Tanjo could feel his skin crawl, goosebumps traversing through his skin at faster speeds than his eyes could widen in bewilderment. If it were not for the boy's rational mind, Tanjo would have put himself at risk the moment he enabled his Aura Sense to surge—fortunately, the teen restrained himself. However, his hands, balled into fists, shook erratically; Regashi, now confirmed to be his name, was presenting himself like a celebrity, the entire village bouncing on their toes just for the slim chance of the prince of Furusato potentially seeing them.
"Regashi! Regashi! Regashi!"
As the crowd continued to chant, fully galvanized. Tanjo knew that this was an entirely different universe, one with a different history. That was what the boy could deduce from Kronos' brief explanation of their not-so-little excursion. Even then, the chances of Regashi, the same exact man who tortured Tanjo, residing in the same exact village. Additionally, Regashi was a prince, meaning he was the son of the current king, Oritsu Ketsueki.
Everything in this universe seemed similar to his own, so who was to tell Tanjo that what he saw in this moment was not also how reality was back home? What if Regashi was also a prince in his own universe? Millions of thoughts besieged the boy's mind, and he could not help but slip into them subconsciously.
Then, the two met eyes.
Tanjo's blue eyes locked with Regashi's, the distant interaction prolonging for an uncomfortable amount of time. Astoundingly, Regashi's eyes widened more than Tanjo's.
'Why is he staring at me!?' Tanjo panicked, paralyzed from fear and the thought of disrupting the crowd, if it was even possible.
"Pardon me, but I must leave! Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody!" Regashi snapped his attention away from Tanjo, his smile returning as he promptly departed from the public, entering the castle along with his father, King Oritsu.
With a wave of disgruntled hollers, Tanjo proceeded to exit the vicinity immediately. Of course, Kronos just had to drop him off at the home of an alternate variation of his one-time torturer.
XXX
Steadily, Tanjo marched off to the edges of Furusato, curious as to how much was different. The jet-black-haired boy had seen mostly every structure in the village since he clashed with the bandaged swordsman, all because he was trying to escape with Mizuki.
Nearly every building was similar in this version of Furusato compared to the one in his own universe, except that they weren't destroyed. The placement, shape of the foundation of the buildings, the materials used to construct them, and how many lined each pathway. It obviously was not a coincidence that this universe was more aligned with Tanjo's than what was originally expected.
'So, if Regashi truly is a prince, even in my universe, what led to Furusato being razed and him becoming so… vile?' Tanjo halted, currently standing near the village's wall, away from all of the buildings.
A thought then shoved its way into the boy's mind:
'What about my parents…? Where in this universe are they? Did they… keep me?'
Tanjo reflected on the idea for several moments, his blue headband swaying in the wind. His eyes widened.
'Shit! My headband! I left it on! They probably have the same student-warrior procedures here so I still look like a student!'
"Hey, are you a student?" A voice reached Tanjo's ears from thin air.
'Shit!'
But it only took Tanjo a mere second to realize something. The voice that had just called out to him, it sounded exactly like…
"Rude to ignore a prince, ya know."
Regashi, who Tanjo now noticed to be standing behind him with only a few feet of space separating the two.
It took everything in Tanjo's mind to placate his anxiety. "S-sorry, I zoned out."
"Don't worry about it," the brown-haired prince said, flapping his hand lazily. "I don't like using my status to gain privileges, anyway!"
Tanjo felt uncomfortable with the fact that Regashi was still powerful enough to mask his own Aura Sense, even when standing within arm's reach of the jet-black-haired boy. The brown-haired male was still entirely dangerous to Tanjo, so the last thing that the boy wanted was to anger him in the slightest.
Only a few seconds into their conversation, Regashi had instantly noticed the lack of eye contact between the two—though that was primarily Tanjo's fault. The teen was refusing to look the prince in the eye.
"Hmm, with how intensely you stared at me literally thirty minutes ago, I'd assume that you'd at least look at me while we're talking." Regashi jested, grinning comedically.
The prince wanted something, Tanjo could deduce that much.
Raising his head, Tanjo let his blue eyes meet Regashi's green ones, making the brown-haired prince smile brightly.
"There we go!" Regashi chuckled, sticking out his hand. "Handshake?"
Tanjo inhaled. "Mind my questioning, but why are you talking to me? Didn't you return home said thirty minutes ago?"
Regashi's hand remained still, open and inviting. "Handshake?"
The jet-black-haired boy was losing his mind. Hesitantly and reluctantly, Tanjo stretched his hand outward and met Regashi's in the middle, making official contact.
His hand was warmer than expected, almost too warm.
'He's fueling his palm with his Aura Sense… why?'
"I noticed that you feel either intimidated or nervous about me—perhaps both. I just wish to show you that I'm nobody to fear but to simply trust. Feel the heat in my hand? I want everyone to feel just as warm when living in this village, so I do my best to protect it. Why do you feel unnerved?" Regashi spoke, craning his head to the side.
Even now, Tanjo's hand shook in the prince's hand, albeit more tame than before.
"You just remind me of someone." Tanjo answered in a clipped tone.
Regashi's eyes lightened. "I could say the same thing."
Those were not reassuring words. What could Regashi mean when saying that? Did he simply just know somebody who had an uncanny resemblance to Tanjo, or was there a different implication?
"My brother, he looks exactly like you. Kinda scary." Regashi laughed, scratching his cheek.
That piqued Tanjo's interest. "A brother?"
Regashi blinked and said, "Yeah, his name's Kenji. He looks to be about your age. How old are you?"
"Sixteen," Tanjo replied.
"You two would probably be good friends, but I'm just speaking out of my ass here! Do you feel any less nervous, by the way?" Regashi suddenly wormed back to the previous topic of conversation, Tanjo's anxiety.
Surprisingly, the teenage boy felt less stressed speaking to Regashi, much less seeing him. Tanjo had momentarily forgotten who he was talking to.
Regashi smiled. "No need to answer, I got all I needed. It was nice talking… What is your name?"
"Tanjo. Tanjo Nozomu."
"Right. Have a good day, Tanjo. See ya!"
In under a second, the prince managed to vanish from the spot he previously stood in. It appeared as if he teleported, but Tanjo had a subtle feeling that he had not.
"...See ya." Tanjo mumbled, a distant look on his face.
He wondered about the brother Regashi had and who he was. Where was he in Tanjo's home universe? Dead? One of the rogues? No, Regashi said he looked exactly like Tanjo, so none of the rogues he had fought in the destroyed Furusato. So where?
Tanjo would have to consult Kronos for answers, it seems.
XXX
Late night chapter, but I wanted to post something. I hate slacking but just have the laziest mindset known to man. Even so, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite its short length. I am very excited for this portion of the novel and what comes after it, so stay tuned and find out what happens next!
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_