CHAPTER 12: THE CONTRACT

…

「…ugh, my head…」

Holding his aching forehead, Junichi’s eyelids fluttered as he found himself gradually regaining his lost consciousness.

And as he awoke, shaking his head in an attempt to rid his nausea, the dark-haired boy found himself surrounded by a blinding white nothingness.

「…it’s too bright.」

He muttered to himself, placing strength into his legs as he stood on the floor absent of matter.

And, while the invisible carpet initially perplexed him, Junichi soon ignored it as he glanced around in an attempt to grasp his current location.

「…there’s nothing.」

He stated bluntly, reconfirming his solitude in the isolated void.

No matter how much he squinted off into the distance, all that the boy could see was an endless field of white-

-and at the same time, all he could hear from the terrain of white was absolutely nothing.

「Where the hell am I?」

Junichi questioned once more, his gaze sweeping over the vast environment of emptiness.

However, it was as he made his second search that the boy noticed a ghostly figure off into the distance.

An obsidian clad youth with penetrating jade eyes.

(Who the hell’s that?)

In an attempt to analyse the figure, Junichi squinted his eyes as he stared off into the distance.

Yet, thanks in part to the whiteness flaring his vision, it was hard to distinguish the smaller details of the ghastly entity.

Nevertheless, seeing how the pitch black shadow prominently distinguished itself from the rest of the pure white nothingness--

(Well, standing here’s not going to do anything.)

--Junichi decided that there was nothing to gain in his inaction, resolving himself as he warily approached the individual of obsidian.

「Who’re you?」

「…」

The individual covered in dusk remained silent towards his bold question, staring back at Junichi with emotionless, green eyes.

And upon answering this stare with his own gaze, Junichi’s own green eyes flickered as a part of him seemed to recognise this figure standing before him.

(He looks familiar.)

「…so it’s you, huh?」

Calm words escaped the obsidian youth’s mouth as the blinding white which surrounded the two dissipated, the blazing light now dimming into a softer, gentler grey.

And with the atmosphere clearing, Junichi’s eyes suddenly spread wide open, finally realising why this dusk-covered figure looked so familiar to him.

Like looking into a mirror, Junichi came face-to-face with a slender teenager with emerald-green eyes and dark, unkempt hair.

Features that mimicked his own to a tee.

「So you’re the ‘me’ in this world, huh?」

「Oi, oi, what the hell is this?」

Upon hearing his own voice talking to him, Junichi furrowed his brow, growing incredibly confused as he asked ‘himself’ what in the world was going.

Yet, instead of answering him directly-

「…well, I guess you do deserve an explanation. What do you want to know first?」

-the obsidian-clad Junichi muttered to himself before confirming the original’s question with a familiar, blunt demeanour.

「…who are you?」

「…me? Well, I’ll just give you a name for now.」

「…for now?」

「Because we don’t have much time.」

The dark-haired youth shrugged, his gesture of rubbing the back of his head seemingly mirrored Junichi’s own habit.

But alas, the boy chose not to point this out so as to move the conversation forward.

And so, the entity of dusk introduced himself.

「My name is 《Cross》.」

「……《Cross》?」

「That’s my name, don’t wear it out.」

《Cross》 narrowed his emerald eyes, casually sweeping his gaze across Junichi as he made the following inquiry.

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「So what’s your name, ‘me’?」

「…Junichi. Saito Junichi.」

「…yeah, that’s too long. I think I’ll just call ya partner.」

「Partner?」

「Yeah. We’ll be working together from now on, so why not?」

「Wait, wait, wait, working together?」

「Look, you got knocked out by that birdbrain, right?」

「B-birdbrain?」

Upon hearing such a strange phrase, Junichi’s head was assaulted by a sharp pain, causing him to cradle it in his hand as it soothed his suffering.

Yet, almost immediately after this-

「Yeah, he should be tanned and have white hair.」

「-!?」

-《Cross’s》 prompt caused an abrupt flow of images to surge through the dark-haired youth’s mind.

A silver shadow.

Transparent limbs.

-and a certain orange-haired girl.

「Well it looks like you’ve remembered something.」

After witnessing the various emotions which flashed across the boy’s face, 《Cross》 smirked to himself as he gave a snarky remark.

A remark which Junichi chose to blatantly ignore.

「…more importantly, I need to get back there!」

「Why? To save that girl?」

「What else would I be going back there for?」

The boy growled, his features contorting into a fiery glare so as to match 《Cross’s》 questioning, ice-cold gaze.

But alas, this deadlock did not last for long as the first to avert their eyes was none other than the boy clad in obsidian.

「Forget her.」

「Huh?」

「I said forget about her, partner.」

Upon seeing Junichi fumble over his surprising statement, 《Cross》 repeated his declaration once more, his focus shifting back to the boy who he addressed as his partner before explaining his point.

「Look. If you’re the ‘me’ of this world, then we should be quite similar.」

「…I don’t quite get the ‘this world’ jumbo but, what’s your point?」

「We’re both Lone Wolves. We have no need for other people.」

《Cross》 spat out coldly, his gaze infused with intense emotion.

And, while Junichi couldn’t quite fathom why this entity felt so strongly about this particular phrase, he simply remained silent, finding himself unable to refute his mirror image’s assumption.

「……」

「So I am right.」

Having affirmed his suspicions, 《Cross》 folded his arms, staring at the silent figure of the dark-haired youth with judgemental, emerald-green eyes.

And then, after taking a deep breath, an obvious question passed over the dusk-covered entity’s lips.

「Why do you need to save some stranger that you barely know?」

Indeed. A valid question which continued to linger helplessly in the vast, grey emptiness.

It might’ve been a different story if they were friend or family, but there was absolutely no need for Junichi to risk his life in order to save someone else’s.

A life that mattered little to him. A life that would benefit him in no way whatsoever.

Taking a logical standpoint similar to 《Cross’s》, it was blatantly obvious that choosing to return to that battlefield and fight against an almost unbeatable enemy for the sake of a stranger was foolish.

And yet-

「…you know, I used to think like that too.」

「…used to?」

「…even a wolf gets lonely.」

-Junichi simply showed a wry smile, several experiences of his harsh life flashing briefly through his mind.

A life where risk was impossible to avoid, no matter how one chose to live.

A life where taking risks had moulded him into the peculiar existence he was today.

「…so that’s the kind of character you are.」

「You got a problem with me, ‘me’?」

「Far from it. That just makes things more interesting.」

Upon realising that Junichi wasn’t quite the same as himself, 《Cross》 cracked a wide grin, smirking to himself as if he had just witnessed something amusing.

Though choosing not to relish in the same joy for the time being, Junichi took another glance at his surroundings, frowning as he failed to find an exit from this endless void.

「Great. So how do I get out of here?」

「You sure you wanna be let out now? You’re just gonna get beat up again.」

「Yeah…the hell was that?」

Recalling how both his attacks and defences had been rendered useless, Junichi stroked his chin, pondering the reason behind the silver-haired youth’s transparency before reaching a ridiculous conclusion.

「Magic?」

「Yeah, no. Look, I can explain that birdbrain's trick and even help you beat him.」

「But?」

「I’m gonna need your cooperation.」

「…cooperation?」

Junichi cautiously inquired, his instincts reminding him of similar shady deals which had a premise not very different from this one.

That said, for the sake of getting out of here, the boy decided to remain quiet as he listened to the full story.

「…well, I came to this world to do something. And for that end, I’ll need a vessel.」

「Vessel? Wait, are you like a ghost or something and you want to possess me?」

「*Sigh* Look, we’ve got no time. Let’s just say, we’ll form a temporary contract for now.」

「Temporary…contract?」

Echoing the suspicious term, Junichi was once again puzzled by 《Cross’s》 dubious proposition.

Yet, sensing this scepticism, the obsidian-clad entity scoffed before one-handedly deciding to rephrase the whole discussion.

「…look, you wanna beat that birdbrain, right?」

「Yeah, but-!」

「Then stop wasting time and do what I say!」

In the face of 《Cross’s》 overbearing command, Junichi clicked his tongue, making it clear that his dissatisfaction was known to the other party.

With that said, seeing how there seemed to be no other option at this stage, the boy simply resigned himself as he habitually rubbed the back of his hair.

「Fine, if it’s only temporary, I just have to do this, right?」

「Alright, now get over here.」

At 《Cross’》 direction, Junichi approached the obsidian individual until their noses were but millimetres apart from one another.

「…so now what?」

「Your eye.」

「Hah?」

「Use your ［Eye］.」

(--?! Wait, he knows about that too?)

A bewildered Junichi thought to himself, surprised by his so-called other self’s knowledge.

「Just do it!」

「I got it, I got it already.」

Junichi raised both hands, committing to a gesture of surrender as he resigned himself to using his ［Eye］.

In reality, Saito Junichi was a boy who possessed Heterochromia Iridis. A condition where the colour of one Iris is different from the other.

However, after the ［Accident］ 10 years ago, his right red eye turned green, mimicking his left eye as they now donned the facade of being a pair of normal emeralds. Ever since then, whenever Junichi desired more power, be it physical strength or mental ability, he would flip an intangible switch in his mind.

And whenever he did, his right eye would consequently begin to glow with a bright, crimson hue.

Now how this exactly worked, the boy didn’t know.

Naturally, he never consulted any professionals about this ability either.

Nevertheless, it was a part of Junichi which he kept hidden from many.

Including both his childhood friend and his very own little sister.

(……alright then.)

Affirming to himself silently, the boy placed strength into his eye before flipping his imaginary switch.

And then, almost immediately after, Junichi’s right iris flashed, its hue changing colour from a piercing jade to a crimson red.

Though, interestingly enough, at the same time that this was happening, a similar change had taken place in the individual before him.

Like looking at his reflection, 《Cross’s》 left ［Eye］ also transformed from a sparkling emeral into a dull, blood red.

Yet, inside this eye of scarlet, Junichi noticed a strange, X-shaped symbol imprinted inside the jewel of the entity’s pupil.

A 《Cross》.

「Brace yourself.」

The entity’s warning shook Junichi’s head, bringing him back to the matter at hand.

Yet, almost immediately afterwards, another warning was issued by the individual who was so aptly named after the symbol in his eye.

「This is going to hurt.」

*Thump* *Thump*

--suddenly, without rhyme nor reason, Junichi’s pulse began to hasten drastically.

And with it, a searing pain instantly accumulated into Junichi’s eye.

「Ah-!」

It happened in an instant.

No. It was even faster than that.

So fast that Junichi didn’t even have time to scream.

Though with that said, the pain which assaulted him was so overwhelming that he lost his ability to scream.

!@#!@#!&*&#!@&^%R$!@$#@?#?!@#!?@#!

Junichi’s mind immediately broke under the burden of the intense pain which surged through his body.

And as his grey surroundings (which were once bright-white) rapidly dimmed, darkness descended into the atmosphere, almost in a similar manner to how dusk sweeps over the Earth as it prepares it for the coming of night.

-and it was in this manner that Junichi’s consciousness had been cut once more.