Two Months Ago…
The dog screamed.
It sounded almost human as its fur split apart, torn by jagged patches of feathers that ripped from the inside out. The creature twitched on the floor in a mess of blood and panic, legs spasming against the cold tiles.
Ren watched from the corner of the room, arms folded, face unreadable.
Nine minutes.
That's how long it took for the thing to die.
Its heart gave out, Ogami noted clinically. She stood over the corpse with the same calm she always had when performing cursed rituals. Her gloved hands were still glowing faintly from the séance residue, the remnants of the summoning like smoke clinging to her fingers.
"This is what happens when the soul is different from the body," she said, almost to herself. "The soul tries to change the body to match itself. But if the body isn't strong enough…"
She trailed off, stepping back as Ren crouched to examine what was left. The dog's skin had nearly feathered over completely, but the limbs had never adjusted. The bones never shifted. The organs—still canine—couldn't sustain what the soul wanted to become.
"...It just dies," Ren finished for her.
Ogami turned and walked to the other side of the room. Another dog sat quietly in a cage, tail wagging, trusting.
She opened the door.
Without warning, she plucked a small, shriveled feather from a jar and dropped it in the dog's food bowl. The animal lapped it up happily. Then Ogami raised her hand, murmured a short chant, and let her cursed technique hum to life once more.
This transformation was different.
There was no screaming. No tearing. Just a shimmer of cursed energy and a rapid, smooth shift of form. In seconds, the dog wasn't a dog anymore. It had wings. Talons. A bird's skeleton—but it moved clumsily. Its body tried to flap, but its instincts were still canine. It barked, confused, trying to run on feet it no longer had.
Ren narrowed his eyes.
Ogami spoke softly, "See the difference? When I only summon the body's information, the soul stays intact. The soul isn't in pain, and the transformation is faster. But…"
Before she could finish, the creature whimpered.
Then it collapsed.
Ren didn't flinch. Ogami sighed.
"...it still dies. The body can't handle the return shift. It lacked the cursed energy to stabilize itself. But humans are stronger. Sorcerers even more so. They can hold the form. Probably revert safely, too."
Ren stood up slowly, hands in his pockets. He stared at the place where the second dog had died, then turned to Ogami.
His voice was thoughtful. "So if you summoned just the body of someone into another person… say, Person A… then Person A would physically become the first person?"
Ogami nodded. "Yes. It's still them inside, though. Like that dog. Soul doesn't change."
Ren tilted his head. "So what if you summoned the body of someone… and then afterward, summoned their soul into it too?"
Ogami blinked.
Ren kept going. "Let's say I died. You summon my body's information into a new host. Then, afterward, you summon my soul into it."
He looked her dead in the eye.
"Wouldn't that just… bring me back?"
Ogami's mouth opened—but nothing came out. Her knees buckled slightly, and she steadied herself on the table beside her.
"I…" she muttered. "I never thought of that… I—"
Ren stepped toward her, voice low and precise. "It's not a puppet. Not a possession. Not a séance. It's a rebirth. My soul. My body. Together again. If it's the same body—my own body's information—there should be no rejection."
Ogami's lips trembled.
"But… that should be impossible," she whispered. "The cursed energy… the load… my technique would go into full burnout…"
"You can fix that," Ren said immediately. "Binding vows. With the host, with me, and even with yourself."
Ogami looked at him like he had turned into something divine—and terrifying.
"You make a vow with yourself that you can't control the new body after the ritual. That solves the séance control issue. You make another to cut me off entirely once the soul is in place, so your cursed technique doesn't stay active. I make one with the host, too. So his soul naturally would just accept me..."
Ogami muttered, "But… that means…"
She trailed off. Her brain was still catching up.
Ren finished it for her: "If I die, you can bring me back. Fully. Permanently."
For a long time, neither of them spoke.
Then Ogami sat down, slowly, as if the weight of her own cursed technique had finally become real. She looked at her hands, then back at Ren.
"You've… changed everything I thought I knew."
Ren didn't reply. He just sat across from her, fingers already reaching for parchment and ink.
They started drafting.
By midnight, the rules were clear.
1- Needing a willing participant who will make binding vows with Ogami, willing to give away their own body so Ren could 'reborn.'
2- Ren and Ogami would have to make a bunch of binding vows so Ogami won't have control over Ren's body when he is 'reborn'; in turn, this will also make the whole 'rebirth' better since Ogami would be in a way giving up control so Ren's 'rebirth' would be more stable.
3- There would be a need for a whole ritual, which would last anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes… because Ogami would need to chant first to summon Ren's body and then his soul…
4- Ogami would need Ren's DNA… For the requirement of her séance-cursed technique, this was the base requirement.
5- Ren would also have to make binding vows with the person's body he will 'rebirth' in just so the person does not break the stability when Ren is 'rebirthing.'
6- Ogami would for sure have curse technique burnout after this; she won't be able to use her cursed technique for a few days…
7-Ogami also was sure if this project (Re) did happen, Ren would need about one year for his soul and body to be fully stable… So let's say if Ren died and came back with Project (Re), then for a year Ren can't use Project (Re) again… Ren won't be able to come back alive again… So pretty much there would be a year cool-down, in which if Ren dies again, Ren won't be able to come back alive. In fact, Ogami even thought if Ren did die, it would be worse than death since both his soul and body were not stable…
Ren exhaled. "These requirements are way too harsh."
Ogami nodded slowly. "There's one more. You need to be dead for any of this to even begin."
Ren's voice turned dry. "Yeah… I figured. Makes sense, I guess. We are trying to pretty much create resurrection after all."
He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "It's still possible, though we have everything to complete all of these requirements. I'll just use that old man Jiro. He'll have to agree to all our binding vows—mine and yours."
A pause. Then, grimly, "And yeah… the only thing left is that I need to die."
He grimaced. "We really should've run a test first. This is sloppy. We'll test it on someone else next time—once I find a proper subject."
Ren turned away. "For now, shut down Project (Re)."
By the time dawn light crept through the windows, Ogami was still staring at the scroll they had written together.
Ren stood behind her now, watching silently.
She turned to him, her voice barely a whisper.
"What will you name it?"
Ren didn't even hesitate.
"Project (Re)."
And that was it. This was Ren's ultimate technique, his masterpiece. It was not even his own cursed technique…
But it was his greatest creation, something even more powerful than his perfected red cursed circuit…
Ren Sato's true genius…