It was yet another morning, and another day I had to go to school. Life was feeling monotonous, but it's probably the best I could ask for in a different world. I was lucky to be going to a nice school in such an unforgiving world anyways. Seeing the beggars line the streets every day and seeing people die of disease; it was all a little too much for me. I wish there was some way I could help them all, but I am weak and powerless here. I had no clue what true suffering was until I came here.
Having Asaho by my side made my existence here much easier than it would be without her. In this world full of unhappiness and despair, her smile kept me going every day. If it wasn't for her, I don't know how long I would last. I would be living in isolation, losing my sanity day by day. I made sure to cherish every small moment with her, because every single one could be the last in a world as dangerous as this.
How did I end up going to school here anyways? This I cannot remember. All I know is that I'm incredibly lucky to be in the situation I am now, and I'm not about to ask questions yet.
It was time to get out of bed and get ready for the day ahead of me. Asaho said that she was feeling unwell and asked me to go to school without her for the day. I urged that I stay behind to keep an eye on her despite there being a big exam today, but she insisted that my grades shouldn't suffer because of her. I reluctantly made my way to school for the day, leaving Asaho all alone in our apartment.
Even though I know that I studied a lot for the upcoming exam, I was still very concerned about my performance in it. It felt as if my knowledge about this world was dwindling every day. The world that I spent so much time studying was starting to feel alien to me, and there was seemingly nothing I could do about it. That's why I would rather spend my time looking after Asaho.
I made my way to the exam hall, and anxiously awaited my test. I knew that this might turn out ugly for me, but I could only hope for the best. After what felt like an hour, my test was finally in front of me. When we were allowed to begin, I flipped the page and I could feel my heart sink. Nothing on the page seemed to make sense to me anymore, even though it should. I answered every question to the best of my abilities, but I eventually found myself skipping them to save time.
After I finished, I wouldn't even need to see my mark. I knew I failed. I knew it was the wrong choice to leave Asaho behind at the apartment. How did I become so incompetent at school? Was I not studying enough? Was I just dumb? I had no idea what was going on with me. I handed my test in and rushed back home to see Asaho.
When I got home, the apartment was dead silent. There was no greeting to be heard from Asaho. I decided it was best to check the bedroom. I opened the door and saw that she was still in bed, sleeping. I slowly approached her and gently woke her up with a slight touch on the shoulder.
"Asaho-chan! Wake up, please! I'm back", I said.
I could see her gorgeous green eyes begin to open and look at me.
"Notarin-kun, I'm glad to see you here. I need to rest more though. Also, I'd hate to give you this illness that I have now", Asaho responded.
"I just want to know that you're alright, Asaho-chan. I don't care about getting the illness, I just want to be here for you", I said.
"If you get the illness, how can you take care of me? I thought it was just a common cold earlier today, but I'm feeling noticeably worse now. I have no energy to get out of bed. My body needs to constantly recharge now. I'm starting to get afraid that I'll fall asleep and never wake up again, but as long as you're here with me, I'm not afraid, Notarin-kun.", Asaho explained.
"We need to get help! I can't lose you, Asaho-chan! If I'm being honest, you're the only reason I can go on in this world. The amount of suffering in this world I see on a daily basis is already too much, but I just can't bear to see you like this! I'm going to do everything in my power to get you feeling well again!", I exclaimed.
Asaho let out a weak smile and responded. "Notarin-kun, don't be so silly. We're not in our world anymore. Medicine is nowhere near as advanced here. I'll just have to hope I can recover from this naturally. Otherwise there's no hope for me, unless…", Asaho paused.
"'Unless' what? If there's anything I can do to help you, I need to know! Please, Asaho! We're going to live and die together, ok? I'll have it no other way! Just tell me!", I urged.
"It's just a silly little rumor being passed around by the medical students at the Academy, but there's talk of a man who blesses the weak, sick and poor, changing their lives for the better. If he were to perhaps exist, maybe he could help me out. I have no clue where he is, though. Please, don't waste much time on foolish nonsense such as that. It's highly likely that this man doesn't exist", Asaho explained.
Even if this man was only an urban legend, I had to seek him out by any means necessary. My only lead were these medical students that Asaho had mentioned of. I would have to wait until tomorrow to talk to them. I didn't want to leave Asaho behind just yet anyways. It would be dumb to waste my time aimlessly searching for a lead right now instead of making the most of my time with Asaho.
Morning came, and Asaho was still asleep. As much as I hated doing it, I made sure to sleep on the floor last night to stay healthy so I could help her. I didn't waste any time making my way to school today, but I had no plans to attend classes. I had to go and visit some medical students and inquire about this rumor that Asaho spoke of.
I managed to stumble across a group of students that were dressed up like nurses. I wasted no time in approaching them and asking them my question bluntly.
"Hey there! I've heard some talk of a man that can bless the unfortunate. Is there any truth to this rumor?", I asked.
The students looked confused by what I had asked, but one woman stood out from the crowd. She gave me a glare and approached me.
"Come with me. We cannot discuss this here", she said quietly.
I followed her as she made her way through campus, leading me to some old-looking stairs that led downwards. It looked dark and kind of creepy, but it seemed as if I had no other option if I wanted to find answers.
"This way please", the woman said as she made her way down the steps.
Walking down these steps seemed to take forever. I didn't even hear a peep from her this whole time, that is until she suddenly came to a stop.
"Before we go further, I must ask you a question. How in the world have you heard anything about this man? I do not recognize you, so I do not trust you. I apologize if I come across as rude, but you must understand", the woman asked.
"My partner has fell quite ill, and I want nothing more to see her get better. I don't think normal medical practices can help her at this point. I need something more effective. She spoke of some rumor among the medical students of this man, and I had to investigate and see if there was any truth to it", I explained.
The woman looked at me with a bit of frustration, but she was quick to follow up on what I said. "What is the name of your partner? I must know", the woman asked.
"Her name is Asaho. Hikuminmai Asaho. She means the world to me", I answered.
The woman's face lit up with shock.
"I think… I know who you are. If that is your partner, you must be Notarin! The man you are looking for has been keeping an eye out for you. You were supposed to have the eyes of a cat though. No matter, I'm confident that you are the right man. Follow me the rest of the way down! It won't be long!", she explained.
I had no clue what she was referring to when talking about cat eyes. I can only imagine that those would look weird on me. Why would anyone be looking for me in the first place? I'm so insignificant, besides the fact that I come from a different world. I don't have many skills I can apply here though, so I don't see what could make me special.
"The man you are about to see changed my life and many others. Ever since he helped me, I've always felt as if I owed him some help. See, we need to be quite secretive of his activities. It's not because they're shady or anything, but he has special powers he can't let the public know about. It paints a red target on him for an organization that could potentially stop him. I search out the unfortunate citizens of this city and bring them here so he can bless them. We can't help everyone all at once, but he's getting stronger and stronger with his powers, and I believe he can change the world", the woman explained.
This sounded like quite the peculiar man indeed. Who could ever want to harm him though? He's only making the world a better place. I guess there's people awful enough out there that want to ruin any joy in this world. I was glad to know that this man was not just a myth though. Perhaps I would actually find a solution to Asaho's illness.
We soon found ourselves in a seemingly barren room with only torches lit. It looked as if this was just some empty basement storage room that was quite ordinary, but the woman proved me wrong pretty quickly. One of the torches appeared to act as a mechanism as she pulled down on it, revealing a moving wall.
When the wall was completely open, I could see a fully decorated room complete with a bed and a desk. A man wearing clothes that seemed to be from my world sat at this desk. He appeared to keep a pet turtle with him, which was sitting upon his desk. He looked at me with a smile, and it didn't take long for him to open his mouth.
"Hello, Notarin. Long time no see".
