Kevin was about to say hello, but because of a sore throat, he had to cough. With a handkerchief in his hand, he let a faint cough. But as time passed, the coughing never stopped.
In the end, young Vincent got annoyed for interrupting his once in every few days of pleasant silence. He raised his head and turned to shoo the coughing man away.
Kevin soon let out a loud cough. That's when young Vincent's sad green eyes picked up blood on the handkerchief.
However, he soon realized it wasn't normal blood. Instead, it was green and gunky like old paint. The man sitting near him wasn't a visitor but as an infected survivor like him.
The young Vincent frowned in shock, said nothing, and quickly averted his eyes.
"Sorry young man for my coughing. When I get tired, this happens. Don't worry, boy. It's not infectious. " Kevin was used apologizing these past two years, like a habit he expressed an apology.
Young Vincent's eyes soon picked an interesting picture on the cover in the man's hands. He kept staring for quite a while until Kevin noticed the boy's gaze.
"Huh? " Young Vincent became surprised when he heard the man beside him chuckle for no apparent no reason while staring at Vincent's eyes as if he found treasure.
"Sorry, boy. But your cool looking green eyes resemble the Hero on the front page of this comic. " Kevin placed the comic book on young Vincent's lap with a bright smile. It wasn't the smile of a sick person, but one full of life.
Young Vincent felt a bit weird by this, yet strangely intrigued at the same time. His green eyes made everyone around him treat him like a monster, but now a man said they were cool.
"Cool? I resent my eyes. They remind me of my deceased parents. I wished to go to the amusement park... they died, but I lived. I killed them... " Young Vincent despised his eyes as they meant what he had done.
Forcing his parents to take him to the grand event, he believed their deaths were on his hands. A sin no son should ever make.
Unfortunately, he didn't know yet how his parents didn't care about his school result; they only cared about his happiness, and that's why they took him there.
Vincent could only know their real feelings in the memory from the dream-like vision before landing in the new magical world. The deja vu sickness usually didn't show the past, but instead, it showed a different present.
The Vincent dreaming all this in the wisp body acted strangely. Bright white tears flowed from his eyes because of the emotions surging in his small wisp body.
[Vincent, resist the feelings you once had. Only then can you move forward. If the past chained you, then break the shackles that bind you. Your new present is beside three beauties.]
Vincent understood her words while the turmoil in his heart began settling. This was the past, and the past can't get changed. Even if he could change the past, he couldn't live without meeting Kevin's family.
"Don't be sad, boy. My name is Kevin Brooks. Take a look at this Hero, you both look alike. " Kevin introduced himself while trying to cheer the sad young Vincent. His hand approached the comic and pointed at the Hero on the front page's cover.
However, Kevin could see that his words weren't reaching the young Vincent, who stared at the picture in a daze. He appeared both bothered and surprised.
Kevin grabbed the book, flipped the page at the best action scene, and placed it back on his lap.
"The green-eyed Hero fights the evil immortal villain, that is the most interesting fight I might say. So... What's your name? " Kevin persisted while trying this new tactic. Then he placed the open comic on young Vincent's lap once again.
Young Vincent sighed in annoyance as his head lowered down. On his lap was the comic book displaying a two-page fighting scene. It had impeccable art, artistically depicting the Hero as someone grand.
The green-eyed Hero donned a short curly brown hair, a toned muscular build while his body left a faint green trail on his every move. He wore a sleeveless thorn outfit with a hoodie and a face mask.
In this image, the green-eyed Hero was delivering a mighty blow to the Villan while his skin had a sheen. As if it was sweat from heat or hard skin.
The hoddie was half thorn displaying his curly hair and a gaze which could pierce any evil doer to death. One which would make any reader feel the intensity of this fight. It felt real, and this gaze caught young Vincent's attention.
Vincent would later become so impressed that he would sometimes dream of being this character and relive the chapters in his dreams.
This was the start, the trigger which made Vincent a fanatic of Heroic stories to no end. The thrill of discovering a new power, a new Hero, and a different world made Vincent desire to read more.
"Vin... Vincent. " Young Vincent for the first time in two years said his name out of his free will. Even though it felt forced, Kevin wasn't demanding his name, only bothering him in a friendly manner.
Kevin felt the bait finally worked. He hoped that now, this comic book could a least give the young Vincent's eyes some life. It was one of the favorites Kevin liked to keep with him.
"Here... there... ok, now flip that page. " Kevin revealed to the young Vincent the most important parts of the comic.
Every scene the young Vincent's eyes laid upon made him more interested in reading it alone. Kevin was too cheerful and pushy for his tastes.
"So what do you think? As I said before, green eyes are cool. Don't worry about the past. It's the future that you must shape with your own two hands. " Kevin said. His hand gently landed on young Vincent's head and patted his head.
Young Vincent raised his gaze in surprise, then stared at Kevin with a frown. Kevin acted like a cheerful kid. It was hard to become angry at such a warm genuine smile.
"Come on... please... pretty please? Tell me what you think? It's awesome right, and with your eyes, I feel like I'm seeing the Hero in person, haha." Kevin sent a barrage of winks while curving his lips, forming a funny smile and laughing a the same time. It was weird yet hilarious to watch.
Vincent felt his heart suddenly feel at ease and happy. His emotions were strangely linked to the past young Vincent as he felt every emotion his past self felt.
Regrettably, this fateful encounter didn't last long. Before young Vincent could answer his question with a yes, a nurse approached both of them and said, "Vincent Agius, you may follow me to the testing lab."
"Hey, Vincent. Every week, I will be here since I bought an apartment complex and inherited an old library from a relative. I will bring the next chapter for you to read if you want." Kevin handed the comic book to the young Vincent and waved his hand goodbye.
"Can I ask something? " Young Vincent asked with a hint of red cheeks. He wasn't used to talking for so long, and more so because he wanted to ask a personal question as he continued, "If the green-eyed Hero needs help, what can he do? "
It was a tricky question since Kevin noticed it felt a bit personal; it was as if the young Vincent was talking about himself. He needed saving, but who could save him from all this suffering?
"They help themselves since they are their own Heroes. " Kevin said with a light giggle, then he placed his hand on the young Vincent's shoulder, and with a reassuring grip, he continued, "That's why if you don't help yourself, as you are experiencing, no one can help you. Be your own green-eyed Hero Vincent."
The wisp Vincent realized something. Kevin said a phrase that Vincent had forgotten. But now, these words resounded in his heart. He was currently in a world where only by helping himself could he survive.
-Only by helping my self can I be the Hero of my life. Only then can I have the strength to protect my new family.-
As Vincent uttered these words in realization, everything froze in place. It felt like the dream-like vision hit a pause button.
Suddenly, darkness filled both their view as the scenery faded into darkness. Soon, wisp Vincent and Kazumi could only see each other, but he didn't wake up from this dream-like vision.
The light slowly returned, but this time a blurry scene in a room Vincent never saw appeared before them. In the room were four men with their faces blurred out, sitting in what seemed like a rehabilitation room.
One man wore a white nurse outfit with a notebook in his hands while writing something. It was a specialized psychiatrist for the mutated patients as the person felt familiar to Vincent the more he focused on him.
-Where are we?-
[Is it perhaps a group rehabilitation room? The nurse person wearing white resembles the psychiatrist who took care of you.]
-Why are we here? I know this isn't a deja vu dream since it shouldn't show the past, but... a place I never visited has appeared in front of us.-
Before Kazumi was about to reply, the door opened. Soon entered two people with their faces unblurred in the room while saying hi. One of the two was Kevin, beside him stood a shy looking Japanese woman.
She had a nerdy girl's appearance as her clothes seemed used and old. A pair of old glasses on her face and a comic book of the green-eyed Hero held in her hand. Most likely given by Kevin.
[Pff... Who is this nerdy chick? She looks hilarious, haha.]
Kazumi laughed at the woman's appearance, but as some say, karma is a bitch.
"Welcome, Kevin. Is this Kazumi Chiba, who should join us today?" The psychiatrist said with a welcoming tone.
Kazumi stopped laughing. She felt something was strange about this situation. The nerdy woman in the room can't possibly be her, right? This is one of the many questions that echoed in her heart.
-Hey Kazumi, what's wrong? That woman... it can't be you, right? This is my dream, but... -
-Wait! Could it be that when you linked with my soul, this link gave us the ability to share our dream?-
Many questing filled their minds, but no one could answer them. The only way was to patiently watch the scene before them unfold. To hope that a hint about why this is happening, and if it was Kazumi in the room. If so, then she was most definitely a real living person.
"Kazumi was lost on the first floor. After asking me about this floor, we ended up in the same room, haha." Kevin laughed while patting the shy Kazumi on the back. Unlike the-wisp Kazumi, this shy version was like night and day.