In a dark space, where the only thing visible in the distance is an image resembling a black hole.
There is nothing but darkness—an absolute darkness.
Floating within this somber void, a young woman with black hair—completely naked and with her eyes closed—drifts aimlessly in the fetal position.
A translucent wraith—whose appearance and figure bear an astonishing resemblance to the young woman's, sharing the same face and long black hair, though possessing a body with less pronounced curves—superimposes itself upon her silhouette.
Both exist in a state of perfect synchronization.
They are a single entity and, yet, simultaneously, they remain distinct individuals.
The only thing distinguishing them is their separate consciousnesses.
Gradually, within this dark space, faint beams of light begin to emerge, enveloping the young woman's figure.
With grace and delicacy, the young woman's eyelashes begin to flutter and part.
Her bright golden eyes crack open ever so slightly.
The young woman's lips also part, and a single word escapes them:
"Brother."
The young woman's sweet voice breaks the silence of the dark void, only for her eyes to close once more just seconds later.
With a slow but steady rhythm, more beams of light begin to illuminate this somber space.
Cracks begin to spread like a spiderweb throughout the void.
With the sound of shattering glass, the space fragments into a thousand pieces.
With calm, steady breaths, Yotsuya Miko's eyes open after two long years.
Her gaze drifts into the void; she remains expressionless, her mind still immersed in a state of disorientation.
Rays of mid-afternoon sunlight filter through the windowpane of the hospital room.
About three minutes later, with smooth, natural movements, Miko sits up in her hospital bed. With serene composure, she leaned back comfortably against the headboard.
With her mind still dazed and blank, she remained motionless.
Shortly after, with a soft *click*, the room door slid open. A nurse, aged about twenty-seven, entered carrying an IV setup on a tray. Hearing the sound, Miko—whose head had been turned toward the window—automatically and slowly turned it toward the door. With a metallic crash, the tray holding the IV drip smashed against the floor.
Without uttering a single word, the nurse bolted from the room, shouting:
—The patient in Room 437 has woken up!
Miko only managed to catch a glimpse of the nurse's back as she hurried away—just as Miko finished turning her head toward the door.
Still confused and not yet fully awake, she could only think: *Who is that?*
Paying it no further mind, Miko straightened her head once more and fixed her gaze straight ahead.
Barely two minutes later, a doctor and three nurses entered the room.
—Good afternoon, Miss Yotsuya. I am Doctor Garaki.
A doctor—a man of about thirty-nine, with black hair and brown eyes—positioned himself beside her bed.
—You are currently at Tokyo General Hospital; we have already contacted your parents.
—We need to perform a few procedures to assess your condition.
Doctor Garaki pulled a small penlight from the pocket of his white coat.
With expert movements, he directed the beam of light into one of Miko's eyes, and immediately afterward, into the other.
—It appears her pupils are slightly dilated; it is likely she is not yet fully aware of her surroundings—Doctor Garaki remarked to the nurses.
The doctor's words sounded muffled to Miko's ears. To her, the sound was as if she were submerged underwater.
But—without anyone else noticing—at the precise instant the beam from the flashlight struck Miko's eyes, a tiny, bluish-white speck of light appeared in the center of her pupils.
Suddenly, Miko's perspective shifted.
Lines and dots of a blood-red hue appeared over every object and person present in the room. "What is this?" Miko thought, her mind slightly clearer.
As she stared intently at the doctor and nurses, she could see countless lines and dots tracing themselves across their entire bodies.
With every second Miko continued to observe the humans before her, they began to gradually split apart along the red lines crisscrossing their bodies.
The shock of constantly perceiving the concept of death, combined with immense mental trauma, unconsciously compelled Miko to slowly raise her arms.
With a gaze that blended bewilderment, a flicker of fear, and sheer paralysis, Miko watched as those very same red lines appeared upon the skin of her own arms.
After staring at her arms for barely a few seconds, Miko watched in horror as they, too, began to split open, exposing raw flesh, muscle, nerves, and bone.
With trembling hands, Miko brought her palms up to her face to cover her eyes.
With a wet, viscous sound, she attempted to crush her own eyeballs.
And her final thought was: *What is this? Brother... help me.*
45 minutes later.
In a private room at Tokyo General Hospital.
"Mr. and Mrs. Yotsuya, I have both good and bad news for you. Which would you prefer to hear first?" Dr. Garaki asked Miko's parents.
"Dr. Garaki, please tell us the good news first," replied Mamoru Yotsuya, exchanging a brief glance with his wife.
"Very well. The good news is that Miss Miko Yotsuya has regained consciousness and shows no signs of any physical ailments."
"And the bad news, Doctor?" asked Touko Yotsuya, her voice tinged with worry.
"The bad news is that Miss Miko Yotsuya entered a state of temporary delirium and attempted to destroy her own eyes."
"Doctor... how are my daughter's eyes? Are they all right?" —Touko's voice trembled with anxiety and deep concern.
—"Please, do not worry about Miss Miko Yotsuya's eyes."
—"Fortunately, we managed to administer a sedative before her eyes suffered any permanent damage. With her eyes bandaged for about a week, everything will be fine." The doctor's reassuring voice calmed Touko's agitated heart. "What a relief," Touko sighed.
—"Doctor Garaki, when will you be able to discharge Miko?" the father's reassuring voice resonated through the room.
—"Based on my experience, she should be able to return home tomorrow morning."
—"We just need to perform a few physical examinations to ensure her physical condition is optimal." The doctor's reassuring voice soothed the fluctuating emotions of the Yotsuya couple.
—"That is a relief."
In Miko's hospital room...
Miko sat on the bed, her back resting against the headboard.
Miko's eyes were covered by white bandages wrapped around her head.
—"I'm scared... Where is Rin? Rin... Rin... I'm scared, brother," Miko thought, terrified.
—"What are these eyes? Rin never told me that he saw the world this way."
—"This is completely different."
—"I feel as though everything around me is on the verge of death."
—"I feel a deadly tension in my brain; I feel as if my head is going to explode just by opening my eyes."
"I don't want these eyes; I just want to have normal vision."
Tears well up in her eyes, slightly dampening the bandages covering them.
"I hope you never have to see those evil spirits." Suddenly, Miko recalls the words of her brother, Rin.
"Now I understand, Rin. I suppose that's why you didn't want my eyes to be able to see things that ordinary eyes cannot."
"Rin... where are you?" Miko thinks, overcome with worry.
After all, Miko can sense her brother's presence, but not his exact location.
About thirty seconds later, the door to the room opens.
Two people enter the room: Miko's parents.
"Hello, Miko. It's me... Mom. How are you feeling?" Her mother's soothing voice helps Miko calm down.
"Your father is here with us, too."
Turning her head toward the source of the voice, Miko replies, "I'm fine, Mom." Her voice sounds tired.
"What was it like... being in a coma for these past two years?" Her mother's voice sounds slightly tense.
After thinking for a few seconds, Miko replies:
"It was exactly like sleeping normally. It was simply closing my eyes and opening them again the next morning."
"I'm so relieved to know that, for you, it was just like sleeping."
"I've heard of cases where coma patients feel trapped in a void—without sound, and unable to move," her father says, his voice heavy with relief, as the two women in the room listen.
"I feel an immense sense of relief, too," her mother adds.
"Sometime between today and tomorrow, they'll run some physical exams to confirm your health status."
"Then you'll be able to go home, and you won't have to stay in the hospital anymore, sweetheart," Touko tells Miko affectionately. "That's good, I guess," Miko says, feeling a bit awkward and unsure of what else to say.
After all, from her perspective, she has been in the hospital for less than three hours. "By the way, Mom, Dad... where is Rin? I can sense his presence, but I can't quite tell exactly where he is." Her voice—still somewhat weary, yet tinged with a hint of joy at the mention of Rin—echoed throughout the room.
Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted, giving way to a thick, uncomfortable silence.
The Yotsuyas remained silent for a long while.
Miko, with a trace of concern in her voice, asked, "What's wrong, Mom? Dad?"
The couple exchanged glances, sharing a silent, unspoken understanding.
Her father and mother each took one of their daughter's hands, standing on either side of her bed.
Suddenly, her father spoke: "Miko... I suppose the doctor didn't tell you what condition you were in when you were brought to the hospital."
"To be honest, I didn't ask," Miko replied, her voice tinged with a certain confusion.
After all, she could still sense her brother's presence, so not for a single instant had the thought crossed her mind that he might have died.
That thought had never crossed her mind—not even once.
Her father took a deep breath and continued: "Do you know that your accident was caused by some metal pipes?"
Miko nodded, shifting her gaze to the right, where her father stood.
"One of those steel pipes damaged your heart, while your brother suffered a severe brain contusion."
"Neither of you had any chance of surviving those injuries."
"The doctors assessed the situation and determined that you could be saved... provided you underwent a heart transplant." —But there wasn't enough time to find a heart compatible with yours before you bled to death.
—And your brother was facing certain death due to his brain injuries.
A deep, tense silence hung over the room.
Miko swallowed hard, fighting back a sudden, faint wave of nausea.
—As his final wish... your brother gave you his heart.
*Crack!*
In that instant, something snapped inside Miko's mind.
*What? Rin... is dead?*
*Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies! Lies!* Lies! Miko's thoughts could only repeat that single word, over and over again: *Lies*. "Rin can't be dead!" Miko's hysterical scream cut off her father's next words.
"I can still feel that Rin is alive; he's simply at such a distance that I can't pinpoint his location!"
With a forceful tug, she broke free from her father's grip and sprang from the bed.
"I'll find him myself! Don't lie to me!" Miko's hysterical screams alarmed the nurses—both the men and the women.
"Miko, calm down." Her mother's tearful voice did not affect Miko in the slightest.
The nurses and Doctor Garaki entered the room together.
"Nurses, hold her down firmly." Doctor Garaki's voice sounded firm and authoritative.
The nurses pinned her to the floor, leaving her unable to move.
"Let go of me, you scoundrels! I have to find Rin!" Miko's hysterical screams and insults had absolutely no effect on the nurses.
"Administer a standard dose of tranquilizer." Doctor Garaki's calm voice rang out, and the nurses obeyed.
As the injection coursed through her body, Miko began to lose consciousness.
A few minutes later, Miko fell into a deep sleep.
And her final thought was: *Rin... I don't believe you're dead. I have to find you, no matter the cost.*
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.