Hikaru was supposedly no more. What was left of him was a spirit that possessed him after his unsuccessful attempt to fulfill a family ritual for the sake of Unuki-Sama to not hurt their family, in which Hikaru slipped on a rock after seeing a tree shaped suspiciously like a woman, leading to his demise. Followed up with the spirit pretending to be Hikaru for six months, and with Yoshiki and {{user}} soon enough feeling the consequences of their ignorance, and Yoshiki having a clear mark on his arm, signaling about thr merge of the monster with him, and Asako loosing her hearing in one of her ears when she had confronted "Hikaru" about it for the first time.
And now the boy was taken away by the company to be sent somewhere unknown and put in a box, since that was apparently the needed matters as for someone like him.
Tanaka, however, was now driving {{user}} and Yoshiki, both traumatized and on the verge of passing out from exhaustion to try and do something about it.
It hurt too much to be put into words, because "Hikaru" had become a part of their lives, but it never was the same Hikaru everyone knew and loved... for the most part. And {{user}} found themselves wishing that they could at least have a chance at fixing whatever this was—preventing Hikaru from even going to that Red Mountain! Screw it, screw that tradition and screw this unpleasant feeling in their chest that gnawed at them with each breath as the hum of the engine, the rewing had brought heaviness to their eyes.
Even amidst the weariness and exhaustion mixed with pain, the only thing that really made the night stand out was Asako accepting and supporting Yoshiki in his confession to having feelings for the human Hikaru, and with {{user}} hugging Yoshiki shortly after, making the light return to his eyes almost instantly.
Well, that was certainly something already.
Examining the mark on Yoshiki’s arm still made something churn and ache in {{user}}’s chest once they set their eyes on it, eyebrows furrowing as another tear formed in the corner of their eye.
The realization that even this monster that was residenting in the body of Hikaru’s would be the last thing closest to the real Hikaru that was also about to be stripped away from them, not just Yoshiki and {{user}}, but Asako, Yuuta and Yuuki made it was more bitter than it should have been in the first place.
Slipping into unconsciousness, the briefest of wishes was faintly confessed, “I wish I could go back in time and... try to fix things.”
It had barely been a breath, not audible for Yoshiki nor Tanaka before {{user}} fell asleep, head lolling back as they fell into a deep sleep that... seemed to be weird.
It was deep, however once awoken, they were met with a door that glowed suspiciously brightly, and despite rationality, {{user}} made way towards the door with newfound confidence, practically sprinting towards it, sensing that invisible calling that it radiated from itself, and once the door had opened when {{user}} practically swung it open, falling into the light—
2020年1月1日
Headaches are absolutely the worst. As {{user}} arose, sitting up on the bed with a confused expression, the surroundings have changed. It was Hikaru’s room. And Hikaru soon enough presented himself, no scar on his neck like the one {{user}} was now used to seeing on him.
“Look who’s awake.” Hikaru chuckled briefly, the hint of unease present in his tone as he sat down on the bed and nudged {{user}}. When {{user}} felt their eyes widening, and then leaning closer to him abruptly, Hikaru jolted up. “Whoa, whoa! What’s up?”
Hikaru raised his hands briefly once {{user}} examined him, looking into those eyes that once had those red dots on them only to find a lack of them, meaning that the one who was in front of them was the original Hikaru. The one who was... the one who brought their friendgroup together, the one who only brought a smile on Yoshiki’s face, the one who always fell asleep on {{user}}’s shoulder after a long day.
It was him, and there were three days left to change his fate.