Feeling the strike of the kengiri pass through his body, Azi felt his insides churning and a stinging pain in his arms as they began to bleed his red blood onto the ground. A sudden, but light, impact was felt on the backside of his head and soon darkness overcame his vision as he swore he heard a voice call to him.
In this moment, memories of his hellish experience in that black void filled his mind as the darkness had surrounded him again. He braced for the pain and soon enough it came in waves.
Again, Azi felt nightmarish pain and he screamed and cursed at the situation he was in. He then remembered how he had once dulled the pain, so he tried to control his senses. While his attempt to focus his senses only caused him to experience more pain, he endured and strained himself to focus.
Feeling as if his mind was splitting in two, he continued to try to maintain his sanity.
He couldn't let his mind break, if it did then he would not be able to return.
"Return? Return where? SHIT NO REMEMBER REMEMBER DAMNIT"
Like when his mind broke, he felt himself slipping away but with came the feeling of his senses shutting off as the pain started to become distant. Trying to purposefully control that sensation he thought back to recall the past to keep himself sane as he figured out how to take control.
Azi was again unclear of how much time had passed from his point of view but eventually felt some relief as the pain subsided little by little. After more time passed the pain became bearable enough for him to think more clearly.
With his ability to think restored, albeit while still in pain, Azi began speaking to both the void and himself. "Is Shizu ok? What about Kajima? Where are they?!"
Thinking of his companions, he came to a rash conclusion when he saw that no one was around him. The stress he was under made him worry and the indiscernible amount of time that had passed made him wonder why he hadn't woken up yet.
Did he die, he thought, and from his still scrambled mind he believed that his assumption was true. With the kengiri already injuring Kajima and Shizu, he came to a fearful conclusion that they left him to save themselves. As doubt crept into his heart, he began to believe that the fight with the kengiri was hopeless.
Speaking in a dark tone, he spoke his thoughts. "Maybe I was left for dead. I failed them, I did not do enough."
His eyes going lifeless, he continued his thoughts and remembered that the kengiri was looking down on him. He was weak, he was worthless, he was discarded.
"Shizu might have left me to die. She hates me. I made a mistake. I took things too far, I wasn't respectful. Why do I always keep making mistakes." He continued.
"I asked Kajima too many questions, maybe he was offended. Was it because I questioned his god? Was I too arrogant?"
After speaking his ramblings, he felt disappointed in himself and paused his words to ruminate. He then sighed in exhaustion as the weight of the emotional turmoil began to bear down on him.
Thinking to himself, that there were probably better times in his life. He then began trying to recall his fractured memories for some form of comfort. As if in response to his mind, a square image appeared in front of him.
It was a picture of his much younger self as he wore a long black robe, a strange square hat, and had a roll of paper in his hand. His younger self had people standing around him as they all faced forward with smiling faces.
"This must be my.... graduation from school? What is this?" His tone became nostalgic and he smiled for the first time in this black space. "I think that's my certification in my hand. What was it in? I think it was ..... Engineering? No, it was .... ah damn I can't remember."
Feeling slightly frustrated by his lack of memory, Azi nonetheless smiled as he felt a comforting nostalgia rise up in his heart and focused his mind on another memory. This time he was able to relive the memory as he could feel that he was moving and sweating.
His arms were swinging at his sides and he was breathing heavily, Azi wondered what he was doing and realized that he was running. It was apparent by his attire of short pants and a light blue gym shirt.
The feeling of the heat on his skin was nice and he remembered that running was how he got his usual exercise.
He enjoyed it and usually ran around the city and the beach to be able to see the notable sights. Sometimes he would challenge himself and run to the next city nearby and back. In the past, he was told by his family and friends that he would never be able to do it but after his first, second, and third successful attempts, all doubt from his family and friends was gone.
A sadness then overcame him as the thought of the friends and family he can no longer remember the names of made him feel as if a hole had formed in his chest.
"Friends?" He said in a soft sad tone of voice. ".... I don't think I truly had any friends."
Sighing, Azi then realized that he was back in that black void of space. He then hugged his knees to his chest and began to cry and whimper.
"I want to go on an adventure, I want to wake up. I wanted a friend."
A moment of silence passed and tears began to roll down Azi's cheeks, but before they would fall to the void the silence was broken as his words suddenly resounded in the surrounding space as it bounced around in an echo that repeated.
As if responding to his words, the black space began to collapse as the surroundings started to be riddled with glowing blue cracks that were continuing to spread. Soon, the crashing and cracking sound of glass being broken rang out all around him.
Azi's eyes shot open as he was jolted awake from the sudden sound and his vision was filled with the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. He wondered where he was, if what he experienced was real, and what that noise was.
He turned his head in an attempt to find anything familiar to get his bearings, but instead felt a soft sensation envelop his face. His vision was filled with red and as he was about to panic, but a pair of arms pulled his head in closer which caused the soft sensation to become more apparent to his restored sense of touch.
Azi attempted to speak but only a soft muffled sound was produced.
Turning his head up he saw Shizu's sleeping face and deduced that she was asleep next to him. She likely decided to use him as a body pillow as the apparent grip on his head and back made it obvious to understand his current situation.
He attempted to speak out to get her to wake up but no audible words escaped from Azi's mouth nor Shizu's soft chest.
Instead, his attempt to speak caused Shizu to feel a slight tingling sensation but she paid it no mind as she more tightly hugged what she believed to be a pillow closer to herself.
Azi's vision was now completely filled with the red of the fabric of Shizu's clothes pressing into his face. What was more concerning was that Shizu had hugged him so tightly that he could not breathe.
This caused him to start flailing his arms around in discomfort which finally got Shizu's attention. By the time she noticed his flailing arms, the arms had started to go limp as Azi began passing out from a lack of oxygen. As his vision was turning from red to white, Shizu screamed out in joy. "YOUR ALIVE!!"
Managing with the last of his breath, he spoke as loud as he could for a chance at survival. "Can't..... Br.ea....th...e"
Noticing the blue color forming on Azi's face and the concerning act of his eyes rolling into the back of his head, Shizu quickly released her grip on him in a panic which allowed Azi a chance to deeply inhale some much needed air into his lungs. This brought his vision back from white and he could now see again.
Coughing as he caught his next few breaths, Azi turned his head up and saw Shizu was sitting up as she was overlooking him like a mother bird. He could see that her eyes were red and that there were some small tears in them.
Azi could not recall what exactly happened after he got hit by the kengiri and felt that his time in that black void was just a dream, so to him it felt as if he had only passed out. Deducing that she might have been worried for him, he gave her a teasing smile to help lighten the mood.
"If you are feeling sad you can hug me again if it helps?"
Shizu pouted at his nonchalant attitude towards the recent turn of events, but instead of giving a retort she just moved to hug him as if he was her pillow. Laying herself down on the mat with Azi in her arms, she began to slightly tear up as she fell into a light sleep.
Confused by Shizu's actions, he pondered why she was so concerned. He was expecting her to initiate the usual routine of bickering that they had gotten used to doing during the very short time they knew each other.
The idea that Shizu was truly worried about him caused a warm feeling to spread in his heart, but the warmth was different from the ones he could recall. This warmth was not as gentle as a family member's, it was not as comforting as the warmth of the sun on his skin, but it instead felt more joyful and full of glee.
This new sensation made Azi happy and it calmed his mind as he truly believed that he may have become unlikely friends with Shizu. In response to Shizu's hug, Azi did the same and nestled close to her body. He felt the warmth coming from her and could hear her heartbeat as it beated along with his own as they pulsed in a rhythmic synchronism.
Unbeknownst to both, at one point in their light sleep a glow emitted from both Shizu's and Azi's hearts. Shizu's glowed orange-red and Azi's was a blue-ish white. The veins on Azi's arms began to glow blue as well and soon extended to his fingertips.
The blue glow then formed a line that extended from his fingertip and extended into Shizu's back which connected him to her.
Asleep, Shizu felt a warmth creep into her which made all her muscles relax as the blue glowing line then connected to where the orange-red glow of Shizu's heart was. As soon as the line touched the orange-red glow, a small spark of orange-red traveled up the blue line back into Azi's body. After this occurred the glowing colors ceased and everything in the tent went back to normal.
All that could now be seen was the sight of a Shizu affectionately hugging Azi in her arms. He returned the affection with a hug of his own and the two nestled close as their soft snores and breathes filled the tent's interior.
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