Work Text:
The night rain blanketed the alleyways behind the shopping district.
Asakura Shin was only thirteen at the time.
After escaping the laboratory, he had been wandering for days. His stomach ached with hunger, and his eyes were bloodshot from constantly hearing the thoughts of everyone around him.
"That kid looks filthy."
"Should we call the police?"
"Don’t get involved."
Hundreds of voices crowded his mind, forcing Shin to clutch his ears tightly.
"...Shut up..."
He slumped down in front of a vending machine.
And just then...
“Have you been sitting here this whole time?”
A voice rang out right in front of him.
Shin flinched and looked up.
A blond young man in a white shirt, wearing a gentle smile, was leaning down to look at him.
But what was strange was...
Shin couldn’t hear his thoughts.
"...!"
For the first time in his life.
His mind was silent.
The man smiled.
“Hungry?”
He placed a still-warm bento box down.
Shin stared at it.
"...You..."
“No need to thank me.”
Just as Shin reached out to take it...
Another voice came from behind.
“Nagumo.”
A tall man wearing glasses approached.
His shopping bags were filled with meat, vegetables, and household goods.
“Sakamoto?”
Nagumo grinned.
“Did you adopt another one?”
Sakamoto looked at Shin.
It was only a brief glance, but it was enough to assess almost everything.
This child was not normal.
His body was covered in old wounds.
His footsteps were light.
His eyes constantly scanned escape routes.
That was not how a normal child behaved.
Shin looked at Sakamoto.
Again.
Nothing.
A complete silence.
That only made him more confused.
"...Who are you people?"
Nagumo smiled brightly.
“Good people.”
A female voice came from behind.
“If you’re calling yourself a good person, who would believe that?”
A short-haired girl holding an umbrella walked over.
“I’m Rion.”
She placed another carton of milk beside Shin.
“Eat.”
Shin hesitated.
No one had ever treated him like this before.
And then...
A group of men in black rushed into the alley.
“We found the kid!”
“It’s Test Subject No. 7!”
Shin went pale.
They had caught up.
The first man drew his gun.
Bang!
The gun was gone.
Nagumo was suddenly standing right in front of him.
He spun the gun on his finger like a magic trick.
“Hey.”
His smile never changed.
“The child is eating.”
“Could you keep it down?”
Ten seconds later...
Only the sound of rain remained in the alley.
The pursuers lay unconscious.
Nagumo dusted his hands off.
“Done.”
Rion whistled.
“That was fast.”
Sakamoto silently picked up the dropped shopping bags.
Looking at the three people in front of him, Shin finally understood.
They were so strong that his pursuers were no different from children.
But what surprised him the most...
Was that when he was near them,
his mind became quiet.
For the first time since gaining his ability to read thoughts.
Shin spoke softly.
"...Can I come with you?"
Nagumo glanced at Sakamoto.
“You’re adopting him?”
Sakamoto sighed.
“…Let’s go home first.”
That was the fateful day.
The day Asakura Shin met Sakamoto, Nagumo, and Akao Rion years earlier than the original timeline.
And from that day on, the history of the assassin world began to change.
---
In the days that followed, Shin lived in a house he had never dared to dream of.
Not a cold laboratory.
Not sterile white hallways.
But the sound of sizzling pans, Nagumo’s loud laughter, and Sakamoto’s sighs every time someone broke something in the kitchen.
Shin sat in a corner, holding the bento Nagumo had given him on the first day.
He still wasn’t used to it.
Still didn’t believe it.
And most importantly...
He still couldn’t hear their thoughts.
That was both terrifying.
And comforting.
“Hey, Shin.”
Nagumo peeked into the room.
“Wanna go shopping with me?”
Shin blinked.
"...Me?"
“Yeah, you.”
Sakamoto called from the kitchen.
“Don’t drag him around too much.”
Nagumo smiled.
“I’m just teaching him how to live normally.”
Rion laughed.
“If you’re the one teaching, that’s the dangerous part.”
Shin stood up.
Slowly.
As if afraid that any sudden movement would make everything disappear.
But it didn’t.
When he stepped out the door, Nagumo was already waiting.
And for the first time, Shin realized something.
He wasn’t being saved.
He was being allowed to live.
---
Elsewhere, in the darkness of underground organizations.
A screen lit up.
All data regarding “Test Subject No. 7” had been erased.
A cold voice spoke.
“Target lost.”
“But there are signs of interference from… Sakamoto.”
Silence.
Then a soft laugh.
“I see.”
“How interesting.”
---
And in that small house, Shin slept peacefully for the first time.
No voices in his head.
Only the faint sound of rain outside the window.
And a future that had begun to shift onto an entirely different path.
---
But what Shin didn’t know...
Was that this peace had never been something that lasted long in their world.
And when a “test subject” disappears from the map...
Eventually, its creator will come looking.