Kenji
'Everything hurts…'
His eyelids felt like they'd been glued shut. He tried to pry them open, but the effort sent a spike of dull pain through his skull.
The world came into focus slowly, blurred shapes gradually sharpening into harsh white ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights that made him want to go back to sleep.
'Where...?'
He tried to move his arm to rub his eyes. Only to realize that he couldn't move them at all.
Kenji's foggy mind struggled to process that. He tried again, pulling harder this time, and felt something cold dig into his wrist. Metal. Heavy metal wrapped around both wrists, both ankles, and… his neck?
He was restrained. Bound to the bed like…
His breath hitched. Memories tried to surface, fragmented and hazy. A lab. Restraints. Cocolia's face hovering above his body.
The feeling of his cells decaying—!
'—Calm down!' He forced himself to breathe, to look around. He had to tell himself that he already escaped Anti-Entropy's grasp.
This wasn't ME Corp. The room was too clean and lacked the depressingfeeling. Medical equipment beeped steadily beside him.
'I'm in a hospital?' He thought.
Connecting the pieces, he surmised that he was most likely in St. Freya, hopefully.
The realization should have been comforting, but the restraints said otherwise.
Kenji swallowed, or tried to. His throat was itchy, like he'd been breathing sand. When he opened his mouth to speak, all that came out was a dry rasp that barely qualified as sound.
"H—" He coughed, the action sending sharp pain through his chest. "Hello?"
…
…
No response.
He turned his head as far as he could with the metal collar around his neck, limiting his movement, and scanned the room.
It was the standard hospital setup. White walls. A single door to his left. Medical equipment to his right. And directly across from him, spanning nearly the entire wall, was a massive panel of glass.
One-way glass, if he had to guess. He couldn't see through it, but the dark surface reflected his own appearance back at him.
He looked like shit.
His face was pale, almost grey, with dark circles under his eyes. His hair was a mess, and there was something off about his expression that made him look ten times older.
'I look like I died.'
Maybe he had. He wasn't entirely sure what happened after—
His thoughts cut off as voices bled through the glass. Muffled, but growing louder.
"—readings are stable but—"
"—should we call—"
"He's awake! He's awake, someone get—"
The voices overlapped, rising in pitch and urgency. Kenji couldn't make out individual words anymore, just a cacophony of panic.
'Why are they panicking?'
He tried to sit up, forgetting about the restraints. The cuffs bit into his wrists as he pulled against them, and the heart monitor beside him started beeping faster in response to his elevated pulse.
'These fucking restraints—'
"Hey!" His voice came out as a harsh croak. "What's going on?!"
The panic on the other side intensified. He heard something crash, like someone knocked over a chair. Running footsteps.
"Get Theresa! Get her now!"
"Is it him or—"
"Just get her!"
Kenji's eyes widened as he realized why they were panicking.
'They think I'm Zero.'
The realization somewhat annoyed him. Of course they did. The last time anyone saw him conscious, he'd been trying to kill them.
They had no reason to believe the person staring back at them through the glass was Kenji and not the Herrscher wearing his face.
But it didn't mean he wasn't irritated.
"Hey, it's me!" he tried to shout, but his ruined voice made it sound more like a growl. "It's Kenji! I'm not—"
He broke off, coughing violently. The heart monitor's beeping accelerated, which only seemed to make things worse.
Kenji slumped back against the pillow, exhausted from the minimal effort. His head was pounding, a steady throb that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.
'Screw it, I'm just gonna lie down,' he told himself, trying to stay calm. 'Theresa's probably gonna come soon, she'll sort things out.'
/ — /
All the shouting outside had all but dissipated, and silence was what remained. It had been around 10 minutes since everything quieted down, and Kenji couldn't help but grow nervous.
'Why is Theresa taking so long—?'
As if the universe heard his thoughts, the door slammed open hard enough that Kenji flinched.
Theresa strode in, and the first thing he noticed wasn't her expression—it was the massive golden cross materializing behind her.
Judah hovered in the air, its chains coiling and uncoiling like a living being. The golden glow filled the room, washing out the harsh white of the fluorescent lights.
Kenji's mouth went dry.
Theresa stopped just inside the doorway, putting distance between them. Her face was locked in an expression he'd only seen a handful of times—the one she wore during official meetings, when dealing with Schicksal bureaucrats, when she had to be the Principal.
The worst part was that she didn't even say anything. She just stood there, staring at him with so much intensity that it made his skin crawl.
Her eyes scanned his face like she was searching for something, some tell that would give him away.
The silence stretched.
Kenji tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. The heart monitor beside him beeped steadily, each sound impossibly loud in the room.
"So, uh..." His voice came out as a rasp. "Long time no see?"
Theresa's expression didn't change. Not even a flicker of amusement. If anything, her eyes narrowed further, and one of Judah's chains shifted closer.
'Shit.'
He realized the problem quickly. It was his voice. With his throat still stiff from not talking for a month, his voice became hoarse. Making it sound closer to Zero's mocking tone.
"Is it you, Kenji?" Theresa finally asked. Taking slow, careful steps forward. "Or is it Zero?"
"It's me," Kenji said immediately. "I swear I'm not—"
"Prove it."
"..."
"..."
"Are you kidding me right now? The words came out sharper than he intended, frustration bleeding into his raspy voice. "Aside from the fact that I'm way too out of it right now. How the heck am I supposed to do that?"
Theresa's expression didn't change, but one of Judah's chains shifted slightly.
"Tell me something only the real Kenji would know," she said tensely. Though it seemed that she herself was slightly unsure about what would convince her.
"He literally has my memories!" Kenji shot back, his irritation rising. "Like, how am I even supposed to tell you something that he wouldn't already know? Maybe that time I caught you dressing up as—!""
"T-that's enough!" She quickly cut him off. Flustered but still maintaining her intense stare.
He slumped back against the pillow, exhausted from the outburst. His chest heaved with the effort, and the heart monitor beeped faster beside him.
Theresa studied him for a long moment.
The genuine irritation creasing his forehead, the exasperation in his eyes, it was all wrong for Zero. The Herrscher was cold, and his speech pattern was definitely different from this.
She brought out a datapad from a nearby table and opened up Kenji's vitals. Taking several agonisingly long seconds to analyse his energy readings.
Then, slowly, Theresa's shoulders dropped slightly. Not much, but enough that Kenji could still notice.
"Your energy readings are stable," she said quietly. "No increased output of Honkai or OFA energy."
Kenji let out a thin smile. "Told you it was me."
"I guess you did," Theresa said with a sigh of relief.
The tension in the room eased, and she dematerialised Judah. Theresa tiredly took a seat on one of the nearby chairs and brought it over to his bed.
"I'm glad you're awake," she said, and Kenji could see her eyes watering slightly.
"Yeah, me too… But could you get these restraints off me?"
"Sorry, but that will have to wait after we really make sure that Zero isn't letting you take control to trick us," Theresa said with a guilty expression.
"I guess that makes sense," Kenji responded, not taking any offence, and rested his head back on the pillows. But just as he did, a thought appeared in his head. "Wait… this isn't because I used the example of you dressing up, right?"
"No, of course not."
"..."
"Maybe just a little bit,"
"I fucking knew it."
/ — /
The restraints were finally gone.
It had taken nearly an hour of doctors poking, prodding, and checking his vitals before they finally gave Theresa the green light to remove them.
Kenji had stayed still through all of it, too tired to do much more than answer their questions with one-word responses.
Now, finally unbound, he was able to stretch his limbs. He flexed his fingers slowly. Noting the sluggish and uncoordinated feeling in them.
Theresa sat in a chair beside his bed, a bowl of soup in her hands.
"The kitchens just sent this up," she said, her voice lighter than it had been during the examination. "Doctor's orders. Your stomach needs to adjust after a month of IV nutrients."
Kenji blinked at her, his thoughts slow to form. "Soup?"
"Start with something light," Theresa said, standing. She set the bowl down on the bedside table and moved to help him sit up. "Don't want to overwhelm your system."
"What's in it?" He asked slowly, narrowing his eyes at the bowl.
"Stop being picky and eat before I shove this down your throat."
"Alright! Alright!"
He tried to push himself upright, but his arms trembled with the effort. "Whoah—!" Theresa caught him before he could slump back down, her small hands surprisingly strong as she adjusted the pillows behind him.
"Careful. Even if your body has no injuries, it is still terribly weak."
"I know, the doctors already said that…" Kenji responded with frustration. "I just didn't think it'd be this bad."
Kenji grabbed a spoon and dipped it into the bowl, his hands shaking enough that the liquid sloshed against the sides. 'Seriously? I'm having trouble holding a freaking spoon?" He gripped it tighter, willing his fingers to cooperate, and slowly brought the spoon to his lips.
A part of his mind knew the broth was pretty bland, but his body was relishing the first real meal it had had in a month.
Theresa sat back down, watching him carefully.
"So," Kenji said after a few spoonfuls, the words coming slower than usual. "How long until I can... walk again?"
"Physical therapy starts in a few days," Theresa said. "It'll take a few weeks to build your strength back up."
Kenji nodded, though the motion made his head spin slightly. A few weeks of physical therapy were long but manageable. He'd been through worse.
'At least it won't be like training with Mei again.' He shuddered at the thought. The image of Mei beating him into submission still etched in his memory.
He took another spoonful of soup, his hand now a little bit steadier.
"I'm sorry about the restraints," Theresa said quietly. "I know that must have been... uncomfortable."
"It's alright, I get why you had to. Zero could've been faking it."
Theresa's hands twitched slightly in her lap, but she nodded. "Exactly. We couldn't take any chances."
"I get it," Kenji said. He paused, struggling to find the next words. His thoughts felt like they were moving through mud. "You were just... being careful."
"Right," Theresa said, though her voice sounded a little too bright.
They lapsed into silence. Kenji focused on eating, each spoonful requiring more concentration than it should. The soup did help though. His head felt a bit clearer now.
"Theresa?" he said after a moment.
"Hm?"
"What..." He frowned, trying to articulate the question. "What actually happened? Like, during the fight?"
Her eyes widened at the question. "You don't remember?"
Kenji paused, the spoon halfway to his mouth. Did he? No, he definitely remembered. The memories were there.
Fragmented and distant, but definitely present. Fu Hua's face. Kiana's voice. The weight of Zero's presence pressing down on his consciousness.
He swore he could remember everything when he was in the vestige world. But maybe it was the difference between being a ghost and having a physical body?
He didn't know the answer.
"Most of it," he said finally. "It's... kinda fuzzy though."
Theresa's hands clenched briefly in her lap before she forced them to relax. "That's normal. Your mind is still catching up with everything."
"Yeah… you're probably right," Kenji said, though something about her response felt off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He went back to eating, the silence stretching between them. Theresa wasn't looking at him anymore. Her eyes were fixed on her hands, which kept fidgeting—smoothing the fabric of her skirt, then clenching, then smoothing again.
Kenji's brow furrowed slightly. That was... weird. Theresa wasn't usually the fidgeting type.
He took another spoonful of soup, slower this time, and glanced at her again. She was still avoiding his eyes.
'Is she... nervous?'
The thought took longer to form than it should have, his mind still dragging through the haze. But once it settled, he couldn't shake it.
"The soup's good," Kenji said, trying to break the tension. "Really hitting the spot."
"I'm glad," Theresa said, her smile quick and automatic.
Too quick.
Kenji set the spoon down, his appetite fading as the unease grew. Something was wrong. He just couldn't figure out what.
"How's everyone?" he asked, shifting topics. "Kiana, Mei... are they okay?"
"They're fine," Theresa said. "They've been asking about you."
"That's good." Kenji picked up the spoon again, more to have something to do with his hands than because he wanted to eat. "And Bronya?"
"Still in a coma…" Theresa said. Her hands clenched again. "But she's in stable condition. I'm sure it won't be long until she wakes up as well."
Kenji nodded slowly, watching her. Every time he tried to meet her eyes, she looked away. Every time he asked a question, her hands would tighten in her lap.
'Oh.'
The realization crept in slowly, like his thoughts were finally catching up to what his instincts had been trying to tell him.
"You know," Kenji said, his voice quieter now, "a month-long nap isn't so bad. I feel very well-rested."
Theresa's smile didn't reach her eyes. She let out a small laugh that sounded more like a sigh.
He set the bowl of soup aside carefully. Then he stared at her and waited until she realized he was looking.
"Something on your mind—?"
"Theresa," Kenji cut her off. "Are you feeling guilty about using me as a tool?"
She froze.
Her eyes widened, and she lost the ability to breathe. For a long moment, she just stared at him, her mouth opening and closing like she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.
Then her gaze dropped, and she said nothing at all.
Kenji watched her carefully. Her hands were clenched so tight in her lap that her knuckles had turned white. She looked smaller than he'd ever seen her, hunched over in the chair like she was trying to disappear into her own sweater.
"I..." Theresa started, then stopped. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to look up. "How did you—?"
"Didn't I tell you I remember most of what happened?" Kenji said quietly.
Theresa's face crumbled. "Oh."
"He said you put a bio-chip in me," Kenji continued, watching her reaction. "Some experiments. The fact that I stabilize Mei and Kiana." He paused. "You using me as a... what did he call it? A safety net?"
Each word said only made her shrink further. Theresa flinched with every sentence, her shoulders drawing tighter.
"Kenji, I—" Her voice cracked. She tried again. "I know it's horrible. I need to explain—"
"I'm not angry."
Theresa stopped mid-sentence, blinking at him in confusion. "What?"
"I said I'm not angry," Kenji repeated. He shifted slightly against the pillows, wincing at the effort. "You don't need to explain. I already know why you did it."
"No—you don't get to do that. Y-You don't understand!" Theresa stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. She started pacing, her hands gesturing frantically. "I saw your energy and I—I realized it could help Mei. That being near you kept her stable. And I just..."
She stopped, turning to face him. Her eyes were red, wet.
"I ran tests. I monitored your energy output. I did so many things that..." The words tumbled out faster now, like she couldn't stop them.
Kenji listened quietly with an unreadable expression.
"I told myself I was protecting you," Theresa continued, her voice breaking. "I told myself I was giving you a home… But I was just using you."
She looked down at her hands. "I viewed you as an asset before I ever saw you as a person. And by the time I realized what I'd done, it was already too late. You already trusted me. You already saw this place as home."
Her shoulders shook. "I-I'm sorry, Kenji… You have every right to be angry, a-and I'm angry at myself too."
She looked up at him with teary eyes, "If you want to leave St. Freya because of this, I won't stop you…"
Kenji took a few slow breaths. His chest felt tight, not from pain, but from the weight of what she'd just said.
"Are you done?" he asked quietly.
Theresa looked up, startled. "What?"
"Are you done explaining?" Kenji looked as if he wasn't bothered at all. "Because I need to say something."
She nodded.
"Like I said before. I forgive you, Theresa."
Theresa stared at him like he'd just spoken in a foreign language. "How could you still say that?"
"I forgive you," Kenji repeated. He met her eyes directly. "For all of it. The chip, the experiments, using me as a stabilizer. I forgive you."
"No." Theresa shook her head violently. "You can't just— You don't understand what I'm saying. I used you, Kenji. I treated you like a tool. Like a piece of equipment to fix my problems."
"I know."
"Then how can you—?!" Her voice rose. "How can you forgive me for that?!"
Kenji was quiet for a moment, choosing his words carefully.
"Because even if you used me," he said slowly, "you still protected me. You gave me a home when I had nowhere to go. You trained me. You gave me a team and friends." He paused. "And when Anti-Entropy took me, you came back for me."
Theresa's breath hitched.
"You could've left me there," Kenji continued. "It would've been safer. Easier. But you risked everyone to get me back." He looked at her, his expression soft. "That's not what someone does when they only see a tool."
"But I did see you as a tool!" Theresa insisted, tears streaming down her face now. "At first, that's all you were to me! A way to keep Mei safe!"
"At first," Kenji agreed. "But not anymore."
"How do you know that?"
"Because you're standing here crying like a little kid about it." Kenji's lips quirked into a faint, tired smile. "Tools don't get apologies. They don't get guilt. You wouldn't be this torn up about it if you still saw me that way."
Theresa let out a choked sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. She covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking.
Kenji waited, giving her time.
When she finally lowered her hands, her face was blotchy and red, her eyes puffy. She looked like she'd aged ten years in the span of a few minutes.
"I don't deserve this," she whispered. "I don't deserve your forgiveness."
"Maybe not," Kenji said honestly. "But I'm giving it anyway."
"Why?"
"Because I trust you."
Theresa's eyes widened.
"Even knowing everything I know. Even with the chip in my head and the experiments and all of it." He paused, looking down at his hands. "I still fully trust you."
His voice dropped to almost a whisper. "And... I couldn't imagine hating you even if I tried."
That broke her.
Theresa's face crumpled entirely. She tried to hold it together, tried to keep the tears from falling, but it was useless. A sob escaped her throat, raw and desperate.
She sank back into the chair, burying her face in her hands again. Her whole body shook with the force of her crying.
Kenji watched her, his chest aching. He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he didn't know what. So he just waited.
It took several minutes for Theresa to calm down. When she finally looked up, her face was a mess—tear-streaked, blotchy, her eyes swollen. But there was something lighter in her expression now.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice hoarse.
Kenji nodded. "You're welcome."
They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of the conversation settling around them.
Then Kenji's expression shifted, just slightly. His lips twitched.
"Your face is doing that thing again," he said.
Theresa blinked. "What thing?"
"That scrunched-up cry face thing. You look like you're about to sneeze."
For a second, Theresa just stared at him, stunned. Then her eye twitched.
A golden chain materialized from nowhere and lightly smacked him on the forehead.
"Ow!" Kenji yelped, more from surprise than pain. "You're attacking a crippled man! I just woke up from a coma!"
"And you'll go right back if you keep that up," Theresa shot back, though there was no real heat in her voice. Just exhaustion and the faintest hint of amusement.
Kenji rubbed his forehead, scowling. "That's abuse."
"That's discipline."
Theresa wiped her eyes one last time, taking a shaky breath. "I mean it, you know. What I said before." She looked at him seriously. "You're family to me now. Not an asset. Not a tool."
"I know," Kenji said softly.
"And I'm going to prove it." Theresa's voice steadied, her expression hardening with resolve.
"No more secrets. No more treating you like you're just a safeguard. From now on, I'm your principal. Your guardian." She paused. "Your family."
Kenji nodded, something warm settling in his chest. "Okay."
Theresa smiled. Then her expression shifted, becoming more businesslike. "There's... something else I need to tell you."
"What?"
"Your regeneration." Theresa's tone turned serious. "It's not active anymore."
Kenji blinked. "What do you mean, not active?"
"I mean, we can't detect it at all," Theresa explained. "After we brought you back, your body went into overdrive for about a day. All your physical injuries healed completely. But after that..." She gestured vaguely. "Nothing. This isn't like what happened after the Eruption, you still had your regeneration back then, even if it was weakened, but right now it's fully gone."
Kenji stared at her, unsure of what to feel. "So I'm... normal now?"
"For the moment, yes." Theresa's expression turned stern. "Which means when you get back out in the field, you need to be more careful. No more reckless behavior. No more throwing yourself at enemies, thinking you'll just heal—"
She pointed at him. "—Or I will personally punt you across the training field."
Kenji let out a weak laugh. "Noted."
"I'm serious, Kenji."
"I know, I know." He raised his hands in surrender, then immediately regretted it as his arms protested. "Careful. Got it."
Theresa watched him for a moment, then nodded, satisfied.
The room fell into a comfortable silence.
Then Theresa shifted in her chair, her expression softening. "There's... one more thing."
Kenji looked at her, waiting.
"Do you want to see everyone else?" Theresa asked gently. "Kiana, Mei, Wendy... they've been asking about you. I can have them brought here if you'd like."
"Oh yeah, what have they been doing while I was out?"
"Well… They had a couple of rough bumps while you were out, but they're doing fine now."
"That's good… And what about Fu Hua?" he asked, quieter now. "I remember... Zero beating her around like a—"
"She's completely healed," Theresa interrupted. "Fu Hua is tougher than you think. Valkyries heal remarkably fast to fight the Honkai."
She paused. "Your regeneration just put you ahead of the curve. Without it, you're more on par with the rest of us."
Kenji nodded slowly, still processing.
"So," Theresa said, watching him carefully. "Do you want to see them?"
Kenji looked at her. Then he nodded, a small smile pulling at his lips despite the exhaustion. "Yeah. I'd like that."
Theresa smiled back, genuine warmth in her expression. "I'll make the call."
She stood up, pulling out her communicator. Her fingers moved across the screen, typing quickly.
A few moments later, she looked up. "Done. Himeko's bringing them now. They should be here in a few minutes."
Kenji settled back against the pillows, his chest tight with a mix of anxiety and anticipation.
Theresa moved to the door, pausing at the threshold. She looked back at him one last time.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "For giving me another chance."
"Don't mention it," Kenji said.
Theresa's smile widened. Then she stepped into the hallway, leaving the door slightly ajar.
Kenji stared at the ceiling, his mind racing despite his exhaustion. His friends were coming. And while he wouldn't say it out loud, he was really excited to see them again.
He closed his eyes, taking a slow breath.
Not long after, he heard footsteps in the hallway.
And walking through the door was Himeko, looking as lively as ever.