Chapter 12: Naru
When the sky outside the window had already turned dark, Hikigaya finally saw Moe's eyelashes flutter slightly.
The once withered soul was reviving.
She moved her lashes a little, then remained still for a moment. After a while, they moved again. With a faint struggle, she finally opened her eyes. The bright light filling the room seemed unfamiliar, and she instinctively closed her eyes again before slowly opening them once more.
A faint glimmer shone in her crystal-like pupils, yet it seemed to dim the entire room. It was the light of the soul, the great power of life.
The beauty of a person's life isn't entirely determined by clothes, jewelry, or appearance—it can only be found in the eyes, the window to the soul and the room of the heart.
To judge whether a spirit is good or evil, one only needs to look at its eyes—if it has any.
Moe's gaze was extraordinarily beautiful and pure, impossibly clean, without a trace of malice or impure thought.
After sleeping for more than ten years, Moe had finally returned to this world.
Hikigaya released her hand, and the light in the room gradually faded, the darkness quickly swallowing the room.
He didn't turn on the lights and quietly waited for her to stand up on her own.
Seemingly unfamiliar with her body and the sudden darkness, Moe first sat on the chair. Once she grew accustomed to the darkness, she began moving her limbs. When she lifted her hands and saw how completely different they were, her eyes filled with confusion and curiosity.
Then she saw Hikigaya.
Her pure eyes finally showed emotion.
Joy, excitement, longing—a child's look upon seeing something dearly beloved.
She no longer cared about adjusting to her body, stretched out her hand, and tried to stand. She took a few steps, lost her balance, nearly fell, but steadied herself and walked step by step toward Hikigaya.
Finally, she hugged him tightly, opened her small mouth, and called out.
Her voice was like water singing, clear and melodious, soothing to hear.
But the name she called made Hikigaya widen his eyes.
"Naru… was I asleep…?"
Perhaps not hearing Hikigaya's response, Moe lifted her head, displaying a puzzled expression.
Thinking for a moment, she reached out to touch Hikigaya's chest, then looked at his face, puzzled for a while, before breaking into a happy expression and calling out again: "Kyotaro!"
It was only then that Hikigaya snapped back to reality.
"No, I am Kyotaro's son," he said, steadying Moe as she swayed in his arms. "Welcome back, Moe."
"Kyotaro… son…" Moe tilted her head, her expression amusing.
In her memories, she had only slept. Previously, she was still in the green courtyard behind Hinata Mansion, playing house with Kyotaro and his little "chicken wings."
"Yes, it's been a long time. He already has a son—that's me," Hikigaya said, patting her head. He noticed her squinting with a look of enjoyment. "My name is Hachiman."
Huh? Did Kyotaro also like patting her head back then?
"I… don't know… I…" Moe stammered. This new body would take some time for her to fully adjust. "I… slept…"
You mean you don't know when you slept, right?
Seriously! If she hadn't met this true Godslayer who could revive the dead, she would have truly slept to death…
Hikigaya silently judged in his mind—this Tsukumogami Moe seemed a little… silly.
Still, despite her silliness, Hikigaya did have some suspicions about her recent behavior.
It was natural for Moe to call him Kyotaro—after all, in this world he was Kyotaro's son, and the two shared some facial similarities.
But the first name she had called him was Naru…
Hikigaya couldn't determine if Moe said that because she was only looking at who he resembled or if it was because the last people she remembered seeing were Urashima Kyotaro and Narusegawa Naru. The latter would make sense, but if it were the former…
Hmm, Moe surely hadn't seen Kanako. Could Kanako and Naru look alike?
Considering the anime convention where the same face with a different hairstyle is considered a new character, it might make sense… but in real life, people don't cut corners like that.
Hikigaya shook his head and turned on the room light.
He saw Moe raise her hand to shield her eyes—a very human gesture, showing how well the original creators had modeled her.
Soon, Moe got used to the light and began repeatedly calling Hikigaya's name in a practice-like manner.
"Hachiman… Hachiman…"
She kept practicing, clearly enjoying herself.
Seeing her so happy, Hikigaya didn't disturb her.
However, he remembered that during Moe's resurrection, he often heard something fall outside the door.
Deciding to check, Hikigaya walked to the door and casually opened it.
He saw several people collapsed at the doorway—four in total, some piled on top of each other.
Ah, they were humans after all…
Perhaps affected by the power of the Light of the Next World. Even the slightest spillover could cause them to faint.
Hikigaya recognized the fallen as familiar faces.
At the bottom of the pile was Kitakou Kanako, likely coming to see him but coincidentally caught in his spell. Then were Gojou Ruri and Aragaki Ayase, who probably passed by, saw someone collapsed, and got knocked out themselves.
Finally, there was Kyoko Aoyama, who came last through a corridor window, collapsing near the window. Luckily, she had already climbed in—otherwise, she might have fainted halfway.
Hikigaya realized he had been careless and hadn't prepared proper safety measures. Though he lived in the North Wing, people from the South Wing could still come.
"I'll need to be more careful next time…" he muttered, moving the girls into the room and checking them.
As expected, all were fine, though they had fallen into sleep—or rather, their lives were pulled into the liminal space between life and death by the Light of the Next World.
This had indescribable benefits to their vitality, like a youth-preserving effect, but also drawbacks. Without Hikigaya, the Lord of the Next World, to awaken them, they might sleep for decades.
"Hachiman! Hachiman!" Moe came over, having finished practicing, able to call his name smoothly.
Listening to her, Hikigaya recalled a sad scene from before he transmigrated, when a relative's spoiled child demanded to play with him. That time, because he hadn't stored his Gundam model properly…
"Cardo! Your GP02A just flew out the window in a dog-eat-dirt pose!"
And Moe's gaze at the girls now reminded Hikigaya of the look that spoiled child gave when seeing his GP02A!
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