『 Dying of Asphyxiation was seriously not my goal in life. 』
Neither was meeting a Governor of the Afterlife and getting sent to another world for a second chance at life.
Drew was assaulted by a group of men for reasons she didn't understand. Drown...
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120. Montage
Nightmares made his night alone colder than they could've been.
Jolting awake, the heart machine migraine-inducing, his breath-- such a precious, odd occurrence now-- racing and taking in air desperately, desperately-- so, so desperately as if he feared the moment he could not take another.
He thought he had long gotten over his own death. But no-- the thought of his limbs shattering into bits, the water entering his lungs, burning like acid and corroding his insides like they were poison-- Rei found himself waking up with a scream near his senses.
Clutching Sui-- the one, teary-eyed child who wouldn't leave his side since he woke up-- she cuddled closer than ever, unable to express herself anyway else. She needed the comfort-- the comfort of something, someone-- and Rei knew he needed it too.
Three days ago, he had woken up. He took a slow, miraculous breath through new lungs-- everyone was so, so glad and happy. The mood was celebratory, joyousness, a frolic jubilee.
Then, two days ago, Kunomasu braced him for grim news-- the identity of his donor.
Rei couldn't even compose a proper reaction in him.
Fury, furor was definitely boiling in him. Anger, hatred, frustration, guilt-- all muddled up like a sick pool of bile he wanted to throw up. But no-- anyone could have the sense to understand that Kunomasu did it without a choice. It was one life saved or two lives left to rot on their own. the choice was obvious, evident, and choosing otherwise would have been absurd.
And for Rei, who he himself has wished dearly, declared loudly and vividly his will to live-- saying now that he should have died instead-- that would be childish, unfair, hypocritical-- and just plain delirious.
Sanity and conformity was one thing he didn't want to lose with his physical deterioration. The transplant had been a success even through the most of miracles. People would say tha tto him now and then-- but Rei did not feel much better.
Where was this anger going to go? Where would it be directed? Why should it be held down?
It felt-- strange-- maybe it was just his mental consciousness, his disturbed, over-feeling awareness that was rejecting the foreign object he knew was in him. He wasn't feeling it physically, though-- the alien material welded to his skin felt now like it was a part of him. It was strange, but it did not feel strange.
Perhaps it was how little he felt the change that made it all the more awful to him. It was unnerving, but his body did not protest to the difference-- to Amano's relief, tissue rejection showed no signs of occurring anytime soon-- so Rei's mind was just forced to adapt; to live with it, until he pretended to be fine with it.
It wasn't too hard.
-
Sui was always with Rei. Amano protested at first to her stay in the medical ward-- after all, Rei was extra fragile at the moment-- but Amano allowed it after much debating.
