Was it painful being a substitute? There were times where he thought so, but those moments were fleeting whenever he saw her smile.

For him, all that mattered was her smile; as long as he saw that, then nothing else mattered.

(Thank you so much, Ru.

If it weren't for you, then I would never have found the courage to tell Yuhi how I feel.

I have spent many blissful days with him.

But I could never truly be happy with him. I want to learn the truth of what happened that day.

What were you investigating before?

Why did your illness flare-up?

The memories I lost, why did I lose them?

The strange incidents happening across the globe.)

Mamoru chuckled again when he saw the long list. She is the same as ever. The moment she gets suspicious of something, she becomes so curious to the point it ends up with her snooping around.

So she even suspected why his condition got worse. Even though she stayed by his side and helped him, she had other things on her mind.

(Ru, I won't stop running.

So I know one day our paths will cross again properly.

The next time we meet, I want it to be with Yuhi.

Will you properly give us your blessing then?

It is cruel to ask this, but I want to show you the person who has helped me experience happiness. The happiness you always wanted for me.)

There was more to the letter, but Mamoru didn't read any further.

Ki, the truth is there was something he desperately wanted to tell her if they met again.

But if he were to say those words to her now, it would trouble her, wouldn't it?

...

As a child, the walls in his house were the only ones he was familiar with. For the longest time, it remained that way; there was an unspoken rule, the outside world is a dangerous place.

Mamoru confirmed that theory because when he tried to leave the house once, his mother dragged him back inside. Those were the times she would beat him.

He quickly learned that being treated like air was better than being beat. After the first few times, he didn't bother trying again; he wasn't suicidal. Most people now would say he was smart for his age. He managed to survive despite living in such circumstances.

He didn't know whether it was deliberate or not, but that place didn't have many windows. But from what he could see, there were no other nearby houses. It was just a house in the middle of nowhere. He didn't know how to feel about it, but he knew there was something wrong.

His parents did not live as a normal couple.

The one time they had a guest, it was a friend of his mother's. She hid anything to do with him and acted like he didn't exist.

Why did they have to lock away a child and even deny his existence to that extent?

He taught himself how to read and write; he taught himself how to cook whenever his mother wasn't in the kitchen. There were days where she would leave the house and not come back for a while. There were many days where both his parents were not around. So he could use his father's study and the kitchen as he pleased.

His father's study wasn't very large, but there were many books there. He would pick up random books and stare at the pages. After repeating that process daily with different books, one day, he could read.

It was a strange way of learning how to read, but that is what happened. He read all sorts of books and started to realize how vast the outside world was.

In those books, there were people, children, adults, and the elderly. He learned about how families should be, adults teaching their children and spending time with them. The children growing up and going to schools, meeting people, falling in love- becoming adults themselves.

There were all sorts of stories, murder mysteries, contemporary, reincarnation, fantasy, drama. Some stories didn't suit his taste, but that was fine since he focused on other areas. What he liked the most about books were the humans who interacted with each other.

It was so different from the world he knew.

It was only when he first met Ibuki Sumire that he finally learned that the stuff in those books happens in reality.

He was around seven when he met Ibuki Sumire.

It was only a month since he arrived at the facility. His mother committed suicide, and his father tried to make a run for it since the police suspected him. It turned out his father was a piece of trash with several different families. He only came home once in a while because he would go home to different places after a certain amount of time.

Mamoru didn't know what to make of it.

-

Several years ago, at S facility.

One by one, his friends kept disappearing; as a curious young boy, Mamoru knew something was off with the situation. So when he finished all his training, and they escorted him to his room. He waited a while before he snuck out.

But it wasn't until his closest friend vanished too did he gain any leads.

It didn't take long before he found a place with a no entry sign and an odd-looking fence. It was a fence that suppressed those with strong powers. But for somebody like him, it was easy to pass. Usually, in places like this, one finds the organization's secret. But Mamoru wasn't after that.

Once I found Youji, then I will leave.

It is strange that he just disappeared one day. Whenever he asked the other researchers about it, they would say that person was never here.

So even the adults deny his existence. He snuck into the data room and found that they even erased his records. For them to go that far, there is something wrong.

He wandered around the hallways for a long time. It was an unusual corridor, everything looked the same as the dorms, but there was a barbed wire across all the rooms.

It occurred to him that they were keeping people here too. But he moved past each door when he saw the nameplates. There are numbers but with different letters. It will be difficult for him to identify whether Youji is here too.

He eventually reached a different type of door; there was an unusual red-colored light that screamed danger, so he leaned his head against the door. It was the only one without the wired fence.

"Hello? Are you there?"

Mamoru didn't say Youji just in case. He knew how precious names were to people in this facility.

"--get-"

Get? Mamoru paused when he heard that muffled voice. "Hey? Are you in there?"

There was no response other than an annoyed grunt.

"I know. Are you one of those people they call a shut-in?!"

Still no reply. Maybe he heard things.

"I know maybe you are a neet! Are you worried that you will lose your job if you open the door?"

At those words, he heard a very annoyed-sounding voice stand up. In the next second, the doors opened, revealing a young girl around his age with long brown colored hair. Despite her thin-looking state, Mamoru felt his heartbeat increase. There was something angelic about her appearance.

H--huh? What is this?