1

Shaking the confusion away from his head, Reijy Ishida felt complete bewilderment as he took some time to go over the surroundings.

Hard, concrete floor. Cold, tangy air. A heavy feeling that threatened to push him back down the ground.

In addition, the area was filled with a sweet, musky smell that irritated him more than anything.

Overall, it was an unpleasant sensation that he never experienced before.

All the poor lighting and the air did was make him all the more annoyed, and with his teeth grinding quickly in anger and frustration, he pushed himself up.

"Guren Izaya! Show yourself!"

As those words echoed all over the room, light illuminated the place that he found himself in. Now seeing the large shelves that surrounded him, his anger slowly subsided into cautious bewilderment.

Rows and rows of wooden structures were set in an orderly manner.

"A library?"

To his surprise, the first book he instinctively flipped open contained no text in it.

He opened the next one. Then another. And another.

All of them contained the same thing: empty pages.

Shutting the book in futility, he let anger take over once more.

"What is the meaning of this? Guren Izaya! I know you're here somewhere!"

Holding his breath and slamming the books back to the shelf, the gray-haired boy ran down the rows of shelves, his footsteps echoing with every step he took on the tiled floor. Bewilderment, frustration, and irritability all combined to form something within him.

It was something that he had been feeling in an increasingly often time, and it all started after the company meeting. It seemed that nothing would go right for him, and even when he got that slight sliver of hope, things would come crashing down over and over again.

"Show yourself!"

The quick footsteps of his slowed down the moment the monotonous scenery changed. Having reached a certain part of the strange library, Reijy's run slowed down to a walk.

In front of him was a large alcove, a wide space away from the maddening rows of shelves and textless books.

In front of him was a circular living room with multiple comfortable-looking seats and dim lighting.

Reijy gingerly proceeded into the unfamiliar environment. It was as if he had been transported back in time. To someone like his father, the room could have evoked a nostalgic feel of childhood, a remnant of a time decades past before technology took over.

Luckily for him, he had all the luxury of the Ishida Conglomerate's riches and the technological advancements of Shiroki City growing up. The last time he had been anywhere near a room like this was in another town. The moments from a good decade and a half ago were clear in his head, but he was not sure whether he wanted to relive the memories of those happy days.

Looking at the living room, it all seemed like a scene from the bygone era had come to life. Shackled away in classic literature and books, the scenery had come to life in this torturous dimension.

"There you are. I have been waiting for you to come around."

Reijy clenched his fists without a second thought. Those fists stiffened even more when the youth saw the rapier that the long-haired man held as he walked towards him.

"That's my line. Where have you taken me, Izaya?!"

"You don't like it? I hoped that you would think a bit highly of my world, Reijy. It's a reflection of my mind and my heart's desire, after all."

"Don't try to think that we're friends. Now, get me out of here and get out of my sight!" Reijy's voice trembled.

"Reijy, I am not your enemy." Izaya let his rapier hang low before looking Reijy in the eye. "I want to know what lies beyond those weary eyes of yours, Reijy. I want to deal with those violent pulses you currently radiate."

Those sharp eyes, despite their mild expression, only made Reijy sick. Who did this guy take him as, anyway?

If he cannot provide an easy solution to what mattered, he's as good as useless.

"Why don't you just shut up and bring me home? If you want to fix my mood, I already told you what to do."

Reijy's body tensed up when Izaya started approaching him. His eyes never left the rapier that the man now firmly held, and he prepared multiple scenarios in which his fist could land while avoiding a lethal stab from the weapon.

Ten seconds. That was all he had to devise his plan.

He wanted to avoid armed confrontation, but if the thugs that once threatened him were any example, it was a bit too late for that.

"I know it's your first time in this world, but please calm down."

"Maybe if you toss that rapier of yours. Why did you bring me here, anyway?"

"Few people would heed my words and the things that I'm about to tell you. It would be easier to suspend your disbelief by bringing you into my world."

Ten seconds passed, and Izaya stopped. He showed no signs of attacking, but Reijy kept himself in high alert.

"Yes. This entire library is my world. It's the manifestation of a human being who has transcended his earthly limits. Only an exceedingly small number of people among the special chosen have access to this gift."

Time slowed to a crawl with each step the long-haired man took. Each approach seemed to increase Reijy's heart rate, and having had enough of anxiety, he threw all caution in the wind and charged ahead.

If this person would not make the first move, then he will—with one punch aimed dead center.

Reijy was not the physically strongest in the family. However, from the short experiences he had in fighting during his youth, he can confidently throw a punch.

His knuckles, still remembering the sensation of landing on someone's face and knocking them down, attested to that.

If he could land this on Izaya's forehead, it would be an easy knockout.

His fist went soaring.

Connected with nothing but air.

Wide-eyed and seeing no trace of Izaya, Reijy found his legs shaking.

Before his floor can cave his face in, his fall stopped.

Someone had held him up and saved him.

"Careful."

The whisper had a calm and reassuring tone to it, but those were the furthest emotions from Reijy's mind. Not when an arm was right in front of him. He adjusted his line of sight, and he felt gripping cold all over his body at the next thing he saw.

The hilt of the rapier.

"Y-you bi—"

Perhaps it was his rage that allowed him to forget the pain that supposedly radiated from being stabbed. Still, the anger that had overcome any fear in his mind was not enough, and Reijy found his mouth frozen open just as he turned and looked at the lawyer.

He never completed his expletive.

Izaya's long hair flapped despite the absence of wind, and there was something in him that caused Reijy's hands to tremble.

Why? Why do you have a look like that? Why do you have such a pathetic expression?! Are you pitying me?

Instead of the evil or sadistic expression that he anticipated, all that was seen from Guren Izaya was a sorrowful look. A look of remorse in those wide pupils that reflected a very angry face of a gray-haired boy.

A roulette of verbal expletives spun in Reijy's mind at this person who was looking down on him.

However, he lost all the feeling in his arms. Soon, the body followed, and he was captured by an encroaching darkness around him.

2

Yasakani.

It was the name given to an ancient artifact said to represent benevolence.

As such, Izaya felt that such name for an ability did not belong in the form of his Armament. A pointed weapon, much so a violent object representing the curse of class and hierarchy, was not his image of benevolence.

However, it was when he first activated it that he knew its true purpose – his true purpose for being chosen to wield this rapier.

The first of two powers that Yasakani granted his rapier allowed it to phase through objects that it pierced at his choosing. Even now, when his rapier pierced through the chest of the youth, not a single drop of blood was drawn.

Seeing the tip of the blade pierce through without a trace of blood was a scene that defied all logic and physics, but such was the wondrous power of Mu. This world held an intriguing power that can affect phenomena, and it was the very thing that drew his inquisitive mind to it. Not only his, but a very dear person and a supremely talented colleague...

As his blade pierced the youth's chest, his body took in a powerful wave of energy, shocking him and burning him inside.

Yasakani was an ability that allowed him to connect with whatever his rapier pierced. Its first ability was not the best ability for direct combat, but it allowed Izaya to unite with its target on a near spiritual level.

Unfortuantely, such a neural link, one that allowed him to share some of his insane reservoir of power, can backfire.

Its main purpose was for Izaya to understand the light and darkness inside a person's heart. On the flip side, it also left his psyche vulnerable to the vilest desires and emotions of the human heart. One similar to what he felt from this youth.

A vile deluge of hatred, bitterness, and frustration.

No wonder the youth was so emotionally unstable.

Izaya's wince reflected the sheer pity and remorse that filled his heart. It was a shocking sensation, but it was not one that he never felt before. In fact, it was something that he had felt countless times already.

"He's just like Satoru..."

Indeed, the wave of emotions that he felt resonating off the barely conscious Ishida sibling was far too similar to the violent member of Euphoria.

"Resentment against the world. The feeling of being tied down by a parental figure. The knowledge that justice was nowhere in this world."

In contrast to the spiky haired adolescent within his ranks, Reijy Ishida was born to privilege. However, being the heir of the city's largest industry conglomerate was but a shabby protection against the cruelty of fate. As he learned, all it took was a flash for everything that he had worked for to start crashing down.

It was all according to expectations, regardless. Izaya knew far too well that social status meant nothing against the unpredictability of the world.

Despite this, he continued channeling Yasakani, holding the fainted youth on the back.

Izaya wanted to learn more. He knew that there had to be more, and his Armament had unearthed so many stories that ordinary people wouldn't know of at first glance.

He continued fighting the wave of negative energy that weaved with his own emotional energy.

Scorn. Jealousy. Pride.

The flow of those emotions would not come to an end.

All of a sudden, Izaya's eyes widened involuntarily.

Light emerged in between the black currents that flowed into him. It took a while, but Izaya finally got to the heart of the matter: the one piece of the puzzle that could help him understand the youth more.

Pulling his weight in gripping the rapier, he once gain closed his eyes.

Waking up, he saw that a garden had replaced the murky scenery.

"So this is where it took me," said the levitating Izaya.

His eyes quickly shot to a bench where a red-haired girl sat. She had her eyes fixed on the wave of blue and purple flowers around her while her one piece dress fluttered in the wind.

Wearing her hat, she stood out from the masses of people of all ages and groups walking by.

Not soon after he looked away from the girl, Izaya felt a relieved smile forming on his face.

The person of interest had arrived.

The gray-haired boy with hands behind his back came running into view, almost stumbling over pebbles on his way to the girl.

3

Reijy Ishida gathered himself and barely avoided dropping the tiny box on his hand. After he swiftly made the save and quickly concealed the box behind his back, he stared into the wide eyes of the red-haired girl.

"Y-you didn't see anything, Akane!"

The chuckles from the girl said otherwise, causing Reijy's free arm to droop down.

"I had to embarrass myself even at the final day..." lamented the gray haired boy.

"You're always so hard on yourself," pouted the girl.

"H-how can I not be? After tomorrow, I will not be seeing you again. I don't want to go back to Shiroki City. Not after the past few years here."

Those words were said with a heavy heart, and Reijy thought about it for a moment. The past few years had been amazing and a long reprieve from his father and his older brother. At first, he did not like this city, but his mother had been a way better person than anyone else from his family.

Why did things have to change? Why did he have to go back to his father's side? Why did he have to be forced to leave this happy life here?

Because some strange men holding stacks of paper said so? All because people in uniform had to take his mother away in a few more days?

"Hmph! You have an annoying look on your face again!"

The redhead's words snapped Reijy out of his trance, and he promptly fumbled out an apology before being interrupted.

"It's supposed to be our last day together in this town, so we should be having fun. Why are you being all serious?"

"I-I just said it, Akane. After tomo—"

"Again, I told you to stop worrying about the future! You're eight, and I'm six. Mom and I won't be happy if our last playtime would be so sad."

She pointed at a woman with long, red hair smiling behind her.

"S-sorry," timidly replied the young boy before choking as he only now saw the mother standing behind the bench.

"E-eh! Sorry, Mrs. Fujiwara!" he likewise apologized to the mother.

Seeing the Akane's sparkly eyes right after he smiled, he felt his mood improving in spite of his solemn words.

It had always been like this. There's just something that the girl, Akane Fujiwara, had that seemed to always raise his spirits.

"Hold on, Reijy."

Akane began digging into the small backpack that sat beside her before pulling out a bag of happiness that caused the boy's eyes to widen.

"I got you your favorite, Reijy! Fresh pineapple cakes from Aunt Risa's bakery. We made sure to get the best ones for today!"

Before Reijy reached out to get his first chunk of pineapple cake, he remembered the box on his other hand. Quickly, he brought the hand up front and proudly smiled.

"I also have something for you, Akane."

The squeal of joy was like music to Reijy's ears even if it had caused him to flinch in shock for a second.

"My mom and I picked it together," he declared proudly when he saw the girl put the lily necklace around her neck.

"Thank you, Reijy!"

The boy expected the thanks, but he did not expect the glomp that came immediately after. She had always been quite the energetic and physical type, but Reijy still cannot get used to her sudden hugs.

He simply stood dumbfounded, his cheeks warming up, while Mrs. Fujiwara laughed at the distance.

With one hand remaining around his shoulder, Akane pointed at a faraway gate.

"Let's not waste time. We have an entire afternoon to play and enjoy the park. Let's make the most out of your last day in this town!"

Reijy watched his friend sprint towards the gate. He smiled, and for a second, he thought that he had forgotten his worries.

However, he would have to face those demons once more. After today, he would be sent to a city miles away to be in the care of his father: never to see the carefree days in this town again.

The world is comprised of two people. The rulers who soar to greatness and those who live whilst gazing above.

Those were the words of his father before his mother brought him to salvation. Those were words that never left his heart, and it pained him that he would have to face those again. A couple of years was just too short of a reprieve.

No.

There was one way to change everything. One way to right the course.

If he could become king, ruler of his company, then he could just do what he wanted, right? He could break the chains placed on the children of the Ishida. He would eradicate the discrimination his father spoke at length about commoners, people like Akane.

Never would he have to hear those words regarding commoners and hurdles to their idea of perfection.

It was something that he should start considering, but for now, he wanted to enjoy his last afternoon with his friend.

Tucking those worrisome thoughts aside, he ran ahead to catch up with his friend and her mother.

4

The people, the plants, the props... everything slowly disintegrated.

Izaya, who was watching the scene play out, braced himself as the entire scene seemed to collapse on itself, scattering into blurred fog that filled his vision.

So that's it.

Finding himself in the present, he pulled his rapier away from the gray-haired youth. The resulting sizzling sound confirmed that the effects of Yasakani had ended.

He then released his hold and hopped back, narrowly missing a backhand from Reijy.

"What in the world did you do?!" rasped Reijy.

Izaya failed to recall the last time something like this happened. With the few people that he took a chance on, never did anyone break Yasakani so violently.

That was when he knew that he had touched a piece of the youth's memory that the latter was not ready to face.

"Now, I understand everything, Reijy Ishida. Thank you for showing me why you want control of the company so desperately. Let me help."

"You think I'll believe you after what you just did?!"

"I can help you. Together, we can strike back against the order of this world. We will reclaim it and create the perfect future for humanity!"

"Does that have to do with taking down Yuichiro? No? Then, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not interested?"

It was a disappointing response, and it was not quite what Izaya had wanted. But what could he expect from such an emotionally unstable youth?

Lashing out.

That knowledge was enough to make the incoming attack extremely predictable.

Avoiding Reijy's reckless charge, Izaya spun and struck. His hand connected on the back of Reijy's head, and the boy crumpled into a heap.

"You're the one. I know that you will soar the highest once you reach enlightenment. Once you understand and accept the truth of this world."

Laying Reijy down the floor, Izaya pierced him with his rapier. Like the first time around, Yasakani drew no blood.

This time, it was time to give its second ability a test run.

"Will you take up the fight against fate when the time comes, Reijy Ishida?"

He continued gazing at the downed Reijy before light from his rapier illuminated the whole room.