"Heh-heh… it's not enough… I want more…"
Eternal Meteor—back in bed—had drool at the corner of her mouth as she devoured a feast in her dream.
Then she rolled over, accidentally pinning her still-unfamiliar tail beneath her, twisting—
"Ow!"
Her eyes snapped open. She bounced upright like a rubber ball, tears nearly sparkling at the rims.
X let out a sigh at the scene. "I'm starting to think your thinking ability has finally returned to the level appropriate for the body you're in."
"Which part do you mean?" Eternal Meteor demanded. "That I couldn't resist crossing the line and exploiting Rudolf's sympathy?"
"You have a line!?" X sounded genuinely shocked.
It was almost like a little red anger mark popped at the corner of Eternal Meteor's brow. Her face scrunched up, and she shouted shamelessly, "That's an insult to my character! What do you even think I am, normally?"
"Comic relief. Chuunibyou. Clown. Psych case," X answered instantly.
"How are you getting worse the longer you talk—X, you—!" Eternal Meteor sputtered, and then— "Waaah!"
She flopped back onto the bed, theatrically pretending to cough up blood and play dead.
"Enough," X said. "Back to the point."
At that, Eternal Meteor sat up again like nothing had happened, waiting.
"I can guess your plan," X continued. "Use Rudolf as a springboard to get into Tracen, right? But you're underestimating Rudolf. Look at your skin—do you have even the slightest look of someone who's been living on the streets?"
"What, I can't wash up in public bathrooms every day?" Eternal Meteor insisted, stubbornly refusing to back down.
"And what about the fact nobody around you remembers seeing you? If someone asks around, you're exposed immediately."
"I—I can say I drifted here from somewhere else," she said, still stubborn.
"Fine. Then what happens when they check security cameras and discover you basically appeared out of nowhere like you popped out of a rock?"
"…Uh…"
Eternal Meteor's stubbornness died on the spot. She couldn't exactly hack the Metropolitan Police and delete footage.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
The room felt like someone had pressed pause.
Eternal Meteor didn't dare move. Her whole body locked up.
Time dragged—long enough that even breathing felt risky—as she prayed with everything she had that it wasn't Rudolf coming in.
The door opened.
Eternal Meteor's eyes widened wider and wider, her prayers speeding up so fast you'd think the Buddha might file a complaint for DDoS abuse—
And then Rudolf's face appeared in her view.
Eternal Meteor went slack like a deflated balloon.
The boulder in her heart didn't just drop—it slammed into the floor, shattered into eight pieces, and died peacefully.
"Judging by that expression," Rudolf said, carrying a meal tray as she approached with a gentle smile, "it looks like you weren't hoping to see me."
Could Eternal Meteor speak?
No, she could not.
Anything she said might expose her. So she kept her head down and played the part of a child too scared to talk.
Rudolf watched her like that, and her hands tightened around the tray.
She remembered what Eternal Meteor had looked like when she finally found her last night.
Curled into a ball like a young animal, hugging her knees, trembling whenever the cold wind slipped under the bridge.
At her feet: expired bread from who-knew-where, empty wrappers, flattened cardboard bundled as if she'd prepared it carefully.
And when she'd lifted her head—
Those red, swollen eyes. That expression of someone forcing herself not to sob out loud.
Rudolf felt anger rise from the depths of her chest, unstoppable.
What kind of parents could leave a child like this?
Meanwhile, the "pitiful" Eternal Meteor occasionally glanced up at Rudolf's face.
Rudolf's expression looked more and more frightening.
Eternal Meteor's ears drooped flat against her head. Her tail didn't dare twitch.
"Why does she look scarier and scarier…?" Eternal Meteor's whole body began to tremble. "It feels like she's about to pour concrete into my shoes and sink me in Tokyo Bay."
X was still holding back laughter—no, scratch that. It was already roaring inside Eternal Meteor's head.
"Loved playing games, huh? Blew up in your face, huh? Still trying to act pitiful—tsk tsk tsk."
"NMD! You're here to watch me suffer, aren't you!?" Eternal Meteor fumed silently.
"Relax. She's not going to slaughter you and serve horse-meat sashimi," X said. "At worst she'll scold you a bit."
Hearing that, Eternal Meteor's courage returned. Her waist stopped going weak. Her mouth got stubborn again.
Right—at worst she'd get lectured and told to repay the bill.
It wasn't like Rudolf would actually butcher her.
At that moment Rudolf snapped back to herself, noticing the edge of the tray slightly bent from her grip—and the child trembling in front of her. She took a slow breath, smoothed down her emotions, and put that gentle smile back on.
"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."
She walked to the bedside and sat down near Eternal Meteor's legs.
"Can you tell your big sister why you were drifting around outside?"
Eternal Meteor still kept her head down, silent.
Rudolf softened her expression even more.
"If you don't want to talk, that's okay," she said gently. "You must be hungry, right? Do you want to eat first?"
She pulled the overbed table in front of Eternal Meteor and set the tray down.
"Food!"
Eternal Meteor stared at the tray.
It was bland hospital food—but to her it was irresistible.
She didn't understand why Rudolf was treating her this way, but once food was placed in front of her, the part of her brain capable of thinking shut down completely.
After more than a day without proper eating, there was only food.
She grabbed her chopsticks and started shoveling it down like a starving beast.
It was almost brutal—like a second-generation "Crystslur" kind of devouring.
"Cough—cough—cough!"
She ate too fast and choked, but she clenched her mouth shut, refusing to waste a single bite.
Rudolf hurriedly handed her a disposable paper cup from the bedside table.
Eternal Meteor took it and gulped down water, forcing the food down with it.
"Hah… I'm alive again."
She patted her stomach, a ridiculous wave of happiness flooding through her whole body.
Watching her brighten even slightly, Rudolf tried again, wanting to understand what had led this child to become like this.
Rudolf narrowed her eyes.
Let me find you, whoever did this. The one responsible.
And you'll learn what the Emperor's wrath really is.
"Can you tell me about yourself?" Rudolf asked softly, rubbing Eternal Meteor's back. "If you don't want to, you don't have to force yourself."
"It's okay," Eternal Meteor said. "I believe you won't hurt me. I just… don't know where to start. How about this—ask me questions, and I'll answer."
She believed it.
Eternal Meteor felt her plan was actually working. In her head, she was already mocking X nonstop—but after X's warning earlier, she decided to do it carefully: only answer what Rudolf asked, let Rudolf fill in the gaps herself.
That would sound far more believable than any story Eternal Meteor might invent.
Rudolf paused, then asked quietly:
"Then… I'll ask. Where are your parents?"
"I don't have parents."
Eternal Meteor's voice was calm.
Too calm.
And in that instant, Rudolf's eyes sharpened—not with suspicion, but with something heavier.
Something that looked dangerously close to rage.
Author's notes (omitted): The original contains platform thank-you messages and meta commentary, which have been removed to keep only the story content.
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