Crossover PS 210 (Patreon)

Genji Heavy Industries, Top Floor Office.

Twenty minutes ago.

Gen Chisei stood by the window, clutching a report he had already read countless times in his hand.

The office was filled with the strong scent of coffee and a faint smell of smoke. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in three days.

The desk was piled high with documents: maps, surveillance screenshots, personnel screening records, and that investigation report he kept repeatedly verifying.

Every single page stated the same result: No such person found.

In the corner lay a stack of even older documents. Those were left behind by the previous patriarch.

He didn't remember that man, nor did he remember the things he had done. But every time he saw those documents, fragments of memory would flash through his mind.

A white room, cold needles, a girl curled up in the corner of a bed, wrapping herself tightly in a quilt. She didn't dare make a sound because her voice could kill, and she didn't want to hurt anyone.

Who did that?

He didn't remember but no matter who did it, he had stood at the door of that room and done nothing.

He remembered that when she called him "brother," her voice was raspy.

He remembered that when she said it didn't hurt, her arms were covered in needle marks.

He remembered her getting thinner and thinner, more and more afraid to speak.

He was her older brother, he should have protected her. But everyone said that this was the real protection. And so, he just stood there, at the door of that white room.

He thought that was protection, that locking her up would prevent her from hurting people, that not letting her speak would keep her from being afraid. But that wasn't protection, that was imprisonment. He had imprisoned his own younger sister..

Gen Chisei looked down at the message he had received a few days ago.

[Erii: I am fine, do not worry. I will be back in a few days.]

He had looked at it over and over again countless times. There were no typos, no panic, it was as if she were stating a very certain fact.

But he wasn't convinced. Was that really her? Did she send it herself, or did someone teach her what to say? Is she really fine? Or does she think she's fine, while actually being on the verge of collapsing?

He didn't know, he wasn't sure of anything.

But what if? What if it really was her?

Gen Chisei gripped the phone tightly.

The sister he had locked in that white room for so many years, had been missing for several days. Without the serum, she would die.

Just then, a strange sensation welled up in his heart. It was a connection deep within his bloodline.

Something was approaching from the direction of Ginza.

It was Erii!

He didn't know why he was so certain, but he just knew.

He headed out, knocking over the coffee cup on the corner of the desk.

Because the elevator was too slow, he pushed open the door to the emergency stairs, his footsteps echoing in the empty stairwell, growing faster and more urgent, like his heartbeat at that moment.

The moment he pushed open the doors of the building, the night wind rushed in, disheveling his hair and collar.

He stood on the steps, his gaze fixed intently on the end of the street, motionless.

One minute, five minutes, ten minutes...

The night wind grew colder but he didn't move.

Soon, a black Maybach turned the corner.

Gen Chisei unconsciously held his breath as the car door opened.

A man stepped out first. Then he turned, one hand resting on the top edge of the car door, the other reaching into the car, palm up.

Then, a foot stepped onto the ground.

Long red hair.

Uesugi Erii!

Gen Chisei's pupils constricted sharply.

Her complexion was a hundred times better than before she went missing, as if she had just gone out for a meal and then returned.

Her cheeks were no longer pale. They were flushed with a healthy radiance.

Her arms, emerging from her sleeves, were no longer skin and bones. They were rounded with a sense of being well-nourished.

Gen Chisei's throat felt as if something were blocking it.

"Brother." Erii spoke.

Gen Chisei's fingertips instinctively tensed slightly. It was an instinctive vigilance, fearing that Erii's speech would trigger her Yanling skill and harm herself.

But in the next second, that bit of vigilance was completely dispersed by an overwhelming wave of emotion.

Gen Chisei was stunned.

There were too many questions he wanted to ask, so many that they were jammed in his throat, and not a single word could be squeezed out.

"You've gained weight."

He held it in for a long time before only managing to say this one sentence.

Erii was taken aback for a moment, looked down at herself, then looked back up at him, smiling somewhat bashfully.

"Minoru cooks every day and it's all very delicious."

Gen Chisei looked at her embarrassed expression, her rosy cheeks, and her rounded chin, and suddenly felt something shatter in his chest.

It was what had been sustaining him all these years—guilt, self-reproach, and the things he dared not look at, think about, or admit.

The things he failed to give her, another person had given.

The meals he couldn't get her to eat, another person had cooked.

The smile he couldn't bring out, another person had made happen.

Her hand rested on Minoru's arm—not in a tense, cautious way, but relaxedly.

"Brother, this is Minoru. He has been with me these past few days."

Gen Chisei's gaze landed on that man.

There was no need to ask, he knew it must be this man.

The man who had taken his sister away from here.

The man who had taught his sister to speak.

The man who had helped her gain weight.

The man he had searched all over Tokyo for but couldn't find.

Gen Chisei's gaze lingered on Minoru for a few seconds with scrutiny.

He had mobilized every power at his disposal and combed through all of Tokyo, yet he hadn't even caught a shadow of this man.

He felt no anger, only a deep sense of relief. This man could vanish within Tokyo's entire search network and take better care of his sister than he could have imagined.

He began to observe Erii seriously. Her complexion was rosy, and there was a light in her eyes. It was the kind of light that comes from knowing where one is going.

All of this told Gen Chisei one thing. She had lived very well during these days away.

She had flown away while he still stood here, at the entrance of this golden cage.

He suddenly remembered a wish he had hidden deep in his heart for a long time.

To go to Nudist Beach in France to sell sunscreen, soaking up the sun, feeling the sea breeze, and watching the sunset every day.

No meetings, no documents to sign, no asking himself in the middle of the night in an empty office what exactly he was doing.

He had thought this wish had died long ago. But now, seeing Erii standing under the streetlamp beside a man, that seed suddenly stirred.

If this man was reliable...

He wanted to give all of this away—this chair, this cage, these endless messes that needed cleaning up, this position he had never wanted.

He wanted to be the person who smiled and asked tourists every day, "Need some sunscreen?"

But only after everything was properly arranged.

He needed to ensure Erii had support and that the family wouldn't fall into chaos.

Gen Chisei carefully sized up Minoru.

He was younger than he had imagined and those eyes were calm, their depth unreadable.

But he could sense something familiar about this man.

It was power.

"Erii." He spoke, his voice slightly raspy.

Erii looked at him, quietly waiting for him to finish.

"Come here, let brother look at you."

Erii took two steps forward and came to a stop in front of him.

Gen Chisei raised his hand, wanting to touch her hair, wanting to confirm if she was truly standing here. But the moment his hand was raised, he suddenly froze.

He saw his hand trembling—not from excitement, but because he suddenly remembered.

All those years, it was these hands that had locked her in that white room, watching as the needle was plunged into her arm.

What right did he have to touch her?

Gen Chisei's fingers curled, and he slowly withdrew them, letting his hand hang by his side.

"You really have gained weight." Gen Chisei said again, his voice even softer.

Erii blinked and touched her face somewhat bashfully. "Really?"

"Yes."

The things he couldn't achieve, another person had achieved.

The things he couldn't give her, another person had given.

What he owed her, another person had repaid on his behalf.