Terrified, Kazuya burst through the door and stumbled into the open air, sprinting blindly between shattered homes and narrow alleyways. He didn't know where he was going, he just ran, as if outrunning the body he was trapped in, as if speed alone could silence the memories inside his head.
"You were one of a kind."
The words slashed through his thoughts.
He pushed himself faster, lungs burning, hoping that motion would drown out memory.
"Wipe out a rare bloodline…"
His jaw clenched and his vision blurred.
"...leave only the rarest of them all alive…"
The kidnapper's voice kept echoing, refusing to fade.
"And suddenly, you're worth billions."
Kazuya's foot caught on debris, and he crashed to the ground, dust flew up as he hit hard, scraping his hands and knees, but the pain didn't register,
Only FEAR did.
Tears came suddenly, uncontrollable sobs tore out of his throat, he curled in on himself on the dirt-streaked street, not just terrified, but also grieving.
Grieving for Reina, for the horror she carried, and for the unbearable weight of being inside it.
"Reina! Are you okay?" A young woman's voice rang out with concern.
Kazuya looked up, standing just a few steps away was a girl about Reina's age, her eyes were wide with worry.
"Aiko?" he muttered, the name surfacing from Reina's memories.
She rushed over and offered her hand, helping him to his feet, dirt clung to his clothes, his knees scraped from the fall.
"Did you trip or something? Your clothes are filthy." Her voice was light, but tinged with worry.
"Y-Yeah…" Kazuya mumbled.
"You sure you're okay? You look… off."
Kazuya turned away, his mind was still reeling from the trauma he had just relived, but seeing her, seeing Aiko Tanabe shifted something inside him. The memories of her came flooding in, she had become Reina's friend not long after Reina escaped her captors. Somehow, just her presence made it easier to breathe.
"I'm just… tired, sorry for worrying you."
He tried to walk past her, but Aiko grabbed his wrist gently, holding him in place.
"You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong." she said with a stubborn pout, frustrated but soft.
Kazuya's eyes widened. In that moment, he felt it, Reina truly cherished this girl, the bond between them was deep… so deep, in fact, that even turning his back on her now didn't just feel wrong, it felt like betraying something sacred.
He turned back toward her, uncertain.
Then he thought to himself,
What if I just told her? That I'm not Reina, and that I'm just a guy who woke up in her body. What would she say? What would she do?
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
A chill passed through him, not the kind he felt during Reina's memories, but something more sinister. He didn't know how or why… but deep down, something told him that if he told Aiko the truth, something terrible would happen.
His body trembled.
He couldn't risk it.
He couldn't risk hurting her.
He couldn't risk hurting Reina.
He took a breath, forcing the tremble from his hands.
"I'm fine, really."
The smile that followed didn't reach his eyes, but it was still gentle.
"Thanks for worrying."
He gently freed his wrist from her grip, then, just before turning to leave, he looked into her eyes, just for a second. Enough to let her know that he appreciated her.
Kazuya stepped away from Aiko and began the slow walk back to Reina's modest home, each step heavy with the weight of secrets he couldn't speak and pain he wished he could erase.
As he passed between multiple houses, voices reached his ears, two elderly villagers sitting on a doorstep, talking in low tones over steaming cups of tea.
"Hard to believe it's only been a day," one of them murmured.
"A day since the war ended, and already everything feels like it's falling apart again."
Kazuya slowed.
"Those poor children… losing their parents yesterday," the other added. "They haven't even buried the bodies yet."
His heart skipped a beat.
Yesterday? He thought to himself.
He stared at the ground, heart pounding.
Yesterday, when he was in Toma's body… the war had already ended.
And today, he had thought it was the second day after the war, but everything they were saying told him otherwise.
This was still the day after the war.
His fingers curled into trembling fists.
The day hadn't moved forward.
Time hasn't moved forward.
Kazuya stood frozen, the weight of that truth settling heavily on his shoulders.
He didn't fully understand how, but he couldn't shake the feeling that inhabiting different bodies and the day repeating itself weren't mere coincidence.
With slow, heavy steps, he turned away from the villagers' murmurs and made his way back to Reina's home.
Once inside, he gently closed the door behind him and sank to the floor, pulling his knees close to his chest.
He drew a shaky breath, resting his forehead against his knees as exhaustion washed over him.
Sleep pulled him under quickly.
When he finally opened his eyes, darkness had settled, the village was cloaked in night, but the stillness was shattered by screams echoing through the air.
Instinctively, Kazuya pushed himself up and rushed outside, the sight that met him was nightmarish. Flames engulfed the village, devouring the wooden homes while casting flickering shadows against the smoke-choked sky.
His heart hammered, and for a moment he thought of running.
Then a sudden thought stopped him cold.
Aiko.
He didn't know if she was safe or even alive.
Panic twisted inside him as he turned back toward the burning streets, desperate to find her amidst the chaos.
Kazuya plunged into the fiery chaos, weaving through burning debris. The heat seared his skin, as the village seemed to collapse around him. His lungs burned, but he pushed forward, driven by the desperate need to find Aiko.
Amid the carnage, something caught his eye, a figure lying face down on the scorched ground, two wooden spears pierced deep into their back.
Kazuya froze. He was no stranger to death, war had shown him enough, but now, trapped in Reina's body, someone who wasn't used to such horrors, fear gripped him like cold iron.
With trembling hands, he knelt down and slowly turned the body over, his heart pounding in his chest. As his eyes met the face, shock froze him in place,
It was his own.
His original body, lifeless, lying silent on the scorched earth.