As Shiki opened her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Tohno with his head down seemed to sense something. Suddenly, his body trembled, as if experiencing chest tightness.
Then, Tohno seemed to realize something and slowly lifted his head. His eyes, concealed by thick plain lenses, gazed towards the source of the palpitations—the peculiar girl dressed in a loose kimono, with a gleam in her eyes.
Shiki gestured with her hand, appearing somewhat provocative.
After hesitating for a moment, Tohno, unable to resist the impulse and curiosity in his heart, reluctantly walked towards Shiki.
When Tohno stood before her, Shiki carefully examined him from head to toe. She asked directly, "What is your name?"
Although Tohno found Shiki's way of questioning rather odd, he still answered, almost involuntarily, "Shiki, Shiki Tohno."
Then, Tohno saw Shiki's astonished expression and heard another voice of surprise.
Shifting his gaze away from Shiki who inexplicably captivated him, he saw a young man who had just entered his youth. This man felt incredibly familiar, as if he were another version of himself, his future self.
What's happening to me? It can't be anemia-induced hallucinations, right? Tohno shook his head.
"Hey, Shiki, do you want to know my name?" Shiki skipped Shiki Tohno's surname and called him by his given name, displaying a natural sense of closeness.
Shiki Tohno couldn't help but nod.
"I'm Shiki, Ryougi Shiki."
This time, it was Tohno's turn to widen his eyes, his glasses almost falling off his nose.
Witnessing this scene, Shinji finally burst into laughter, roaring with amusement.
"That's it, that's exactly it! This is what I've been waiting for! Ahahaha! Well then, both Shikis, this place isn't suitable for a conversation. Let's go somewhere else. On the way here, I saw an ice cream shop. I'll treat everyone to ice cream."
...
Ten minutes later, at an open-air umbrella table in the ice cream shop.
Shinji glanced at Shiki sitting next to him, then looked across the table at Mikiya and Tohno, wearing a satisfied smile. After finishing "The Garden of Sinners" and "Tsukihime" in his previous life, he had been thinking of doing something like this, and now it had finally come true. It was truly the best reward for a seasoned moon fan like himself.
"Well, everything is as I said. There's no need to say much. Similar beings will naturally be attracted to each other."
"Indeed," Touko, sitting beside Shinji, said meaningfully as she reached out and took off Tohno's eyeglasses.
Tohno, who had been in a dazed state, immediately felt dizzy, swaying and collapsing onto the table. He closed his eyes and pleaded, "Those glasses are important to me. Please, give them back."
"Kid, hasn't anyone taught you that when you ask someone for something, you should look at them?" Touko spun the glasses around in her hand.
"Well..." Tohno struggled to open his eyes, adjusting to the unfamiliar world before him. He fixed his gaze on the face of someone resembling his talkative older sister and said, "Please give me back my glasses. I'm begging you."
"Nope," Touko smirked mischievously.
"Why are you like this..." A hint of anger appeared on Tohno's face.
"Don't be mad, Shiki-kun." Shinji, sandwiched between the two, patted Tohno's shoulder. "Haven't you noticed something familiar about this sister?"
Tohno was momentarily stunned, carefully staring at Touko's face for a while. Gradually, he realized that this beautiful face in front of him was slowly overlapping with the person who was incredibly important to him in his memories. The only differences were their hair color and eye color, but their appearances were almost identical.
"Tea-teacher... No, you're not a teacher, you're..."
"I'm Touko Aozaki, your teacher's older sister if your teacher's name is Aoko Aozaki."
As a middle school student, Tohno didn't catch the complexity in Touko's tone when she mentioned the name "Aoko Aozaki." He was filled with joy and nodded repeatedly, "My teacher's name is indeed Aoko Aozaki. Is she doing well?"
"I don't know. We have a grudge against each other. Kid, Since you encounter me, you can only blame your bad luck."
Touko coldly took off her glasses, and the icy gaze sent a shiver down Tohno's spine.
"Touko, stop." A hand inserted itself between Touko and Tohno.
"Shiki... you..."
"Don't lay a hand on him."
"Why?" Touko's icy gaze turned frosty. "Because he has the same name as you, the same traits? Did you take him as a substitute for SHIKI? You have to understand. He is Shiki, not SHIKI!"
This question was like a blow to the heart, reminding Shiki of something she least wanted to remember. It was the very reason why Shiki disliked Touko. However, Shiki wasn't angry; she simply said calmly, "I know, SHIKI is no longer here, but Shiki is. He has seen the same things as me, and he shouldn't go back to that dark, empty place again."
During her two-year coma, Shiki was floating in that dark, empty, indescribable place. No one understood the horrors of that place better than her.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, no one understands the horrors of that place better than me."
Shiki's words were vague, and Shiki couldn't fully comprehend them, yet he felt like he did. This woman who shared the same name as him seemed to see the same world as him.
Touko looked at Tohono and Shiki, sighed, put on her glasses, and softened her cold demeanor. "It's not just because of that, right? Is it also because he looks like Mikiya?"
"Touko, Touko!" Shiki's voice held rare embarrassment.
Mikiya, who witnessed the scene, chuckled knowingly. "Shiki, little brother, I hope you don't mind me calling you that. Miss Touko is just trying to scare you. She's a good person."
"Whether she's a good person or not is beside the point, but she wouldn't take her dissatisfaction with her sister out on you. So, don't worry," Shinji added persuasively. "There must be another reason why she took your glasses, right, Touko?"
"I'm not going to lower myself to the level of a minor." Touko snorted lightly. "Hey, kid, do you know who made those 'Mystic Eyes Eyes Killer'?"
Shiki shook his head.
"It was me, using extremely precious materials. If converted to yen, it should be worth a nine-digit figure. I originally intended to wear it myself, but that stupid sister snatched it away. Now I have to make another pair, which only adds to my debt, you know? What's even worse is that brainless, violent idiot modified it into such a tacky design. Absolutely no progress whatsoever."
The more Touko spoke, the angrier she became. The glasses known as the "Eye Killer" creaked in her delicate hands, causing Tohno's heart to ache.
"Um, Touko... sensei." After hesitating for a moment, Tohno decided to address her using the same title as Aozaki Aoko.
Before he could continue, Touko guessed his intention. "Don't worry, the things made by me are not that fragile. Even if that violent maniac wants to destroy them, it won't be so easy."
Tohno chose to ignore Touko's grievances towards Aoko. He had no right to meddle in the affairs between his Sensei and her sister.
"But there's something Aoko doesn't know. This 'Eye Killer' can't suppress your eyes forever. There will come a day when your eyes will grow beyond its control. What will you do then? Will you keep your eyes closed forever and never look at this world?"
"I... I..."
It was the first time Tohno heard about this. He felt helpless and panicked. As a young boy, he couldn't imagine facing this fragmented world every day.
"What should I do, then?"
======
Support Me At Patreon.com/AbsoluteCode