Chapter 11: Brothers of a Second Life
Rain continued to fall long after the fight was over.
Neither of them moved for a while.
Kyūsei still gripped Kazuto's shirt with one hand. Kazuto still sat half on the ground, half against the overturned bench, as if standing up might break the moment.
The training yard was empty except for them.
Rainwater ran through grooves in the stone floor.
Wooden dummies leaned crookedly like witnesses pretending not to watch.
Kazuto finally spoke.
"You punch harder now."
Kyūsei sniffed and wiped his face angrily.
"Shut up."
"Growth."
"I said shut up."
Kazuto laughed quietly.
The sound was softer than usual.
Less performance.
More real.
Kyūsei stepped back and sat on the bench again, breathing hard.
He stared at the wet ground.
"So… Hansuke."
Kazuto groaned.
"Do we have to use that name?"
"It's your name."
"It was my name."
"It still is."
Kazuto pointed dramatically at himself.
"This face clearly says Kazuto."
"It says trouble."
"Also true."
Kyūsei almost smiled, then frowned again.
"You should have told me."
Kazuto leaned back on his hands.
"I know."
"When?"
"Every day."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the honest one."
Rain tapped steadily around them.
Kyūsei's anger had not vanished.
But it had changed shape.
No longer sharp enough to cut.
Now it was something heavier.
The pain of being kept outside someone's grief.
"You thought I'd hate you?"
Kazuto's gaze drifted to the gray sky.
"I thought seeing me would drag you backward."
Kyūsei blinked.
"What?"
"You died miserable, Kyūsei."
The words landed without cruelty.
Only truth.
"You finally got thrown into a new world. If the first thing waiting for you was the ghost of your old life…"
He shrugged.
"I didn't want to become another chain."
Kyūsei looked away.
Hansuke had always noticed more than he said.
Even back then.
Especially back then.
Memories came uninvited.
A cheap convenience store after school.
Hansuke sharing half his food because Kyūsei "looked hungry."
Walking home in silence that somehow felt comfortable.
Hansuke taking blame for a broken classroom window Kyūsei hadn't broken either.
That same idiot stepping into traffic without hesitation.
Kyūsei's throat tightened.
"You really were stupid in every world."
Kazuto grinned.
"Consistent characterization."
Kyūsei elbowed him.
They sat in silence again.
This one felt different.
Not empty.
Rested.
Eventually Kazuto stood and stretched.
"Good emotional scene. Now train."
Kyūsei stared.
"We just had life-changing revelations."
"Exactly. Prime motivational window."
"You're insane."
"And you're slower than yesterday. Guard up."
Kazuto tossed him a wooden practice sword.
Kyūsei barely caught it before Kazuto attacked.
The strike came fast.
Kyūsei blocked clumsily and nearly lost his grip.
"You monster!"
"You asked for honesty."
They sparred in the rain.
Wood cracked against wood.
Feet slipped on wet stone.
Kazuto pressed constantly, forcing Kyūsei to move, turn, recover.
Every time Kyūsei lost balance, Kazuto struck lightly at shoulder, ribs, wrist.
"Dead."
"Dead."
"Very dead."
"Rude amount of dead."
Kyūsei swung wildly in frustration.
Kazuto sidestepped and tapped his forehead.
"Thinking with emotion."
"I am emotional!"
"Then lose politely."
Kyūsei roared and charged.
Kazuto swept his legs.
Kyūsei crashed flat into a puddle.
Kazuto looked down.
"Dramatic."
Kyūsei spat water.
"I'm going to kill you."
"Queue is long."
But when Kazuto offered a hand, Kyūsei took it.
Again.
By midday the rain had eased.
They left the yard bruised, soaked, and starving.
Kazuto insisted hunger made lessons memorable.
Kyūsei insisted hunger made murder tempting.
They ended up at a noodle stall under a red awning near the south market.
Steam rose in fragrant clouds.
The old cook took one look at Kazuto.
"No credit."
Kazuto placed a hand over his heart.
"Do rumors run faster than feet?"
"They sprint when it's you."
Kyūsei paid before things escalated.
Bowls arrived moments later.
Rich broth, sliced meat, herbs, thick noodles.
Kyūsei nearly cried again.
"This world has forgiven me."
Kazuto slurped loudly.
"It hasn't. This is temporary."
Across the street, merchants argued over fish prices while a child chased a chicken carrying stolen bread.
Valthorin continued being Valthorin.
Kyūsei realized something strange.
For the first time in either life, he was eating with family.
Not by blood.
By choice.
He looked at Kazuto.
"What did you do after arriving here?"
Kazuto kept eating for a moment before answering.
"Survived badly."
"Meaning?"
"Stole once."
"You?"
"Hungry."
"Then?"
"Got caught."
Kyūsei laughed.
"Of course."
"Then the guard captain made me work instead of jailing me."
"You? Following orders?"
"For three days."
Kazuto wiped his mouth.
"After that I joined adventurers. Learned to fight. Got stronger. Made enemies. Made friends. Lost some."
His voice dimmed at the end.
Kyūsei noticed.
But didn't press.
Not yet.
When they returned to the inn that evening, the common room buzzed louder than usual.
Adventurers crowded tables.
Guild runners moved quickly.
Maps were spread open.
The innkeeper pointed at them immediately.
"You two. Trouble table."
"There's a trouble table?" Kazuto asked.
"There is when you walk in."
At the largest table sat Lena from the guild, two armored adventurers, and Master Eldrin, who looked offended simply by existing near noise.
Lena crossed her arms.
"Sit."
Kazuto whispered to Kyūsei, "She says that like execution."
They sat.
Lena tapped a map of the lands east of Valthorin.
Three villages were circled in red.
"Last night," she said, "all communication stopped from these settlements."
Kyūsei frowned.
"Bandits?"
One armored adventurer shook his head.
"No bodies on roads. No smoke. No refugees."
Master Eldrin adjusted his glasses.
"Worse. Witnesses from a patrol reported black-eyed townsfolk standing silently in the streets."
Kyūsei's stomach turned.
The possessed man.
Lena looked directly at him.
"We believe what appeared here was not isolated."
Kazuto's face had gone unreadable.
"How many teams?"
"Two already sent. No return."
Kyūsei looked at Kazuto.
Kazuto looked at the map.
Then at Lena.
"You want me involved."
"I want results."
"You always know how to flirt."
Lena did not blink.
"I'm serious."
Kazuto leaned back.
"Danger level?"
"Unknown."
"Annoying answer."
"Accurate one."
Silence settled.
Then Kazuto asked the question that mattered.
"Why us?"
Lena's gaze moved to Kyūsei.
"Because whatever those things seek…"
She tapped the center of the map.
"They're moving toward Valthorin."
Then she looked back at Kazuto.
"And because if the boy is connected, hiding him won't help anymore."
Kyūsei felt every eye on him.
He straightened despite the knot in his chest.
"I'm going."
Kazuto immediately said, "No."
Kyūsei turned.
"I wasn't asking."
"You're undertrained."
"You were under-everything when you started."
"I had worse judgment."
"Still do."
Master Eldrin coughed to hide a smile.
Lena folded her arms.
"Decide quickly. We leave at dawn."
Kazuto rubbed his face.
Then sighed the sigh of a man defeated by fate and idiots.
"Fine."
Kyūsei blinked.
"Really?"
Kazuto pointed a finger in his face.
"You stay behind me."
"No."
"You listen instantly."
"Maybe."
"You run if I say run."
"We'll see."
Kazuto looked to the ceiling.
"I miss when he thought I was mysterious."
Kyūsei grinned.
"You were never mysterious."
Lena stood.
"Dawn. East gate."
As the room returned to noise, Master Eldrin leaned toward Kyūsei.
"Bring back my books."
Kyūsei stared.
"That's your concern?"
The old man sniffed.
"Knowledge survives monsters more often than boys."
Then, after a pause:
"Try to do both."
That night, beyond the city walls, in one of the silent villages, every villager turned their faces toward Valthorin at the same time.
And began to walk.