Fwoosh!
Ectoplasm burst from Yusuke Sato's dozen grotesque hands as they slammed into the shallow riverbed.
Rumble…
The ground vibrated beneath Hairo's feet, the force nearly knocking him off balance. His instincts screamed at him to move. Just as the water beneath him erupted into jagged spears, aiming to impale him.
"?!"
With his mysterious, newfound leg strength, Hairo vaulted into the air, landing hard on the blood-red grass beyond the river's edge. His eyes snapped to Shoto Kosaka, who remained calm, handing Nagatsuki's corpse off to his twin. The twin vanished through a swirling portal of water.
"Is this one of those Corpse Abilities?!" Hairo shouted over Sato's unintelligible screeches.
"Yup," he replied unflinchingly. "Though it's rare for one to manifest so early on in a Revenant's life. Who was Yusuke Sato as a human?"
As Hairo landed on the crimson grassland just behind Shoto, his memories raced back to meeting Yusuke Sato before his appendectomy. His patient file that contained all of his information.
Hairo listed the most noteworthy information. "He was studying to be a hydraulic engineer."
"Was he passionate about it?"
"Yeah. Runs in his family."
Shoto's gaze flickered toward Sato's grotesque form. "Then that explains it. C.A.'s always stem from a person's passions, regrets, or their identity when they were alive."
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Yusuke's many arms hammered the shallow water like drums. With each strike, numerous tendrils of water with spear-like points shot toward Shoto and Hairo. Shoto evaded them with ease, but Hairo seemed to struggle. It was his first legitimate battle after all.
"Damn it!" Hairo gritted his teeth. "The Sanzu River is nothing but shallow water. If he can manipulate it, he has the entire battlefield."
Hairo kicked off the ground, launching himself skyward. "Stay off the water. Stay moving. Get above him."
Vwoom…
The peak of his jump placed him directly above the Revenant. With a focused breath, ectoplasm circulated his clenched fist much more efficiently than the last time. A single, decisive blow. That was all he needed to–
Shink! Splash…
"Geurgh—!"
Agony exploded in Hairo's chest.
Shoto, who was still watching the battle, winced. Not from pain, but from apprehension.
Hairo looked down. A watery blade had stabbed clean through his sternum. Clean through his heart.
The world around him began to blur.
"Shit…" Shoto gasped, preparing to assist Hairo. "If that heart breaks—if the Ghost Heart's destroyed—who knows what happens…!!!"
"Dr… Kisaragi…"
A cold, clammy grip seized Hairo's arms, head, and torso. Yusuke's rotting, extra hands held him in place. The ghost's hollow eyes bore into him, whispering in a distorted voice.
"Why couldn't you… save me?"
"I…" He coughed up blood. "I'm…"
"Don't talk, Kisaragi!" Shoto shouted, closing in. "STAY ALIVE!"
But Hairo ignored him.
He looked Sato in the eyes—the eyes of a patient he'd once sworn to save—and whispered back to him. "I'm… sorry."
Vwoom… FWOOSH!
Ectoplasm erupted around Hairo in a blazing fire. His damaged flesh and muscles began to reattach themselves around his bloody chest.
"?!"
Yusuke Sato faltered. His monstrous body trembled, and for the first time, his vacant eyes wavered, watching Hairo's fist roll back.
GRAH!
Hairo didn't hesitate.
"GRAH!"
The impact cracked through the air like thunder. The shockwave sent a geyser of water into the sky, the mist swallowing the battlefield. Shoto couldn't see what happened until the debris settled.
Hairo's fist, his forearm muscles swollen and glowing with ectoplasmic energy, buried in the Revenant's torso. His expression wasn't fury.
It was grief.
"Dr… Kisaragi…"
"..."
Hairo was completely silent. Now, Shoto saw his true feelings of remorse.
"Dr… Kisaragi…" the Revenant murmured in its final moments, its grotesque hands trembling. "..."
"…I'm sorry, Yusuke Sato," Hairo whispered, clutching one of the ghost's hands . "You deserved a future."
"Dr… Kisaragi…"
The Revenant's ghostly form began to crumble. Within the dissipating ectoplasm, for just a moment, Hairo saw him. The real Yusuke Sato.
"...Thank you."
He was finally free.
* * *
"..."
Shoto approached him from behind, placing his hand on Hairo's shoulder. "You did good, Kisaragi," he called out. "He's in a better place. Really."
Hairo sat his knees on the water. His hand was still curled into a fist and dripping with Sato's ghostly blood. His inflated, glowing arm muscle shrunk back to normal size.
Shoto bit his lip. "Nagatsuki was remorseful, but not as much as this guy," he thought. "As much of a nutcase as he was, Nagatsuki was still kind."
Hairo washed his hands in the river, staining the water red. He stood up and looked at Shoto with vacant eyes.
"Maybe…" Shoto's thoughts defied the rest of the JSPI's.
"The Ghost Heart is in good hands."
* * *
"Any change?"
JSPI Grand Master Yuzuka Tsumasoran stood over Nagatsuki's corpse in an examination room. His skin was still damp from the river.
Shoyu hesitated. "I'm afraid there's… no way of saving him, Grand Master."
Tsumasoran looked away with doleful eyes. "...I see."
"But," he started again. "A Revenant made its way into the entrance dimension. Hairo Kisaragi and my brother are dealing with it."
Tsumasoran's eyes snapped to him. "Seriously? Do they need backup?"
"It seems to be a 5th Tier Revenant," Shoyu responded. "Shoto can handle it if Hairo can't."
"Oh…" she returned to her sorrow. "I see."
Silence fell.
"Ahem–," Shoyu cleared his throat. "If it's truly necessary… we could extract the Ghost Heart. Kisaragi is the first human Tengoku… it might be possible to perform a retrieval operation."
Shoyu felt a sting in his chest. He felt terrible about throwing Hairo under the bus but… the JSPI took precedence.
"No," she quickly responded. "...Some say the Ghost Heart has a mind of its own."
"You mean…"
"If that's true, then it chose Hairo. Not Shuntaro. We have to trust its decision." She gripped her uniform. "This has not once occurred in Phantom history, Chief Investigator. I believe Hairo Kisaragi… will change everything."
…Fsh!!
The automatic sliding doors opened to reveal Shoto Kosaka. Upon seeing Grand Master Tsumasoran, his legs straightened and he gave a silent bow.
"What's it looking like?" Shoto asked, straightening his back out. His lackadaisical attitude greatly contrasted with his younger twin's superior tact.
"..." Shoyu shook his head at Shoto. Not good, his head spoke.
"How is Agent Kisaragi?" Tsumasoran asked Shoto.
"Well… he killed the Revenant," he shoved his hands in his pockets. "It was a close call. But I took him to the medical bay, and he said he wanted to go home."
"You let him go?" Shoyu questioned. It was not out of derision but rather concern. "That's his first Revenant kill."
Shoto shrugged, turning to leave as quickly as he came in. "He was pretty insistent. Probably because he had to kill the same patient twice."
"Ah… right."
* * *
Ding!
The sliding doors of one of Tokyo's more high-end apartment buildings hissed open.
"Kisaragi," an elderly lady at the desk addressed him as soon as he arrived. "It's been a while."
Hairo, who entered with an extremely detached void in his eyes, looked at her, surprised. "Oh. Miss Taira… I've been out of town for a while."
"You're behind on rent," she snapped. "I would have evicted you—but you're a doctor. Do you have my money?"
Hairo scratched the nape of his neck in a nervous chuckle, approaching the front desk. He quickly pulled out his checkbook and started to scribble on it. "Yeah, yeah…"
New burdens were on his shoulders. Ghosts, Revenants, "Tengoku"... but money was not one of them. Hairo was thankful for at least that.
"Sorry," he ripped the check out and handed her the paper. "Just had a lot going on."
The money-hungry landlord took the check from his hands. "...Just don't be behind again."
Hairo nodded and turned to the elevators. Miss Taira pinched her nose.
"And take a shower."
* * *
The door to Hairo's apartment opened after a long week of neglect. The room was in the exact same state he left it in on the day of Yusuke Sato's death.
He peeled off his dirty clothes and stared at himself in the mirror of his bathroom.
"Eugh," he shuddered. "I've been running around and fighting ghosts. I totally forgot to take care of myself."
After a long shower, Hairo approached his fridge. "Oddly enough, I don't feel that hungry."
However, as a doctor, he knew that his body needed food, so he prepared a small assortment of rice, fish, and soup. It only took him a few bites of rice to feel full.
"Huh?... I'm already full," he placed down his chopsticks in a daze. "I haven't eaten for the past day or two. Is this because of…?"
He pulled the collar of his shirt down. His Ghost Heart was beating with a faint turquoise glow pulsating through his skin.
Hairo sighed. His body could live off a minimal amount of food, it seemed. But he was disappointed that he couldn't indulge in life's greatest pleasures.
He put his food away and collapsed onto his bed after a few days of not sleeping.
He tossed and turned. Hours passed by, and his frustration grew. When he felt the sun on his face, his body whipped up and he ruffled his hair in frustration.
"I don't need sleep, I don't need to eat much…" he stood on his own two feet and opened the door to his balcony, presenting the quiet city under the morning sky.
"HOW CAN I LIVE LIKE THIS?!"
"Uh…"
Hairo whipped his head back in response to a voice he heard behind him. It was Shoto Kosaka who appeared from a rippling portal in Hairo's bedroom.
"Is this a bad time?"
Hairo suddenly appeared in front of him, in a blinding burst of speed. He put his hands on his shoulders and looked at him with bloodshot eyes.
"Kosaka," he spoke coldly. "What the hell is this 'Ghost Heart' doing to me?!"
"?!"
Hairo let go of him and ran his fingers through his hair, pacing back and forth. "I've eaten almost nothing, yet I feel full. I haven't slept a wink since I woke up in the hospital, but I still feel completely energized. Wha–"
BRRING! BRRING!
Shoto's pocket vibrated.
"…What?" he grunted into the speaker, then hung up.
He lifted a portal. "Get dressed. We've gotta go soon."
"What? Why?"
"It's time for your first assignment."
"Now?"
"Yup…" he was halfway through the portal. "And what's more… Division Commander Yasuyuki will be overseeing it. Don't disappoint him."