POV: Hoga Yasahiro.
Date: 26th Nov – Wednesday.
Timeline: *after Izumi woke up*
When we got in the car, I started driving to the hospital, and unlike before the ride was quiet except Junzo's pained cries that came out once in a while.
"Follow me," Junzo struggled to say, and led the way inside the hospital when we reached there.
Izumi is being unusually quiet…
Izumi: 'this is going to be interesting."
His thoughts aren't that abnormal though, am I overthinking the situation?
"Izumi," I called as we stopped in front of the elevator, "are you sure you are fine? We can come here later," I suggested.
For now, I'll just keep a close eye on him to make sure.
"Why? Let's go now," Izumi responded rejecting my suggestion.
Izumi: 'like I'll ignore such an interesting opportunity.'
I really must be overthinking it… the thoughts are Izumi's and his actions aren't that weird, why am I feeling uneasy?
The elevator came, and we got inside it, Junzo said as his sweat dropped from his forehead, "don't be too afraid of her, she might be a bit creepy but she's not dangerous."
I highly doubt anyone would be creepier than your current state.
"How long have you known her for?" I asked Junzo, "around six years," he answered.
If she was a doctor six years ago, then does that mean she's older than us? I expected it to be someone around our age.
"Here, here!" Junzo yelled while pointing at a door, after we got out of the elevator, as we walked toward him, I read the name displayed, "Ikehara Mirai?"
Izumi quickly opened the door, and the room came in our view, inside was a young woman sitting behind a desk.
"Oh!" she exclaimed before standing abruptly from the chair and started running toward us, "if it isn't Izumi!!!!" she yelled as she grabbed Izumi's face and shook it sideways.
Woman: 'It's the Izumi we know.'
Does she know Izumi? But she sure looks way younger than I expected, is she around my age?
She glanced over at me, and a surprised expression surfaced on her face, "YASAHIRO!?" she yelled out loud, "I didn't expect to see you out of all people!" she said while poking my face.
Woman: 'Careful, he reads minds, he'll notice us.'
How does she know me? Did Junzo tell her about us!?
As soon as she saw Junzo, she ran to him and kicked him in the stomach, and yelled, "did you not hear me when I told you to not use it again!?!!" Junzo fell on his knees and crawled himself in, while groaning in pain.
D-Did she just kick him in his stomach? Poor Junzo… It was already hurting him before.
"His stomach hurts him, so it's better if you don't hit him on it," I explained to her, and helped Junzo stand up, she laughed at me and said, "do you think I didn't know that? I did it because I knew that."
I see now why Junzo was hesitating about coming here…
Crazy Woman: 'Yasahiro that never flinched before, is actually standing to defend Junzo? He sure has changed.'
"Do you know me?" I asked her, and she scratched her head and mumbled, "I wonder."
What's with her?
She returned to her seat and told us, "come in, sit, sit," Izumi went and sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk, I looked over at Junzo who was still in pain from her kick, she noticed I was looking at him and repeated, "never mind that idiot, and come sit."
Somehow, I can't help but feel pity toward Junzo…
As I sat down, she started talking, "why are you staring so intensely at me ever since you got here, Izumi? Am I prettier than you thought?" she asked.
I shifted my eyes toward Izumi and I saw him staring at her with a grin on his mouth, "nothing, you just have a really interesting name, Ikehara Mirai-san," he said with a grin on his face.
"Well, thank you," she said seeming as if she's not fully convinced, Izumi slammed his hand on the desk and told her again, "a really interesting name."
Interesting? …. Why does that sound familiar…
But what is he getting at?
Izumi: 'She really was still alive…'
Izumi knows her?
Woman: 'Don't say anything, he's that person …'
"I'm glad you like it, but rather than my name, I'm more interested in knowing how you lived up till now," she said returning his grin with a smile.
Izumi slammed his hand on the desk again, and yelled with the grin disappearing from his face, "long purple hair, and this way of talking which piss me off more than anything, it is you, isn't it? Chizuru?"
Izumi knows her? Does that mean he knows her from somewhere? Who is Chizuru I thought her name was Mirai.
But before when he used 'interesting' … Where have I heard it before?
'Interesting, interesting, I'll kill you and rip you to pieces. How dare a mere human dodge my attack?'
'This is an interesting painful way to kill someone, I like it.'
'Interesting, your eyes are back in their place!?'
'interesting, they made a new shampoo brand!?'
'Should I kill you in a more interesting way?'
… This is… not Izumi…
Crazy Woman: 'tell him you don't know what he means, this could be dangerous.'
"I haven't heard that name in a while, what if it was me?" the woman provoked as she smiled in the direction of Izumi.
If I'm right, the one talking right now, is not Izumi… it's that guy… Kenta… isn't it dangerous for her to be speaking to him in that tone? Junzo is still crying because of his stomach, he can't help us … What should I do?
Kenta kicked the desk with angry expression surfacing on Izumi's face, "stop playing tricks with me, you should know they don't work on me. Changing your name, how pathetic, did you think you can run away that way?" he asked the woman as he glared at her.
They are talking as if they knew each other from before… should I listen to them more before I do anything?
"You're Kenta, right?" the woman asked as she stood up and headed toward Izumi, she laughed and started asking him with excited tone, "I knew it, you got stuck in there, didn't you? How does it feel? Is it fun being inside? Does it feel different than your normal body?"
Normal body? Was he not inside Izumi from the start? But is she picking a fight with the demon? If she talks with him like that he'll get mad…
Mirai: 'Stop it, Mirai, you will be hurt!'
Hm? Is she talking to herself?
"But being inside Izumi… don't tell me…" she hesitated and asked as pulled Izumi's collar, "don't tell me you really killed Izumi? How could you do that to him? You know how he valued you more than anything else!"
Killed? Doesn't she know that Izumi is immortal? Does she think Izumi is dead?
Kenta in Izumi's body: 'Why is she acting like this? so pitiful.'
Kenta slapped her hand away, "don't talk as if you have done anything better, seeing you alive like this, means you abandoned the rest as I thought, you couldn't change," he responded.
Mirai: 'Don't listen to his nonsense, Mirai, you didn't do anything wrong! You took the best possible action! Even if you went you wouldn't have been able to do anything!'
She's talking to herself again?
Mirai started shaking Kenta and kept asking, "don't be so boring! Since we met like this, you should tell me more about it! Will you get out if I shook you!? What do you do to control his body at your own will? Izumi was shorter than you back then, how much time did it take to get used to his height? Ah, rather than that, what I want to know the most is, what was your horrifying wish?"
Mirai: 'stop provoking him like this, Mirai, what if he got angry!?'
Her actions and her thoughts, are weird… it feels like her thoughts are talking to her like a real person… It's different from all the thoughts I read up till now… This woman's thoughts are different.
Kenta said while grinning, "what a heartwarming reunion, keep going at it and I'll freaking kill you," making Mirai stop her hands and her excitement went away as she mumbled in trembling voice, "why… did you do that…? Was killing him back then necessary? No, did we have to know the truth? We were all so happy before all of that happened so why… Why did you have to ruin the peace we lived in?"
"Peace?" Kenta laughed, "even if I didn't do that, do you genuinely think that we could have lived in peace there? You out of all people should know the right answer, right?" he asked.
Mirai: 'Don't bother with him, he will use every weakness you show! Don't forget, if he betrayed Izumi then he won't even think twice before betraying people like us."
He betrayed Izumi? And … people like us? Again, her thoughts are talking to her…
Kenta put his hand on Mirai's shoulder and started talking while grinning, "I was searching for you, with your ability, you must remember if there was a way to disable the ability of a Veiner. You were there when we saw the documents."
She knows even that? And what documents does he mean? But this situation is dangerous, I don't think I can take him on by myself… if only Junzo could help…
"Disable?" she asked with her eyes widening, "don't tell me you are still planning on killing Izumi after disabling his immortality? Do you not feel a bit of guilt toward him?" she asked.
She definitely knows a lot of stuff… Should I interrupt and ask?
"I don't mind you guys having fun," Junzo said while crying in pain, "can someone help me up?" he asked.
Oh, nice timing, Junzo.
I went and extended my hand to him and told him, "interfere if the situation seems bad," and helped him sit on one of the chairs.
I headed toward them and broke Izumi's hand that was holding Mirai's shoulder and whispered in Izumi's ears, "stop putting on a show in someone else's body."
Kenta said while smirking, "then stop being so easily tricked every single time," he grabbed my shoulder with his other hand, "but right now, I'm talking with Chizuru, if you dare interrupt me again, I don't know what I might do," he threatened as he pushed me away.
He cracked his neck and started heading closer to Mirai, "will you tell me willingly? Or should I use other means?" he threatened her, I looked over at Junzo and he nodded at me while getting ready to fight Kenta.
Damn, this doesn't look good… Junzo is not in good condition, that girl will be killed if we don't do something about him…
Mirai: 'let me out, you can't handle this guy!'
Let me out?
"That conversation sure was fun, but disabling a Veiner ability? Keep dreaming on," Mirai said, "even if I knew of a way, I would never tell a lowlife like you, Kenta," she challenged.
Why is she picking a fight with him!?
I made eye contact with Junzo and shook my head sideways and whispered to him, "leave it to me, I'll handle it."
Junzo is a nice guy he will do anything to protect this woman, but if something goes bad he will die. But I'm immortal… that's right, I should be the one to handle this situation as I am the person that will lose the least.
As I was about to touch Izumi, he suddenly fell on the floor, and started yelling, "not yet! Damn! Damn! Just you wait, I'll torture you till you tell me, and then I'll kill you in the cruelest way!"
What is wrong? Why did he suddenly fall!?
"that's right, he had time limit!" I exclaimed, Kenta turned and glared at me as I stated that, "you sure seem happy about it," he said.
As soon as the words escaped his mouth, Izumi's body fell unconscious on the floor.
"Let's move him inside," Mirai ordered while seeming down.
After moving Izumi in a room attached to the office, we sat on the chairs in front of the desk again and she apologized, "I'm sorry, I knew Kenta would come, but I couldn't help myself when I saw him. I get really excited when I see something that catch my interest."
Kenta? So, she really does know about him… And more than her needlessly challenging Kenta, I was more concerned when she kicked Junzo out of nowhere like that…
"So, how do you know Kenta?" I finally asked her the question that was on my mind this whole time.
Mirai: 'Of course he will wonder that! You shouldn't have said anything meaningless like that!'
Junzo: 'I thought his name was Izumi, why are they calling him Kenta?'
"Not just him, I know all Veiners," she answered with a smile on her face, "but I'm a psychiatrist, I'm used to asking questions not answering them," she complained.
Then I'll just get to the main point. The thing that caught my interest the most…it was…
"I'll just ask one question," I said as I came closer and whispered, "how to disable an ability?"
She started looking at me up and down, and Junzo started giving me wondering looks and asked, "why do you want to disable an ability that's as useful as mind reading?"
Well, it's immortality that I want to disable, but I'll let them misunderstand…
"Well, is the reason important?" I asked not wanting to answer his question, Mirai let out a giggle and said while smiling, "putting on a show like this," she put her hand on my shoulder and asked again, "why you want to disable mind-reading?"
So persistent, I won't answer.
"Because I want to die," I answered unexpectedly shocking myself, so I covered my mouth.
Why did I answer? My mouth moved by itself…
Junzo had a surprised look on his face and seemed speechless that he couldn't say or ask me anything.
"I see. How is disabling mind reading related to that?" she asked while staring intensely at me squeezing her hand on my shoulder.
I won't answer, I won't… I won't answer…
My hands moved by themselves uncovering my mouth, "I want to disable the immortality ability," I answered.
Damn, why am I answering her… against my will?
"So, you took Izumi's ability?" She asked surprised, "yeah," I answered.
What is this… it's like someone else is controlling my body…
She started laughing and let go of my shoulder, "did you get scared?" she asked.
I stopped answering her… I can't deny that it was a bit creepy…Is it her ability that made me answer her questions?
"What did you do?" I asked her, she smiled and answered, "it's my ability, I can call out the Innerself of anyone and talk to it, Innerself must answer any question I ask regardless of it's will."
Innerself? But even if her ability is like that, how did she know about me and Izumi before even meeting us?
"Even if that's your ability, how does it make you know about others when you haven't even met them before?" I asked her as her explanation didn't make sense.
She never used her ability on us before… I don't know about Izumi, but I don't ever remember meeting this woman before.
"My ability has a downside of never allowing me to forget a thing, so I remember things from long ago, like they happened a second ago," she said while smiling at me, "you didn't answer my question," I said annoyed by her irrelevant answer.
"I thought you're smart enough to know what I meant," she said with her smile never leaving her face.
How is not forgetting anything relevant… Does she mean that she met us before and didn't forget us but we forgot her?
"Why are you lying? I may not have the best memory like you, but I won't forget meeting a person, I don't remember meeting you before?" I confronted her while glaring at her for lying to me.
Junzo tried to interfere, "it's not like that," but she extended her hand toward him making him stop talking.
"No matter what I tell you, you'll find it hard to believe, shall we ask your Innerself?" she suggested.
It's worth checking out…
"Try it," I accepted, and she extended her hand toward my shoulder again and asked, "have you ever met me before?"
What is she asking, of course I didn't …?
"I did," I answered shocking myself again.
Why did I say I did?!
"Do you remember me?" she asked me, and my lips moved by themselves again, "no, I don't."
I don't remember her, but I know I met her? How does that make sense?!
She moved her hand away, and explained, "Innerself knows everything about you, more than you know, so if you met me, it will know and if you don't remember something, it will know as well."
I interrupted her, "but does it make sense to you that I know I met you, but I don't remember it?"
"Hiro," Junzo responded, "it's not weird at all, since we all had our memories erased by a Veiner," he explained.
"Do you mean, we all have met before?" I asked confused, they nodded and Mirai corrected me, "rather than met, we all lived together."
Nonsense… When did that happen? I remember living with my parents then with grandpa then alone, I never met these people before, let alone live together with them.
"I don't mind explaining to you, but I don't think you are in the right state of mind to handle it," she said while giving me pity eyes.
"By the way, when will Izumi wake up?" Junzo asked her, "as long as it's not his fifth death, he will wake up soon," she said while pointing at the room Izumi was sleeping in.
"Fifth death? What do you mean?" I asked, she looked surprised and mumbled, "right, you don't know…"
As I thought, she knows about immortality.
"Can't you tell me about it more?" I asked her hoping for an explanation this time.
"Like Junzo's stomachache, my inability to forget and even the headache you feel when you read a deep thought, immortality have a restrains when you use it as well, although it's not as extreme as Junzo's," she explained, "every five deaths instead of reviving after 15 minutes, you take an extra twelve hours to revive."
I see, so last time was my fifth death that's why I took twelve hours and fifteen minutes…
"But I remember Izumi taking an hour and fifteen minutes when I shot him with a gun," I said, "y-you shot him with a gun!?" Junzo exclaimed.
Shit, Junzo is a detective.
"Well, I had to kill him to save someone from being killed by Kenta," I explained in my defense, but Junzo didn't seem convinced and kept glaring at me.
"No, that's a good move, if you do that, Kenta will only kill you, and you're immortal so this is the best available option we have right now," Mirai defended me, "you know about Kenta's existence as well, can't you let me know about it? I had many theories about him, but he doesn't seem a normal Veiner like us…" I asked.
"First things first, Izumi reviving will always take an hour and fifteen minutes since Kenta's ability is affecting his, and about Kenta," Mirai started explaining, "he is a Veiner like us, but … the only Veiner with ability without restrains, they called him the Unlimited Veiner," she continued explaining.
Unlimited Veiner, huh?
"What is his ability?" I asked her, she looked at me and while frowning she stated, "he's the Wish-Making Veiner, if he wish for something it will come true, regardless if it's possible or not."
What is that ability!? That's why he told me he'll grant my wish last time!?
"Then we can never beat him?" Junzo stated the now known fact, she smiled and assured me, ignoring Junzo, "don't worry, he does have a flaw now."
"What is it?" I asked worried for the answer to come, "it's Izumi," she answer while grinning.
"What do you mean by that?!" Junzo asked her, she came closer and whispered, "Kenta made a mistake, he wished for a wish that took a person's life, which he was punished for by being turned into a demon, when the user of Wish-Making ability get turned into a demon, he will possess the nearest human to him and will never be able to leave his body till he dies, moreover they have to kill whoever kills the person they possessed."
I thought she said it had no restrains… This is not considered as restrains? And how the hell does she know so much about it?
"That's why he asked me to kill Izumi," I concluded, she nodded and added excitedly, "but thankfully Izumi is immortal so that lowlife will be stuck inside of Izumi for eternity!"
Therefore, he wanted to disable immortality, all the pieces are coming together now.
"But what if he found a way to disable the immortality? Won't he kill Izumi?" Junzo asked her, she grinned and answered, "there is no way I know of to disable abilities, if there was I would have used it and got rid of mine long ago."
No way to disable them!? Then I can never die!? I have to stay alive? … for eternity?!
"You must be mistaken, there must be a way!" I yelled denying the fact presented, her grin faded, and she asked me, "do you want to die that badly?"
"People usually wish for immortality," Junzo added, "why do you want to throw it away?" he asked me with his eyes filled with pity.
"Find it then," Mirai said while smiling, "I don't know any way, but it still possible for you to find a way…" she added.
That's right, there must be way to disable them… there must be a way for me to die…
"You said we lived together before, but when was that?" I asked them trying to switch the subject.
"In an orphan," she answered briefly, "we all were orphans and they experimented on us turning us into Veiners," Junzo added.
Mirai fixed her posture and crossed her hands, "in other words, we were lab rats, and were turned into the monsters we are today."
On this day, I found out that the ugly meaningless empty world I remember living in, might not have been the only world I experienced.
But strangely, the world I seemed to have forgot, didn't seem beautiful either.