"Kami-sama..."
"What am I even supposed to... live for... now?"
The words left her, and Aihara Enju slowly lowered her head.
She wanted to cry. But the tears seemed to have run dry long ago — or perhaps her body had instinctively decided that crying was nothing more than a waste of water, and refused to cooperate.
So she just buried her head lower and lower, chin nearly driving into the grimy collar of her dress, as if she wanted to fold herself down into a tiny dark point that no one would ever be able to see.
That feeling.
Like being shut out by the entire world.
For a little girl especially — a parent's attention was her entire universe. When that universe collapsed, she lost every reason to exist along with it.
Like a small boat adrift on a vast and lightless sea, its lighthouse swallowed by the dark, left with nothing to do but drift at the mercy of the waves — until the next great one came along and swallowed it whole.
"I cannot give you a false past."
"The abandonment. The pain. The loneliness. All of it happened. I cannot erase those things the way you'd wipe a chalkboard clean."
"In a world this rotten, comfort is the cheapest charity there is."
"But."
"I can give you a real future."
"The past is already a swamp of mud. Stop struggling in it — the harder you fight, the deeper you sink."
"Look forward."
"I can give you two choices, little Enju."
Haimer paused, letting his gaze pass over Aihara Enju's small, dirty face. Then he slowly crouched down, bringing his eyes level with hers.
"The first."
Haimer extended a single slender finger, his voice dropping into something unusually gentle.
"Stay in this world."
"I will clean this world up. Every piece of filth that ever looked at you and your kind and saw tools — or monsters — will be swept into the garbage where they belong."
"When that day comes, this place will be a new world."
"You can live like a real ten-year-old girl."
"Wake up in the morning, hoist a red backpack covered in cartoon characters onto your shoulders, and trudge off to school with complaints about too much homework and a teacher who's too strict."
"After school, walk arm-in-arm with friends to the dessert shop on the corner. Spend your allowance on a crêpe loaded with double cream until it's smeared all over your face."
"No hunger to worry about. No one calling you a monster. No waking up in the middle of the night afraid that rats have come to chew on your toes."
"You can wear pretty dresses — lace trim, soft pink, whatever you like."
"You can get a cat. Or a dopey, goofy dog, and give it a ridiculous name."
"You can live an ordinary, uneventful, perfectly comfortable life."
Haimer painted the picture in careful detail.
For children who had known nothing but suffering — that kind of ordinary life was, precisely, the paradise they had always dreamed of.
Aihara Enju listened.
And in those scarlet eyes that had been as flat and grey as ash — a small, fragile light began to kindle.
That kind of life...
Could it really be real?
To live like a normal child. To stop swinging her fists just to survive. To never again face those drooling, disgusting monsters. To never again jolt awake from a nightmare...
All she had to do was nod, and all of that would be hers.
But.
What was the second choice?
Aihara Enju found herself vaguely, quietly curious.
And so.
Haimer slowly raised a second finger.
"Second."
"This is the other path you can choose."
"Walk with me — down a road guaranteed to be full of thorns and blood, but one that leads to infinite possibility."
"There are no flowers on this road. No safety. No comfort."
"You would go to a place you cannot yet imagine — Orario."
The city beloved by the gods. The stage where heroes are born. And the labyrinth where monsters reign without end.
"You will see the world's most brutal face. You will encounter monsters more savage than any Gastrea. You will face bloodshed more ruthless than anything you've known here. You will bleed. You will be wounded. You may even die."
"But."
"You will possess power that surpasses anyone. With your own two hands, you will cut every chain that has ever bound you."
"You will stand at a peak watched by the gods themselves — and the people who once looked down on you, who spat at you and called you nothing — they will only ever see your back, far above them."
"So."
"Little Enju — which do you choose?"
With those words said, Haimer slowly extended one hand toward Aihara Enju.
That hand hung in the air between them, perfectly still.
Waiting for her answer.
In this moment.
To Aihara Enju, that hand was more real than anything she had ever seen in any dream.
Heavier than any false promise she had ever been given.
She stared at it. Inside that small chest of hers, her heart began to pound.
Thump.
Thump.
Ordinary and safe.
Or thorns and glory?
This shouldn't even take any thought.
Any normal person would pick the first option, wouldn't they?
Who in their right mind would turn down a good life and deliberately choose a path where they might die at any moment?
But.
Aihara Enju bit her lip. She raised her head and looked up at Haimer, her voice small and tentative.
"Kami-sama..."
"If... if I choose the first one..."
"Will I still be able to see you again?"
"Of course."
Haimer smiled gently and gave a small nod.
"Once this world has been cleaned up and the matters on the other side are settled, I will establish a portal."
"At that point, whether it's you or any of the other children — you can come see me whenever you like."
"And if you ever change your mind at that point and want to choose again, it won't be too late."
Hearing that, Aihara Enju let out a slow breath of relief.
But then, immediately after.
"Then..."
"If I choose the second one..."
"Does that mean... I get to stay by Kami-sama's side all the time?"
"Kami-sama will always, always be there with me?"
Aihara Enju pressed on.
"Of course."
"As a member of my Familia, naturally we would always be together."
In that instant — as if the promise of always staying by Kami-sama's side had blotted out every other consideration in existence — everything else lost its color. Its weight. Its meaning entirely.
She did not want to be a flower protected behind greenhouse glass.
And she absolutely did not want to be left behind again.
Even if the road ahead was a mountain of blades and a sea of fire.
As long as she could hold this hand — she was not afraid of any of it.
With that thought settled in her chest, Aihara Enju sniffled. She dragged her small, dirty hands across her face in a messy, careless swipe — smearing the tears and grime together until she looked like a little tabby cat with a messy painted face.
And then.
Without a moment's hesitation.
She reached out, carefully, and placed her hand in his.
Slap.
One large hand and one small hand. Clasped tight.
"I choose two!"
"Kami-sama!"
Aihara Enju's voice was small and childlike, still carrying the telltale stuffiness of someone who had just been crying — but every single word was bitten out with absolute, unshaking force.
Haimer heard it, and smiled — a quiet, knowing smile.
He didn't say anything sentimental. No grand proclamations about her becoming a great warrior someday.
He simply closed his hand around that small, dirty one in return.
The palm was warm. The grip was steady.
Nothing more than that single gesture — and Aihara Enju's body, which had still been trembling faintly just moments before, went calm. Miraculously, completely calm.
"Good."
"From today on, you are my child."
"Come along."
"Let me take you to meet your new family."
Haimer rose slowly to his feet, and with Aihara Enju's hand in his, turned and walked toward the heavy metal door.
Aihara Enju followed close behind, matching his every step.
Her bare feet met the cold floor, and the chill shot straight up through her soles and into her bones.
But strangely — she didn't feel cold at all.
The warmth coming from the hand wrapped around hers was like a small furnace, radiating all the way through to somewhere deep inside her chest.
It made her unable to help herself — she tilted her head back and stole a quiet, sideways glance at the tall figure walking ahead of her.
So this is Kami-sama.
Broad shoulders. Steady, unhurried steps.
This isn't a dream, is it?
If it was a dream — then she never wanted to wake up.
In fact.
Aihara Enju reached over with her other hand and pinched herself on the forearm.
Hiss —
It hurt.
Good.
It was real.
Aihara Enju sniffled once more — and then, completely unable to stop herself, the corners of her mouth went absolutely haywire, curling upward into a wide, goofy, beaming grin.
—
Clang —
The heavy metal door was pushed open.
A dull, resonant boom rolled down the empty corridor.
Outside the door.
Two figures stood on either side, one to the left, one to the right.
The one on the left.
Was a short-haired girl in a blue dress. Small in stature, looking to be roughly the same age as Enju.
— Hiruko Kohina.
At this moment, Kohina was perched on the corridor's stair railing in a posture that defied all common sense — both feet planted on the narrow metal rail, knees jutting high, entire body folded into a crouch, and yet her center of gravity was unnervingly, impossibly stable.
The pair of twin short swords at her hips were nearly half her height each.
The one on the right.
Was a girl with long, straight black hair.
Her black sailor uniform was dotted with old, dried bloodstains — dark rust-red blotches standing out starkly under the fluorescent lights.
Tendou Kisara.
She was leaning against the wall, arms folded across her chest, eyes closed — resting.
The sound of the door brought those closed eyes snapping open in an instant.
The gaze that emerged was sharp as a drawn blade.
And her hand moved on pure reflex — dropping to the hilt of the sword at her hip, fingers curling tight, slipping into the opening stance of the drawing arts.
Only when she registered that it was Haimer walking through the door did that lethal killing intent vanish all at once, and she became again simply a girl who looked somewhat exhausted.
"They're out!"
Before Haimer could say a word of introduction.
Kohina moved first — still perched on the railing.
No wind-up. No warning.
Both legs simply exploded downward.
She launched like a spring compressed to its absolute limit and suddenly released — whoosh — shooting through the air and leaving a blur of afterimage behind her.
In midair, she turned a single, impossibly light somersault, blue skirt flaring wide.
Tap.
One small, quiet sound.
And Kohina landed perfectly in front of Haimer, steady as a stone.
This was the terrifying physical capability granted by the Mantis-type Gastrea Factor. Explosive power and balance both operating at a level that defied reason.
Kohina tilted her head.
Those large red eyes — carrying in them no particular point of focus — drifted to Haimer first, lingering there for a moment.
Then they found Aihara Enju, standing there with her hand held in his.
Kohina looked her up and down.
Stared hard for two full seconds.
Then.
She suddenly leaned in.
Close enough that the tip of her nose nearly grazed Enju's face. Her exhaled breath puffed warm against Enju's nose.
"Kami-sama."
"Is this the new one?"
Kohina turned her head toward Haimer, her voice carrying a child's perfectly genuine, perfectly guileless curiosity.
"She looks really weak."
"She smells like a crybaby, too."
"Can I cut her?"
As she said it, Kohina licked her lips — and a row of small, sharp, shark-like teeth showed in a perfectly innocent smile.
It seemed that, for this particular child, the living creatures of the world fell neatly into two categories: things that could be cut down, and things that could not.
Since the new arrival looked like she could be split cleanly in two, and she was clearly a pushover besides — why not try?
This was exactly the poisoned fruit of Hiruko Kagetane's warped upbringing.
Just as a wolf cub expresses "I want to play with you" through biting and snapping — Kohina expressed her curiosity through the language of blades.
Aihara Enju flinched back on instinct.
She shrank behind Haimer without thinking.
Even though she could already sense it — this blue-haired girl was a Cursed Child like herself, the familiar feeling of kinship radiating clearly between them.
But the feeling this blue-haired girl gave off was nothing like anything familiar.
It was a danger that came from somewhere deep in the bones. Something pure, and something completely unhinged.
Like a killing instrument that had been soaking in blood for so long the metal itself had changed.
And those eyes especially — there was simply nothing human living inside them.
"No."
Haimer's answer was immediate.
Without a moment's hesitation, he raised his hand, crooked one finger, and flicked Kohina directly on the forehead.
Thwack!
A crisp, clean, satisfying sound rang out.
Haimer had calibrated the force precisely — enough to sting. Enough to make an impression. Not enough to actually cause any harm.
"Owwww!"
Kohina let out a strangled yelp and immediately released her sword hilts, both hands flying up to clap over her forehead.
She had absolutely no frame of reference for what had just happened.
In the world Kohina had grown up in, interactions came in two flavors: praise, or brutal training. This gesture — which was neither an attack nor a reward, but carried a distinct air of correction — was completely outside her understanding.
All she knew was that her forehead hurt terribly.
And something inside her chest felt strange — a small, unsettled, itching ache she couldn't name.
Tears sprang up in her eyes without permission.
The bloodthirsty, any-second-now-I'm-drawing-my-blades atmosphere that had been radiating off her dissolved entirely in an instant.
She squatted down on the floor, both hands still pressed over her forehead, and looked up at Haimer with an expression of profound, deeply-wronged grievance.
Her red eyes were swimming with moisture. Pure accusation.
Faced with Kohina's clearly-still-baffled expression, Haimer gave a helpless shake of his head.
This child really is nothing like a normal child.
Her sense of right and wrong had been bent out of shape. Her understanding of the world was warped beyond recognition.
A single flick on the forehead was obviously not going to be enough to set her straight.
And so.
Haimer simply did not stop there.
He reached out and, without further ceremony, took hold of Kohina's cheeks — those round, still-carrying-a-hint-of-baby-fat cheeks — and pulled.
They were soft. Springy. Yielding in a deeply satisfying way.
He stretched them outward, one side in each hand.
"Mmm... mmmff..."
Kohina let out a muffled string of miserable, incomprehensible protest.
Her face had been pulled into a squashed pancake.
She stared up at Haimer with her eyes as wide as they could go — if anything, looking even more grievously wronged than before.
This is... very strange.
Didn't Kami-sama already punish her once?
So why is he pinching her face?
Is this... also a punishment?
...
Watching Kohina in a state of complete, unknowing bewilderment — which could have generously been described as extremely accidental aegyo — Haimer did not soften.
He kept his expression composed, his voice firm.
"From now on, you are all companions."
"Companions are not allowed to harm each other."
"If Kohina ever dares to raise a blade against one of her own people —"
"I will hang Kohina from the rafters and paddle her backside."
"Understood?"
For a child like Kohina — raised in a genuinely warped environment — what she needed was not merely discipline. It was guidance. Someone who would tell her exactly where the line was drawn.
Kohina pursed her lips, looking distinctly disgruntled.
Why couldn't she cut? She was clearly so weak!
But looking into Haimer's eyes, Kohina ultimately gave a reluctant, compliant little nod.
"...Fine."
"Kohina will listen to Kami-sama..."
Kohina said it in a squirming, dragging, deeply unwilling tone.
Seeing that, Haimer gave a satisfied nod — and released Kohina's squashed little face at last, with the air of someone who had not quite gotten enough.
____
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