After a few minutes of silence, Ryuichi sat with his head down, then slowly raised his hand and wiped his tears with the sleeve of his shirt. Fatigue had begun to creep into his body and his heavy eyes, and his features were paler than before. He took a deep breath, then looked up at Miku in a soft voice:
- "Can I... I feel like my head is going to explode."
Miku smiled gently and shook her head:
- "Of course, you need to rest."
Before she got up to take him to the guest room, Natsumi interrupted her with a voice that was not her usual shrill, but quiet, with an unfamiliar tone... a tone of shy tenderness:
- "He can sleep here... in my room. It's quiet... and no one will disturb him."
Miku raised an eyebrow in surprise, then smiled lightly, making no comment. Ryuichi stared at Natsumi for a few seconds, in disbelief. She avoided looking at him, as if ashamed of her suggestion, and turned away as she added:
- "But don't touch anything this time, or I'll send you back to the void!"
She said it in a tone that mixed threat and sarcasm, but she couldn't hide the redness that crept into her cheeks.
Ryuichi laughed lightly, despite his fatigue, and said:
- "I promise... I'll stick to the wall."
Natsume replied, taking an extra pillow and placing it next to the bed:
- "Good. The wall is your friend tonight."
Ryuichi finally lay down on the bed, the warmth of the room and the calmness of the air beginning to soothe his restlessness. Natsume sat in her chair flipping something in her hands, watching him surreptitiously out of the corner of her eye, just to make sure he was okay.
The miko quietly left the room, leaving them a space of peace after a storm of emotions.
Before Ryuichi closed his eyes, he muttered in a barely audible voice:
- "Thank you... Natsumi."
She looked at him, then whispered as she covered him with a light quilt:
- "Just... sleep peacefully."
Kitchen - Minutes after Ryuichi fell into a deep sleep
The smell of herbal tea wafted through the kitchen, steam rising from the two cups on the wooden table. Mikiko was standing in front of the window, watching the moonlight creeping through the clouds, while Natsumi sat silently, fiddling with the edges of the cup in her hands.
Mikiko said in a quiet voice, without turning around:
- "I didn't expect you to do that, Natsumi. Letting him sleep in your room."
Natsumi replied quickly, trying to hide her confusion:
- "Only because he was tired... nothing more."
Mikiko smiled lightly, then turned toward her and said:
- "I know you well, Natsumi. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have forgiven him even if he stood around apologizing for hours."
Natsume sighed, then said in a calmer tone:
- "He's... a little different. I mean, yes, he's annoying, curious, and sometimes stupid... But, he doesn't seem evil. And when I saw him cry, I felt something... I don't know."
Mikiko raised her eyebrows, sat down in front of her daughter, and gently placed her hand on hers:
- "He's been through a lot, Natsumi. His mother... She was everything to him. And when I saw him crying today... I remembered you crying after your father left."
Natsumi was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice:
- "I guess I... I felt guilty. Maybe I overreacted."
The miko laughed gently and said:
- "You sent him into an infinite void. Yeah, maybe a little."
Natsumi laughed in spite of herself, and a bit of warmth passed through her eyes. Then she muttered:
- "I won't apologize to him. But... I'll try not to attack him with emptiness again."
The miko replied with a smile:
- "That's a big improvement. Maybe next time, just a scream is enough."
The two continued to drink their tea in pleasant silence, the soft lights of the kitchen giving the place a sense of tranquility after a long day.
Everything around him was foggy and dark. No sound, no smell, no warmth... just slowly moving shadows and a long, seemingly endless tunnel.
Ryuichi took heavy steps in the darkness, his footsteps echoing as if the place was whispering something he couldn't understand.
Suddenly... a familiar image flashed in the distance.
"Mom...?"
He whispered her name, his heart skipped a beat.
She was walking calmly in front of him, wearing the white dress he remembered so well from his childhood days. Her long hair was flowing down her back, and she was not turning around, but walking steadily into the darkness.
He ran towards her and held out his hand:
- "Mom! Wait!"
But the closer he got, the farther away she seemed to get. The tunnel grew longer, and its walls began to close in on him, as if the darkness itself wanted to separate him from her.
- "Mom, don't go! Don't leave me again!" He cried out in a broken voice, panting, his tears falling in the dream as well as in reality.
Finally, his mother stopped for a moment, as if she had heard his plea. She slowly started to turn around, her face still in the shadows.
But before he could see her clearly... she vanished.
Just specks of light that scattered into nothingness.
Ryuichi fell to his knees, into the darkness, and screamed... but there was no sound.
All that remained was silence, a coldness that gnawed at his bones, and a terrible sense of loneliness.
Ryuichi suddenly woke up from his sleep, sweating, breathing erratically, the image of his vanished mother still etched in his mind.
He sat on the bed, staring at the dark wall, then whispered in a broken voice:
- "I'm a failure... Even in my dreams I can't catch them..."
His grip tightened, and his eyes filled with anger and despair.
And then suddenly...
Boom!
He slammed his fist into the wall with all his might. Tiny cracks scattered, and the sound of the impact echoed through the room.
- "Damn me... and everything I am!" He screamed, unable to contain his rage.
[Natsumi enters]
Natsumi rushed into the room as soon as she heard the sound.
- "Ryuichi! What the...?"
But she didn't finish, stopping abruptly, her eyes widening in amazement.
Around Ryuichi's body... there was a black, dark, pulsating shimmer, as if a shadow from nowhere had begun to creep over him. His veins seemed to glow a dark gray color, and his face was distorted with a strange, unnatural rage.
His eyes... they weren't normal. It wasn't Ryuichi's usual look, but something else, something lurking in the depths, something that shouldn't be released.
- "No... This isn't normal." Natsumi muttered as she took a step back, her hand trembling.
Breathing heavily, Ryuichi shouted angrily:
- "No one understands me! No one!!! Even she...she left me!!!"
The walls began to shake around him, and the light in the room gradually dimmed, as if something dark had sucked the life out of the place.
Shocked by the transformation, Natsume quickly pulled herself together, then whispered sharply:
- "I wouldn't do this... but now you're a danger to yourself and those around you!"
[Natsume - Chanting Hymns]
Closing her eyes, she began to chant her own hymn, in a firm, deep voice:
- "Veil of emptiness, dam of distance, open your gate to those who have lost control..."
A portal of nothingness formed behind Ryuichi, a dark vortex emitting unintelligible whispers.
"Into the void of nothingness... until you calm down!"
A powerful energy surged, swallowing up Ryuichi's irresistible body, as if the specter of rage had completely seized his will.
One moment... and he disappeared into the darkness of silence.
Natsume, tired of using her technique, stood alone in the center of the room, trembling, staring at where Ryuichi had been moments before.
- "I'm sorry... but I had no choice."
Silence... and then a sigh from Natsumi as she sits on the floor, her hands shaking slightly, reorganizing her breathing after the forced activation of the portal.
But...
A deep snarl suddenly broke the stillness, a strange, primal snarl that seemed to come from far away, from the depths of the same dimension to which Ryuichi had been banished.
Natsumi froze in place.
And then... a loud, tearing scream, unlike anything she had ever heard before. A combination of unbearable pain... and irrepressible rage.
She immediately stood up, her body tensed, and stared at the point of emptiness where the portal had disappeared moments ago.
- "No way... that sound..."
But before she could think any further, a pure blue flash quietly exploded in the corner of the room.
Ryuichi's glasses... which he had removed before lying down, began to beat like a living heart, emitting a delicate blue flash, synchronized with each scream from the other dimension.
Natsumi took cautious steps forward and whispered:
- "What the...?"
She approached her slowly, but before she could touch her... a strange, metallic, feminine, plaintive voice emitted...
- "Ryuichi... no, don't pass out... hold on... I'm... sorry, I can't reach you... not now..."
Natsume's eyes widened, and she stared at the glasses in surprise:
- "Who? Who are you talking to? Are these his... glasses?"
But the glasses suddenly dimmed, and no sound was heard.
Natsumi stood confused, thinking:
- "What is this energy? Is there... a soul or consciousness inside these glasses? Was there... someone who entered this dimension?"
She quickly shook her head in denial, then muttered:
- "No, no way. I monitored everything before the transmission... there was no one with him... or am I... not seeing the whole truth?"
She slowly lifted the glasses, and as she was about to put them on the table... they began to pulse again, but faintly... as if warning or hoping.
A faint voice:
- "Save him... or the darkness will swallow him whole."
Natsumi was standing there, her breath coming fast, her eyes darting between the glasses and the void whose gate she had just closed, her emotions fluctuating between amazement and fear. She couldn't explain what had happened, nor how that snarl was coming from the very void she had sent it into.
Another flash of blue suddenly lit up the room, and the glasses came alive again, as if signaling something urgent. Natsumi had partially concealed her nervousness, but her eyes never left the space she had closed moments before. She felt something strange creeping through the air, something unnatural was happening, as if the laws themselves had been disrupted.
Then, all of a sudden, she noticed the Void Gate slowly opening. Its edges began to pull, as if it were a wound that had begun to heal very slowly.
She froze in place, her eyes widening in horror. Slowly, Ryuichi's hand appeared from within the void, a hand reaching outward, dirty, stiff, as if looking for something to cling to in this world. There was something very suspicious about that hand, as if it was begging to come out.
Natsumi dropped to her knees, her emotions torn between fear of the unknown and concern for Ryuichi. She felt that what was happening was beyond her ability to comprehend.
Before she could snap out of her stupor, the entirety of Ryuichi appeared from within the void, standing there, panting heavily. His face was pale, his eyes filled with pain, as if his soul had gone through an unbelievable experience inside that dark void.
At that moment, Mikiko rushed into the house. She had sensed something strange through her spiritual connection with her daughter, and her heart felt like it was pounding as if she was aware of the danger. She did not hesitate to enter the room.
Her first sight was very strange.
As soon as she saw Natsumi on her knees, stunned and unable to move, her eyes fixed on Ryuichi who had emerged from the void, she froze.
She looked at Ryuichi, who was standing in front of her, panting. His eyes were filled with confusion and pain, and he looked as if he had had a terrifying experience inside the void, as if something unnatural had invaded him in that place.
Miku: "Natsumi! What happened?" She said in a hushed voice, but she was completely disoriented, looking at her daughter in shock.
Natsumi couldn't respond at first, her voice was weak as if she was unable to speak. Her eyes never left Ryuichi, who turned around as if in disbelief, his hands shaking.
Then Natsumi finally whispered: "He... he came back from the Void... But how? That's... Impossible..." She added in a choppy voice: "I don't understand... I don't understand!"
Miko slowly approached Ryuichi, her eyes focused on his features. There was something strange about the way he moved, something very different from the person she had previously known.
Miku: "Ryuichi, are you okay?" She said in a low voice, full of concern.
But he didn't respond, just gasped deeply, as if he had stepped out of another world he couldn't explain.
Miku stepped toward him with cautious steps, her voice filled with caution and tenderness:
Miko: "Ryuichi... are you okay?"
Ryuichi slowly raised his head, looked at her with pale eyes, and tried to draw a small smile as he whispered in a weak voice:
Ryuichi: "I'm fine... don't worry... I just... I just... I just needed some rest."
But he didn't finish his sentence.
He suddenly staggered forward, as if everything in his body had collapsed all at once. Miku and Natsumi's eyes widened simultaneously, and with the last tired exhalation from his chest, Ryuichi fell unconscious into Miku's arms.
Miku: "Ryuichi!"
She quickly knelt on the ground and cradled his limp body in her arms, anxiously feeling his pulse, while Natsumi approached slowly, still not believing that he had come out of that void at all.
Mikiko (with great concern): "His pulse is slow... but he's still breathing."
She then looked at her daughter sharply:
Miko: "Natsume, tell me in detail... What did you do to him? What happened back there?"
Natsume, still on the verge of tears, whispered:
Natsume: "I didn't mean to hurt him... I just wanted to protect him... But he... but he got out of there alone...
-------
In a heavy silence interrupted only by his slow breathing, Ryuichi lay on the bed. Mikiko sat beside him, watching his pale features with a worried eye, while Natsumi stood at the foot of the bed, her gaze tense.
Suddenly, Ryuichi's body shuddered violently, then relaxed. His breathing became more regular, and his skin gradually regained its warmth.
Then... His fingers moved.
Miku (anxiously): "Ryuichi?"
Ryuichi's eyes slowly open, lost gazes groping the ceiling, then sliding to the faces near him.
Ryuichi (in a hoarse voice): "...Mom?"
Miku approaches, touching his forehead:
Miko: "I'm here... you're okay now, you were unconscious for a few minutes."
Natsumi (in a low, affectionate voice): "I was afraid for you..."
Ryuichi looked at their faces, then closed his eyes for a long moment, as if a thousand images were crowding behind his eyelids. When he reopened them, the look wasn't the same... there was something different.
Ryuichi (in a strange whisper): "...the place where I was...wasn't completely empty."
They looked at him in surprise, but Miku gently placed her hand on his chest and said:
Miko: "Don't talk now, you've come back to us... that's enough."
But inside Ryuichi, there were other whispers... remnants of that emptiness... an echo that still reverberated, and something new fermenting deep within him.
Ryuichi is still lying down, his eyes wandering, as if his soul is not yet complete.
Ryuichi (faintly): "Miku... could you... give me my glasses? On the table..."
Miku nodded softly, reached out and took the glasses, then placed them in his hands.
As soon as he touched them, the pale blue light in the glasses shimmered, unnoticed by anyone else.
Aura (in a soft inner voice):
"Ryuichi... you're okay... finally."
He blinks a few times, then presses the lens slightly with his finger as if adjusting it, while whispering inwardly:
Ryuichi (inside his mind, in a faint, weary voice):
"Aura... you were there?"
Aura:
"I was watching you, but I couldn't reach you in the Void... only when I came back, I felt your signal... your pulse started to normalize."
Ryuichi sighed without drawing the attention of Miku or Natsume, then leaned back on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling, trying to calm himself.
Ryuichi (in a whisper):
"I'm fine now... don't worry. Just... stay with me... silently."
Aura (quietly):
"I'll stay... and no one will know I'm here."
Outside, Miku kept watching him with a mother's eye, then approached him:
Miku (gently):
"If you need anything... just let us know."
Ryuichi nodded slowly, then closed his eyes slightly, trying to find some comfort... while inside, he felt that someone, albeit inside a device, was still there... for him.
Gradually regaining his breath, Ryuichi opened his eyes again, a slight look of both exhaustion and peacefulness.
He held his glasses for a moment, then slowly took them off, handing them to Mikiko, who was watching him with worried eyes.
Ryuichi (in a hushed voice):
"Put them... on the table... please."
Mikiko gently took the glasses and placed them next to him, then leaned toward him and smiled understandingly.
Miku (tenderly):
"Get some rest, your body needs to calm down... we're here."
Natsume approached, her features muddled with regret and concern, then sat down at the foot of the bed and lowered her head.
Natsume (in a low, apologetic voice):
"I'm sorry... for sending you into the void... I didn't want to hurt you, I just wanted to protect everyone."
There was silence for a moment... and then Ryuichi let out a light laugh, a faint smile splitting his tired face, as if to say, "Don't worry."
Ryuichi (reassuringly calm):
"It's okay... you did the right thing... if I were you, I'd do the same."
Natsumi looked at him in surprise, and then a sense of relief, mixed with shame, crossed her face.
Ryuichi slowly closed his eyes, the sound of his breathing becoming more regular... like trying to navigate a rare moment of peace after a storm.
Mikiko and Natsumi sat silently, watching as Ryuichi finally succumbed to a peaceful sleep, as if everything he had been through was nothing more than a heavy dream... temporarily over.
10:15 p.m.
The dim light in the kitchen was softly spilling onto the table, giving off the scent of warm, soothing tea. Miku sits in the chair opposite her daughter Natsume, her face deep in thought.
Miku (in a contemplative whisper):
"Everything that happened today... it wasn't normal, Natsumi."
Natsumi stares at her cup for a moment, then slowly lifts her eyes.
Natsumi (in a low, troubled voice):
"In my life... no one has survived the void. No one has come out of it against my will... ever.
But I swear... Ryuichi came out... alone."
There was a heavy silence.
Miku raised her eyebrows in surprise, as if realizing something unbelievable, and then looked at her daughter with obvious concern.
Miku (stunned):
"You mean... he broke the laws of the Void? With his power alone?"
Natsumi (slowly):
"I don't know if it was his power... or something else inside him. But I felt the fear... and I sent him."
The miko's face gradually shifted from surprise to a mixture of concern and admiration, but she didn't add anything... just nodded, lost in thought.
[A short silence... then:]
The sound of slow footsteps approaching the guest lounge, echoing across the wood floor... Natsumi stopped talking and turned toward the door between the kitchen and the lounge, a puzzled look on her face.
Ryuichi enters with quiet steps, his hair still disheveled, his face a little pale... but he's standing.
Natsumi (with genuine surprise):
"Hey, why aren't you in bed?"
Ryuichi, with half-closed eyes and a faintly dramatic, sarcastic tone in his voice, said:
Ryuichi (with a tired smile):
"Is there any food?... I came out of the void of nothingness, at least I deserve some soup, right?"
The miko burst out laughing, while Natsumi opened her mouth in surprise and then laughed in spite of herself, trying to hide a slight smile.