Chương 19: Chapter 5 It Started Like Any Other Morning(Part 2)

The smoking room wasn't far. Rina waited outside on a bench while I stepped inside alone. I lit a cigarette and took a drag. Apparently, being hollow didn't stop me from smoking. My senses were still intact, so I could taste the tobacco just fine. What I couldn't feel was the weight of the smoke settling in my lungs. Probably because I no longer had lungs. I had somehow upgraded from a marshmallow body to a mystery body. The purple smoke drifted upward only briefly before being sucked into the ventilation system.

There was already someone inside. An older man smoking by the wall. He stared at me openly. After a few moments, he finally spoke.

"You're an adult, right?"

"... I turn forty-three this year." The man frowned suspiciously. Then, deciding he wanted absolutely nothing to do with whatever was going on here, he promptly left. There were times when the Japanese tendency to mind one's own business was truly wonderful. A few minutes later, I finished smoking and stepped back outside. Rina was sitting on the bench, staring intently at her phone. At some point, an elderly woman had taken the seat beside her. Probably another patient suffering from insomnia.

"Let's head back and get some sleep." I walked over and glanced at her screen.

"What are you looking at so seriously?" Rina immediately stood and took my hand again. Apparently she had no intention of stopping that.

"Clothes."

"For yourself?" Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"No." A smile spread across her face.

"For the adorable new Tsukasa."

"I'm already worried."

"You should be." She nodded with alarming confidence.

"Your wardrobe is getting a complete overhaul."

"Please don't."

"Too late."

"Normal clothes are fine."

"That's what you think."

"I literally don't care what I wear." She narrowed her eyes.

"Citizen, are you satisfied with your current level of happiness?"

"Stop right there, Ultra Violet." I pointed at her dramatically.

"I'm not ready to be executed." Rina burst out laughing.

"Don't worry. I'll buy what you want too."

"That's reassuring."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Depends on how cute you look in it."

"I knew this was a trap." Still laughing quietly, we returned to the room. The hospital hallways were silent. Everyone else was asleep. Eventually, we slipped back into bed together. That raised an interesting question. Could I even sleep anymore? If my body was truly hollow, then theoretically I didn't even have a brain. Then again, I had been talking, walking, and smoking without organs all night, so normal biology clearly wasn't applying anymore. At the very least, closing my eyes would be restful.

Rina quickly drifted off to sleep while clinging to me. Once her breathing settled into a steady rhythm, I carefully slipped out of her arms. There were a few things I wanted to test. First, I opened the closet and retrieved the storage box hidden inside. Then I reached beneath the bed and recovered the spear. Both vanished into the ring on my finger. Just as Sōts had said, acquiring my class had completely eliminated the headaches. Good. One problem solved. Now for the next experiment. I searched through the room.

The cabinet contained plastic stirrers but no toothpicks. I needed something small and sharp. The baton was out of the question. That thing had killed the Three-Eyed creature with absurd ease. Testing it on myself felt less like science and more like suicide. Then I spotted something useful.

"Ah." The closet. My folded work uniform was still hanging there. In my rush to hide everything earlier, I'd completely forgotten about it. Attached to the chest was my nameplate. Held in place by a so-called safety pin. A name so misleading it bordered on criminal fraud. I removed the pin. Then pressed the tip lightly against my finger. Poke. A brief sting. Then I pulled it back out. No blood appeared. No wound remained. Not even a mark. Only the memory of pain lingered for a moment before fading completely.

The sacrifice had worked exactly as intended. Satisfied, I returned the nameplate, climbed back into bed, and closed my eyes.

"Tsukasa. Wake up. Morning."

"Mmm... morning, Rina." I'd been worried I might not be able to sleep. Instead, I'd slept like a rock. Apparently the knowledge I'd given away had included enough information for my body to imitate normal human functions. I still felt no hunger. Yet when I looked at the breakfast tray sitting nearby, eating sounded perfectly reasonable. Rina was already awake and dressed. She sat beside the bed scrolling through her phone. The room's television was on. The morning news was covering the Rings.

Apparently the public had already settled on that name. A self-proclaimed expert was passionately insisting they were relics from an ancient super-civilization. The other panelists looked considerably less convinced.

"They talked about you earlier."

"Huh?" I looked away from the television.

"What'd they say?"

"They didn't mention your name."

"That's good."

"But they reported that a company employee who entered a Ring reappeared yesterday evening."

"Information control?"

"Probably."

"Honestly, I appreciate it."

"Go wash your face." She pointed toward the sink.

"And eat before they take the tray away."

"Can I even eat?"

"You tell me."

"Fair point."

"I'm heading home for a while." Rina stood.

"There's a lot I need to take care of." As I got out of bed, she headed toward the door.

"See you later." Before leaving, she leaned down and kissed me. The sensation was surprisingly strange. For most of our marriage, I'd been taller. Kissing had always felt like something I did. Now, for the first time, it felt like I was being kissed. After she left, I walked to the sink. A white-haired girl with crimson eyes stared back at me from the mirror. Who is that? Right. Me. The answer was still difficult to accept. I'd spent my entire life keeping my hair short.

At one point I'd even considered shaving my head completely. Now I had hair that reached halfway down my back. Fantastic. With a sigh, I finished washing up and returned to my breakfast. Hospital food. As expected, it was bland. I wasn't hungry. But I wasn't full either. I cleaned the tray completely. The portion size seemed normal. So why did I still feel empty? Then again, I had literally sacrificed my insides. Maybe "empty" wasn't just a figure of speech anymore.

Apparently I'd become less of a marshmallow and more of a bottomless void. A pink vacuum monster would have been proud.