『Gazing through crystal eyes』
Internships are supposed to be a taste of what a Hero was expected to take on after graduation. After struggling to get his provisional license and being a step behind his classmates, Akihiko Mochizuki finally has the o...
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Wrestling another consciousness for control of your body was annoying in its own category, but after doing this for a little over a year, you get used to it. That being said, Akihiko still did not enjoy having to furiously pull at the mental string tying him to his other self.
Slowly, he could feel himself returning to reality as the chains holding his consciousness down began to loosen. The feeling of air lightly caressing his skin, the warmth of sunlight tickling his quivering eyelashes, and the scent of the thick, bitter antiseptic mixed with sweet fragrances burned his nostrils. The chirping of birds singing vibrated in the air and was the last sense to entirely pull him back to the living world and not in a place between illusion and self.
Akihiko peeled his eyelids open, and a wave of harsh light descended on his eyes. He did not close his eyes, did not even bother to blink as bright lights were nothing of a bother. Shifting between colors of purple like a kaleidoscope, the inclusions in his hair reflect illuminance. Pressure pushed against the sides of his skull as pulsations of pain relentlessly attacked his temples. His nose scrunched up at the feeling, and he raised his hand to touch his forehead.
Except he could not because his arm was strapped down to his torso. Slightly tipping his head up from the pillow, a hefty amount of beige bandages and a white sling were wrapped around his arm, keeping him from moving it. A frown tugged at his lips, but he did not comment on this. Confusion stirred beneath these pangs of agony attacking his head. Where was he anyway?
The blankness of the white ceiling yielded no results, and neither did the cabinets chalked full of clinical stuff. His head plopped back onto the pillow, and he shut his eyes briefly. Although he preferred not to, he momentarily submerged himself back into the depths of his mind and into that darkness that kept himself separated from the other him.
His fingertips skimmed the mental barrier and flickered through recent memories. Ones that were buried in his mind yet did not belong to him. However, that did not mean he did not have access to them. Images of immersing himself yet not himself in the darkness and creating fragments of different colored crystals. A man wearing a plague mask with orange lenses and his hands carefully digging Briar out of collapsed rubble—
Akihiko pulled his hand away from the memory in fright like he was pulling it away from a hot stove. He shook his head, trying to clear the haziness of his mind, and reluctantly submerged himself back into the memory. He wanted to deny the flashes he flipped through, but they all showed the same scene. An unconscious Briar and Akimitsu hauled her out while fully encasing Remi in sapphire. The glinting of blue did not make him feel comforted, but the action seemed fitting of his mirror image.
So where was Briar now?
Concern ebbed at the boy's consciousness as his eyes shot open. Without a second thought, the boy began to press his palm to the cot and push himself up. The pain in his head was loudly telling him to stop, but he was not listening. Once he managed to get himself in a sitting position, although breathing heavily with even more pain threading through his muscles, he waited a few seconds out of exhaustion.
