"Tell me, child. Do you wish for a second chance?"
The voice the being of light let out didn't sound like anything she'd heard before. She didn't feel threatened either. On the contrary, it was like lying under a tree with a cool summer breeze. Just hearing it was pleasant and relaxing.
She almost wanted to stay like that. But she had to answer.
She squinted. She tried to see the face behind that light, but failed.
"Wh—who are you… uh… sir?"
The figure let out a laugh.
"Who am I? That doesn't matter. Because depending on your answer, you'll know. So answer. You don't have much time left."
At those words, Rei blinked about three times.
She wasn't sure if it was real. It could be her mind creating false scenes before shutting down completely. She didn't rule that out. She was dead, after all.
But for some reason, she felt that that figure wasn't evil.
She didn't believe in gods. It wasn't something she cared much about in the first place. But if someone had asked her in that instant how she felt being there, with that light in front of her, she'd have said it was the purest, most sacred thing she'd experienced.
So, without thinking further, she answered.
"Yes... I want… a second chance…"
"Then… Rei Miyamoto, I give you a new beginning."
And everything went white.
×××
When Rei opened her eyes, she found herself staring at the ceiling. Or rather, the mist covering the ceiling.
"What…?"
She blinked several times, confused. She wasn't lying down. She was standing. And under her feet there was a red carpet that looked far too luxurious.
"Wow…"
Huge columns rose on either side, and the large windows showed the whitish void.
And things floated there. When she focused, she realized they were softly colored spheres.
"Where am I…?"
After seeing this, she felt a little dazed.
She was definitely not at school.
"A castle?"
And then she heard a voice.
"Feeling better yet?"
She turned her head toward where the voice came from.
Seated on a throne at the back of the hall was a boy who was too handsome, with white hair and a serene face. He didn't seem older than her. He had his legs crossed and one hand on his cheek, as if he'd been waiting for hours. But he didn't look annoyed.
Rei nodded.
"Yeah. I think so..."
"Good," he said with a calm smile. "So what did dying feel like?"
Rei blinked. Excuse me?
I mean, who asks that like that?
As for answering… As Rei's mind recalled the moment she was dying, her skin crawled.
Dying was awful! She didn't find it funny in the least.
She also managed to recover the memory after dying.
"You're…"
In that dark space after death, she'd seen a being of light. Coincidence or not, the young man before her had the same voice.
"I was the one who gave you a new life. So technically, you're alive because of me."
That. That was it. She'd died. And apparently she'd been revived by this being.
She looked at him distrustfully.
"Who are you? And what do you plan to do to me?"
"Don't be afraid."
He laughed at her questions. His laugh was warm and a little teasing.
"I'm the master of this castle. And as for what I plan…"
Suddenly, he wasn't on the throne anymore.
He was standing in front of her.
Rei flinched and took a step back.
Meanwhile, he looked her up and down.
The blood that had covered her clothes, her face, her legs, was gone. Her school skirt was torn, as was her shirt. Her skin looked very healthy, unlike when she was dying under the zombie virus. Her long brownish-orange hair hung loose, except for a small ponytail at the back. Her bangs fell over her forehead, and the strands at the sides clung a little to her face.
"Hum…"
Rei expression turned a little embarrassed when she noticed that her torn shirt revealed part of her stomach and a lot of her breasts, barely covered by her pink bra.
Also, her broken skirt barely covered her chubby thighs that looked soft to the touch, along with her white panties.
"You… what do you want?"
She couldn't help but feel nervous under the boy's intense gaze, and her question wasn't out of line. But the boy simply smiled.
"What I plan to do to you and what I want, hmm…"
She felt nervous.
"I want you to walk by my side. To be my follower. To walk my Path."
"Huh?"
She didn't understand.
"If you give me your answer, you'll have a new beginning. You'll walk with me for eternity, and I'll give you the power to face the apocalypse in your world. What do you say? Would you like that?"
That, without a doubt, was far too strange.
Although his final question had been direct, the boy mocked her with a smile.
She answered quickly, squinting.
"If I accept, will I be okay?"
She just wanted to go home.
She had no interest in unfathomable power. Or whatever that was.
"Oh, you'll be fine. And you'll make new friends. Like me."
The boy's smile widened.
Rei, however, looked at him with a blank expression.
Wasn't this person strange and odd?
Before she had felt a bit afraid, considering he was a being beyond her understanding. But now he seemed rather friendly.
Rei sized him up more carefully, frowning.
He was a handsome young man. Much more handsome than all the models she'd seen in magazines.
He didn't look like any demon or other malicious supernatural creature, so to speak.
If anything, he looked like a god of beauty.
Rei tilted her head.
"Well. You gave me my life back, so I guess I have no reason to refuse."
The young man nodded.
"Excellent. Then tell me, Rei…"
He then reached out his arm, and Rei felt a little dazed when his long fingers held her chin.
"Does that mean you're willing to be only mine for eternity?"
"Huh? Th—this…? What does that mean?"
"What you heard. You'll be only mine. I'll be the only one near you. Your body, your soul, your heart, will be mine. You'll be my wife, and I'll be your husband. Do you agree to that?"
"Ah… uh? Wait, wait, wait!"
Rei stepped aside and moved a few paces away, her face completely red.
"That's a marriage proposal! It's too soon!"
"Hmm? What's the problem? You and I are meant to walk together for eternity, so why not get married?"
"Because it's all too fast!"
"I see… So that means you don't accept being my follower? You should know there'll be no turning back if you accept, since you'll be mine from that moment on. On the other hand, if you refuse, you'll return to normal life, and it'll be like none of this ever happened."
"A-ah!"
Rei whimpered.
What did a "normal life" even mean in a world that was no longer normal?
If she returned as she was, she'd constantly run, hide, and fight to survive.
She'd feel cold in the mornings and at night. There'd be the stench of blood in the streets and houses. She'd go hungry and her stomach would gnaw at her. She'd always be afraid. And many other things…
And for what? To end up eaten by zombies in the end? To face another slow, painful death?
Going back to that world…
She didn't even need to experience it firsthand, because the thought alone was enough to send a chill through her body.
The being in front of her, who had been watching silently until now, smiled and said.
"That's true. Hope there is so fragile now. It'd be like trying to keep yourself afloat in an endless ocean. You won't know how deep it is, but you'll know sooner or later you'll sink."
Rei was stunned. Could he read her mind?
But what he said made sense, and fit her thoughts.
After all, how long would it be before everything ended again? Hours? Days? Weeks, if she was lucky?
So, with one less doubt.
Rei closed her eyes, and the image of Hisashi Igou flashed through her mind.
They'd been a couple, but Rei knew their relationship had never been very real nor had it worked.
Hisashi was someone she'd dated because it seemed the right thing at the time. He was kind and helped her from time to time.
But love? It hadn't been true love. Or at least, she didn't feel the way she thought she should.
Maybe they were just used to the idea of being together.
Although she felt sadness remembering how it had all ended.
And then there was Takashi Komuro. Rei shook her head.
Takashi had been her childhood friend. He was someone she trusted but she had never seen him as anything else. She knew he loved her, but she didn't share those feelings.
With those thoughts, Rei felt a weight lift from her chest. Her mind cleared a little.
The past was undoubtedly painful, but it no longer bound her. What mattered now was the present and what came after.
But…
'Am I really willing to be with someone I just met for all eternity?'
That was the main question in her situation.
Eternity.
It sounded heavy and incomprehensible.
Rei glanced at the boy out of the corner of her eye.
He was someone she didn't understand much, which was understandable given she'd just met him.
And yet, he was the one who'd given her back her life.
'He saved me. If it weren't for him, I'd be dead. Not only that… I'd be turned into one of those things.'
That thought made the gratitude in her heart grow.
No matter how strange this place was or how bewildering this being seemed, he'd done something no one else could have done.
He'd given her a second chance.
Besides, the being who appeared young seemed not only friendly but kind. How else would she explain the feeling of calm in her chest when she stood before him?
Could she trust him then?
Rei took a deep breath. She didn't know much about him, nor about what it meant to "walk by his side," but stupid as it sounded, she wanted to trust him.
'Anyway… I have nothing to lose. He saved me. And if he offered me this opportunity, maybe it's because he saw something in me I didn't see myself.'
With that conclusion, Rei raised her eyes and took a step toward him.
"Okay, I accept being your follower."
She chose to trust the person who saved her.
"Oh, so you'll be my wife?"
"Do—don't say that! Even though I accept being your follower and being only yours for eternity, I still can't accept the idea of marrying you! I'm still too young!"
"Hmm, fine, don't worry about that."
Accepting being his follower and being only his for eternity was the same as marrying him, right? Because she was going to be with him for her whole life!
So he didn't care about those kinds of details.
"Th—then, how should I address you?"
She remembered that although he knew her name, she didn't even know something as basic as his.
"You can call me whatever you want. What do you prefer, Master, Lord, Husband, or Darling?"
"None of those!"
"Well. In that case, let me think… You can call me 'Yuu' for now."
"Yuu-kun…"
Rei murmured, a little surprised.
Yuu smiled.
"Then I hope we'll be happy together, Rei."
"Uh… y-yeah. Yuu-kun, can you tell me what you really are? What do you mean by your Path? Can we really live for eternity? And…"
She asked one question after another.
"Hmm… First I'll give you my Blessing, and while we're at it I'll explain everything you need to know, come on, come here."