I can feel something piercing through my body, making my body shaking a bit. I look down hoping for the worst case scenario not to happen, but it was too te.

  “Huh, what the…no…it…can’t be…”

  A hole in my chest appears, revealing my own heart in front of my own eyes. Immediately, I start sweating and shaking non-stop. I already have a few stab wounds on my body, but this is my heart we’re talking to. I can visually see it pumping on a bck arm.

  Wait a minute…a bck arm?

  But…doesn’t that make it…

  “Surprise!!!”

  I turn my head around to find out that the one stabbing me…is the evil “me”.

  “What? Why are you so surprised?” it asked mockingly.

  With the other hand, it grabs my hair and lifts me up. Of course, I try to resist, but little by little, I can feel my strength being absorbed, and soon enough, I can no longer fight back.

  “You seriously thought that you got me? Well how about this for “got me”, huh?”

  It crushes my heart and kicks me in my back. I cough out even more blood as the result. In addition, the blood inside my heart spshes everywhere, including my face.

  Despite everything, I’m still awoken. The only reason I haven’t passed out just yet is my own will. However, my eyes are fighting not to close off completely, and my body is so far gone, even just a small whimper is off the table.

  “Ahh you’re still alive, well most of it. I should be heartbroken about that, but hey, being a heartbreaker is way more fun, and I get to prove that I’m the superior and that you are nothing but a piece of shit, am I right?”

  Huh, why can’t I hear the evil “me” no more?

  I think it’s trying to say, more specifically mock me, but I don’t exactly know what it is. All my ears can hear is…nothing. I’ve gone deaf.

  But does that even matter anymore?

  At this point, once I close my eyes, all it has left is a dead punching bag, and honestly, there’re worse ways to go out.

  My death, however, will have to be deyed much, much ter.

  “Huh, what the…”

  To my surprise, the hand once again starts disappearing. As its presence is gone like a smoke being discarded, my body falls down and turns around, revealing what’s actually happening.

  “Shit, I’m running out of time…Well you filth, consider yourself lucky. You’ve being saved, once again, like a weakling you are.”

  My eyes are getting all blurred, but I can assure that the evil “me” has let me go on purpose. Judging from its face, it seems like something has stopped him from finishing me.

  Not to mention, it’s quite pissed off that its hands are all gone now. The rest of its body is also slowly fading away, meaning it has so little time left on the clock.

  “Enjoy wasting your time with this piece of junk you called “body”, but remember: I always come back. In your sleep, while you’re bathing, at the dinner table. No matter where you are, what you’re doing, the moment you slips up, I shall make sure it’ll be hell to everyone you know and love. Mark my word.”

  With an angry face, it said something to me before disappearing completely, leaving me alone in the darkness. I cough out a little bit more blood, but with my ears not being able to hear anything, everything just dead silent.

  “Well, at least I don’t have to see that face anymore…” I thought to myself.

  My body should have shut down anytime now, but there’s nothing much left to be said. If anything, I really wish things went a bit differently, but then again…it probably wouldn’t change the situation much.

  “Ah, there we go…Goodbye cruel darkness…”

  Muster out my st words, I close my eyes and pass out; just as sudden as the way the evil “me” left this abyss. Meanwhile, the dimension around me starts crumbling down, and eventually, it shatters, making me fall for eternity.

  At least, that’s what I thought.

  “Huh…where am I…”

  I slowly open my eyes.

  My body feels quite heavy, so I can’t really get up. All I can do is move my head, and as I’m doing that, I realize I’m lying on a bed in some kind of room. I don’t exactly know where this pce is due to my vision haven’t fully come back, but I don’t need to do much to get the answer.

  “Ah, you finally wake up. For a second there you scared us a lot you know?”

  “Huh?”

  Facing me are two women. My eyes are still a bit blurry, but I think one is a nurse while the other is a doctor. The nurse looks a bit more eerie, but not mischievous at all. On the other hand, the doctor is the definition of “serious” to say the least.

  “What the…who are you…what is this pce…Ouch!”

  I try to get up and see what’s going on around, but for some reason, my body hurts a lot when I do it. I almost shatter my bones in the process, so I have no choice but to y down with the help of the women.

  “Now now boy, don’t push yourself. You just went through a tough battle just a few days ago, those wounds aren’t healing that fast, even to the best of my ability.” the doctor said.

  “Wait, battle, wounds…this is a hospital right? Is that what this is?” I asked.

  “Well, sort of…but we’ll get to that ter. For now, let’s just focus on giving you some more time to adjust and recover. Annie-chan, come here.”

  After that, she tells the nurse something. She then leaves the room, leaving me and the doctor alone. Normally, that’s not something I’m paying too much attention to, mainly because there’s nothing to, really.

  This time, however, they give me a reason to, and it’s shocking to say the least.

  “What the…”

  After being told to leave, the nurse magically disappears in front of my very own eyes. I know [Teleportation] can be performed, but this smooth…and it’s coming from a nurse? It’s quite a unique combination.

  “Wait a minute…Is that…”

  Contrary to my belief, the nurse hasn’t left the room, yet. The doctor purposely steps to the side, revealing a bat inside the room. What makes it shocking is the fact that it’s having the nurse’s signature purple hair, which is impossible.

  Or is it?

  “Huh, I thought you would react way more dramatically upon seeing a vampire. Oh well, I guess that’s what movies did to you.”

  I’m sorry, did you just say “vampire”?

  Those mysterious, blood-drinking, nefarious night-crawlers are a real thing? It’s not just a folk tale created centuries ago but rather, a true story after all? You’re telling me those movies were all based on reality, not some fictional stories?

  Those questions alone confuse me, and it shows right on my face just as the doctor intended. She chuckles for a bit while covering her mouth with her left hands. After that, she reaches to her right pocket, pulling a smartphone.

  “Here, take a look. Just follow my instructions and you’ll get up to date with, well, everything.”

  The doctor then tells me exactly what to do. My left arm is still being dressed, so she also helps me partially as well. After a short while, a blue hologram pops out, revealing tons of information in front of my eyes.

  “Alright, I’ll give you some spaces for reading. Don’t worry, it’s not as complicated as you thought once you know where to start and go. Good luck.”

  “Uhm…yeah, thanks doc. I appreciate your help.”

  I then spend a while just reading and watching a rge chunk of what being shown to me. Good news is, they answer basically all the questions in my head since the beginning and along the way.

  The bad news, however, is that what I’m reading is the entire history of [Holy Church], which happens to be where I was hospitalized. More specifically, this is the church’s medical facility.

  In short, [Holy Church] was formed long before [Knights of Tomorrow]. In fact, tter was created by a former member of [Holy Church]. Since then, they have bases on basically every continent, and I’m not talking about a few hundred per continent, it’s a few millions.

  What makes this pce so special is that, while the [Knights] aims at protecting humanity; the [Church] specializes in, well, the rest.

  “Vampire, elf, dwarf…They have everything and everyone under one house…that’s quite impressive…” I whispered.

  With power and reputation gaining throughout their history, [Holy Church] is able to use them to create multiple protection programs for all the non-human species, as well as a massive intelligence network. Think of the network as Kiriwatari-sensei, but on a way rger scale.

  For example, if an elf family wants to seek refugees, [Holy Church] will first confirm their identity. Once everything is on the clear, they’ll immediately send a team to protect and escort them the one of their bases safely.

  After some paperwork, the family will then officially under the church’s protection. From then, they will have the opportunity to work for the church can they prove their usefulness.

  If not, they can also choose to move to whenever they want to, as long as it’s still under the church’s authority. The church will then help the parents arrange a school for their child to have proper education as well as a stable job if they also ask for.

  “What a system they’re implementing…how did they even come up to it anyway…” I whispered.

  Of course, it’s just one of their many procedures, but the fact that they have that much resources and manpower to run them smoothly…it’s beyond me. I wonder [Knights of Tomorrow] is somewhat on the same level…

  “Huh, so they’re more humanoid than how the media portraits…”

  Despite all the efforts, human rights for these species are still an impossible task, thanks rgely to both sides throughout history. Even when their appearances closely resemble human, it didn’t change much.

  As I’m scrolling, there’s quite some interesting wars documented here, and they all took pce hundreds of years ago. It might take me forever ever just to read and digest them all.

  “Woah, so [Holy Church] and [Knights of Tomorrow] have officially formed back their alliance after years of falling off? That’s great news! I wonder how that happened…”

  I then skip to the most recent news out of exhaustion. It hasn’t fully been updated just yet, but the title alone gravitate me. After all, once you get on this kind of train, it’s hard to get out.

  “You don’t really need to kid. Why ask that question when you already have to answer?”

  The doctor then helps me open a secret file inside the phone. It’s encrypted, and only a selected few members of the church can get their hands on it. Once I get access to it, I quickly learn why.

  “Wait a minute…Yasutaira-kun…he and I are the reason behind this!??”

  To my surprise, my rampage just a few days ago helped ignite the once-cool-off fire between the two. “Thanks” to my addiction; the alliance is reunited once again to defeat the common enemy that is [Rising Phoenix], but that’s not all…

  As I’m scrolling down a bit further, the incident at the Miller Mega Center is also documented here, and it’s listed as [The Seed]. What surprises me the most is that, once again, Yasutaira-kun’s name is also here, which is something never before been revealed.

  “What the…why is he here too? Don’t tell me that…” I asked.

  “Yeah, the one defeating [Fire Fist] is him. Thanks to that, [Rising Phoenix] had to retrieve and thus, their pn had also failed…Oh yeah I forgot, he had company as well.”

  The “company” doc mentioned is none other than Yasutaira-kun’s friend. That includes Kariuda Naomi, a member of [Knights of Tomorrow]; Takenada Mitsuko, his best friend and Hatake Kira, a recent friend of his, nickname [Poison Killer]. Together, they helped him beat off the soldiers surrounding the mega center and their leader as well.

  For some reason, none of what actually happened was mentioned on the news or the media, not even once. I think the answer is quite obvious, and luckily, doc has confirmed it to me, so I don’t have to think too much about it anymore.

  “That kid…I don’t know how he did it, but at this rate, he’s already a legend in the making, and I don’t think he even knows that.” the doctor said.

  “Well doc, don’t ask me. No one, not even in their wildest dreams, could ever imagine a powerless outcast achieving such feats. Then again…”

  He’s no longer a powerless outcast.

  Just a few months ago, everyone was belittling him like it’s an obvious fact. Taking him seriously isn’t considered a joke, it’s a disgrace to their pride. But now, with how things pyed out, it definite has to change soon.

  “Sheesh Chiyoe-chan…where did you find these kids anyways…keep bringing trouble to my pce…you owe me more than an apologize you know…” the doctor whispered.

  I couldn’t hear much what she said, but I think I heard sensei’s name. The doctor notices my curiosity, and fortunately, she’s willing to share some of the backstories behind their “retionship”, according to her.

  “Heh, so she knows about all the other species this entire time? And they’re also a few residing in my academy as well?” I asked.

  “Well kid, I’m afraid so. After all, she did help me in some cases, even when our retionship in general was in shamble at that time.” she responded. “Believe it or not, she’s the only one who can pull it off, and we’re lucky to have her. However, that’s going to be the story for the future.”

  Right after that, the nurse in the form of a bat, flies back to my room. She’s grabbing my backpack out of everything with her mouth while carrying another bag on her legs as well. After putting them all on the table next to my bed, she quickly returns to her human form.

  “Chisaki-san, here’s what you asked earlier.”

  “Ah, thanks a lot Annie-chan.”

  Ignoring the two for the time, I shift my attention to the stuff being brought here. One of them is obviously something I left at my house after fleeing the scene, the other one…I don’t know what that is, but I’m sure it’s harmless, I hope.

  “Alright kid, in case you’re wondering…these are all the necessity we gathered back at your home. We figured that now you’re temporarily suspended from your academy, it’s best to make this pce feels like your second home.”

  Normally, I would be shocked to hear that, but knowing what I’ve done, I can only say “Yeah” in response. It’s quite disappointing and embarrassing, but at least I can start fresh again.

  After that, I spend the rest of the day reading and learning more about [Holy Church]. Annie-san takes care of me during that time while Chisaki-san would show up frequently, helping both.

  In exchange, I told them everything I know about [M.B.S] and its effects on me. I also mentioned the nightmare right before I woke up, and contrary to what I thought, they took it quite seriously.

  It’s quite comfortable I must say, but despite that, a question still remains in my head: What will happen to me from now on?

  I can’t just go back home after what I’ve done, and certainly not in this condition. Not to mention, that thing vouched for a return. I’ve seen those I love being hurt once, and I don’t want that to repeat ever again.

  Chisaki-san promised me she’ll find a cure, but with my case being a first and one of a kind, it might take a while. Even after I’m completely sobered, changing everyone’s mind about what happened would be a hard task to tackle.

  “You know kid, you may own it to those who aren’t in this room…but you’re not alone. Whatever guilt that is you’re trying to swallow on your own, we’ll be there with you.” Annie-san encouraged me. “It’s going to be tough, but we’ve been worse. I’m sure things will go just fine. That kid already gave you a second chance, so it’s up to you to take it or not.”

  “Yeah, you’re right…”

  But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

  Like Annie-said just said, I was given another opportunity to make things right, and the person who did it knows all too well about it. After all, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here in the first pce.

  As I was taking my time reading about [Holy Church], I stumbled upon a detailed profile about Yasutaira Waka. I didn’t initially look down on him back at the academy, but he was never on my radar, that is until the incident.

  The more I learn about Yasutaira Waka, the more I realize just how strong his will is. Despite being treated like an outcast, he never once compined or gave in. Slowly but surely, he built his way up; and with just a few stepping stones, he proves us all wrong.

  With the reputation that is [The Heretic], it’s impossible to even learn magic, let alone perform it efficiently like he showcased. Once the news broke, people will soon ask how he manages to pull it off.

  To me, it’s not his unlimited pool of mana, it’s not all the abilities he gains or the allies he makes in the st few months. It’s his determination and purity that wins him what he deserves. That’s my conclusion.

  “I owe you big time, Yasutaira-kun…I promise you, once I’m all sobered up, I’ll repay the favor.”

  With that thought in my mind, I say goodbye to the nurse. The night has welcomed me to the calm before the storm that is a good sleep, and I gdly take it.