Upon regaining consciousness, I could hear nothing but the sound of ambulances.
Suddenly, I felt the ambulance come to a halt, and I was wheeled out of the vehicle on a stretcher.
"Condition critical: two children, both gravely injured."
"One with a puncture wound to the heart, and the other with a traumatic brain injury."
Huh...? What are they saying?
Miko... I can barely sense Miko's presence.
Miko is fading away; our connection weakens with every passing moment.
Rin's thoughts moved with agonizing slowness.
What would normally have taken him ten seconds to process took him nearly four minutes.
At that precise moment, the two siblings lay in the same operating room.
"Doctor, the only way to save the girl is through a heart transplant," said one of the nurses.
"But we don't have time to determine her blood type or to procure a donor heart for the transplant," added another nurse.
"Doctor, the boy has suffered a severe cerebral contusion; if this continues, he will die from brain death," a male nurse reported.
Upon hearing the updates on the situation, the doctor was left dumbfounded.
He didn't know what to do; it was the first time he had ever faced a situation like this.
But then, his professionalism took over.
Just as he was about to make a decision, one of the nurses intervened.
"Doctor, the boy has regained consciousness."
"How is that possible? Given his condition, regaining consciousness should be impossible," the doctor said as he headed toward Rin, who lay on the left side of the room.
Rin opened his green eyes and looked at the doctor.
Gathering every last drop of willpower he possessed, he raised his arm, grasped the doctor's wrist, and spoke:
"I have no hope of surviving anymore, Doctor..."
"Please... use my heart to save Miko." —We're twins... we share the same blood type.
—Please... don't let Miko die.
Rin's words spilled out amidst ragged, agonizing gasps. With every word she uttered, she tightened her grip on the doctor's wrist just a little more. Hearing Rin's words, the doctor was deeply moved and replied in a serious tone:
—I understand. I promise you: your sister will survive.
Upon hearing the doctor's words, Rin calmly released his wrist.
And, a few seconds later, Rin died.
—We cannot delay. We have a life to save. Begin the heart transplant.
—Doctor, we cannot perform a heart transplant operation without authorization from the legal guardians—said one of the nurses.
—This is not the time to worry about such nonsense. I will assume full responsibility for the consequences of this operation—the doctor declared with authority.
The nurses and orderlies did not hesitate; they began the surgery.
Rin's Point of View:
How strange.
Ever since I died, I've been able to sense a strange energy.
This is Cursed Energy.
But I don't want to become a Cursed Spirit.
Suddenly, I feel everything around me slow down until it nearly grinds to a complete halt.
No, that's not entirely accurate.
In reality, what's happening is that my thought processes have accelerated to a state where everything else appears to have stopped completely.
I remember—in my past life, I watched an anime that claimed the brain can continue registering information for up to five seconds after death.
Now I understand: it's not that the brain can keep registering information for five seconds after death.
It's that the soul leaves the body five seconds *after* death.
"I unconsciously used my Cursed Technique to modify my brain, forcing it to think at an incredibly high speed."
"As long as these five seconds last, I can search for a way to survive."
"First things first: I can't use my Cursed Technique on my body... or, rather, on my soul."
"After all, I don't want my entire family to be taken as test subjects just because I suddenly regenerate out of thin air."
"Besides, I have absolutely no experience using my Cursed Technique."
"Although I possess the memories of how to modify human brains to turn them into sorcerers..."
"Those memories are useless to me right now."
"What's more, I've already figured out why I can use Cursed Energy now."
"It's because I'm dead, and my soul is leaving my body at this very instant."
"Right now, I don't have enough Cursed Energy to do much of anything."
"Think! What do I do?"
Tension and anxiety loom all around me.
Suddenly, I sense a faint connection—one that is fading fast.
"This is..." I look down at my spiritual form and see black chains shattering into pieces.
Tracing the chains back to their source, I see that they connect to Miko's soul. Miko's soul has already partially detached itself; the upper half of her soul now floats outside her body. In addition to the black chains connecting us, there are other chains—blue ones—binding Miko's soul to her body. And some of those blue chains are snapping.
"The connection I share with Miko... and the chains linking soul to body..." I realize that my own connection is crumbling.
"I have an idea for this situation."
I attempted to use my Cursed Technique—[Idle Transfiguration]—to anchor my soul within my heart.
But... it didn't work.
"Why didn't it work?" I was left slightly bewildered by the failure of my theory.
I have only three seconds left.
"I must find a solution to this situation."
After numerous attempts, I still hadn't found a solution.
With only one second remaining—just as my soul was about to leave my body—I sensed a strange energy enveloping me.
"Is this the energy of an Outer God?" I instinctively recognized what it was.
"So this is the consequence of a reincarnator existing in this world."
"Reincarnators—whether consciously or unconsciously—desire for the protagonists, as well as the male relatives of the female protagonists, to cease to exist or to have already died."
"The energy of the Outer Gods... does it perhaps grant their wish without them even realizing it?"
I recalled another fragment of information from my memories.
However, it seems that the special bond between Miko and me—having been linked since before birth—caused the Outer God's energy to treat us as a single entity.
But now that our connection is fracturing, the Outer God's energy has recognized its error and is attempting to prevent Miko from dying.
That is the reason I can see this strange, golden-hued energy.
With only 0.8 seconds remaining, I make my decision. To Formulate a Binding Vow.
Using the tenuous thread of connection that still binds me to Miko, I convey my intentions to her—not through words, but through pure sensation.
What I communicated to Miko was this:
Accept this Binding Vow. I, Yotsuya Rin, hereby surrender my heart to Yotsuya Miko, so that she may continue to live. My soul shall reside within the heart I bestow upon Yotsuya Miko, and together, we shall share a single body. As a condition, I shall assist Yotsuya Miko in becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer and shall create a Cursed Technique for her.
As a binding restriction, we shall both enter a deep slumber for two full years.
And should I ever breach this Binding Vow, I shall never awaken from this deep sleep.
Once the Binding Vow was established, Miko accepted it.
The moment Miko accepted the Binding Vow, I felt new chains coil around both my soul and hers.
The Outer God's energy was powerless to prevent Miko from accepting the Binding Vow.
After all, a third party cannot interfere in contracts made between two individuals.
Suddenly, I felt my soul being drawn inward and stored deep within my heart.
And, before my eyes, time resumed its normal course.
Five hours later.
The instant the surgery concluded and Miko's chest was sutured shut...
I began to employ my Cursed Technique—[Idle Transfiguration]—to modify Miko's soul and, consequently, her brain as well.
With meticulous care and precision, I constructed a specialized nervous system within her—one that would allow her to manipulate Cursed Energy.
I'm so sleepy... I feel myself drifting off to sleep.
*No!* I cannot fall asleep now; I must finish creating this Cursed Technique. Otherwise, I will never wake up again.
Using the last vestiges of the Cursed Energy I had left, I modified the right prefrontal cortex of her brain—the frontal lobe—to grant her a random Cursed Technique.
I simply didn't have enough time to bestow upon her a specific, predetermined technique.
Third-Person Perspective:
Outside the operating room stood Rin and Miko's parents.
Their faces reflected deep anxiety.
"Dear... our children will be fine," said Rin's mother.
"Calm down, Touko. I trust that our children will survive," replied Mamoru, Rin's father.
A profound sadness was visible in Touko's eyes.
About five minutes later, the doors to the operating room swung wide open.
The two anxious parents rose from their seats.
"Doctor! How are my children?" —The anguished voice echoed down the hallway.
The doctor removed his surgical cap and spoke with a tone of deep regret:
—My sincerest apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Yotsuya. Regrettably... we were only able to save your daughter. —Upon hearing the doctor's words, Touko's legs gave way, and she collapsed to her knees on the floor. Tears flowed ceaselessly from her eyes.
Mamoru knelt beside her, offering his support in that desperate situation.
Mamoru, too, felt deeply grieved by the tragic news.
—Tell me, Doctor... what exactly is the situation? —Mamoru asked, his voice tinged with anguish.
—When Yotsuya Rin and Yotsuya Miko arrived at the hospital, their condition was critical.
—Yotsuya Miko had sustained a puncture wound that pierced directly through her heart.
Mamoru and Touko held their breath for a few seconds, until the doctor continued speaking.
—It is a miracle that she even made it to the hospital alive.
—As for Yotsuya Rin, he suffered a skull fracture that damaged his brain; he was on the verge of brain death.
The faces of Miko and Rin's parents shifted, reflecting a mixture of emotions too profound to describe.
The doctor continued: —Neither of them had any hope of survival.
—We did not have enough time to find an organ donor to replace Yotsuya Miko's heart, and Yotsuya Rin's cranial injury constituted, in itself, a certain death sentence.
—But, at the very last moment, your son—Rin—woke up upon hearing that neither of them would survive.
—And, gathering his last reserves of strength, he asked me to use his own heart to save the life of his sister, Miko.
Touko's tears fell in silence. Her sobbing ceased, leaving only her tears to trace furrows down her cheeks.
Even Mamoru's cheeks were damp from the tears overflowing from his eyes.
"Doctor... could you... tell me exactly what his last words were?" Touko's voice sounded hoarse with grief.
It seemed as though she might faint at any moment.
"Of course; it would be my privilege."
"I have no hope of surviving anymore, Doctor."
"Please... use my heart to save Miko. We are twins, and we share the same blood type."
"Please, don't let Miko die."
"Those were his final words before he passed away." Upon hearing her son's last words, recounted by the doctor, a faint, sorrowful smile touched Touko's lips, while fresh tears welled up in her golden eyes.
"That is exactly the kind of thing Rin would say."
"Thank you, Doctor... for having saved at least one of our children," said Mamoru.
Author's note: Honestly, I don't know how to get my story to appear in Webnovel's view or popularity rankings. I would be very grateful if any author or reader who knows how could explain it to me. Thank you very much. One more thing, please give me power stones; that would make me very happy.