"So, that's the guy living in my old place now?"Itsuki Hayama leaned lazily against the train window, the scenery flashing past in streaks of green and gray. He turned toward Yuuta with a faint smile.
"Yeah," Yuuta sighed, shoulders sagging. "After you moved out, Rikka's sister took the place. And now… Rikka moved in too. Honestly, I thought my chuunibyou days were over for good. But then you showed up… and her too."
Itsuki chuckled softly, as though amused by Yuuta's frustration."By the way, where are you living now?" Yuuta asked, curious.
"Me? Somewhere in the XX district. Not far, but… not on your way home either."
Yuuta blinked. "Then why—?"
Itsuki interrupted with an easy smile. "It's been years, Yuuta. Can't a man visit his old comrades? And besides… I should say hi to your mother. And Kuzuha… she must've grown up by now."
At that name, Yuuta's lips curved unconsciously. He remembered his little sister as a child, always clinging to Itsuki—the gentle older boy upstairs. Back then, she didn't like Yuuta's "Dark Flame Master" persona at all. That memory still stung a little.
The train swayed gently. They laughed and chatted as though time hadn't passed. Rikka, meanwhile, knelt on her seat, nose pressed against the glass, watching the blur of houses and stations go by. When they finally disembarked, she clung stubbornly to Yuuta's schoolbag straps, rolling on her wheeled shoes as though he were towing her like luggage.
"Cute," Itsuki teased, hands in his pockets. "You really like him, don't you, Takanashi?"
"Don't start," Yuuta muttered, cheeks faintly red.
But Rikka declared solemnly, "Of course! He is the Dark Flame Master."
Yuuta nearly tripped on the stairs.
— — — A dividing line — — —
The sun had dipped low by the time the three reached Yuuta's neighborhood. The streets bathed in amber light felt achingly nostalgic to Itsuki, though he knew—these weren't his memories. They belonged to the body he now inhabited. Still, the weight of them pressed on him.
A familiar voice pierced the air.
"Brother!"
Itsuki's head snapped up. On a second-floor balcony, a short-haired girl with bright green eyes waved frantically.Kuzuha Togashi.
They hurried upstairs to find the corridor of Yuuta's home blocked by towers of cardboard boxes.
"These were delivered for the Takanashis," Kuzuha explained with a scowl. "Since nobody was home, the company dumped them here instead."
Even Yuuta's patience cracked. "Seriously… what kind of moving service does this?"
While Yuuta and Rikka wrestled with the boxes, Kuzuha kept glancing at Itsuki. He seemed so familiar. But the eyepatch… the years… her memory was fuzzy.
Finally, she asked bluntly, "Brother, who… are they?"
Yuuta gestured quickly. "This is Takanashi Rikka, who just moved in. And this—" he hesitated, then looked at Itsuki, "—this is Hayama Itsuki. We… go way back."
Itsuki slipped the eyepatch from his face. His crimson right eye gleamed faintly.Recognition lit up Kuzuha's features.
"…Eh! It really is you! Itsuki Niisan!"
Tears almost welled as she threw herself forward. But Itsuki only laughed gently, resting a hand on her head. "Took you long enough, little one."
He had grown tall—184 cm now—towering over her small frame. In that moment, even Yuuta's exasperated glare and Rikka's muttered incantations couldn't ruin the quiet warmth.
Dinner loomed, and Kuzuha shyly invited him to stay. But Itsuki, sensing the incoming "dog food" of Yuuta and Rikka's antics, excused himself to help Zhang Ye shop instead.
Yuuta's oi! chased him down the stairs.
— — — A dividing line — — —
Later, as twilight deepened,Kuzuha hummed happily beside him, swinging the plastic grocery bags. Itsuki walked in silence, gazing at her out of the corner of his eye.
She reminded him of someone. His own sister, in another life. A pang struck his chest before he shook it away. No… this life is mine now. The past doesn't matter.
But when a stranger brushed past him in the crowd Itsuki froze. Something flared inside him. A sound from the Cosmic Gacha System pulsed in his mind.
[Alert: Unauthorized Transmigrator detected.]Target:Ikemoto Yoichi.
Itsuki's eyes sharpened.
For now, he said nothing. Kuzuha's voice pulled him back as she tugged his sleeve.
But later that night, as rain pattered softly over the bridge, Itsuki found him again.
The illegal traveler.
Ikemoto Yoichi.