As the murky tide of lingering pain receded from his mind, Fuuki's brain finally restarted, gradually receiving external information through his recovering senses.
The softness of the sunlight, the plushness of the duvet. A faint, throbbing pain from his wrist, the bitter aroma of medicinal herbs permeating the air, intertwined with a hint of coolness.
All of this seemed to indicate that the crisis had passed, and his severed left hand had fortunately been saved. Yet, Fuuki instinctively called out to his greatest reliance in his heart.
'White Snake, are you there? White Snake!'
Naturally, there was no response.
Having just experienced 'death,' Fuuki naturally understood his condition. If his spirit was a clear spring, then its source had now dried up.
He would need a long period of recuperation to fully recover, and for a while, he likely wouldn't be able to freely use his Stand ability.
This situation made him very uneasy. Unable to use his Stand ability, he was like a lone wolf stripped of its claws and fangs; no matter what schemes or traps he laid, he couldn't cope with the "unexpected" that might strike at any moment.
The battle against Daydream Cafe had made Fuuki thoroughly understand the power of [Chance.] No matter how meticulous his plans, he couldn't avoid that terrifying Chance.
Suppressing the anxiety in his heart, Fuuki instinctively tried to clench his fist, but felt a delicate softness from his severely severed left hand.
A pair of slender hands enveloped his own, holding it tightly. The small palm carried a faint warmth, and though the grip wasn't strong, he could feel an undeniable firmness.
Who is it?
Only this thought had time to surface in Fuuki's mind, as a golden, hazy silhouette vaguely appeared, as if through a thick curtain of water.
"Perla?" The young man couldn't help but murmur the name.
This name had once been the sole soft anchor in his heart—a fledgling needing his protective wing, and a flickering candle illuminating his path when he walked alone through dark currents.
But now, that solace had vanished with the catastrophe, becoming a permanent past.
The young man broke free from the illusion and suddenly opened his eyes.
The soft light in the room, however, stung Fuuki's eyes. His mind was still hazy, and the dullness of his senses hadn't dissipated, but the delicate face, pure and fragile as fresh snow, staring intently at him in the center of his vision, was as clear as a brand.
Pale green strands of hair fell, making the girl resemble a startled forest elf. The touch on his hand carried a slight tremble, yet showed no sign of letting go.
The phantom in his memory completely vanished the moment it overlapped with the figure before him, leaving only the most genuine person, who was by his side at this very moment.
Wakaba Mutsumi.
A girl he had only met a few times, with whom he'd exchanged only a few words, yet who always appeared before him at unexpected moments.
Fuuki recalled their previous conversation at the banquet. Back then, he had boastfully expounded on his understanding of 'Heaven,' declaring that 'loneliness' wasn't as helpless and solitary as it seemed.
'But sure enough, I was ultimately superficial...'
'The path is long and arduous; the road to 'Heaven' is very distant.'
'Even I, who was destined by heaven, still fell before the unbreakable ties between people.'
'I haven't even received the favor of fate, so why be so impatient?'
'It's too early to speak of martyrdom now.'
The knot of melancholy that had accumulated in the young Enrico's heart for years finally began to dissolve.
Fuuki now also saw his clear reflection in the girl's amber eyes.
Unnoticed by anyone, a wisp of chillingly soft whisper suddenly seeped into the deepest depths of the young man's heart.
...One of the necessary conditions...
[A trustworthy friend]...
============
In Wakaba Mutsumi's eyes, Fuuki was a very peculiar person.
The night she first met him, the Togawa Family's mourning hall was brightly lit, with shadows flickering. The young man's not-so-broad shoulders were held straight as he moved between sorrowful cries and various tasks, arranging procedures, comforting relatives, and managing everything in an orderly fashion.
But whenever the crowd briefly receded, his solitary silhouette beneath the lamp would melt away like ice thrown into boiling water, leaving only a deep-seated loneliness that felt out of place amidst the surrounding grief.
However, this loneliness didn't stem from the sorrow of losing his adoptive mother, but rather a kind of inherent coldness, as if he had carried a sense of "lack" from birth.
Their second meeting was the day he officially arrived at the Togawa Family. The young man's indifferent nature was already cloaked in an exquisite disguise, so much so that even the perceptive Sakiko was fooled by his displayed "sincerity" after spending some time with him.
When she saw the two of them enter the piano room and heard the clear piano music, Mutsumi felt a slight unease.
So, at the banquet that day, she deliberately followed the young man who had moved away from the table, coming to the window to converse with him, wanting to know what kind of person this young man truly was.
However, the girl herself wasn't good at communication. She always struggled to correctly express what she truly thought, so after an awkward exchange of greetings, she asked a rather disjointed question.
"Have you seen 'Heaven'?"
In reality, Mutsumi was asking something more serious: How much sincerity was there in Fuuki's remembrance of Auntie Mizuho at the funeral? How much of his comfort to Sakiko was genuine?
And, did he himself truly believe in the existence of 'Heaven'?
"Of course, I have."
The young man calmly gave an unexpected answer.
And as the young man described, word by word, the landscape of 'Heaven' as he saw it, outlining his "worldview" which was remarkably similar to Sakiko's notebook—this narration, which others might find fantastical, deeply captivated the girl's heart.
She could feel Fuuki's seemingly genuine enthusiasm, and to her surprise, she found that he possessed the same dazzling radiance as Sakiko.
The young man's figure, as he gazed at the starry sky, exuded loneliness. But he didn't mind it, believing that the entire world was his companion, and that so-called loneliness stemmed only from inner melancholy.
At that moment, she finally discovered the young man's peculiarity.
If Sakiko's radiance was a pure gravity, where both joy and sorrow would draw those around her into her sphere, then Fuuki's radiance was a distorted repulsive force.
He used his inherent coldness to suppress his inner yearning for "sincerity," yet he would use the truth that flowed from his heart to mask his indifferent nature.
But it was precisely the young man's inadvertently spoken thoughts that gave Mutsumi her initial understanding of him.
And the subsequent series of events in the mansion, Fuuki's containment of danger, and his protection of the two girls, further solidified Mutsumi's trust in this peculiar young man.
Fuuki can become Sakiko's reliance.
Therefore, after receiving that dangerous phone call, she rushed to the basement without hesitation, attempting to help this young man who was similar to Sakiko, and stayed by his side when he was unconscious.
However, even Wakaba Mutsumi herself didn't know that her "concern" had long since deviated from merely looking after her other half, and was not simply "love me, love my dog."
============
Fuuki looked at the girl before him, and the memories of the battle's outcome gradually became clear.
The 'Ride the Lighting' DISC remained in the girl's mind, and Wakaba Mutsumi successfully wielded this power to reattach his left hand.
This was the most logical deduction, but the specific details remained unclear, which raised new questions for Fuuki about the current situation.
To what extent does Wakaba Mutsumi understand all of this?
Is she trustworthy?
How should he interact with this girl?
But this time, Fuuki didn't, as he usually would, begin to secretly ponder the most appropriate strategy deep within his heart. Instead, he gazed into the girl's eyes, allowing his emotions to well up.
"Wakaba..."
"Mm, I'm here."
The girl nodded gently, a faint joy at his awakening evident in her eyes, mixed with confusion at his awkwardness.
Finally, after a moment of silence, the heavy burden in Fuuki's heart suddenly dissipated, and he said with a firm tone:
"Mutsumi, let's be friends."
..."Okay, Fuuki."
"Huh?"
A surprised voice from outside the door intruded upon the two of them.
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