The curses never stopped.
Some days, Roy fought three at once.
Other days, Geto unleashed only one, but it was meaner, heavier, smarter.
He learned the difference between a claw that slashed wide and one that hooked to drag.
Between teeth meant to bite through flesh and teeth that crushed bone.
His illusions fooled them, but not always long enough.
His threads carried him, but sometimes too fast, crashing him into walls, rocks, or the hard ground.
Every scar he earned, Geto watched in silence.
Every scream Roy swallowed, Geto measured like a ledger.
By the tenth day, Roy's knuckles were raw, his ribs bruised, his lungs burning with every inhale.
He collapsed in the dirt after each fight, but no longer from weakness, from spent energy.
His body was changing, hardening, adapting.
And Geto saw it.
"This is what it means to grow, Roy. To survive in a world where weakness invites death. Remember that when you see people laugh in the sun. You bleed so they can stay blind."
Roy grimaced, but didn't argue this time.
He only asked, with a cracked grin.
"Yeah? Then when's my turn to laugh in the sun?"
Geto's lips twitched, almost like a smile. But he didn't answer.
That night, instead of curses, Geto took Roy into a quiet, half lit temple he had claimed as a resting place.
And there Roy met them.
Two little girls, one with cropped black hair, the other with long bangs that nearly covered her eyes , peeked out from behind a pillar.
Their faces lit up when they saw Geto.
They ran to him, hugging his legs, babbling about how they missed him, about how the food he left was almost gone.
Geto crouched down, his entire presence softening in a way Roy had never seen.
His voice turned gentle, patient, as he stroked their hair and asked if they'd been safe, if they'd eaten enough, if they were scared while he was gone.
Roy froze, watching.
This wasn't the cold manipulator, the "Special Grade in exile" he knew from his other life.
This was… something else.
Someone else.
The little one with bangs tugged at Roy's sleeve, shyly.
"Who are you?"
Roy blinked, then smiled, crouching down to meet her eyes.
"Name's Roy. Guess I'm… training with your big scary friend here."
The older girl giggled.
"He's not scary. He saved us."
Roy looked from their bright, unguarded faces to Geto's calm expression.
And for the first time, he didn't know what to think.
Because if Geto was truly the monster Roy remembered…then why did these children look at him like a father?
Then it clicked for Roy that these two girls, who seem to be around 9-10 years old, that these were the girls Geto had saved from the village.