Kazuya stumbled backward, his legs giving out beneath him.
No… no, no, no. This isn't real, this can't be real.
Why? Why am I here? What was I doing here in the first place?
His gaze locked on the lifeless body before him, and for the first time, the question stabbed into his mind,
What happens to me… my real body… when I'm inside someone else's?
The thought was quickly drowned out by the icy terror gnawing at him. He forced himself to stand, but his legs were shaking, every fiber in his being screamed at him to run, seeing himself dead was unlike any fear he had ever felt.
He turned and sprinted through the burning streets, the air thick with smoke and ash. Somewhere in the chaos, a single thought pushed through the panic,
I have to find Aiko… for Reina's sake.
But as he rounded a corner, his steps faltered.
A figure stood ahead.
Its form was made of shadows and curling black mist, but behind its head burned a golden halo. The halo was jagged, spiked and fractured with a single visible crack.
It did not move, neither did Kazuya.
Kazuya said with a hoarse voice.
"Who are you? With all the insane things that happened to me lately… I doubt you're even human."
The figure stayed silent.
"Answer me." His voice shook. "Are you the one doing this to me? Forcing me into other people's bodies? Making me live their lives, remember their memories, feel their pain?"
The quiet pressed in like a weight.
His breath quickened.
"ANSWER ME!" Tears welled at the edges of his eyes.
"Why are you making me feel these horrible things? Why make me suffer like this?"
He thought of Toma's grief and Reina's fear. Pain that wasn't his, yet now lived inside him.
The figure parted its lips.
"Ugh..."
A sudden agony tore through Kazuya's skull. He clutched his head, gritting his teeth as the pain drilled deeper and deeper, like someone was carving into his mind, the world blurred, and his breath came in short, ragged gasps. After what felt like an eternity in Kazuya's mind, the pain finally stopped.
Kazuya staggered, staring at the unmoving figure.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you take pleasure in breaking me? In watching me writhe in pain? Do my tears amuse you? Does my suffering make you smile?"
No response, only the faint drift of black mist as the figure began to dissolve into the air.
"Wait!" He lunged forward, reaching out.
"Give me answers!"
His fingers closed on nothing, only his own empty palm stared back at him.
Kazuya sank to his knees, his hands digging into the dirt. A raw, broken scream tore from his throat, scraping it bloody on the way out.
When he lifted his head again, the fire was gone.
He was standing in Reina's home.
Kazuya's breath slowed. He looked around. Everything was normal.
Was that… a dream?
But it felt real, that figure felt too real.
His earlier thought resurfaced,
What happens to my real body when I'm in someone else's?
A sharp pain split across his forehead. He pressed a palm to it, groaning, before stepping outside. The air was quiet and the streets were calm.
Lost in thought, he walked past a field of flowers and stopped. Reina had loved flowers, so Kazuya let her fondness guide his eyes for a moment, then exhaled slowly.
"I don't know who that figure was, I don't know why I'm being thrown into other people's bodies, I don't know why this day keeps repeating…"
His grip tightened on the wooden fence.
"…but I'll find out, no matter what."
He glanced toward the village. Children laughing and elders chatting in peace.
"That's it, since I have no leads… the first thing I can do is visit my original body."
Whether it was unconscious, missing, or living without him, he would find it. He thought that maybe that would be the first step toward escaping this hell.