twst novel. ( episode i: the crimson tyrant ) pg. 33-56

[mandytl]

 "My magic's gone. Why can't I spit out flames anymore?!"

"Riddle-san's magic is always so stunning."

The bespectacled man outside the ice barricade complimented them with light applause. He looked amused, not at all concerned with Grim, as the others looked on, more spectators than anything.

"A unique magic that completely seals off an opponent's magical power by restraining them in an enchanted pillory. The possibilities are seemingly endless, wouldn't you agree? I absolutely must hav—err, must avoid being the target of his ire."

"Y'mean he sealed my magic?!"

"That's correct." The red-haired boy known as Riddle raised Grim by the scruff of his neck. "You're incapable of using magic until I remove your collar.”

A closer look revealed several pillars of ice standing upright around Grim, blocking his escape. That direct attack must've been intended as a warning. Meanwhile, the easily-misled Grim lost use of his magic and thrashed wildly, having been caught in the end.

“It’s pointless to resist. Without magic, you’re naught but an ordinary house cat.”

“W-What’d ya say?! Quit treatin’ me like your pet!”

"Don't take me for a fool; Unlike a certain senseless individual, I wouldn't keep such an arrogant, disrespectful pet even if you’d asked."

Riddle's eyes glared fiercely at Yuuya, who was deathly pale from watching them fight.

“You there!”

“Yes!” Yuuya answered, albeit very, very loudly.

"What a fine mess you've made, not only arriving at the ceremony exceedingly late, but also setting alight our Mirror Chamber!"

It was absolutely breathtaking how that powerful voice didn’t match his petite frame. Even with his back against the wall, Yuuya could barely stand up straight. 

"But beyond all of that, for the criminal offense of violating one of the Queen of Hearts' rules! Don't tell me you aren't familiar with Article 23?"

"Uhm. H-Hearts...? Whose rules again?"

"Excuse me? ... I can hardly believe what I'm hearing. You've truly not a clue about Article 23 of the Decrees of the Queen of Hearts: ‘One shan't bring a cat with them to a celebration’?”

 “N-no. Not at all.”

"Unbelievable. What a stunning lack of quality education."

“My mistake!”

Thin, blue veins appeared on Riddle’s forehead, his expression furious enough to make one’s blood curdle. The honesty of a statement like “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard it” was bound to get him in worse trouble.

Riddle coldly asserted himself once more to Yuuya, who was ready to prostrate himself at the drop of a hat.

“I’ve no doubt you want to flaunt the power of your familiar in our faces, but not during the course of our ceremony. I’ll have to personally instruct you on each and every rule once all’s said and done.” 

His unyielding manner and fluttering robes brought to mind the image of a clockwork doll. 

"Whichever dorm you're elected into makes no difference to me. As dorm leader of Heartslabyul, I'm duty-bound to uphold the Queen of Hearts' decrees." 

Riddle plucked Grim up from off the floor, footsteps echoing sharply throughout the Mirror Chamber. As he approached the door, several bodies came rushing over.

“What’re ya gonna do with me?!” Grim shouted.

“Nothing to write home about—just your dismissal. The collar’s hold on you will pass eventually. If you can’t behave, then it’s back to the burrow for you.”

Riddle held Grim out towards a group of people kneeling besides him to collect the intruder. Diamond. Clubs. Spade. Heart. That they all appeared to have painted these symbols on their faces was impressive. 

"Toss this troublemaker off the premises."

"Yes, Dorm Leader!"

"Arghhh, dammit, dammit! I'm not givin' in just yet!"

Grim’s little hands balled up into fists close to his chest as he spit puffs of wind in a desperate attempt to use magic.

"I'm... I'm gonna really, definitely, without a doubt, become the GREATEST mage that ever lived!"

But in that very last moment, before the door closed and blocked out any further screams, Grim’s eyes had seemed to be full of regret. Yuuya felt a little sorry for him now that he was at a safe distance, but there was nothing he could really do.

What’s more, he only had time to worry about himself right now. Yuuya caught his breath in a sharp gasp as a red-tinged glint from the corner of his eye was thrust under his jaw. 

“We’ll get to the bottom of your true nature once your dorm’s been decided. Now. Let’s see what you’re made of.”

Riddle gave a polite, condescending smile that showed on the lips, but not in the eyes. He was deliberately trying to provoke him.

Although he might’ve had the maturity and poise of an adult, he and Yuuya were virtually the same age. His still full cheeks were raised and brimming with confidence. His whole person radiating a ceaseless pride, as if he would never back down no matter how powerful the opponent. 

“Get a move on!”

“Right!”

He turned towards the Dark Mirror, and the man reflected in it emerged. Upon recognizing that the boy standing in front of him was indeed Yuuya, he reiterated his previous statement.

──Kuroki Yuuya.

──The shape of thy soul…

Gulp.

All of a sudden, out of the blue, there came a sharp, inward breath of amazement. Everyone and anyone was waiting for the verdict with bated breath, concentrating on the words spun.

Their curiosity, high expectations, and jealousy: the full weight of these issues came down on Yuuya, making him nervous.

He clenched his trembling hands to his sides. Right now, he could only wish for one thing.

(Please... please, let nothing happen!)

Would such a wish actually come true? The Dark Mirror muttered a reply.

──is utterly unclear.

“Huh?”

Riddle’s eyes grew wider.

The same was true of Crowley right next to him.

“Come again? O Dark Mirror, could you repeat what you just said?”

──I sense not even a ripple of magic from him.

──No color. no shape. Nothing whatsoever.

The Dark Mirror's thunderous bellow grew louder and louder.

──Therefore, no dorm would be appropriate!

"Surely this can't be!" Crowley hollered.

The surrounding students looked at each other.

A soft laugh mingled amidst the exchange of whispers. Yuuya turned around to witness the students who'd been chatting with Crowley when he'd entered the Mirror Chamber chuckling amongst themselves.

"Well, well." The silver-haired man pushed up his glasses, in conversation with the blonde gentleman next to him. "That certainly proved to be disappointing."

"Remind me who said a powerful mage would be joining our ranks this year?" 

“The Headmaster, no doubt. Check the vlog.” 

The tablet flashed, and on its screen was Crowley, exiting the Mirror Chamber with a “And that being the case, I’m off to look for our special new student who broke loose and bolted. Stay tuned, gentlemen!”

Crowley waved his hands in a panic as the entire study body gave him the eye.

“To the best of my knowledge, the black carriage would never ride to greet a magicless sort. An oversight like that hasn’t happened even once in the last hundred years.”

“Don’t sweat it. Like they say: There's a first time for everything.”

“Only it didn’t, mind you!”

Crowley turned to Yuuya in a cry for help, encouraged by the white-haired boy. 

“You did have your familiar accompany you, so you clearly have magical aptitude!””

“By familiar, do you mean, uhm… that creature, Grim?”

“Indubitably!” 

“But I didn’t.” Yuuya shook his head frantically, having told his story many times over at this point. “It was already slinking around when I woke up. We met for the first time here.”

“Was that how it went? You should’ve said so then!”

He couldn’t talk back and say, “You made those assumptions on your own.” Not when he could vividly grasp each and everyone’s disappointment through their sighs and glances.

Riddle merely gave a derisive snort as Yuuya looked down and apologized, wishing for nothing more than to be out of the spotlight.

“The mess you made of our ceremony was unacceptable, however… I revoke my earlier declarations. There’s nothing more for me to say about the situation, given you’re not one of us.”

He wore a somewhat discontented expression, bordering on sympathetic, even. It was hard to guess what Riddle’s real intentions were when his gaze shifted quickly to Crowley.

“Is it alright if we return to our dorms now, Headmaster? The new student orientation schedule is… —augh. We’ve already fallen twenty minutes behind!”

“Ah, err. Well, yes, but of course!” Crowley clapped his hands at the blessing in disguise. “And with that, the ceremony comes to a close! If each dorm head would be so kind as to please escort their new faces back to their respective dorms.”

The ones who came forward at that moment were the same ones who spoke to Crowley when he first sauntered into the Mirror Chamber. Even though they responded differently, some squaring their chests and some more languid, what they all had in common were the surrounding entourages following their lead. They were clearly the ones in charge here.

A good deal of the students complied with their leader's orders, herding together, however others looked about themselves baffled—as if searching for someone.

Crowley cocked his head when he noticed their lost expressions.

“Hm? We seem to be missing someone. Where’s Malleus Draconia-kun?”

The dorm leaders merely blinked in response. "Come to think of it... " 

The man with beast ears laughed. “That scaly pain in the neck bein’ a no-show must be why I’m in such a good mood.”

“I suppose we forgot to extend an invite again.” The blonde man heaved a sigh. It was hard to tell whether he meant it or not, what with the casual shrug of his shoulders. The only one who seemed actually concerned was the white-haired boy, who scratched his head and lowered his eyebrows.

“Again? Man, I really feel for the guy.”

“It’s just as I’d expected.”

Crowley jumped upon noticing the petite man who’d abruptly appeared at his side.

“Goodness! When did you get here, Vanrouge-kun?!”

“Yet again, we were given no notice of the ceremony. I hoped to find it in time, but it seems I was too late once more.”

With his brilliantly pink weaved-in highlight and his exceptionally large eyes that brimmed a juicy, raspberry red, the boy known as Vanrouge commanded just as much attention as the dorm leaders did.

He chuckled, the sound of it inconceivably deep. If Yuuya hadn’t heard it, he would’ve taken his disarmingly innocent appearance for an adorable young woman. 

“Poor Malleus. One can hope he isn’t too cross about it right now.”

“That’s our bad. I mean, it’s not like we were trying to shut him out or anything.” 

“Maybe the dear ought to stop causing his own problems, then, always with that unapproachable air that makes others uncomfortable about reaching out to him.”

“Kufufu. Now, now. Don’t be like that. We’re all classmates here, so please, feel free to befriend him!”

The white-haired boy made a big gesture by nodding his head, while the beauty merely shook his own in exasperation. 

Vanrouge winked mischievously at the surrounding students who were still looking around in dismay.

“There’s no need to fret, fledglings. All who were assigned to Diasomnia may follow me, your vice-leader, in place of our dorm leader Malleus Draconia.”

The new students started buzzing all at once.

“When he says Malleus Draconia, he means, like… THAT Draconia, right?”

“So it’s true? He really does go here?”

“Yikes… Hope I never run into him.”

This Malleus Draconia, whose name alone inspired fear in the student body, seemed like quite the celebrity.

The beast-eared man clucked his tongue.

“Would’ve been better off skipping the circus and headin’ straight to bed… Savanaclaw rookies? We’re going.” 

“GG, guys. Check the mini-map I’m sending to your phones to come back.”

The tablet flickered off after the listless tone’s announcement. 

The rest of the boys began issuing their own orders to their new charges, but Riddle’s voice cut through the murmur of the crowd.

“New students of Heartslabyul. Right face! Your very first step will be with your left. Now, step in time with your vice-leader!”

Though just moments ago there had been enthusiasm and restless energy, everyone was quick to fall silent and turn their backs on the Mirror Chamber.

All that was left there now was Crowley and Yuuya, with silence to fill the void in between.

Crowley broke the silence first: "Well, then. It seems I owe you an apology."

"Ah, no... I—I'm the one who's sorry, for letting you down..."

Crowley did presumptuously mistake Yuuya for a new student only to pin his unnecessary expectations onto him. It was no exaggeration to say he’d dragged him into this mess.

“Sigh…”

Only, Yuuya couldn’t bear to witness the disappointment written so clearly across his face. In fact, it was a wonder how he could even express so much distress on a face half-hidden by a mask. 

“And here I thought we’d finally triumph over ‘them’ this year, what with a mage to rival Draconia-kun entering our ranks…” 

“Uhm. I don’t know all the details, but—”

Don’t let it get you down. 

Crowley, either relieved to hear the timid words of encouragement, or simply relieved after his moment had gone to rack and ruin, cleared his throat and said, “Yes, of course. Let’s put this little mishap behind us and move along then, shall we?” Right. Otherwise they’d have a real problem on their hands, for the most important discussion for Yuuya was soon to follow.

“So, uhm. What do I do now?”

“Unfortunately, we can’t accept those with no magical talent to our academy. But worry not. Surely it was just a mistake on our part. I’ll have the Dark Mirror use its power to return you from whence you came.” 

“What a tragedy this time has been.” Crowley faced the Dark Mirror with hands upraised. A flickering flame erupted, and then the man reemerged on the mirror’s surface.

“O, Dark Mirror! Guide this one to where they belong!”

This meant he could finally go home.

A wave of relief washed over Yuuya, and then he heard the most unbelievable thing.

──It is nowhere to be found.

“Huh?”

──Nowhere in this world is there a place for this one to belong.

Crowley stood in for the speechless Yuuya, and raising his voice, cried out ”Excuse me?!”

”Surely this can't be! … In fact, didn’t I literally just say that moments ago? My, but today is a mixed bag of impossible phenomena!”

They asked the same question an untold number of times, but the answer never changed.

──It does not exist.

Yuuya had nowhere to return to.

The man in the mirror told him as much.

"Well. We can't very well send you someplace that doesn't exist." Crowley, who'd been clinging to the mirror close enough to fog it, wheeled around. "Can we, now? Err... whatever your name was again."

“Kuroki Yuuya.”

"Kuroki... You-ah? Youwah?" Yuuya gave his full name again, but it was clearly too difficult to repeat. "What a peculiar sounding name. Given how hard it is to pronounce, would it be alright to simply call you Yuu?"

When Yuuya nodded, the Headmaster reflected for a moment with an audible 'hmm'.

"Then, Yuu-kun. Which country would you say you're from?"

“Nihon.”

“Nee-hon?”

“Uhm, from Japan.”

“Jah-pahn?”

Yuuya tried conveying it again in English, but it didn't seem to ring any bells.

Come to think, he was already speaking in Japanese, so what was even the point in translating himse—

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him: Was he really, truly, conversing in Japanese right now?

Expressing himself was easy and the words were discernible, but once he actually paid attention, something about it seemed a little off. His lips didn't seem to match what he thought he was saying.

"But then, what am I... ?"

Even if his mouth moved too much for the briefest of phrases, the words still traveled to his ears like always, revealing that everything he thought was being said and heard was being translated into some unknown tongue. 

Crowley watched the astonished Yuuya, continuing his declaration.

“Night Raven College’s students hail from around the world, and I just so happen to recall each and everyone’s native soil. That said, I’ve never heard of this ‘Nihon’ or ‘Japan’. Could this mean perhaps… “

Then, after raising a hand to his chin, he spoke with no small hesitation.

“That you were brought here from another world?”

“──Another world.”

Crowley nodded at the repetition, a serious expression stamped on his face. He didn’t seem to be joking, but Yuuya still found himself wondering when everything about this unconvincingly crazy explanation that sounded like it came straight from a comic or a novel had somehow just clicked into place.

When he witnessed magic, and when he saw Grim. Maybe he’d had a hunch from the very moment he’d awoken in this room. 

That where they were standing, right now, wasn’t Japan—and certainly not anywhere on Earth.

He’d suddenly found himself in another world named Twisted Wonderland, where magic resided nonchalantly.

“B-But, why me?”

Crowley shook his head, for he too didn’t know of the reason.

“The Dark Mirror summoning a student from another world entirely is virtually unheard of. Be that as it may, I’d like some more details on both you and your world, Yuu-kun. Would you care to indulge me?”

“Details?”

“Your insurance card, for instance.”

“I was already in the gate when I woke up, and… my bag vanished along with my clothes. My insurance card and student ID card were both in my wallet, so—” Yuuya searched all over himself only to shout, “Oh, yeah! The smartphone I had in my pocket is gone too.”

“Intriguing. So they do have smartphones in other worlds.”

“I’m also, very… surprised about a lot of things.”

The first thing he asked for was an insurance card? It didn’t exactly reek of “magical fantasy land.”

“Hmm. Anyhow, you’ve nothing on your person, then. That’s too bad.”

Exactly. Right now, he had nothing, and when Crowley pointed this out, Yuuya trembled with anxiety once more. How was he going to live in a world where he didn’t own even a single pair of shoes?

Even Crowley seemed at his wit’s end.

“Pondering about it here doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere. For now, you can stay the night at Night Raven College.”

“You’re giving me a bed?!”

“Indeed. Tossing you out on the street at this point would be too humiliating, even for me. Feel free to utilize our vacant building on campus.”

“Oh, thank goodness, Mister, uhm… “

“Call me Headmaster, Yuu-kun.”

“Thank you so much, Headmaster.”

“My, what an honest young man you are! It’s quite alright, for I’m magnanimously gracious!”

Crowley laughed humorously.

Before he knew it, Yuuya was taking Crowley’s glove-covered hands in his own in a show of appreciation. Crowley just smiled and nodded.

“Now, let’s act quickly. Follow me as I guide you to where you’ll be staying.”

As they made their way down the empty, dimly lit hallway, both Yuuya and Crowley exchanged information about each others’ world.  

While Crowley was surprised to discover the absence of magic, it seemed the only major difference. Their civilization's structure, schooling, and developments in science and technology that led to the use of smartphones were very much the same.

But the fact of the matter was that magic existed here — so, whatever "common sense" concept stuck its foot out in the future should come as no wonder.

Yuuya had to be on his toes no matter what unpleasant surprise lay ahead. As he braced himself, body tense and eyes downcast, Crowley tapped something firm with his cane.

"Now, to exit the school building."

"Huh?"

Yuuya looked up, squeezing his eyes shut against the glare. A wind blew, and he swore it smelled faintly like the tang of a salty ocean breeze.

When next he slowly opened them, the night sky stretched out overhead.

The full moon stood out so clearly he could recognize patterns draped across its surface. He'd gazed at it through glass earlier, but the sheer size of it upon a second look was breathtaking, so bright that the stars couldn't be seen.

“Uhm. Why were you having that ceremony at night?”

"But of COURSE we hold it at night. Ours is a prestigious mage training academy, not to be confused with those other institutions!"

"Right." Yuuya nodded. Another new common sense concept, right off the bat.

Yuuya glanced down at his feet to find moonlight reflecting off the stone gray tile. Nothing else could be seen near the gate, save from the pitch-black skies and the gleaming white ground.

It was like a whole new world opened to him after that short walk, from the long flight of stairs trailing downward to the landscape dotted with distant buildings: domes, tall towers, and many more large structures. He thought each of them impressive, but their size only spoke to how vast the entire campus actually was.

Windows and street lamps shone brightly against the moonlight like little twinkling stars, and with nothing but the moon seemingly hanging there, it seemed as if the night sky stretched all the way down to his very feet.

"Beautiful."

Crowley proudly puffed out his chest as Yuuya looked in wonder at the full sight of the grounds from above 

“Oh, but isn’t it delightful?! The beautiful architecture of our academy is intended to assist in nurturing well-rounded individuals, you see.”

“Am I staying in one of these?”

“As a matter of fact, yes: at the quaintest building on campus! Come now, we still have walking to do. Let’s hurry up.”

Yuuya flinched at how high they were after being urged down the first step, even though he felt a little more hopeful after having seen such a wonderful sight. He descended the steep stairs, step-by-step, careful not to lose his footing.

"We've arrived. Your lodgings are just beyond this gate, Yuu-kun."

"Beyond, this... gate?"

The jarring grate of metal resounded in reply as a bent steel rod on the verge of snapping swayed in the wind. Was the aforementioned gate this contraption made up of just scrap metal? When Yuuya reached out gingerly to touch it, a rusted portion crumbled to the ground. 

They proceeded through what once served as a gate to climb up the gentle slope of stairs, mindful of keeping their clothes from getting snagged as they went, the atmosphere growing gloomier with each step. 

When they’d left the main building it’d been bright, but now the moon was entirely shrouded in thick clouds. Weeds sprung from cracks within the concrete in every direction, making it so he couldn’t even walk straight. After almost falling over numerous times and clinging to Crowley for support, they finally arrived.

He was guided to an enormous Western-style mansion that simply wouldn’t exist in an ordinary Japanese neighborhood, let alone Yuuya’s. When he glanced up at the door, Crowley began reminiscing. 

“This building functioned as a dorm ages ago. There’s a lounge, kitchenette, student rooms, bathrooms, and all the facilities one could ever want.”

It must’ve been absolutely magnificent in the past, with its thick columns supporting the overhanging eaves and heavy, sturdy door.

But that was exactly the problem: it was a relic. The gate had deteriorated, but the building itself was tragic. All that remained of the broken porch light bulb was the light fixture, while the glass embedded in the door, by some miracle, was still there. The exterior wall coating had either peeled, wrinkled, crumbled, or blistered off in places by now.

Yuuya glanced around the building to find more of the same: torn-off shutters and roofing debris scattered all over the place, and splintered garden trees that were rotting away. It was almost like a haunted house.

Crowley removed the jingling keys that’d been tied at his waist and promptly plucked one out of the dozens. Just a plain, golden key.

He then fit it into the lock on the door.

“... It doesn’t want to open, huh.”

“I’m sure this is the right key. It's just that it hasn’t been used for quite some time and now, well, it’s stuck.”

In other words, no one had resided at the property for so long that the lock rusted shut. Which was better: sleeping here, or in that creepy room full of coffins?

“There. It’s open!”

The door creaked open as Yuuya pondered whether to negotiate or not.

They boldly strolled into the musty building and walked through a narrow hallway, coughing all the while from the stagnant air tinged with the scent of the deepest reaches of a library.

Although just as spacious as it’d seemed from outside, they were hard pressed to avoid the fallen furniture littering the hallway that blocked their path. Yuuya got a face full of sticky webbing as he tried to watch his step.

When they finally made it to the lounge, it was just as cluttered with broken furniture.

“The area’s looking rather splendid, if I do say so myself. A bit dated, perhaps… but it will certainly be a cozy place to settle down once you tidy up a bit.”

Crowley righted a disarranged candlestick above the fireplace only to light it with the wave of a hand. A small shadow, perhaps a mouse, or even a spider, skittered across the floor to escape.

Yuuya looked around the room in horror, as Crowley tapped his cane.

“Now, then. I’m off to the library to investigate the matter of your homeland.”

“Wait. You’re leaving already?”

“We’ve ought to make the most out of our time, young man; And besides, I might very well discover something about wherever you came from.”

The Headmaster cracked a smile as he brushed cobwebs off his silkhat.  

“I shall return within an hour or two, so please, make yourself at home.”

The door to the lounge slammed shut, leaving Yuuya alone in a room where dust fell like snow.

“... Make myself at home, huh.”

His lungs were going to be thick with dust at this rate. He’d need to sweep up before spending the night here. Yuuya went out into the hallway, candlestick in hand, to closely monitor the warped floor underfoot.

Yuuya fearfully opened a small door at the bottom of the stairs, and, sure enough, there was a storage room with a worn-out broom. He then returned to the lounge, opened a window, and began to sweep. Heavy layers of dust peeled from the floor like dead skin.

Within moments of a coughing fit mid clean up, there came the soft pitter patter of something hitting the wall outside. A steady stream had begun to run down. 

“It’s raining.”

The sound of the rain grew stronger and heavier. It came on too hard to be a sudden shower, thunder rumbling in the distance like a contented cat. That bright moon during the entrance ceremony must’ve been fake, or maybe even magic. Crowley seemed like the type to say, “Well, of course. Our precious ceremony should be a pleasant experience for everyone.”

The long-sleeved ‘ceremonial robes’ he was wearing, as they were apparently called, were perfect for the cooler air blowing through the window thanks to the rain.

He’d originally believed it was spring due to the entrance ceremony, but learned the seasons in this world and his were the same, and it was actually autumn. He’d heard before that overseas schools did start their classes in the fall, and the architecture was definitely more Western than Japanese.

Yuuya drew closer to the large fireplace, crouching low to see if he could light it, but there was nothing combustible left inside. Just a pile of burnt, black ash. There wasn’t even a lighter or matches here, for one thing. Yuuya let out a deep sigh over the factors beyond his control and stood up. 

How would someone else handle this? Would they be like Crowley, lighting a candle with the mere wave of a hand, or like the ones he’d met at the ceremony, Riddle and Grim, who’d used their magic like it were the most normal thing in the world? How’d he ever end up in such a strange world? 

──I’m all alone.

A shiver of loneliness ran over him as he gazed into the chilly fireplace. What were his parents doing right now?

He had no idea what time it was, but surely it’d been quite some time since he woke in the Mirror Chamber. His parents, who both worked, should’ve been home by now. 

Were they concerned about his absence? He didn’t have any friends with whom he could play without losing track of time. They were probably worried sick wondering what happened to their missing son.

As he recalled the faces of his loving parents, Yuuya muttered to himself. “That’s right.”

──If he didn’t return home to his original world, did that mean he’d never see his Mom or Dad ever again?

For the first time, an expression of pure fear contoured onto Yuuya's face as he felt crushing pressure on his shoulders.

Until a moment ago, he'd had his hands full coping with these bizarre events, but maybe that'd been for the best. It all felt like a dream, like this strange world and its dangerous magic were someone else's problem.

But now that he was alone, it finally hit him. He might never see his parents ever again. What if he had to live in this place where magic dwelled all by himself?

He hurriedly made to wipe the tears burning behind his eyes, but was hesitant to do so with dirty hands. Instead, Yuuya paused for a moment, looked up, and took a deep breath. 

Weeping helplessly? At his age? No one could see him, yet it was embarrassing just the same. It would be fine. Everything would work out. There's no need to cry. He kept repeating that to himself, swallowing back the drops that threatened to overflow.

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