Kamisato Ayato strode forward and gripped Kael's shoulders, searching his face with trembling focus.
No wonder… no wonder Ayaka had sensed something was wrong.
When he first saw the puppet, he'd thought it looked almost exactly like Kael.
But standing before the real one now, he finally understood. The puppet had the shape, but none of the spirit. Its gaze had been hollow compared to Kael's.
"You…" Ayato had a thousand things he wanted to say, yet none of them felt like the right place to start.
In the end, he simply squeezed Kael's shoulders hard.
"Ayaka and I never blamed you. You don't need to apologize. Everything that happened in Inazuma proved your choice was right. Back then, neither of us had the courage you did to stand against the Raiden Shogun."
"Kael, your ideals came true. Inazuma is finally beginning to change…"
His voice caught as the image of Kael's death flashed through his mind.
Kael shook his head. "Brother, you both protected Inazuma in your own way. Back then… I made a lot of reckless decisions."
He meant it.
When he first started running life simulations, everything had felt like nothing more than a game.
He made decisions without thinking of consequences or the people around him.
It was because of that thoughtlessness that Ayaka had fallen into darkness. That was his fault.
He was here to make things right.
"Brother, take me to Ayaka."
"Yes. When she wakes and sees you, she'll start recovering."
Kael followed Kamisato Ayato back into the room.
Not long after he'd projected into his body earlier, Ayato had ordered the guards to remove him. Kael still didn't know why.
Now, seeing Ayaka lying on the bed, his heart twisted painfully, like someone was slicing it apart piece by piece.
He barely recognized her.
Ayaka was so thin she looked like a skeleton, her cheeks deeply sunken, her skin utterly drained of color.
If not for the faint rise and fall of her chest, she looked as if she were already gone.
Kael reached out, brushing his fingers through her brittle, dried hair. He closed his eyes, forcing back the tears stinging behind them.
Ayato saw the anguish on Kael's face and his own eyes reddened.
"Kael… take good care of Ayaka. As long as you're here, she'll get better."
"I will."
Kael looked up and said firmly, "I'll stay by her side forever. I won't let her suffer again."
Ayato nodded, then quietly stepped out, giving them space.
As soon as he left, Kael called out to the System.
"System, is there any way to heal Ayaka immediately?"
Seeing her like this tore at him. He finally understood how it had felt for the characters in his simulations to watch him die.
[Host, Kamisato Ayaka's body can only survive for two more years. Within that time, the Host must reduce Pain Value below one hundred.]
"What?!"
Kael felt a physical ache in his chest.
"Even if she wakes up and takes care of herself… it won't work?"
[Her self-destructive behavior has caused irreversible damage. Even with rest, full recovery is impossible.]
"What if I use Attribute Points?"
The System had once used Attribute Points to lessen his pain.
If they could do that, they had to be able to repair a body.
[Attribute Points can be converted to energy. With enough of them, I can reverse Kamisato Ayaka's physical state to a point before the worst damage occurred.]
Kael's breath caught.
Good. There was still time. She could still be saved.
"Do it. Use the Attribute Points."
[Normally, Attribute Points in simulations can only affect the Host. Applying them to others requires significantly more energy.]
[Restoring Kamisato Ayaka will cost ten thousand Attribute Points. Confirm deduction?]
"Yes."
Kael didn't even hesitate.
He'd earned tens of thousands of points from the overwhelming Pain Value he'd accumulated recently.
Ten thousand was nothing.
If it meant saving Kamisato Ayaka, he'd spend everything he had.
[Kamisato Ayaka's body has been restored.]
Only then did the crushing ache in his chest loosen.
Kael gently took Ayaka's frail hand in both of his.
"Ayaka… please wake up…"