"Mm…"

A beam of sunlight streamed through the window into the ward. Misaki slowly opened her eyes.

Though her body was still frail from illness, she had slept soundly through the night.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Rinji sitting by her bedside. Sunlight glinted off his golden hair, highlighting his refined features with an unusual beauty.

Her hand still clutched his, while his other hand held a book on leukemia pathology that he was leafing through.

He noticed her waking, looking at him.

"You're awake?"

"Yes… ah, sorry."

Blushing, Misaki finally let go of Rinji's hand, looking a little embarrassed.

"Sorry for holding your hand all this time."

"It's fine. Doesn't really make a difference." Rinji shifted his focus back to the book in his hands.

Last night, he had indeed used alchemy to ease Misaki's pain, but that was only a temporary fix, not a real cure.

Leukemia was a disease caused by malignant cloning of hematopoietic stem cells. Because of uncontrolled proliferation, blocked differentiation, and inhibited apoptosis, the cells multiplied massively in bone marrow and other hematopoietic tissues, infiltrating non-hematopoietic tissues and organs, while suppressing normal blood production.

All Rinji could do was eliminate the excess proliferating cells. He couldn't treat the root cause directly.

If Misaki's leukemia had been caused by a virus, Rinji might have had some methods. Unfortunately, her illness was genetic.

Even with alchemy—a bug-level ability—its use still required proper medical knowledge to support it. And unfortunately, Rinji knew nothing of genetic pathology.

"You didn't sleep all night?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter." Rinji replied while reading. "Missing one night's sleep doesn't affect me at all."

After finishing the page, he closed the book and stood up from his chair.

"I promised I'd stay with you for a while, and I've done that. Now rest up and focus on recovering—I've got other things to take care of."

"Yes… thank you for last night."

"No trouble. Just wasted some of my time."

"…"

Misaki realized the boy before her wasn't exactly great with words. If anything, he was the type who could kill any conversation stone dead.

"Um… do you live in Yomiyama?"

"No, my permanent residence is in Tokyo."

"I see…"

She hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously.

"Can I call you Rinji?"

"Do as you like."

"That's great~"

She looked delighted. The sudden complications and intense pain from last night didn't seem to have left her with any psychological shadow.

Misaki said, "I'll probably have to stay in the hospital for a while to complete treatment, so…"

"Hm?"

"So… if you have free time, could you come keep me company?"

Her bright eyes held a faint hope. At her request, Rinji could only sigh.

"Depends. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll have the time."

"Then it's a promise~"

Just as Misaki was happily saying this, the hospital room door suddenly opened.

The black-haired girl Rinji had seen before—the one who looked exactly like Misaki—walked in.

With fluffy short black hair, delicate features, and a single crimson eye, her pale skin somehow lacked any sense of frailty. She was the kind of girl who would draw attention wherever she went.

But her left eye was always covered by an eyepatch.

"Misaki, how's your condition?"

"No problem at all."

Seeing her concern, Misaki smiled to ease her worry.

"The doctor said you suddenly had complications last night, I was so scared. I'm glad you're fine."

As she spoke, her eyes fell on Rinji sitting beside the bed.

Her crimson eye lingered on him briefly.

"I haven't introduced you yet. This is Rinji from Tokyo," Misaki said. "He's also the one who saved me yesterday at the amusement park."

"Hello, and thank you for saving Misaki."

The girl expressed her gratitude. Though her tone was a little cold, it wasn't dislike—just her natural personality.

"Rinji, this is the person I mentioned before, Mei—Mizuki Mei."

"Mizuki…?"

"No need to thank me. I just helped since I was there."

Rinji replied, then turned back toward Misaki.

"Since your sister's here, I'll take my leave. If there's a chance, I'll visit again."

"Eh, running away when there's a pretty girl here?"

"You're just a brat—what kind of pretty girl are you supposed to be?"

"How mean! I'm actually quite popular at school, you know." Misaki pouted at his bluntness.

Unlike the distant, aloof aura Mei gave off, Misaki was much more lively.

"Even if you two are beautiful, it's got nothing to do with me."

"You could at least try chasing us~" Misaki teased.

"I refuse."

"A straight rejection!?"

"Just to be clear, I already have a girlfriend. Besides…"

Rinji walked to the door and pulled it open.

"…we're not even from the same era. Consider that a reminder. Don't put too much thought into me. If possible, it's best you forget me altogether."

---

Stepping out of the hospital entrance, Rinji lit a cigarette and lowered his head in thought.

This was 1998. The reason was unclear, but there was no doubt he had jumped back to this era.

This was his second time here. The first had been at the amusement park—no more than thirty minutes. This time, it had already been nearly nine hours.

The pattern was unclear. The cause unknown. And how to return to his own time—also unknown.

"Looks like I'll have to start investigating from scratch…"

Just as he was about to begin, his pupils shrank.

Every hair on his body stood on end as an unprecedented sense of danger appeared behind him.

Whoosh!

Sensing the killing intent rapidly closing in, Rinji instinctively swung a full-force punch backward.

Smack!

But his strike was caught.

"Your reflexes aren't bad. But you're still too reckless."

The one who had caught his punch was a black-haired youth who looked only a few years older than him. At the sight of this figure, Rinji's eyes widened.

Meanwhile, the youth's face remained expressionless.

"You're the one who hacked into our satellite, aren't you? Tell me—who's backing you?"

But Rinji wasn't listening at all. His attention wasn't on the words.

"…Dad?"

He recognized him instantly. The boy standing before him was his father in his youth.

The father he had never seen before, known only through stories—his father during his most ruthless years.