Months have passed, and it's already autumn. All the preparations have come, the leaves have fallen and the flowers are swaying in the breeze. It's time for my feet to walk, leading my two children to a beautiful, warm place full of moments.
Thats where my feet set foot, thats where happiness comes from, but every beauty inevitably hides a wound buried deep within. Hiding every wound to be someone who always says, "It's okay," makes people think they're okay.
However, no matter how hard someone hides it, no matter how smoothly they cover it with a smile, it will inevitably crumble and explode in the end. And now, Rena, lost in thought on the train, wakes up after dreaming of someone.
In her dream, she gazes upon the figure of the person she loves most and the one she protects most. It ends suddenly in an accident that kills him, and the incident that kills several people around him. An incident she will never forget for the rest of her life.
'Brother... how long have I been asleep?'
Rena, awake by the announcement of a train arriving at a flower garden, could only blink before staring at the flower she had been holding since she arrived and sat on the deserted train. It happened to be a long holiday, so she could travel in peace without being disturbed by strangers.
It felt so empty, for some reason, she felt like she was missing something—or perhaps someone who was always there for her. Always making jokes that would make her angry, someone she always scolded for their behavior and their bad habits. For some reason, she began to miss the person who always accompanied her.
Even tears couldn't lie, drop by drop leaking from her eyes, her cheeks, and then her hands.
Feeling strange, she began to wipe her eyes with her long sleeves; fortunately, she was wearing a sweatshirt, protecting her from the eyes of those who were staring at her with malicious intent. But even wiping her eyes with her sleeves wasn't enough; now the tears were getting worse. Until finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer and began to cry.
The sobs she tried to hold back from making pathetic sobs couldn't stop the constant flow of tears. Now she was starting to hate this feeling, the feeling of pain and betrayal by someone who would always make promises to her.
"You're so mean, brother... you're so mean!" she cursed angrily. But even so, she couldn't say she was angry. It just felt so painful and sad.
"Why did you leave me then? Why did you go inside? If only I hadn't asked you to buy me a new pencil at the store that time, I... I..." The guilt, the feeling of being the cause of her sister's death, had left her empty and unable to smile or be cheerful like before. Like people suffering from "emotional numbness," a condition where someone loses their emotions due to trauma, stress, or excessive pain.
It couldn't be said that Rena had declared she would never be able to express herself again, but now, she wept uncontrollably, letting out all her long-suffering sorrow in the silence of the train.
Even the bucket of flowers she had brought couldn't hold back Rena's tears, which reflected her torment and shock. However, life must go on as it should, and even if it meant losing her only family member, she couldn't be afraid now.
So, after she cried silently, she began to caress a small watch. The watch, which may have seemed simple, had been her brother's favorite watch during his lifetime. When he was still alive and with her.
Now, the caress of the watch felt warm, like her brother. His hand, the one she always imagined, even his smiling face, telling her, "It's okay, you have to be strong to face all this." It was even more painful than all the mean words her friends had said to her.
"Big brother, if I were given another chance to live, I would definitely... definitely give you my precious things. I'm really, really sorry, big brother." Feeling the sadness creeping up on her again, she began to rub her eyes vigorously. Even her trembling voice couldn't calm her down, and it only grew stronger and stronger.
"If only I could be with you again, I wouldn't do this again, big brother. I would always protect you, no matter what. Absolutely!" However, speaking to the dead man would sound like madness to those who liked to badmouth them.
Rena stood up firmly, as if regaining her spirit to pay her respects and clean her sister's grave again.
"Okay, sister. I'll come. Wait for me, okay?"
And just like that, Rena regained her spirit in life.
For someone named Kikonomi Kannawa, this was actually a rather strange situation. It started out floating in an empty room, like a dream—but not a dream either.
The feeling of being adrift in solitude, a feeling of eternal loneliness, was painful. Perhaps it felt more torturous than her beloved sister's scolding.
Oh, God. Please give this young man one more chance, God.
The world around her seemed to laugh at her, how that feeling of regret still filled her brutally, not only making her feel like this wasn't supposed to happen.
Now she began to blink, only able to see something she couldn't see beyond the limits of her own vision. Everything was pitch black, perhaps like an endless void.
Song after song echoed, as if welcoming something long asleep, yet at the same time, they were singing something to lull him to sleep.
'Where is this?!' Was his only thought at the moment. Fearing for himself, he screamed loudly, hoping someone would help him.
"Hey!! Someone, please help me!! Hey!" But avail, the flying thing didn't even glance or look back, merely playing its trumpet in the endless horizon between itself and them.
Without any barrier between the kikonomi and the tentacled creature, perhaps the easiest way to imagine it was an octopus, but it was much too large for a typical octopus. The distance between them made the 'octopus' appear small.
Strangely, but true, the octopus was holding a trumpet, but because it was so dark, it was only the tubes and the tip. The rest appeared gray and dark.
"Should I try to approach it? But it seems quite far away..." As he began to try to 'swim' toward the creature, a sound of unknown origin caught his attention.
[Found it———don't———not yet––able———]
"Huh?" And that successfully diverted Kikonomi's attention, which had initially been drawn to the 'octopus', to that mysterious, faint voice.
Perhaps this was like a message? He began to sharpen his hearing, focusing his entire mind on the sound.
[Wake up———rise———end———savior———]
"What does that mean...? I... I really didn't hear everything clearly." Confusion gripped him, and everything felt like endless static in his ears.
Everything felt silent, empty, with no sound other than his own heartbeat and breathing. Now, he was simply floating—floating aimlessly, only able to maintain consciousness in the darkness.
If it were an ordinary person, perhaps it would only be a matter of time before they reached the peak of what was called 'heartless madness.' If only there was a way to escape, if only.
'But what should I do...?'
But somehow, with every minute he spent, with every breath he felt and heard, everything grew smaller and smaller. Shrinking until he felt like he was going to disappear on his own.
'That's right... perhaps this is what they call the boundary between life and death...'
The feeling of something beyond his comprehension felt like being sucked into a vacuum in space-time, to be crushed and dissolved into fragments of space. However, the longer he felt it, the more terrifying it became how quickly he was losing consciousness.
'Even though I still wanted to see Pipi happy. Graduating from school, college, graduating, working, having her own family... I still couldn't keep my promise to her...' Every word was filled with pure sadness, a sadness that would never go away and last forever. Now, he regretted having to avoid her in his room. He truly regretted not being able to give her enough time.
'my little sister... I'm sorry, really... I'm really sorry... I'm sorry...' And in that sadness, a glimmer of hope arose in him for his sister. Hope that she would live strong and beautiful days in this world.
'I hope you can continue your live with smile there... Pipi.'
Now he was starting to have no regrets, what he was doing now was heading towards the afterlife. Undergoing a series of religious ceremonies in the afterlife for her, as her final journey and final resting place.
Perhaps this was the end of his story, which began as 'an otaku and loner older brother' to 'an older brother who will always be with his younger sister even though they are in different worlds.'
...
'It should be like that, a peaceful spirit in the afterlife.'
'But... why did I end up in this world?!'
A little girl, around 8 years old, sat on a wooden chair with a blank notebook. Her hands were frozen above her head in frustration. Only then did she lower them.
The seemingly empty book actually had another page behind it, a plot depicting a plot that began with a picture of a boy and a girl, then drifted off and ended with a little girl.
From this simple image, it was easy to tell that the little girl sitting in frustration was Kikonomi Kannakawa. It was just that, now, who knew what had happened that she was trapped in a girl's body. But what was clear was that she didn't want to be labeled a pedophile in the body of a girl with a boy's soul.
'Ahh, damn it! Why did it turn out like this?! Huhuhu...'
Well, all she could do now was lament her fate. Staring at the book now in front of him, he began to think.
In this world of "Beyond Neverland," ordinary people are differentiated from those who have been blessed. Even ordinary people who rely solely on physical appearance feel like playthings to those who have been blessed. Perhaps it's like the difference between a villager and a billionaire, to put it simply.
Like most things in the ordinary world, there are still things that smell of "discrimination," such as white and black skin. The blessed and ordinary people are distinguished by castes, much like the top of a pyramid.
Some castes range from the lowest: slave class, pre-labor class, community class, and servant class.
Some classes (slave class to pre-labor class) are the lowest of the low, even lower than the sewer rats who always spread disease and are full of disgust.
Those from the community class are the pre-labor class. In this class, ordinary people enjoy the basic necessities of life: a home, clothing, food, drink, a bed, and a job. However, they remain shackled to the lower caste of slaves, while the pre-labor class is the class freed from this slavery.
The servant class is the highest class for ordinary people, where they typically work as maids or butlers, have a home prepared for them, and often serve as servants to their masters for generations. They are also guaranteed a higher education than the pre-labor class and are guaranteed social status as servants among the blessed.
However, in the background of the Beyond Neverland story, there is a rebellion among the slave and pre-labor classes, among the blessed. It's a classic story, but before entering the main story of Beyond Neverland, a plague strikes several regions within the kingdom. Even kingdoms unaffected by the plague show signs of the plague.
The world's finances are in chaos, with the price of a sack of rice reaching 40% of its original price. Fortunately, the plague was successfully contained, and this became the starting point for the main story before its public introduction.
In the main character's backstory, a girl known as the saint saved the earth from the plague of "the omnipotent," and she became a deity worshipped by all churches and the entire world. Known as the "earth angel."
There was indeed little information about her family, her origins, her kingdom, or even her residence. In fact, she was like a shadow in the world, vanished like a rumor. Or perhaps, she existed but simply hid her identity from the world.
Has she ever revealed herself to anyone? Has she ever revealed her true identity to the church? No one knows, all they know is that she's a savior girl and 'the earth angel herself.'
"But if that's the case... there must be at least a dozen people who know her intimately, right? Yes, that should be the case."
But it felt impossible.
Who could she trust to reveal her identity? Better alone in a unknown identity than being a puppet for those corrupt higher-ups.
"Next..." She stared out the window, which was dazzling, but the view of the sky and the garden trees looked beautiful and calming.
But in contrast to the peaceful and serene scenery, she stared as if feeling a hint of unusual anxiety within her.
An enemy that will come to this beautiful world, a journey to the afterlife if not handled properly. Not just a plague that nearly destroyed the world order, but an enemy lurking in the shadows.
A dangerous, terrifying race.
"...are the abbys, they should be coming soon..."