Chapter Text
It had been a week since the 3rd Eruption. Rei, Mei, and Kiana had ended up in St. Freya. Mei and Kiana recovered remarkably quickly, and they were enrolled into St. Freya to become Valkyries.
Rei, however, was still comatose, and that wasn’t the only problem he had. His stigma was possibly still unstable, necessitating him to be put under for an extended period.
How long? Not even the doctors had an answer.
Mei couldn’t bear to visit him. Hearing the description of his circumstances was already too much for her, and she was convinced that Rei would hate her for what she did. Despite Kiana’s attempts at convincing her otherwise, including a few attempts to pull her to Rei’s room, she continued to refuse.
A month passed, and Rei still hadn’t woken up yet. Kiana finally managed to convince Mei to see him, but she quickly found out it was a bad idea as Mei entered a catatonic state at the doorway as soon as she saw his condition with her eyes. It took Kiana multiple hours to get her to snap out of it, and when she finally did, she ran back to their dorm room and proceeded to cry into a pillow for the rest of the night.
…
Another month went by. Nagazora was officially demoted from “city” status, and Rei was still in a coma.
Mei sat in a chair next to him, looking down at the floor, watching her tears fall from her cheeks. The ominous beeping from the patient monitor accompanied by the hum of moving air from the ventilator didn’t help calm her down. She somehow mustered the courage to look up before immediately looking down again. The same worry that had plagued her for the past two months still lingered.
Will he hate me?
Mei slowly stood up and dragged herself closer to the bed before reluctantly holding Rei’s left hand. A tear fell down her cheek again, which stained his hospital gown.
…
The scene of Rei murdering two classmates out of rage played in her head again. There was blood. So much blood.
Why did he do that? Why did he do all of that just to protect me?
She remembered watching Rei approach her nonchalantly as if he hadn’t just murdered two people in cold blood, his eyes still glowing blue.
Those blue eyes.
Was that really him?
…
In an effort to stop reliving painful memories, she tried to think of something happier.
Both Rei and Mei were sitting in the cabin of the Ferris wheel, their faces close. The fireworks continued to explode in the background, though they stopped noticing it by this point.
They looked into each other’s eyes…
…
…His amber eyes.
She longed to see those familiar amber eyes again.
She longed to hear his comforting voice again.
…
Mei was about to burst into tears again when she was interrupted by a voice. A familiar voice.
“…Mei?”
She looked up.
“Is… is that you…?” Rei spoke weakly. His eyes were their usual yellow color.
“Y… Yes… It’s me…” She felt like she should be happy, but the burning question still lingered there. “Do… Do you hate me… after what I did?”
“No… Do you…?”
Mei was taken aback by that question. “H-Huh? What do you mean…?”
“I… I tried to kill you… remember?”
“I… I don’t hate you for that…”
“You don’t?”
“No… I… I still love you, Rei… but…” She began sobbing again. “Do you… not remember what happened…? I k-killed everyone in Nagazora, and I… I almost killed y-you and Kiana…”
“It… it wasn’t-”
“IT WAS MY FAULT!” she cried. “Why… W-Why do you still… w-want to associate with m-me anymore…? Why-”
Rei suddenly mustered the strength to pull her towards her.
“IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT! None of us could see any of this happening! I won’t let you blame yourself for something you didn’t do!”
“B-But-”
Rei forcefully ripped his oxygen mask off before yelling.
“I STILL LOVE YOU, MEI!”
He then kissed her.
…
Rei passed out during the kiss, leaving Mei to stand there flabbergasted.
She began sobbing as she pressed the red button to alert medical personnel.
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Next morning
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Rei woke up to face a white ceiling again. He groaned. His muscles felt weak and all tied up in knots, and his back felt extremely sore as if he had slept for a few months straight. He didn’t realize he did, in fact, not wake up for 2 months.
He looked down and noticed a very short white-haired girl looking at him. She seemed to be standing on top of a few boxes.
“You’re awake.”
Rei shifted to a more comfortable position so his back could take a break. He wanted to make some comments on her appearance but decided against it. “I guess. How long was I out for?”
“About two months.”
He was shocked. “Excuse me but WHAT?”
“You were in a coma for two months. But don’t worry! We found your two friends and they’re safe here. In fact- gah!”
The boxes she was standing on gave in and she fell to the floor. He couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Hey!” The girl regained her cheery composure rather quickly. “Anyway, I’m Theresa Apocalypse, and I’m in charge of the Far East branch of Schicksal, and also, the principal of St. Freya High, where we train anti-Honkai warriors! Your two friends have already enrolled!”
Rei now had even more questions regarding her appearance akin to that of a 10-year-old girl, but he didn’t ask. “Cool… so can I see them?”
“Well, we still can’t let you leave yet. The doctors still need to monitor your condition. And also.” Theresa suddenly changed to a more serious tone. “I need to ask something important. How did you get your stigma?”
“Stigma? What do you mean?” Rei asked.
“Oh, right. To put it simply, stigmata, which shows as a mark on the skin, gives people an edge in fighting the Honkai. There are natural and artificial stigmata, the former being more powerful but rare. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much more as most of the info on stigmata are classified.”
That explained the weird mark that appeared on the left side of his waist one day.
“Now,” Theresa continued. “Back to my question. How did you get your stigma? It seems to be as powerful as a natural stigma, yet there were no records of anyone in your family tree possessing stigmata, nor were there any records of you possessing one until after the incident in Nagazora.”
“I…” He took a deep breath. “I remember… seeing a tree…”
“A tree? Can you remember any details?”
“It looked yellow, and… imaginary…?”
An awkward silence followed.
“Do you remember anything else?”
“…No. I’m sorry.”
Theresa stared for a while before sighing. “If you can remember anything else, please tell me.”
“…I have a question. Did… did my stigma have anything to do with the events in Nagazora…?”
“Yes. Your stigma lost control.”
Rei looked at his hands, which were now shaking.
…
His thoughts were thankfully interrupted when the door suddenly opened to reveal Kiana, who immediately ran towards Rei.
“Rei-senpai! You’re okay!” She cheered before attempting to hug him.
Rei took a deep breath, thankful for the distraction before smiling. “I’m glad you’re safe, Kiana.”
However, there was now another concern.
“Where’s Mei?”
Kiana’s cheery demeanor suddenly changed.
“Uhm…”
The door opened again to show Mei, who seemed to be on the verge of crying. Kiana dragged her over to Rei’s side, whose face showed concern.
“Mei? Is something wrong?”
She grabbed his hand and hugged him, sobbing quietly into his shoulder. He hugged her back as best he could.
Kiana also joined the hug.
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After a few weeks, Rei was well enough to be discharged, though he would be stuck in a wheelchair for a while as he was still too lethargic to move on his own, and also because he couldn’t maintain his balance while standing up.
Theresa brought him to a dorm room where Mei and Kiana were living, which was followed by a reunion that involved Mei clinging to Rei and refusing to let go.
There was also a familiar person in the dorm.
“Haven’t I seen you before?” Rei said as he looked at the familiar girl with gray drill-shaped locks of hair. Said girl stepped closer, tilted her head, and showed slight intrigue on her face before responding.
“The Bronya remembers seeing Subject Rei in HOMULand a few months ago.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Subject Kiana Idiotka told the Bronya about you.”
“HEY!” Kiana yelled as she stomped the floor. “DON’T CALL ME THAT, BRATNYA !”
Bronya turned to give a cold stare to Kiana before facing Rei again.
“Bronya…?” He asked.
“Zaychik.”
She turned around and walked towards a drawer. “The Bronya must now retrieve a HOMU doll that Subject Kiana stole.”
“GET BACK HERE!” Kiana yelled before ending up in a quarrel, and Rei giggled as he watched them fight over a HOMU doll.
“Oh right! I almost forgot!” Theresa suddenly exclaimed excitedly. “Rei, you’re also eligible to be enrolled in St. Freya High!”
“What?” He was confused. “Why me?”
“Because you have a natural stigma! You can be St. Freya’s first male student!”
…
Rei looked at his hands again before looking towards Mei, who was still hugging him, and her face seemed to scream ‘accept’.
…
“Please?” Mei whispered.
He continued to ponder.
If I enrolled, I would be able to stay by Mei’s side and support her…
Just like I promised.
…
“I’d be happy to become one of your students.”
Kiana, who had been fighting Bronya over a HOMU doll, suddenly stopped before running towards Rei and hugging him. “YAY!”
Rei and Mei continued to look at each other before smiling.