Insight Inside

When the battle against Hidora ended, a bloody aurora formed in the sky due to a magnetic storm. The volcanic eruption ended, and the magma solidified. Ami, exhausted from the battle, rested on the slope, covered with a cracked umbrella, which was gradually restored by Yomi. In the form of smoke coming from the bottom of the umbrella, he rested his head on Ami's shoulder. Together, they enjoyed the unusual aurora, trying to make up for lost time.

The Miyata sisters decided that it was best to leave the couple alone and returned to the original mission. Before that, they assessed the losses. The defenders were prepared for this, and although they didn’t like the Mukibutsu's methods, they adopted one of their technologies using corporate espionage. A support team with special equipment arrived in time for them. They placed the corpses of their comrades in special devices for cryosleep and life support, literally resurrecting them after clinical death. There were even small boxes for heads, if this was the only thing left of the deceased.

However, with brain damage, it was almost impossible to save and informational death was stated. In theory, it was possible to "work" with this, but it wasn’t possible to fully restore the personality now. According to a pre-signed agreement, the "souls" of such people were only sung.

"Mrs. Mellow!"

One of the monks shouted and showed her an unusual cloak.

"What is this?"

Mellow studied the object with cybernetic vision.

"We found this in the forest surroundings. There were traces of a battle there, but we didn’t find any signs of our presence."

"This is not our development. It looks more like…"

"Mukibutsu equipment." Kamiko joined in. "Will you show me where you found it?"

"Mrs. Mellow!" Another monk from the arriving support group ran up.

"What else?"

"Breaking news from the outside world!" The monk reported anxiously and quickly about the world war that had begun, worsening every minute.

Meanwhile, the situation in Keshita's mind was also heating up, using up brain resources non-stop

"Y-you'll kill me like that!" Tamiya screamed from a headache.

"Don't worry, your body has already adapted to getting what it needs from the environment… but I'm not sure about your mind."

"What would Lilia say if she were here!?" Keshita suddenly asked. "In my opinion, she was a good person and wouldn't let you…"

"Shh, I won't fall for that trick. She's gone… or rather, in her original form."

"What are you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter. She wanted the best for this world, which is what I'm doing."

"By taking over the bodies of others and mine!?"

"Especially yours. If you behave well, I'll return it later."

"That's what I believed!"

Keshita spoke furiously and suddenly stood up. He ran up to Mikhail's projection and grabbed it by the neck.

"It's no use. We can go on like this forever. Sooner or later, my physical expansion will reach Japan. Although before that, I'll have to tinker with the deadly MORS virus… But parallel computing is no problem for me, you're only putting the fate of humanity at risk!"

"No! It's not me who's turning my country's citizens into obedient slaves in the form of my copies."

"What would you do? Russians are slaves of an unprincipled, greedy dictator who squeezes every drop of juice out of them, making them even more stupid, poor, and obedient. I'm only lending power to overthrow the usurper and save the world from his threat!"

"I don't know! I understand how difficult the situation is in your country, but it's still not right!"

"How innocent you’re, Ta-… Keshita."

"Huh?"

In reality, time was moving slower, Miku couldn't connect to Keshita's consciousness by their own will. The girl desperately tried to bring Tamiya to his senses. But he was in too deep a trance. Suddenly, someone's voice was heard from behind the trees.

"Tamiya Keshita, right? Stand up and raise your hands up, if you don't want to lose your head!"

A female voice sounded, which was able to penetrate Keshita's consciousness.

"What?" Mikhail was very surprised. "How could a voice penetrate here? Shh, damn subconscious…"

Keshita suddenly opened his eyes, remembering something long forgotten and more important than his life.

"This voice… where did it come from?"

"Hey, you next to him! Raise your hands too. Are you deaf!?"

Kamiko sternly ordered, holding out her katana and approaching Tamiya.

"Who are you? Don't touch him!"

Miku screamed furiously, protecting Keshita with her body. But the monks grabbed her and pulled her aside. Keshita slowly stood up, as if waking up from a long sleep. Seeing his face, Kamiko felt a sense of déjà vu and froze in shock.

"Ta… Ta… Takeshi!?" Soda said barely audibly, her knees buckling. "H-How is this possible?"

"Takeshi?" Keshita was surprised, assessing the situation. "I am Tamiya Keshita. Who are you?"

The boy was surrounded by Kamiko's partners and other monks, who held out their spears.

"Wait a minute…" Keshita was weakened from the battle with Mikhail and was weakly reading minds. "Aren't you the Sun Guardians?"

"Yes! Do you remember me?" Kamiko came closer.

Suddenly, Keshita grabbed his head, staggering.

"Kami-sama! Has the war really begun!?"

"What are you talking about, Keshita? W-war!?" Miku screamed before she was silenced.

"Hey, Takeshi! It's me, your sister Miyata Kamiko!" Kamiko desperately tried to get through, lowering katana. "How could you forget?"

"Ms. Soda, stay away! He could be dangerous!!!"

Kamiko motioned for him to calm down.

"What? I don't have a sister…"

A new headache crossed Keshita's mind, and visions from the mirror world from the mall in Shibuya flashed through his mind.

"…fireworks…"

"You're remembering!"

"This is all nonsense! My only relatives are my mother and father! They died in a car accident!"

"No! Our parents were killed in their own home!"

"I feel sorry for them, but I'm not who you thought I was. I don't have time for this show…"

Keshita tried to think of a way to escape and save Miku.

"I assumed that those Sun Guardians would want to use me too. But why is there such a pressing sense of danger?"

Keshita suddenly froze when Fumiko appeared.

"They're here, we found them!"

Mellow reported over the intercom, and then froze just like her sister.

"T-takeshi!?"

Mellow had a device on her chest that looked like an open frame to feed energy to the Ningen head inside the frame. When Keshita saw it, he grabbed his neck.

"W-what is this?" Tamiya stared at the copy of his head.

"This is… an android head that your personality was recorded into. The Mukibutsu organization used it for their own purposes and…"

"No! This can't be, what's going on here!?"

Keshita fell to his knees, clutching his neck.

"This is some kind of nightmare!"

"She's right. You're Miyata Takeshi."

Suddenly, Mikhail's voice was heard again as Keshita was lost in his thoughts.

"See for yourself."

Keshita was driving the car, talking to little Kamiko sitting in the backseat.

"Kamiko, are you wearing your seatbelt?"

"Yes, brother! Did you call Fumiko to get my yukata ready?"

"Yeah, she's already ready. It seems like she's looking forward to the fireworks festival more than you’re."

"No, that can't be…"

Keshita loosened his grip on his neck.

"That can't be!" Kamiko said, childishly offended.

"Okay, okay! How's your kendo training going?"

"Why don't I remember that?"

"Kentaro won today!"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Mikhail answered, sitting next to Kamiko, with Keshita on his other side.

"Not bad!"

"Yeah! Just like you taught me, against an opponent stronger than you, you need to be cunning and… careful!"

A deer suddenly ran out of the hill. Takeshi abruptly turned the steering wheel, the car skidded, the guy turned the steering wheel back to return the car to the road. Frightened, Kamiko closed her eyes and screamed.

"Everything is fine, the deer is safe!"

"Hooray! Brother, you’re so cool!"

The car's interior was filled with bright light, a powerful metallic crack was heard. Having knocked down the fence, the car flipped several times, falling from the hillside until it landed on the roof. Darkness fell.

The next thing Takeshi saw was a dump of human corpses and remains unsuitable for further experiments.

Keshita silently sank into…

Hell.

Takeshi came to his senses and saw someone else's body. He looked at the unfamiliar legs and arms, and then touched his neck, feeling fresh stitches. He threw up. Takeshi managed to escape from there, digging a hole with his bare hands.

"Miku… that night, she saw me!?"

Due to the incredible shock, the brain hid these experiences and the memory of them. When the fishermen found Takeshi in Nagahama, he only muttered his name so as not to forget. But it got mixed up.

MiyataTakeshi
TamiyaKeshita

To hide the stitches and marks from suffocation, Takeshi got a tattoo in the form of a snapping zipper.