“The path I’m taking is full of bumps and cracks. It’s steep, and something may be lurking in the darkness… But I know that there’s something that lies beyond this path.”

▪ ▪ ▪

Kaizo Ryuuya.

A 25-year old Japanese employee who suffered quite the mental impact after being abused in his past company. His grades in his high school days were really remarkable, as he was one of the top students back then.

His work experience was impressive but his performance fell down because of workload. The results of him being promoted broke him down, ironically. It was observed that he still can work efficiently with an increase of work…

But his work increase was too much, not only for him, but for everyone. Not even for me.

Now, he’s currently in Orio with a rather weird experience of studying once again as a fourth year junior high school student. It became possible with the newly developed drug in Japan, which is called the “Façade”. And recently, it could take several forms like serum or tablets to be injected or drank.

The function of Façade is to regain a younger body of a person in a fixed time. It was said that it was heavily inspired by the animated show in Japan in the name of ReL*FE, and Japan made it come true to the real world.

Anew Company is currently the one holding legal possession of that drug and along with Kaizo being present in Orio, a few employees of Anew made their way here and already set a shadow branch.

And for some reasons, I became a subject of Anew along with Kaizo, and he is the one that recommended me to be a subject because of my disappearance for five days last August. If that decision was on a whim, I don’t know.

Now that it is November, we are currently preparing for exams again as the first semester is about to end. As per the decision of the education department, Blue Ink High School will just take eight months for this school year and they are hoping that everything will be back to normal next year.

In the previous exams, Kaizo aced every subject. Even with his current mental state, he can still focus in his studies. Though, I wonder if he easily agreed in being a student once again.

As a refresh, the objective of Anew is to grasp an observable change from the subject. As a fellow, I was asked to also observe him like how the employees do.

But up until now, I can’t see an apparent change to him. He’s not interacting with other people and only speaks when needed. He doesn’t show hostility but he looks like he’s hard to approach in the eyes of other students.

“Nii! Are you going home with us? If so, then hurry up!”

“Yeah, yeah. Little sister, I’m coming with you two.

I’ll just get changed and go to work immediately once we get back.”

“So you’re still working even if it’s mid-November, huh. It’s already the 17th.”

“You’re right, Rin. But I think I’ll loosen my schedule after the break in December. That’s the holiday season, after all.”

It’s the same as usual. Anna, Rin and I are still walking home even if it’s the middle of winter.

I’m still flabbergasted that it is snowing in Orio.

“Uhh… Rin?”

“Yes?”

“What do you think about Ryuuya-san?”

“…

I don’t get what you mean…?”

“Um… Impressions?”

“Oh, that. I understand now.”

“Ryuuya-san? Is that your classmate, Nee-chan?”

“Yeah, he’s a transfer student from Japan.”

“From the North?! Whoa, I’ve never heard about that.”

“But why ask, Gin?”

“Nothing, really. I just want to know what your impressions of him are.”

“…?

Well, at first glance, he looks unapproachable but actually, he probably isn’t like that.

I also see him mostly eating lunch with the other Japanese students, but he doesn’t really talk to them by the looks of it.”

“There are more Japanese?!”

“Yes, Anna.

But about him, he is also good in academics and I think he was average in P.E. He’s always quiet in the classroom and perhaps he’s always thinking of something. Then, one moment you’ll see him writing something in his notebook.”

“I forgot that he sat beside you.”

*Gin sits on the back of Rin, and Kaizo is her seatmate who is in front of Jean in the classroom.*

“Mostly, he’s kind of… stiff, I guess? And very formal in his way of speaking.

That’s all.”

“I see…”

“I’ve heard that he is friends with the other four transfer students before they even came down here to the South-“

“Which is a lie, obviously.”

“But it looks like he doesn’t really talk to them even when we were the only people present.

Uh-oh, we’re home now. I need to change now and hurry to the resto. So I guess I’ll see you later, Rin.”

“See ‘ya.”

“It seems like I, the little sister lost my existence in their eyes…

Stupid couple…”

~ ~ ~

Very rarely, Kaizo is seen walking alone in the middle of the night. Then his phone vibrated from his left pocket.

6:38PM – Yugare-san

Where are you right now?

Outside

Good timing

Why?

Can you go to Giotto’s right now?

I’m there currently and about to leave

?

I have something to talk about regarding your observations

6:44PM

Alright

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, in Giotto’s…

Gin and Hiro are in the kitchen as usual.

“Man, that wave of customers was quite tiring.”

“It’s good though. We’ll be closing early today anyways and there are only two tables occupied.

I hope we could close before 7:30.”

“I think we could.”

“You can change your clothes now, Gin.”

“Got it.

Oh? Another cus… tomer…?

Shoot…!”

I instinctively crouched after seeing from the kitchen window the person that just entered the restaurant.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Gin?”

“A classmate… rather, the subject of Anew entered the restaurant.”

“Ryuuya?”

“Oi! Keep it down! No one in my class knows that I’m working here.

…

Well… if I just remove my apron, it’ll look like I’m just a part-timer here. Like, some kind of waiter.”

“Then do your work, waiter.”

“Sí.”

~ ~ ~

“Where the heck is Yugare-san…?”

“Hello, sir. Can I take your order?

Ah!”

“Huh?”

“Ryuuya-san? Fancy meeting you here.”

Gin is acting like he was ignorantly surprised seeing Kaizo in the restaurant.

“Uhh… Sakato…-san? From our class?”

“Oh, yes. That’s me, Gin Sakato.

Do you have something to order now?”

“Oh, I guess I’d have-

Wait, that’s not the purpose of my coming here!”

“So Kaizo can raise his voice, huh.”

“What do you mean?”

“Yugare-san messaged me to come here because he said that he was here right now.”

“Eh? I never saw Yugare-san enter the restaurant.”

“What the- What’s he up to again?!”

“And he can get worked up too?

But I guess I’ll have to scold Yugare-san for framing both of us even though he’s seven years older than me. He’s in a high school student appearance so I can at least do that.

I’m a bit peeved, honestly.”

“By the way, Sakato-san. Seeing you on a uniform, I suppose you work here at Giotto’s?”

“Ah, yes I do work here. It’s my part-time job and I work here as a waiter-“

“Ah, crap! It fell again!”

“Eh?!”

I was interrupted by a loud noise perhaps of a metal pot that fell. It’s only Hiro that was in the kitchen so he’s probably listening now that the remaining customers left already.

I bet he intentionally dropped that and shouted because I said that I’m a waiter instead of telling Kaizo that I’m actually a sous chef here.

It left Kaizo being startled whilst almost falling off the chair he was sitting on.

“Oh, sorry about that. They’re probably cleaning inside the kitchen right now.”

“Are you going to close now?”

“We’re going to close at 7:30 tonight.”

“Is that so… I’ll take my leave now if I’m bothering you. Sorry for suddenly coming he-"

*Ping*

"I have a message.”

“Sorry I lied. But why don’t take the opportunity to have a little chat?” is what the message said.

“This damned Anew employee…”

I can feel that he’s emitting a dark aura while resenting either his phone or the one who sent the message. After a huge sigh, he turned around and stared at me.

“I guess I’ll drop the act, then. You want to have a talk right, Kaizo Ryuuya-san?”

“I hate how you sound like Yugare-san in that sentence.” Kaizo grumbled.

“Well, please wait a second and I’ll change my clothes.”

~ ~ ~

“Now that I think about it, this is the first time we had a proper conversation… wait, this is the first time we ever talked to each other, actually.”

“Yeah, I guess…

Anyways, do you already know that I was the one that recommended you to be another subject?”

“Yeah, Yugare-san already told me about that last September.”

“Can we drop the formalities just for this chapter? I bet it’s hard for the author to type ‘-san’ every time.”

“I agree.

…

So… what made you recommend me to be a subject when I was on my leave?”

“Because it was a bit suspicious. You suddenly took a leave of absence and when it was announced, not even Kiiro-sensei knew why.

I also observed that your friends had worried faces with them. I got to ask Mato-sensei too after discovering that you two are friends from childhood. In some ways, apparently, you were an outcast. So don’t think that I decided that on a whim. I made sure that I at least have a basis.”

“I see. Quite the smart move.

Alright, then… What made you accept the proposition of Anew? Aren’t you against of coming back to being a high school student and more so, you left your mother country?”

“Well… At first, I never really cared. I thought just a year will pass by and this will be over. I took the Façade last April and eventually rode a plane going to Orio as a 15 year-old kid. But I did think of wanting to leave the country too.

When I experienced being a high school student, for some unknown reasons, I felt relief. That’s when I thought that this year will be passing by smoothly, but I was then warned by Mitsumi-san to not let my guard down.

And last month, what traveled through my sight was chaos. I never imagined teenagers to be like that. It’s just too suffocating to be around them.”

Kaizo’s facial expressions are slowly and gradually changing from a serious to an expression that perhaps displays pity.

“At that time, the relief that I felt back then suddenly disappeared and I lost my way again.”

“’Again.’

This probably doesn’t relate to his academic performance at all.”

“Let me be blunt then…

Are you by any chance thinking about the last company that employed you?”

His expression that showed pity suddenly changed to a face with anger.

“Shoot. I hit the spot.”

“What do you know?!”

After he vigorously stood, he released a very deep voice and stared daggers at me.

“Your cruel past.

You may not know, but I constantly looked at you when the principal was speaking in front of the class. Whenever I looked at you, all I can see is that you’re listening to the principal thoroughly without even blinking.

I do not know what was running inside your head but at that time, you showed a face with full of hope. You may deny it but that is what my eyes saw.”

He once again sat and rested his left arm on the table while he looks down on the floor. His rage turned into sadness.

“You are currently suffering from depression—that, I do know. You’re actually strong, even if you’re unaware of it.

To tell you something, I’ve already experienced something similar to that. What do you think happened to me?”

“…

I don’t know.”

“I went insane and almost killed myself by slashing my torso.”

Kaizo’s eyes widened as he stares at me with big surprise on his face. His close fist of his left hand came at ease and he started shivering.

“I was deeply consumed by despair and all I could think that time was cursing the cruel reality of this world.

But that doesn’t end there. Even if I lost my sanity, my mind still contradicted that despair.

It was my will to live that made me woke up after three days of being unconscious. Well, it’s all the remnants of the past, so it’s nothing I or you should fuss about.”

“…”

“My point is… I know that you are depressed, but you need to stay strong and don’t let the negative things consume you. Because if you let those thing take over you, you may end up doing what I did.

I’m not discouraging you in any way. I’m just sharing my experience as a fellow who overcame my adversities. I know that you can fight that and return back ‘anew.’”

“Sakato.

Punch me as hard as you can.”

“Eh? What?!

What the heck are you… saying…”

(!)

“I get it.

You want a punch because you want to clear your head out. Perhaps right now, you are overthinking everything that I have said, like when I almost killed myself. So the suicidal thought is on your head now. I guess it’s my fault but I guess I really am going to punch you to clear those thoughts. I seriously don't want you to do what I did.

It’s not my fault anymore if I put you to sleep, okay? Oh, I think I’ll also give Yugare-san quite the beating too~”

Ryou suddenly sneezed and got shivers somewhere.

“I see now that you’re quite a sadist Sakato.

Well, I told you to punch me as-

Oooofff!!!!!”

In the end, he fell down on the floor after my fist collided on his right cheek. Good thing I didn’t put him to sleep with that punch.

I was actually holding back a whole lot. If I were to measure it, it’s probably as strong as Rin’s punch whenever she beats me up with a blushing face.

Wait, is that how strong she punches me? My word, I don't know what will happen to me if I had my former physique.

“Now… should I ask for a round two~? Hehehehe…”

A scary smile, cracking knuckles, looking down on someone lying on the floor, a dark aura flooding the whole place…

~ ~ ~

“Have you finally calmed down, Ryuuya-san?”

“I should be the one asking you that. I’ll never let you punch me ever again.

And just call me Kaizo from now on.”

“Alright then, Kaizo, just call me Gin.”

“Eh. That was fast.

But seriously, thank you for that. I finally understood the meaning of your words. I guess I’m the only one trapping myself from the past. I’ll try my best not to think of it again.

I know it will be a slow recovery but I’ll work for it. I also want to see myself change.”

“I suggest that you should hang out with the employees while you still have the appearance of a student.

And you can’t go drinking, of course.”

“Yeah, yeah. I don't really drink, anyways.

Though, I think Mitsumi-san is a heavy drinker and Itori-san never gets drunk.”

“Ahahaha.

…

I wish to see you change too. At least, one burden has been gone since the whole class tamed down now. If you’re bothered by something, you can have a chat with me.

Unless, if I have work.”

“Thank you very much, Gin.”

I nearly forgot that Kaizo is Japanese. He just bowed in front of me to show his gratitude. Oh, I’m in tears.

“Well, I should be going back to my apartment now. See you in school.”

“Yeah, sure. I’m about to go home too. See ‘ya.”

After he covered a bit of distance from me, I quickly made a call slash report.

“Hello, Yugare-san?”

“Sakato-san? Did anything happen in your side?”

“My first encounter with Kaizo Ryuuya is not a failure.”

“Oh? That’s very good to hear.”

“Yeah, it sure is.

So, you owe me a scolding and a punch on the right cheek, okay~?”

“Huh?”

“There’s no need to ask. But it’s not my fault anymore if I put you into sleep. Are we good~?”

“Y-Yes… G-G-Goodbye, then…”

*beep*

Another week started, and Kaizo Ryuuya entered the classroom with a bandage on his right cheek.

“It still hurts, you know.”