The next day, Kino woke up with an excruciating headache. He thought of not going to school but remembered the upcoming quiz for history class. Despite not studying anything about it, he forced himself to get up and prepare his uniform, any grade was better than a zero, right?

Reno was very worried about his brother when he saw his condition, but Kino assured him it was just from lack of sleep.

‘BLUE SICK FLU?’ Reno wrote on his sketchpad. Kino immediately shook his head. There was a flu with similar symptoms to the Blue Sick Flu from 10 years ago that’d been affecting a few people in the republic all over the news. As far as he knew, there were no cases of the mysterious flu in Itaport yet.

He parted with Reno at the station to go to their schools. Reno is pretty independent for his age despite being deaf and currently learning to lipread. While watching his little brother get on his train, Kino remembered what his brother had told him last night. The men who’d been roaming around their house were seen around his school. They showed up often enough with their guns and scary faces, that the brothers could recognize them even from afar.

Of course, the quiz didn’t happen as their teacher wasn’t present for being sick, which frustrated Kino to no end. He bowed his head on his desk with a loud thud thinking he should’ve stayed at home treating his headache instead of attending his classes. The substitute teacher who came five minutes later ordered the class to do group research in the library. Kino teamed up with Morris, but it turns out the groupings were done randomly.

Kino ended up teaming with Henrietta, the SC secretary.

The girl rolled her eyes at him and went straight to the library. Her straight hair flawlessly followed her every move, the hime cut suited her small face very well. Kino cursed in his head. The girl is still probably pissed at him for her banana milk. He followed quietly with gloom evident on his face.

The two sat quietly in the corner of the library, facing their laptops. Kino was very conscious of her presence. He never really knew Henrietta Homa even though they had been classmates since junior high. All he knew was her position as part of the Student Council and she joined the friend group of bullies. He also heard about her getting involved in numerous catfights. According to his seatmate from last year, it’s impossible to get her expelled as her family is one of the biggest sponsors in the university.

“Any problem?” She raised her well-done eyebrows, a turquoise pair of eyes twitching in annoyance.

Wow. Is she really that irritated with me?

“N-Nothing.” Kino shook his head like a little kid who didn’t want any trouble.

“Quit staring at my face and do your part, Rosen. I don’t wanna get stuck here with you,” she grunted, typing harder than was necessary on the laptop. Kino’s face burned, biting his lips in shame.

Yeah. She’s irritated at me, all because of banana milk. Great.

“S-Sorry.”

He didn’t want to get stuck in the library either. Kino tried his best to type his part in the research even as his head throbbed in pain. He wants to sleep so badly. He doesn’t even know if he can make it to work in the afternoon. After half an hour, he excused himself to the washroom.

There are two more hours before the lunch break. The washroom in the main building where the library is was surprisingly empty. Kino didn’t waste any time and washed his face with cold water at the sink to freshen up, trying to ease the tension-building headache that’s been getting worse.

“Kill…”

“Kill…” It says. The cold voice that echoed through the whole washroom made him stop what he was doing. It was very silent the following second. His heart was racing uncontrollably for no reason. Until the voice spoke once again.

“Kill them all… Kino.”

“Kill them all… Kino.”

For some reason, he can understand the unfamiliar language in his head. His whole body felt chills upon the mention of his name. Kino opened his eyes wide to focus on what was going on. At that moment, he prayed it was all hallucinations from his headache. Deep inside, he’s been cursing repeatedly.

This is all just a hallucination, right?

He decided to lift his head and look at the mirror’s reflection to see the whole washroom so he could leave. Gulping down the unknown lump in his throat, he set aside the fear and slowly lifted his head. He intently roamed his eyes around the whole washroom using the wide mirrors and… found no one.

He heaved a satisfied sigh and closed his eyes. See? It was nothing.

“Kill… kill… kill…” The sinister voice spoke once more. Kino opened his eyes in panic, he turned his head around trying to find where the voice was coming from. Until he spotted the last cubicle. Its door was closed. He knew very well it was open before he washed his face, and he didn’t hear anyone entering the washroom. So why is it closed now? Who’s inside?

His sweating forehead knotted and he took determined steps toward the cubicle’s door fueled by a mixture of horror and irritation. Who might be trying to scare him off while he’s fighting for his life because of a stupid headache? Once he finds out who it is, he won’t be sorry for hitting the person’s face and say it was on reflex. At that point, he didn’t even have time to think about excuses.

He was about to push the plastic door and peep between its little space when someone spoke behind him.

“What are you doing, Kino?”

He froze on his feet. He knew that voice very well. The curses in his mind tripled on repeat.

Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell is going on?!

He turned around and found no one, except his reflection in the mirror, again. But this time he looked different. The ‘him’ in the mirror was flashing an innocent smile and standing still as it looked at him.

Kino stepped backward in fear until he felt the cubicle door at his back, no longer caring who might be inside.

“W-Who are you? W-What do you want from me?! Argh!” He could not hide the trembling in his voice anymore, and it was followed by the throbbing of his head. He pulled his hair in pain, pain so intense he ended up slumping down on the floor. But despite that, he tried his very best to look up at the mirror. There, he found his other self looking down at him like it was looking at a lower being.

“W-Who are you?!” Kino asked once again in an angry tone.

Soon, silver strands of hair grew from its head and its eyes turned bloody red. The hair grew longer at an unexplainable speed, followed by the silver dyes past his shoulders. Lastly, his facial features in the reflection changed as well, twisted into someone he didn’t recognize at first. It eventually dawned on him that he just remembered a rare childhood memory.

“I-It’s you…”

The whole new person in the mirror smiled devilishly and started moving on its own. Its clothes were changed as well, from Kino’s school uniform to a black robe with unfamiliar red embroideries.

“W-What did you do t-to me? W-Who are you?” Kino stood on wobbly legs. He wanted to face this man as much as he could. Now he remembers him very well.

That night. The stabbing incident. A yellow gate opened before him. A humanoid wraith came out of it. The wraith stabbed his chest. He lost consciousness after.

“The name is Magnus...” The humanoid wraith who calls himself Magnus, raised his hand to rip at his exposed chest.

“STOP!!!” Kino screamed in pain. The feeling of flesh getting ripped apart was excruciatingly painful. He cried hot tears as he continued to scream like a monster getting tortured. He was frightened and hurting so much he could not even breathe. He gripped his chest very tight as if it could stop the man from inflicting pain on his body using the man’s own body in the reflection.

The mysterious being called Magnus took his own heart and raised it to show the boy. The organ was still alive, throbbing in his palm. “We are one… Kino.”

“NO!!!” Kino was choking on tears and pain. “W-What did you do to me? Please s-stop w-whatever it is! Please!” He swayed trying to get closer to the mirror. He gripped the sinks’ corners tightly and tried hitting the glass. His eyes were blurry. He doesn’t want any of this.

His actions earned a menacing laugh from Magnus as if the man was entertained by the young boy’s misery. His deep voice echoed louder in the four corners of the washroom. His free hand crossed the barrier and touched Kino by the jaw. It hurt. Upon feeling his cold touch like it was from a corpse, Kino can already tell that this Magnus is one powerful being.

“That night, your heart willingly accepted my vows. That is, you will follow all my desires, the things I failed to do, so you are to fulfill all of my dreams. You… will be the new ME.” The heart’s colour slowly turned to black as if it was corrupted, rotted, and then turned to dust in his palm.

Magnus looked the boy straight in the eyes. Kino cannot move his body anymore. Even his mind couldn’t process everything the humanoid wraith revealed to him. At that point, he was just hoping to stop breathing and die.

“P-Please n-no… M-Magnus, I-I beg you… Please… not me… not me…” He sobbed like the child he was. Kino knelt on the floor begging desperately. When was the last time that he cried like that? It was nothing compared to when he silently shed a tear at his parents’ funeral. At that time, all he could think of was to die. He was in pain, in horror, in agony. He felt like the most unfortunate human in the world.

“Kino Rosen, the Crown Prince Magnus Everhart of the Everhart Empire, commands you to destroy this world for the sake of Agartha. Can you prove your worth and do it, my new vessel?”