The underground medical ward of Mikado Ryouko's clinic was silent, save for the rhythmic, steady beep... beep... beep of the life support monitors. The air smelled of antiseptic and ozone, a sterile scent that did nothing to calm the nerves of the seven girls gathered in the room.
In the center of the room, inside a transparent stasis tank filled with pale blue restorative fluid, floated Yuuki Rito.
He looked peaceful. His eyes were closed, his hair floating weightlessly in the liquid. Wires and sensors were attached to his chest, his temples, and his arms, feeding data to the bank of computers against the wall.
He had been asleep for three days.
"How is he?" Mikan asked. Her voice was steady, but her hands, gripping the edge of the control console, were white-knuckled. She hadn't left the clinic since the accident, wearing the same clothes, her eyes dark with exhaustion.
"His vitals are stable." Mikado replied, tapping a cigarette against an ashtray she wasn't allowed to use near the equipment. She looked at the readouts with a frown that was equal parts professional curiosity and disbelief. "Actually, 'stable' isn't the right word. 'Evolving' is better."
"Evolving?" Lala squeaked, clutching Peke. "What does that mean, Mikado-sensei? Is Rito turning into... an alien?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes." Mikado said, turning her chair to face the group.
The harem was assembled. Run sat on a stool, looking pale without her idol makeup. Haruna stood by the tank, her hand pressed against the glass as if trying to reach Rito. Sachie and Mami were huddled together on the floor, their backpacks serving as pillows; they had refused to go to school, claiming a "family emergency".
And in the darkest corner of the room, standing apart from everyone, was Golden Darkness.
Yami hadn't spoken in three days. She stood rigid, her arms wrapped around herself, staring at Rito with an expression of such profound guilt it was painful to witness.
"The explosion on the roof wasn't thermal." Mikado explained, pointing to a DNA sequencing chart on the screen. "It was of pure Trans-matter energy. Normally, that kind of exposure would disintegrate a human at the molecular level. Like, poof, and gone."
Mami whimpered, burying her face in Sachie's shoulder.
"But Yuuki-kun isn't normal now, is he?" Mikado continued, a smirk tugging at her lips. "We already knew his physiology was... unique. His pheromones, his durability, his stamina, even the way he falls was unique. Whatever genetic quirk that made him like that reacted to the energy."
She pressed a button, bringing up a simulation of Rito's cells. They weren't dying. They were glowing gold.
"His body didn't reject the Darkness." Mikado said. "It drank it. It absorbed the Trans-matter properties and fused them with his own biology. He is rewriting his own DNA in real-time to accommodate the power."
"So..." Haruna whispered, looking at the tank. "He's not... human anymore?"
"He's human-plus," Mikado shrugged. "Or maybe something entirely new. A hybrid, but one thing's for sure, he'll be stronger, and faster. And if my theory is correct... he might be able to do what she does."
Mikado nodded toward Yami.
Yami flinched. "He has been corrupted." she whispered, her voice rough from disuse. "I broke him. He's a kind man... and now… I turned him into a weapon."
"You didn't do anything to him, Yami-chan!" Sachie cried out, jumping to her feet. "Onii-san saved you! He chose to do it!"
"He chose to die." Yami countered coldly. "But this... this is a monster's fate. He will never be normal again."
"Who cares about normal?" Run said, standing up to stand beside Mikan. "Rito-kun was never normal. Not now and certainly not in the future. He's going to be the Galactic King one day. And Kings are supposed to be special."
Mikan looked at Yami. She walked over to the assassin, her footsteps echoing in the quiet room.
Yami tensed, expecting anger, perhaps even a slap.
But Mikan did none of that. She simply reached out and took Yami's hand.
"He did it because he cared about you." Mikan said firmly. "Don't insult his actions by mourning about it."
Yami stared at Mikan, her red eyes widening. The warmth of the hand holding hers was grounding, real.
Beep... Beep... BEEP.
The monitor's rhythm changed. It sped up.
"Activity spike!" Mikado announced, spinning back to the console. "Cortical functions are accelerating! His heart rate is climbing!"
"Is he waking up?" Lala gasped, flying to the tank.
Inside the blue fluid, Rito's eyelids fluttered. His hands, floating at his sides, clenched into fists. The water around him began to bubble, reacting to the heat suddenly radiating from his skin.
"Drain the tank!" Mikado ordered. "He's gaining conscious!"
The fluid drained with a loud whoosh, receding into the floor vents. The glass cylinder hissed and slid open, releasing a cloud of cold steam.
Rito slumped forward, coughing. He fell to his hands and knees on the metal grating of the tank floor, retching up the oxygenated liquid.
"Rito!"
"Onii-san!"
The girls surged forward, but Mikado held up a hand. "Wait. Give him a second. His senses will be overloaded."
Rito gasped, sucking in air.
He could smell... everything. The antiseptic. The stale cigarette smoke on Mikado's coat. The strawberry shampoo in Sachie's hair. The ozone of Lala's tech.
He could hear their heartbeats, seven distinct rhythms drumming in the room like thunder.
He felt heavy. His body felt dense, like his bones had been replaced with lead, but at the same time, he felt a hum of energy vibrating under his skin that made him feel like he could punch through the wall.
"Ugh..." Rito groaned, wiping his mouth. He slowly pushed himself up.
He stood up.
He was naked. The medical sensors along with his gown had been ripped away in his thrashing.
The room went silent as the girls got their first clear look at the "New Rito".
He was taller, maybe only an inch or two, but his posture was different. It was straighter, more imposing. His skin, once just tanned from running, now had a faint, almost imperceptible golden sheen under the clinic lights.
But it was his muscles that drew the eye.
The previous six-pack was gone. In its place was a razor-sharp, unnatural 8-pack. The abdominal muscles were segmented deeply, looking less like flesh and more like armoured plating. His chest was broader, the pectorals squared off and hard. His arms were corded with veins that pulsed with a faint golden light before fading back to normal.
He looked like a statue come to life.
Sachie and Mami, who were closest to the floor, stared up at his midsection. Their eyes were glued to the 9-inch mini-king, which hung heavy and soft, but somehow looked even more intimidating against his upgraded physique.
"He's... evolved, alright." Mami whispered, drool threatening to form.
Rito blinked, his vision clearing. He looked at his hands. They felt strong. Too strong. He flexed his fingers, and the knuckles popped with a sound like cracking stones.
"Rito?" Lala whispered, stepping closer. "Are you... okay?"
Rito looked up and scanned the room, meeting the eyes of every girl there. Lala, Mikan, Run, Haruna, Sachie, Mami, and finally, Yami, cowering in the corner.
He opened his eyes fully, and when he did that, they weren't just amber anymore. His irises were a piercing, luminous gold.
"I'm..." Rito's voice was deeper, resonating in his chest. He cleared his throat, shaking his head, and the gold faded slightly, returning to a more human colour. "I'm okay."
He looked at his hand again, clenching and unclenching it, looking genuinely confused by his own body. Then he looked at Yami, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish, familiar awkwardness.
"Actually," Rito said, a small, relieved smile touching his lips. "I feel surprisingly great. Did... did something happen to my body? What's going on with my abs?"
*****
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