The quiet suburban streets of Haruto's world were bathed in the warm glow of the late afternoon sun. Cherry blossoms drifted lazily through the air, painting the scene with a peaceful beauty that felt almost unreal. Then reality tore apart.
A shimmering portal suddenly ripped open beside a tree-lined pathway, crackling with unstable energy. A figure was violently thrown from it, crashing against a tree trunk before collapsing to one knee. Leon Mercer hit the ground hard, his battered gear scraping against the pavement while his machete clattered nearby. His clothes were torn and stained from countless battles, and the lingering stench of Mirekun City seemed to follow him through the portal itself.
For several seconds, Leon simply remained there, breathing heavily. His muscles screamed from exhaustion. His mind was still trapped in endless nights of survival, constant combat, and the relentless horrors of X-99. Every instinct told him to look for threats, yet there were none. No infected. No screams. No desperate survivors running for their lives. Only clean air and the gentle rustling of leaves.
"What the hell..." Leon muttered, wiping sweat and rain from his face. "One second I'm running across rooftops... now this? No infected. No quarantine. Am I dead?"
The weight of years spent surviving alone suddenly crashed down on him. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes for a moment, allowing himself the smallest fraction of rest.
Then he heard footsteps.
Soft.
Careful.
Gentle.
Leon immediately opened his eyes.
Walking toward him was a silver-haired girl carrying a small shopping bag. Her school uniform was immaculate despite the afternoon breeze, and her deep blue eyes widened the moment she saw him. Unlike everyone else he had met in Mirekun City, she didn't recoil from his appearance. She didn't fear the scars, the torn clothing, or the haunted look in his eyes.
Instead, she looked worried.
Genuinely worried.
"Um..." she said softly as she stopped a few steps away. "Are you okay? You look very tired. Did something happen?"
Leon reacted instantly. His hand shot toward his machete before his mind even processed her words. Years of survival had trained him to expect danger first and questions later. Yet standing before him wasn't a threat.
It was simply a girl with kind eyes.
A girl who looked completely out of place in his nightmare-filled existence.
"Stay back," Leon said automatically, his voice rough from exhaustion. "Who are you? Is this some kind of ARB operation? Where's the extraction point?"
The girl blinked in confusion before slowly kneeling and pulling a bottle of water from her bag.
"ARB?" she repeated. "I don't know what that is. My name is Shiori Aizawa."
Her voice remained calm and gentle.
"You suddenly appeared out of nowhere. You look hurt. Here... please drink some water."
She offered the bottle without hesitation.
Without fear.
Leon stared at her for several moments before finally accepting it. The cool water touched his lips, and for the first time in what felt like forever, relief washed through him.
"Shiori..." he murmured. "Thanks."
He drank deeply before lowering the bottle.
"My name's Leon Mercer."
Shiori smiled softly.
"It's nice to meet you, Leon-kun."
The simple kindness in her voice nearly caught him off guard.
Leon looked away.
"I was fighting," he admitted quietly. "Non-stop. Infected. Nightmares. Survivors. Every day was another battle."
Something in Shiori's expression changed.
Not fear.
Not disbelief.
Understanding.
She quietly sat nearby, careful not to invade his space.
"That sounds lonely."
The words struck harder than they should have.
Leon laughed weakly.
"Yeah."
His voice carried years of exhaustion.
"Usually it's just me. Survive. Adapt. Keep moving. That's how it works."
Without saying anything else, Shiori opened her bag and carefully removed a homemade bento.
Steam still rose from the food.
The scent alone nearly shattered what little composure Leon had left.
"Please eat," she said.
Leon stared at the meal as if it were something impossible.
"When was the last time..." he whispered before stopping himself.
He couldn't remember.
Not real food.
Not food made by someone who cared.
Not food that wasn't eaten while running for his life.
Shiori gently placed the bento beside him.
"You don't have to be strong all the time, Leon-kun."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Cherry blossoms drifted through the air.
The world remained quiet.
Peaceful.
Safe.
A feeling Leon had nearly forgotten existed.
Then Shiori smiled again.
A real smile.
Warm.
Beautiful.
"You're not alone anymore."
For several seconds Leon simply stared at her.
Unable to find words.
Unable to understand why someone he had met only minutes ago could see through every wall he had built around himself.
The silence lasted until Shiori finally asked, "Can you tell me more about your world?"
Before Leon could answer, reality shattered.
Blue lightning erupted beneath him.
The air distorted.
A portal exploded open beneath his feet.
The familiar smell of Mirekun City flooded the area instantly.
Leon shot to his feet.
"No!"
The portal pulled at him with violent force.
"Not now!"
Shiori's eyes widened.
She reached toward him.
"Leon-kun!"
Their fingers almost touched.
Almost.
Then the portal swallowed him whole.
In a flash of light, he vanished.
The park fell silent.
Shiori stood frozen.
The untouched bento remained on the grass.
The water bottle lay nearby.
And Leon Mercer was gone.
Far away, in the ruins of Mirekun City, Leon crashed onto a rain-soaked rooftop. Acid rain hissed against broken concrete while distant Nightmare screams echoed through the darkness. The nightmare had reclaimed him.
Breathing heavily, he slowly pushed himself upright.
His hand tightened around the water bottle Shiori had given him.
The bottle was still warm.
Still real.
"So it wasn't a dream..." he whispered.
For the first time since arriving in Mirekun City, surviving wasn't the only thing on his mind.
Somewhere beyond this hell existed a girl named Shiori Aizawa.
A girl who had offered him food, water, and kindness without asking for anything in return.
A distant Nightmare roar shattered the moment.
Leon immediately sprang into motion as infected began swarming the streets below.
The survivor returned.
The fighter returned.
The runner returned.
But as he leapt across rooftops beneath the dark skies of Mirekun City, one thought remained in his mind.
"Wait for me, Shiori..."
Meanwhile, back in Haruto's world, Shiori remained standing beneath the cherry blossom tree long after the portal disappeared.
Slowly, she knelt and searched the ground where Leon had fallen.
Her fingers found something hidden in the grass.
A worn ARB patch.
She picked it up carefully.
Her eyes lingered on the faded emblem.
Leon had spoken of infected, Nightmares, and endless battles.
At first it had sounded impossible.
Now she wasn't so sure.
"He looked so tired..." she whispered.
Her fingers gently tightened around the patch.
"So lonely."
The evening breeze carried cherry blossoms around her as she stood.
A quiet determination slowly appeared in her eyes.
"If you come back, Leon-kun..."
A small smile touched her lips.
"I'll have dinner ready."
Later that night, the ARB patch rested carefully on her desk beside her schoolbooks. Shiori sat quietly in her room, staring at it while moonlight filtered through the window.
The world had returned to normal.
Yet somehow it felt different now.
Because somewhere beyond reality itself was a survivor fighting a war she could barely imagine.
And despite only meeting him once...
She found herself hoping he would return.
"You're not alone anymore, Leon-kun."
The words were barely above a whisper.
But she meant every one of them.
Three days had passed since Leon Mercer vanished back into the nightmare of Mirekun City.
The memory of their brief meeting lingered in Shiori Aizawa's mind far more often than she cared to admit. Every day since then, she found herself unconsciously touching the worn ARB patch resting safely inside her pocket. It had become something like a promise. Proof that Leon had truly existed and that their encounter had not been some strange dream beneath the cherry blossom trees.
The evening sky glowed with shades of orange and gold as Shiori walked home from school. The streets were calm, and the cool breeze carried the scent of spring flowers through the neighborhood. To anyone watching, she appeared exactly as she always did—calm, graceful, and composed.
Inside, however, her thoughts were elsewhere.
She wondered whether Leon had survived.
Whether he had eaten anything.
Whether he was still fighting those creatures from Mirekun City.
Her fingers lightly brushed against the ARB patch through her pocket.
"Please be safe, Leon-kun," she whispered softly.
The peaceful moment ended when three boys suddenly stepped into her path.
Shiori stopped walking.
The tallest of the three wore a smug grin as he blocked the sidewalk. His friends moved to either side, cutting off any easy route around them.
"Well, look who it is," the tallest boy said. "The perfect little princess."
The other two laughed.
Shiori immediately understood what was happening.
She tightened her grip on her school bag.
"Please move," she said politely.
Her voice remained calm, though her heart had begun to beat faster.
"I don't want any trouble."
Unfortunately, that only seemed to amuse them.
One of the boys stepped closer.
"Come on. We're just trying to be friendly."
The second reached for the strap of her bag.
Shiori instinctively took a step backward.
For the first time in days, genuine fear surfaced.
Then reality tore itself apart.
A violent crack echoed through the street.
Blue lightning erupted twenty feet away.
The air twisted unnaturally as a portal ripped open.
Everyone froze.
A figure exploded from the opening at full speed.
Leon Mercer.
He wasn't walking.
He wasn't stumbling.
He was sprinting.
His instincts were already in motion before he fully understood where he had arrived.
Fresh blood stained his clothes. New wounds marked his arms. His battered gear looked even worse than before. One hand gripped his machete while his eyes rapidly scanned the unfamiliar surroundings.
Then he saw Shiori.
And the boys surrounding her.
Everything else stopped mattering.
Leon crossed the distance in seconds.
The bullies barely had time to react before he stepped directly between them and Shiori.
His boots scraped against the pavement as he planted himself firmly in front of her.
The expression on his face was enough to make all three boys freeze.
Years spent surviving Mirekun City had left something dangerous behind his eyes.
Something no normal person possessed.
Leon slowly raised his machete.
Not threatening.
Not attacking.
Simply warning.
"Back away from her."
His voice was low.
Cold.
The tallest bully swallowed hard.
"W-Who the hell are you?"
Leon didn't answer immediately.
His gaze remained fixed on them.
The silence somehow felt more intimidating than any threat.
Then a horrific screech erupted from behind him.
The portal had not closed.
Something else was trying to come through.
A Nightmare.
Its claws scraped against the edge of reality as it forced its way forward.
The three boys turned pale instantly.
"What is that thing?!"
Leon didn't even look.
With practiced speed, he pulled a UV flare from his gear and ignited it.
Brilliant light exploded across the street.
The Nightmare recoiled violently.
Before it could recover, Leon moved.
The machete flashed once.
A single clean strike.
The creature vanished backward into the portal as the dimensional tear collapsed behind it.
Silence returned.
Complete silence.
The boys stared at the empty space.
Then at Leon.
Then back at the empty space.
Their courage disappeared entirely.
"You're insane," one of them whispered.
Another immediately nodded.
The third had already begun backing away.
Within moments all three were running down the street as fast as possible.
Only after they disappeared did Leon finally lower his weapon.
The tension slowly left his shoulders.
He turned around.
Shiori was staring at him.
For several seconds neither of them spoke.
Then relief overwhelmed her.
"Leon-kun..."
The words escaped as little more than a whisper.
Before she could stop herself, she stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
Warm.
Solid.
Real.
He was alive.
The worry she had carried for three days finally broke apart.
"You came back."
Leon blinked in surprise.
Of all the reactions he had expected, that wasn't one of them.
Shiori's eyes immediately moved to the fresh wounds covering his arms.
Concern replaced relief almost instantly.
Her brows furrowed.
"You're hurt again."
Leon glanced away.
"It looks worse than it is."
The answer earned him a look of clear disapproval.
Somehow that expression felt strangely familiar.
Shiori sighed softly.
Then reached into her pocket.
When she pulled out the worn ARB patch, Leon froze.
For three days she had protected it.
Kept it safe.
Exactly as she promised.
Shiori carefully held it out to him.
"I thought you'd come back for it someday."
Leon slowly accepted the patch.
For a moment his fingers brushed hers.
A simple touch.
Yet it felt strangely important.
The evening sunlight painted the street gold around them.
For the first time since arriving in this peaceful world, Leon felt something he hadn't experienced in years.
Not safety.
Not comfort.
Something even rarer.
The feeling that someone had been waiting for him.
Shiori smiled softly.
The same gentle smile he remembered beneath the cherry blossoms.
"Welcome back, Leon-kun."
Leon stared at her for a moment before a faint smile finally appeared on his own face.
Small.
Tired.
But genuine.
And for the first time in a very long time, the survivor of Mirekun City didn't feel completely alone.
The school street was quiet as dusk painted the sky in warm shades of orange and gold. The bullies had long since fled, disappearing around the corner after witnessing something they would never be able to explain. The strange monster that had emerged from Leon's world was gone as well, dragged back through the unstable portal that had briefly connected two completely different realities.
For a single moment, everything seemed peaceful.
Shiori stood frozen in place, her hand still resting on Leon's arm. Her silver-blue eyes shimmered with relief, gratitude, and something much deeper.
"Leon-kun, let me—"
She never finished.
The familiar distortion appeared again.
Reality cracked apart.
Blue lightning erupted across the air.
The portal.
Shiori's eyes widened instantly.
"No—"
The unstable gateway suddenly pulled at Leon with overwhelming force. Before he could react, his body was dragged backward. One moment he was standing before her.
The next—
He was gone.
The street fell silent.
Leon Mercer had vanished.
Again.
Shiori's hand closed around empty air.
For several seconds she simply stood there.
Unable to move.
Unable to think.
Unable to accept what had happened.
Then the reality of it crashed into her.
Her knees nearly gave out beneath her.
She caught herself before falling completely, but tears immediately filled her eyes.
"Leon-kun..."
Her voice broke.
"He just..."
The words wouldn't come.
She slowly lowered herself to the ground.
Near her feet rested Leon's machete, left behind during the portal's sudden activation.
The worn weapon looked strangely lonely.
Shiori carefully picked it up.
Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out the faded ARB patch she had carried with her every day since meeting him.
The patch.
The machete.
The only proof that Leon Mercer had truly existed.
She pressed both against her chest.
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
Not loud sobs.
Not dramatic cries.
Just quiet pain.
The kind that hurt the most.
Cherry blossom petals drifted through the evening air around her.
For a while she remained there.
Alone.
Thinking about the exhausted survivor who kept appearing in her life.
Thinking about the scars covering his body.
The sadness hidden behind his eyes.
The loneliness he carried every day.
And the fact that despite everything—
He always protected people first.
Even strangers.
Even her.
Eventually Shiori wiped her eyes and stood up.
Her expression changed.
The sadness remained.
But now there was determination as well.
"He keeps coming back."
She tightened her grip on the machete.
"He keeps fighting for everyone."
Her voice grew firmer.
"For me."
The wind brushed through her silver hair.
"I won't let him disappear forever."
For the first time since meeting Leon Mercer, Shiori made a decision.
She would be ready.
No matter how impossible it seemed.
No matter how ridiculous it sounded.
If Leon could cross worlds to protect people—
Then she would find a way to support him.
No matter the distance.
No matter the danger.
She carefully carried the machete home.
When she entered her room, she placed it beside the ARB patch on her desk.
The two items sat side by side beneath the warm glow of her desk lamp.
Proof of another world.
Proof of Leon.
Shiori sat quietly in her chair, staring at them.
Then she smiled.
A small smile.
Gentle.
Determined.
"Your world may be a nightmare, Leon-kun."
Her fingers brushed the edge of the ARB patch.
"But next time you come back..."
Her voice softened.
"There'll be food waiting."
Her gaze shifted to the machete.
"And somewhere safe to rest."
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Come back soon."
The room fell silent.
But for the first time—
Shiori wasn't waiting helplessly.
She was preparing.
The following afternoon, the rooftop of the school was unusually lively.
The sky was bright.
The weather was pleasant.
Students relaxed during their break while conversations drifted through the air.
Near the fence, Shiori sat quietly with three familiar friends.
Yet despite the peaceful atmosphere, her attention kept drifting toward the ARB patch hidden inside her pocket.
She absentmindedly rubbed the worn fabric.
A habit she had developed recently.
One that did not go unnoticed.
Airi immediately leaned forward.
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Shiori-chan!"
She pointed dramatically.
"You've been distracted all day!"
A mischievous grin spread across her face.
"Boy trouble?"
Shiori instantly turned red.
"N-No."
Airi's grin widened.
"That wasn't a denial."
Daichi burst out laughing.
"Got her."
Shiori lowered her head.
"Airi-san..."
Haruto, sitting quietly nearby, looked up from his book.
Unlike the others, he noticed something deeper than embarrassment.
He noticed concern.
Worry.
Sadness.
His voice remained calm.
"Something happened."
Shiori hesitated.
For a long moment she remained silent.
Then she slowly reached into her pocket.
The faded ARB patch appeared first.
Followed by Leon's machete.
The rooftop immediately fell silent.
Airi blinked.
Daichi stared.
Even Haruto's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What is that?" Daichi asked.
Shiori carefully held the patch in her hands.
Her voice softened.
"It belongs to someone."
The three listened quietly.
"His name is Leon Mercer."
Airi immediately sat forward.
"That's the mysterious boy?"
Shiori nodded.
"He appeared in front of me through some kind of portal."
Daichi nearly choked.
"A portal?"
Shiori nodded again.
Then she began explaining everything.
The first meeting.
The strange arrival.
The stories about Mirekun City.
The X-99 outbreak.
The monsters.
The second appearance.
The bullies.
The creature that followed him.
And the way he kept being dragged back to his own world.
By the time she finished speaking, nobody was smiling anymore.
Airi looked stunned.
Daichi's expression had grown serious.
Haruto remained silent.
Thoughtful.
"He fights all of that alone?" Daichi finally asked.
Shiori lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
A quiet sadness entered her voice.
"He always looks exhausted."
Her fingers tightened around the patch.
"Like he's carrying an entire world on his shoulders."
Airi's expression softened immediately.
"That's awful."
She looked at the patch.
Then at Shiori.
Then back at the patch.
"We have to help him."
Daichi nodded instantly.
"Damn right."
He crossed his arms.
"Anyone surviving something like that deserves backup."
Finally Haruto reached out and gently took the patch.
His eyes examined it carefully.
The worn stitching.
The faded emblem.
The countless signs of use.
Then he looked toward the horizon.
"He sounds familiar."
The others turned toward him.
Haruto's expression remained calm.
But his voice carried understanding.
"The loneliness."
"The responsibility."
"The feeling that everything depends on you."
His gaze lowered slightly.
"I understand that."
Shiori looked at him in surprise.
Haruto handed the patch back.
"If Leon returns..."
His voice became firmer.
"I want to meet him."
Airi immediately jumped to her feet.
"Then it's settled!"
She pointed dramatically toward the sky.
"Operation: Find Leon Mercer begins now!"
Daichi laughed.
"That name is ridiculous."
"It's awesome," Airi argued.
Shiori couldn't stop herself from smiling.
For the first time in days—
She didn't feel alone in worrying about him.
She looked down at the patch.
Then toward the distant sky.
Somewhere beyond worlds.
Beyond portals.
Beyond impossible distances.
Leon Mercer was still fighting.
And now—
There were people waiting for him.