Ness POV:

I left my duties to Len as I dashed outside of Comfort. I was more than confident with leaving her in charge since her growth over the past few months was remarkable; she picked things up quickly.

I turned the corner and ran into a dark alleyway. A few moments before my sudden exit, a regular had asked to speak with me in private. He explained that the District Leader wanted to talk with me and that he was waiting nearby.

I was sceptical at first, but the more I thought about it, the more worried I became. Lyon hadn’t stopped by Comfort in almost a month, and yet instead of asking for one of the others; he asked for me.

The end of the alley was in sight when I sensed someone waiting around the corner—it was probably Lyon. I stopped a few feet away from the next intersection and stood beside the wall.

“Lyon?”

I was tempted to poke my head around, but I got the feeling that I probably shouldn’t. If he wanted us to talk face to face, he wouldn’t have hidden himself in the first place.

“...You came, Ness.”

It really was him. His voice sounded weak, devoid of any strength, and it seemed like he was struggling to speak clearly.

“Lyon...Why did you want to see me?”

I felt conflicted about not telling Jasmine at least about this meeting. She was deeply in love with him and would be able to provide better support than I ever could.

“...I wanted to hear your voice...”

“!”

My eyebrows furrowed as the heat swirling around my cheeks intensified. I covered my mouth with my hand in shock. Was I really hearing this correctly? No, no, I need to calm down.

“I don’t... Understand.”

“...Out of everyone... I think I’ve spent the least amount of time with you...”

I narrowed my eyes. He wasn’t wrong. Lyon constantly ignored my bluntness and always tried to engage in a conversation with me when we first met. Over time, I ended up opening up more and more to him, but I still didn't understand the point of this meeting.

“Lyon, what exactly are you trying to say? Do you know how worried everyone is about you?”

“...Ness, you’re beautiful.”

Steam rose from my flushed face. My toes squirmed as I looked down not sure of what to say; it was the first time anyone had called me beautiful. But... I bit my lip and calmed down. After all, it didn’t seem like Lyon was confessing to me—I couldn’t understand his intentions.

“Lyon, please answer my question.”

“...I was sitting down earlier and I suddenly thought of you—”

I darted around the corner and tried to grab hold of his shoulder. He tripped backwards, and we fell to the ground as I landed on top of him. The moonlight illuminated the alley, clearly revealing his sickly pale skin, along with his bony body.

“Enough. Look at yourself, Lyon. I’ve heard the rumours, but this...”

My words trailed off, and I sniffled. My eyebrows curved inwards as tears rolled down my cheek, leaving me unable to maintain my composure. His body was so frail; he looked so delicate and vulnerable. I had never seen him like this before.

“...You’ll get your clothes dirty...”

I clenched my teeth as I glared at him. Did he really think I cared about my clothes at a time like this?

“Tell me the truth.”

He looked away and put his hand in his pocket. He pulled out a blue, fluffy teddy bear with a pink ribbon wrapped around its neck. I raised an eyebrow, bewildered by the sudden appearance of such a cute bear.

“This is for you... I want you to know that you’re special too.”

My lips parted, but I didn’t know what to say. It was so unexpected and confusing. I could see several cuts along his fingers as he pushed the bear into my chest.

“I asked Grandma Yin to teach me, but I’m still not very good at it...”

Lyon's lips spread into a smile while my face went bright red. My mind was in disarray. Was this really a confession after all?

“Ness, tell the others there’s no need to worry. I’ll be fine...”

I saw a sharp light flash deep within his eyes. I squeezed the bear against my chest as I helped Lyon to his feet. I watched him hobble away slowly and contemplated whether I should tell him how I feel.

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“Um... L-Lyon...”

He glanced back at me, but I shook my head and smiled at him instead. I’m sure he just wanted to let me know that he didn’t think any less of me compared to the others... That’s all...

I turned around and made my way back down the alley.

“How sly, Sis.”

“!”

Jasmine dropped down from the rooftop, slowing her fall by manipulating the air currents as her feet lightly tapped against the ground. It wasn’t necessary for her to do that, but she had made it a habit in order to practice her elemental control more.

“Jas, I-Its not what you think. L-Lyon called me out and wanted to speak with me...”

“Relax, Ness. Though it pains me to say it, I’m not exactly in an official relationship with him yet~”

She popped a lollipop into her mouth while smiling. Her unperturbed expression made me feel uneasy, and it bothered me how she didn’t chase after Lyon, given his current condition.

“Jas, aren't you going to talk with him? He looks bad. Really bad.”

I watched Jasmine shake her head as she twirled the lollipop around in her mouth.

“This is why I’m not worried, Sis. I understand him best~ And right now, he looks like a total badass.”

I furrowed my eyebrows slightly as my facial muscles slowly began to return to their normal state. It was hard to understand her whenever she spoke like this.

“Did you not see his body?”

She pulled the lollipop out and pointed it towards the bear I was holding.

“That’s exactly it~ Well, you’ll understand soon enough.”

We walked side by side for the rest of the way in silence. I pondered over what she meant, but couldn’t reach a definite conclusion.

Lyon's mental state still seemed to be all over the place. Calling me out of Comfort to tell me that I’m beautiful and special, to give me a homemade teddy bear; it was out of character for him to do that. Or... Maybe it wasn’t? I hadn’t exactly seen how Lyon behaved when he liked someone or when he was in a relationship with someone, so I didn’t have much to base my assumption on.

‘...’

I sighed inwardly. It was better to not take what happened today too seriously. I glanced down at the bear in my arms as my lips twitched slightly. At the very least, I knew that he wanted me to feel special...

And I did.

***

Brunaulf POV:

The door to my office was already open, and the sounds of papers being organized quickly reached my ears. I stepped inside and saw Kumo slumped over at one of the desks, working away tirelessly.

The Vice Administrator's had their own places where they could work, so it was a strange sight to see Kumo using my office.

“Kumo, I’m back.”

Her head rose, and a bright smile spread across her face. She quickly got up from her seat, bowing her head in front of me.

“Welcome back, Adminstrator!”

She was as energetic as ever. I leaned against the door frame unable to stand on my own two legs anymore. My body was in a horrible state, but I had to follow this lead I found on my sister.

Someone from Inner Astril's Underground had reached out to my request with what appeared to be reliable information. Over three weeks had already passed by since I received their reply and time was truly of the essence now.

“Thank you for taking care of things in my absence. Unfortunately, I’ll need you to handle things for a little while longer, since I will be leaving for Inner Astril soon.”

Kumo nodded her head and started cleaning up any mess she had made. My situation was common knowledge in District 4, so there was no need to go over the details.

“Will you be alright alone? Smuggling into Inner Astril isn’t easy... Can we really trust that source of information too? What if it’s a trap?”

She bombarded me with questions while neatly filing away papers into their appropriate cabinets. Her multitasking abilities were only second to Frida’s—no one else in the whole Organization came close to those two.

“Even if it does turn out to be a trap, there’s nothing to worry about. Originally, I had intended to go with Denise, but...”

I looked down as I sighed inwardly. Truthfully, I was too scared to go alone. I had been planning to ask Denise to accompany me; I felt like I owed her some time together, and I wanted to work on our... Relationship. As usual, things didn’t go the way I had envisioned. Denise was now stuck in a coma, and it was uncertain whether her eyes would open again.

Kumo's hands stopped moving, and she turned around to face me.

“Should I go with you? ...It’ll be tough by yourself.”

“I appreciate your concern, but this is something I need to do alone. Besides, with you gone, the efficiency of things here will fall.”

She gave me a sharp nod and finished tidying up. Kumo was a kind girl, but I knew that she worried about things a lot; she just didn’t show it.

The atmosphere in District 4 wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t completely good either. I had planned to speak with the District Leader before leaving, however, after I thought about it, I figured that he wouldn’t want that.

He had been pushing me this whole time to keep looking, to keep trying, to keep going on. I knew he would want me to leave as soon as possible because that’s the kind of person he is. He puts others before himself and doesn’t discriminate against the weak or strong. He is a true leader, so I didn’t need to worry. He would be fine.

“Understood, Adminstrator Brunaulf.”

Kumo bowed her head once more as she left the office and headed home. I closed the door behind me and sat down in the lotus position. The first thing I needed to do was fix this body.

“Madness.”

I activated my ability, and strands of madness erupted from my back. It moved in front of me; I could feel that it was pleased with what I had been going through. A thick strand rubbed against my cheek as it tried to console me for its choice.

I gazed at the monstrosity before me silently. The very nature of my ability meant that being in harmony with it would only work under certain conditions, yet I was about to try and break that barrier.

“You need to listen to me.”

The strands abruptly stopped moving. I could feel its disapproval at my words. It craved suffering, destruction and blood—it craved madness. I understood it because it came from me.

“Come.”

It reluctantly wrapped around my body from head to toe. I wouldn’t lose myself anymore because there were people waiting for me.

“Madness: Rehabilitation.”

The madness took on the form of hundreds of sharp needles that shot forward inside the encasement, puncturing the surface of my skin all over. I ignored the pain as the needles began to pulsate like a heartbeat while my Ki exploded, and strength was injected directly into my frail body.

It wrapped around my arms tightly, restoring the muscles and strengthening my bones back to their original state before moving on to the next area. The entire process would take a few hours, and I wouldn't be able to move at all during that time.

This technique required an enormous amount of Ki while also draining all of the Madness resource itself. As a result, I wouldn’t be able to activate my ability for a full day.

It was a technique I could never use because the Madness would never let me, and now, I understood why—it wanted to protect me in its own twisted way.

I could feel the strands tremble as I sat still. Soon. I was going to bring my sister back soon.