He closes his eyes. He visualizes the water behind him. Even with his eyes closed, he is able to see it somehow. And slowly, the water starts to appear from the point he imagined to his position. But the image of himself is made out of water too. A weird feeling starts to rise inside him. He feels heavier. And as he continues to reveal more images of the water. It seems to him that his whole body is inflating, like a balloon. He feels bigger. And sometimes as he loses concentration it escapes, but quickly comes back. It's like his whole body is a lung. He keeps going and the sensation becomes worse and worse.
Tian-Han looks at Kazuki, his eyes closed, putting a knee to the ground like he is being crushed by an invisible force, and his body convulsing while standing still.
Kazuki keeps going. And a new effect adds to the others, the feeling of his lungs being filled with water. He feels like he is drawing. All of a sudden, he starts bending over and throwing out water. Tian-Han doesn't move from an inch. It is something he can't interfere with.
"Do not reject it, Kazuki. Whatever it is, it's you. If you're drowning, let the water flood you. Accept it. You shouldn't fear yourself."
Kazuki opens his eyes and turns. Only fear is visible in the young boy's gaze. Tian-Han wants to reassure him. He hesitates to take the kid in his arms, but he knows he can't. But he knows how he can help him.
"I'll show you how it works."
Kazuki doesn't understand how he could show him this. As far as he experienced it, Tian-Han wasn't there. The old man closes his eyes. And after a short moment, injuries appear on his body. Cuts and scratches appear on his skin. Kazuki starts to realize what is happening. He runs to his master but the water starts to agitate again, making it difficult for him to join Tian-Han.
"Master! Master! Please stop! Master!"
And as he tries to get near his master, a sharp and abrupt "crack" resonates through the infinite world. And after this, it's like everything else stops. The sound of water becomes muffled. The repetitive high-pitched clock sound of the droplets on the water suddenly stopped existing. His eyes widen as he sees something worse. Tian-Han's right arm is twisted, broken. Kazuki's scream fills the whole domain.
"MAAASTEEEEEEEEER!!!"
He tries harder to get to his master but the water is constantly pushing him around. His emotions are taking over and there is nothing he can do about it right now. He despairs after he hears another "crack". He tries to punch the water around him in order to move and get closer to Tian-Han. The process is slow but after a while, he finally reaches his master. There, the old man is heavily bleeding. His arms are broken. The young boy grabs his master and shakes him, with the hope of him waking up and telling that everything is fine. However nothing happens but he keeps trying.
"Master! Please, Master ! You're hurting yourself! Stop! Come back!"
And as he tries harder, red liquid splashes on Kazuki's face. The young boy stops for a moment. He whips his face with his hands, only to see them becoming red. An horrible scream escape from the kid's mouth.
" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! "
He turns to his master. A hold goes through his left shoulder, Kazuki is even able to see the other side from it. Blood drips from it. Kazuki can only look at it with shock and scream again.
"Aah.. Aaah.. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH !"
He screams. And another hole appears, in his opposite shoulder.
"No.. No… No.. Master.. Master! Master! Please!"
The kid grabs the old man's clothes and hides his face on it. He slowly starts to cry. And unexpectedly, arms pull him against the old man.
"You are shaking. What happened?"
The voice of Tian-Han arrives in Kazuki's ears and he slowly calms down. Then he realizes that he just saw Tian-Han suffering, injured, but now he is in the old man's arms and his voice doesn't show any pain. He looks up and witnesses what seems to be impossible. The old man, without any injuries or any blood, stands there like nothing happened.
"H-how? You.. You were there… your arms.. And.. And. The holes.."
The old man just replies with a smile.
"Heed my words. You can't hurt yourself unless it's on purpose."
Kazuki starts to understand what happened. It's what would have happened if he kept going with the task of "feeling his inner world". Kazuki looks at the water still a bit agitated.
"Do it, Kazuki. I know you're capable of doing it. If you accept and know who you are, there is no reason that it'll hurt."
Kazuki puts his gaze on a wave, moving around unnaturally. He closes his eyes and visualizes the wave. From it, he tries to see the other waves. The feeling of being heavy comes back. Follows again the feeling of inflation. And then slowly the water fill his lungs. He is coming to the part where he gave up. But this time, he'll go further.