Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Calm down.

"...kun."

'If I go crazy, then this day will crash from weird to horrible.'

"-o-kun."

'...Okay, that's not really funny. Whatever.'

"Tengo-kun !"

I jerked my head upward, meeting purple eyes. "...Raiden-san ? You're awake ?"

She didn't answer. Her face seemed to be a mix between a lot of anger and relief. Wait, what ?

That's not a good sign. Did I do something to anger her ?

"Um..." I hesitantly began. Did I do something ?" I audibly heard her snapping.

"Do something ? You did something, yes ! Getting out of the bus to face that monster was insane ! What were you thinking !?"

Ah, crap. That. I was so out of it I completely forgot about our little accident. "Did you think you were going to be safe if you got out !? Of course not !" she shouted, with the angriest face I've seen her use yet. She was scarier than that big monster, I swear.

"Umm...I...wanted to look at the danger to ...know what to do, you know, to get some info ! Everything happened really quickly and I understood nothing." And that's how my pathetic try at a lie went.

"I do not believe that for a single second !" Yeah, I expected that answer.

"...I'm sorry." Out of exits, I prepared myself for a scolding.

...

Ten minutes later, the scolding was finally over. Seriously, that was one of the scariest experiences in my whole life. Fairly sure I saw an Oni demon standing behind her at some point...even though I stuck to the story that the shock made me faint and that I did nothing, she didn't seem all that convinced. Was it that transparent that I was lying ? Regardless, she decided to drop it.

"Anyway, do you know what caused the death of that creature ?"

There it was the question. I of course couldn't tell that I killed it with a root that came from my sleeve. I would really be labeled as either a liar at best, or as going insane from the whole ordeal. Not only that, but the act itself felt far from me, almost like a dream. Despite it happening in that kind of situation, and recently, I barely registered it as real. "No, it dropped dead as soon as I was out. I didn't see what caused that wound."

Reactions from other classmates were...rich in diversity. Some thanked me for stopping the bus. Others accused me, telling me they almost died because of me stopping the bus and maybe the beast wouldn't have attacked them. I retorted that the bus malfunction would have killed them for sure. Tanaka and Suzuki's reactions were similar to Mei and there were some classmates that did not come to me. Fine by me, I needed time to think.

I ended up wasting time. I realized I wasn't trying to know the truth, I was just doing my best to avoid it. Pretending this was a 'dream', the fact that I killed that creature and hallucination, that it was by luck that I stopped the bus just before a completely unexpected dysfunction of the bus : my train of thought went like that. I was searching for an easy way out, a way for me to head back home with a light heart. A waste of time, truly. I was clinging onto a life that ended an hour ago, definitely. 'There goes the good mood of the trip, I guess.'

I bitterly chuckled as I made my way to the bathroom. Some students eyed me without saying or doing anything, a few waved their hands. I returned it with a wave of mine when it clicked.

'Something's wrong here.' Okay, that you could say the same about a lot of things that day, but this one was creepier than the rest.

All of the class, the teachers and even the driver were in one room. The bathroom was connected to the room but that was the only way in and out of it. In the room, a door was shut. It was where the doctors had come. They performed tests on everyone, saying that none of us was in danger, that they needed a bit more time for the results of other tests to come so we were to stay here for the time being. "Just for a few hours".

But it almost seemed like- no, we were isolated from the rest of the hospital. Not only that, but everyone was also walking ,talking and shouting sometimes : in good health, and probably not needing the few hours of wait for the results to come before being discharged. 'I may be jumping the gun here, but I think we are being lied to.'

I had confidence in my intuition. This way of hospitalizing people was too weird.

While I was racking my brains, I unknowingly made it to the bathroom. The water would help me clear my head. I then washed my face and as I wiped it, it hit me. How did I not realize it earlier ?

The doctors and nurses didn't look surprised or put off by our delirious story : a bus systems freaking out, a big monster, none of it seemed out of place. Sure, they did tell us that we were under the effect of panic, that we surely exaggerated. That the truth was simpler. But no surprise on their face. No pause to take in what we said.

They were used to this. They had the correct answers prepared as if this was a play they repeated for God knows how many times.

'No ,wait. That doesn't make sense. If this is far from the first time, why is no one talking about it ? Not even rumors of this exist. I know I've not been here for long, but still...Humans had a lot of moments where they let their secrets slip. In their house, surrounded by close people, or even drunk at a bar for example . So even if the ones involved in an event like this were told to keep their mouth shut about their accident, I very much doubt absolutely nothing would have got out.'

I kept thinking as I stared at my reflection in the glass. Such a big hole in my hypothesis could mean two things : either I'm looking at the problem in the wrong way, either I am lacking some crucial info. 'I'm not going to find it glaring at myself though.'

I sighed and opened the door to the room where everyone was. Frustrating as it is, right now, I could only wait.

...

...

On the same floor as Ki and his classmates, a few rooms away, the staff were observing two people conversing about this new event.

Namely, Raiden Ryoma and Eistein. The blue haired lady was making her report on her recent operation.

"So, his Honkai energy was drained ?" resumed Raiden Ryoma.

"Yes. Before he woke up, I had him whisked away to prepared operation chamber where we linked him with the engine. The Honkai energy he gained from the minor event was almost completely drained."

"I see." He then crossed his arms in front of his chest." I suppose that the reason why no one there got Honkai energy poisoning was because he absorbed all the energy. An unexpected development, but it saved us.

Einstein nodded. "All the others are fine, just a few flesh wounds and nothing broken. We only need to-"

The door at their left was opened with a loud rattle.

"Einstein, Ryoma, is Ki/my baby boy okay !?" immediately shouted Tatsumi and Yukina as they barged their way in. Their breathing and faces made it evident they had run here at full speed.

Einstein internally chuckled. They never change, do they ? Always so full of life.

"Don't worry, your son is unharmed. He did absorb quite the amount of Honkai Energy, but it was mostly drained." Ryoma reassured the two of them.

"Mostly ? What about what's left of it inside him ?" worriedly pointed out the father.

"We cannot get it out without risking his well-being. So, we decided to leave it there. The amount is small, however so it probably won't make much of a difference."

The couple then took some seconds to take it all in before bowing to everyone present in the room. "Thank you for having saved our son." Their tone was heavy with gratitude.

Ryoma and Einstein exchanged a look. The medical personnel immediately left the room, as if that had been a signal. "To tell the truth, when we came to help, the Honkai beast was already dead."

"Huh ?" Once again, the couple was synchronized in their timing. The confused expressions told their question : If it wasn't them that killed the threat, who did it ?

"As you know, we are monitoring him due to reasons you already know." Einstein began as the couple stiffly nodded. "A camera filmed everything. Here is the recording."

Einstein pressed a button on her suit. A holographic screen appeared before her and played the video. The point of view was from behind the bus overturned on its side, from a spy type drone that followed the bus. They saw the beast approaching it, seeing the damage done by the beast on the bus making them wince. It wasn't impressive, but they knew how sturdy these vehicles were.

Then, as the beast got closer, both completely froze in shock as the one to get out of the bus to face the monster was none other than their own son. Said son had a face as if he was going to go for a walk in the park, and not at all as if he was about to face that huge creature.

The video continued. Both the human and the beast respectively raised their hands, Ki seemingly about to be crushed in a second. Tatsumi raised his hand despite this being a video and Yukina seemed ready to throw herself forward. However, the next instant had them immobilized again. At first, they didn't understand : it happened too fast. Einstein then went back a little bit, lowered the speed and zoomed in, showing them the important part : how a root like thing shot out of their son's sleeve and killed the beast in one hit.

Shock slowly began to morph into horror. It then transformed to frank panic as they witnessed him holding his head and crying out in pain, before collapsing. The feed then switched to images of the room their son was in. They visibly relaxed as they saw him safe and sound.

Eistein deactivated the screen. Silence floated in the room until Ryoma opened his mouth. "I'm sure you've already realized, but Ki Tengo used unknown Herrscher abilities to kill it. We've confirmed that it was only a partial and temporary awakening, but we've decided to not let him out of Nagazora for the time being."

None of them protested. They suddenly seemed to have aged considerably. Tatsumi then guessed "The nurses and doctors are going to give them amnesia pills, right ? That's why they left the room."

A nod. "He will be able to go back with you once he wakes up." Amnesia pills induce a short sleep of a few minutes to who takes them. Their son would soon be finally back home after that and this long day would be over.

Yukina then took a deep breath in an attempt to regain some composure. "Thank you. We...we will be waiting downstairs. The other parents are probably already there."

They left. Ryoma and Einstein could only sigh, and they hated that.

Honkai truly had a way to make you feel powerless.

...

...

The nurse that gave Ki Tengo his amnesia pill had received strict instructions from the hospital's director : "You have to make sure he properly swallows it."

Well, that is not every day a nurse like her receives orders directly from the director. However, she did not let stress show on her face as she answered "Understood."

It could not be that hard, could it ?

...

Everything went smoothly, just like always. The excuse was believed by everyone, the experience that came with how many times this happened certainly making the lie more convincing. Ki Tengo plopped the capsule into his mouth, drank the glass of water without any problem. Just to be sure she asked him to open his mouth to check if he had properly swallowed it and found nothing. He just got up once to go to the bathroom before sleeping on his bed like everyone else.

She sighed in relief as she left the room. 'Mission accomplished.'

30 seconds ago

Ki spit out the capsule and flushed the toilet. His worries turned to certainty when the nurse specifically asked him to open his mouth to see if he had swallowed the capsule. Thank goodness, she did not check under his tongue. He did not buy their story. As soon as the capsule entered his mouth, he put it under his tongue and drank the water while keeping it in his mouth. And now, he was rid of it. Keeping it under his tongue felt weird, so he was relieved.

On his way back, he noticed 'Everyone is asleep or about to be. Better do the same.' Suspicion was the last thing he needed now.

Needless to say, he didn't sleep but only relaxed and closed his eyes, waiting for others to wake up.

...

Ki was shivering. His body was not, but his heart certainly was.

Everyone woke up a few minutes later, he estimated, so he did the same. The medical personnel entered around that time.

They then proceeded to talk about how much it was a miracle no one was hurt too badly by the explosion of a gasoline truck on the highway. That it was due to a construction defect and thus not the fault of the driver. That everyone could go back home now. Oh, and the reason why they couldn't remember the accident was surely because of the shock. There was no need to worry.

Ki had prepared himself. It was one of the few hypotheses he arrived at : a way for people to forget about the accident. It meant that what they just witnessed was linked to something far bigger. Big enough that an organization on the international level decided to act. Or the government itself. Had Ki taken his pill, no one would have remembered about the incident except the ones who orchestrated this collective amnesia. The pills were obviously the culprit.

Ki had prepared himself. Or so he thought.

Everyone but him swallowed the explanation without a single protest. Their confused faces switched from realization brought by a false truth to gratitude for being saved and relief. In just some minutes, their memory was overwritten.

The feeling of alienation was horrible. Ki was surrounded by people, yet felt isolated. He was now the only one that knew he kept his memory intact. That adding up to today's events was a serious blow on his psyche. He barely held back the scream that threatened to escape from his throat.

Relief flooded his heart when he saw his parents in the lobby. He threw himself in their arms on the spot, the tension vanishing from his body.

"Gotta say, the museum was fun, after all. I wonder where we'll be next." He joked as his parents both laughed. And he did too.

Unaware that this long day wasn't over just yet.

...

As soon as the car started and he was sat in the back, Ki directed his gaze in front of him and planned to tell them about everything. He needed to talk, and he knew that if someone could believe him , it would be those two. They had always done so, of course it would continue.

However, he couldn't help but notice how weird they acted. In this situation, Ki's mother would have launched a long rant about whatever dared to endanger her "baby boy" and his father would tag along with her, while making sure to down the tone a little bit, subtly suggesting her to do the same. Anyway, there would be someone talking in the car.

Yet, silence reigned in the vehicle. No one talked. His parents asked him questions about how he was, had he been treated well, was he scared, those kinds of things before getting in. And now, no one said anything. No anger against the supposed truck. Just...nothing.

No.

No. It...it couldn't be. They wouldn't do this to him. They...cannot be part of this...

...right ?

The doubt swirled in his heart, climbed his throat and made it to his mouth. "You know, I dreamt of roots earlier." A test. He would test them. It was the very first time Ki did that to his mother and father. He disliked it. It felt like a wedge was driven between them.

Nut surely, that test would prove that he was just imagining things. That he was wrong to doubt them. It would. It had to -!

"R-roots ? A-Ahah, do you want to become a gardener, Ki ?"

"A-an accident and our boy is getting dreamy ? We've got a rocky road ahead of us, dear."

Their words were meant to be teasing. In any other situation, he would have happily continued to banter with them.

"Haha, it was just a joke." Not this time. This forced, awkward answer was the most he could give.

So much for hoping. Their voices and faces completely betrayed them : they were shaky and forced, and they both jolted when he said the world "tree".

They knew the truth : what happened, what he did. They were in this...mess, for lack of a better word. Now that he thought about it, their faces before the three got in the car already betrayed some kind of interna struggle. He hadn't noticed on the spot, but linked with their current behavior, it was obvious that it wasn't caused only by the news of the so-called accident.

His fists clenched, Ki lowered his head. His mouth was shut, his lips trembling, all of this making him feel as if someone had punched his gut. He felt as if the ground he was looking was far away. The bustling lights and sounds of the city at night looked as if they were coming from another world.

"Anyway, don't trouble yourself with this, son. It's over." Tried to reassure his father.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." White tears ran down his cheeks as he closed his eyes.

Nothing would be the same. Ki Tengo's world had completely crumbled.

Author's note :

And that's it for the eighth chapter ! Time for our dear little boy to experience some damage on the mental side. Be prepared because things are going to get a bit more serious from now on.

I hope I didn't screw up. Writing about what he must feel in situations like this was... complicated. But I had fun. And it is good practice for later :) (I'm not sorry, Ki). Don't hesitate to tell me what you think is good or bad here, I really need your advice, and if you've liked the chapter, drop a fav/comment, thank you for reading and see you later !