When Jerry woke up, he found himself clean, wrapped in bandages, and in bed covered with a blanket.
Dina was a bit confused. She had fallen asleep shortly after her conversation with Zero, and when she awakened, found herself not in the system space but back here.
Jerry glanced about. This should be his room, but it was no longer a mess like before. Although the handiwork wasn't as neat as his, it was refreshing enough to house a living human.
Could it have been Jack?
Just then the teen's voice rang out, "I thought I'd have to take a risky visit to my parents asking for another burial."
Jerry shivered. "Another…? Cough—!"
"Don't talk," Jack rushed to his side and fed him a warm glass of milk.
The dense liquid slid down his throat, refreshing the parched organ. Jerry tried to reach out and down the drink in one go, only to find he could barely move his body.
It was that bad?
"Calm down, we have a lot of milk due to your previous… visitation."
Jerry licked his lips with desire as he watched the teen sit beside him. He really wanted more milk.
So he eagerly motioned for more and saw a premium once-in-a-lifetime event—Jack smiled helplessly.
Though the smile was brief and cheerless, it didn't stop Jerry from trembling in excitement.
"Keep calm," Jack cautioned while restraining the suddenly excitable male. Did he want it that much?
Feeling anxious, he poured out another full glass of milk and fed him once more. It took about five glasses before Jerry was satisfied.
Leaning onto the bed with a lazy smirk, looking like a delighted cat, Jack shook his head helplessly. Somehow, he seemed more childish than he was.
And he was 13!
He suddenly asked, "How old are you?"
But then he regretted it. Someone who could barely move his body—how could he reply?
And just as he had suspected, Jerry couldn't reply and could only stare at him with a pitiful look.
… How adorable.
Jack's mind flickered to the most recent events. He was asleep when a commotion awakened him, and as soon as he could make out his siblings' voices, he opened his door to meet them… only to find it securely locked.
Try what may, it remained as it was, and even his key, which he found after turning his room upside down, had been rendered useless.
The sounds got louder, and he could hear his siblings losing their minds at Jerry, and the harshness of the beating drifted to his ears.
He became exceedingly anxious. What was Jerry doing? What did that idiot think he was doing?!
No matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn't open, and even when he went about smashing things, it remained as steady as a rock.
Even more than a rock!
And then he heard it—the panicked shouts of his siblings about having killed someone and Jessica's moronic cries as she ran.
A sudden wave hit him. His limbs gave out, and he slumped to the ground weakly.
… Not again…
***
He had never thought his siblings would go that far. After all, despite their maliciousness, none of the caretakers had actually been directly killed by them.
Not only that, but the contract had a clause that established the safety of the caretakers—at least from death—and he was sure his siblings wouldn't dare defile their parents' name.
And then he was proven utterly wrong.
Eventually, he overcame his noodle-like limbs and, with a little internet search, managed to undo the lock and rushed outside.
His heart fell to his stomach on touching Jerry's cold body. He stared dumbly as tears filled his vision and tumbled down like pearl seeds.
He should be used to this now, so why… Why did it still hurt so much?!
Why did this have to keep happening? Was it such a sin to be born of a lower hierarchy that he was forced not only to suffer all kinds of humiliation but to watch others die due to his shameful existence?
His silent tears turned to full-out bawls, and he curled up while bawling his tears out.
He wasn't sure if the universe had finally heard his cries or what sort of miracle had happened, but by the time he picked up Jerry's body, albeit with much difficulty, he found his heart beating again.
***
This was what Zero had told Dina while Jerry was being fed medicine.
"I kinda want to—"
"It's in the record."
Dina's eyes watered in gratitude. "Oh, what an excellent partner (＞﹏＜)."
Zero: (¬_¬)
It seemed like Zero was so worried this situation could trigger something within the target and undo all their hard work, so he turned off the "Death-Like Fainting" function—which was how Jerry went from a dead man to being alive.
"You owe me a lot. You have no idea how risky it is to use Bureau abilities within the main characters' range. I could be in so much trouble if found out."
"Thankfully," Dina chuckled, "I ain't no snitch."
After being fed medicine, Jerry leaned onto the bed while watching Jack, who awkwardly sat beside him, probably to keep him company.
"Were you worried?" Jerry managed to ask, the consequences soon hitting him as a painful pang struck his throat.
Was he really worried or just scared?
Jack didn't reply for a while, but then he spoke. Not an answer—but a story. Of his past.
"Before I became the shameful mistake, my family once thought I was a Pure and was treated like gold. I… never really liked how uniquely I was treated because it ostracized me from my siblings, who were treated as mere additions. They were the only ones I truly had; from a young age, I knew my parents didn't see me as my own person but as a commodity. They no longer had souls, only my siblings did, and it was swiftly being corrupted against me."
Jack sighed. "They probably did it on purpose to establish how excellent and perfect I was in comparison to my siblings, who were simply 'less than.' At first, it was displeasure, and then it evolved to envy, and soon they could barely hide their hatred for me whenever we were together."
"I understood that the togetherness I pursued was a naive fantasy, especially with my parents around. So I distanced myself—for better or worse. And then my true group was revealed and my parents ruthlessly cast me out."
"Like wolves who had been tamed for far too long, finally released into the wild, they bit into me and tore me to shreds. Our household is very frustrating, you see. Misery was a hallmark of every Elite Beastman family. Elitism was synonymous with misery. It wasn't a Jackson thing. It was a generational and societal evil that no one wanted to eradicate."
Jack swallowed to moisten his dry mouth.
"Now having an outlet, they had no hesitation taking it out on me, and my parents couldn't care less as long as I wasn't dead. To ensure this, they hired a caretaker to take care of the useless me who only knew how to be served. I couldn't even make a simple bowl of noodles without it being too soggy or something else.
My survival skills ended in the ability to make cereal and basic hygiene. I had only ever been served by my mother and servants."
Jack's face fell. "My first caretaker… She couldn't handle the bullying along with me and begged me to talk to my parents after trying to no avail. I was too scared to do anything—I was so young then. Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore and committed suicide.
My second caretaker was completely against me, aligning with my siblings to mete out as much cruelty as he could. He trusted my siblings too much, especially the oldest—Jean—but they're egoistic fucks and didn't like someone making them more miserable than they did me. So they reported the caretaker, and he died in an 'accident.'"
Jack glanced toward Jerry and was stunned by his reaction. There was no fear... simply interest? Like he was listening to some story…
"This is real," he muttered a bit indignant. Was he treating him as a joke?
"I know," Jerry croaked. "Go on."
Had he been mistaken…?
"The third… he was more kind and enduring than the first. However, he wanted something disturbing from me. And I couldn't give it to him. Perhaps this place had broken his mind or he was deeply disturbed from the get-go. He believed we would cling to each other as soulmates, fated mates, or whatever, and when I couldn't be, he decided that I must—one way or another.
He attempted a double suicide with me and was shot dead. After that, I refused every other person."
Jerry's worrisome gaze fell on him, and he escaped his glance. He felt so vulnerable but, for some reason, couldn't stop himself from telling Jerry everything.
"The fourth one was forced on me. I actively resisted her, but I was completely ignored. She was more adventurous than others and had a high sense of justice. And seeing my situation, she couldn't help herself.
She drugged me and tried escaping with me but was shot dead."
As if something in him had broken, he glared at Jerry with a sharp look in his eyes. "I don't know what or why you're here. Why do you guys keep coming despite the sketchiness of that contract?! Does the threat of death, so boldly written within the prints, not scare you… Is life outside so desperate you'd rather risk it all here?!"
The teen grabbed at his hair, pulling it madly.
"These people do not see you as human. Your death is another Tuesday for them, and you can easily be replaced without a care in the world. I—"
His head hung low, and Jerry could hear his silent quivers.
It wasn't like anything could be done with Jerry having already signed the contract, yet he felt so… unwilling.
Jerry was a good person. He was also very tough and way more tenacious than he could ever be. He was quick to brush off near-death beatings and always held a blinding smile like nothing in the world could ever bring him down.
Such optimism shouldn't be somewhere like this. Jack wasn't sure if the outside world truly was better, but he knew as a matter of fact that it was less restricting and held more opportunities than this prison-like place.
Was this really it? Was he simply to do nothing but watch another person go? And not just any person—but someone with such enduring brilliance?
Or even worse, watch his brilliance dim to utter bleakness. Falling from somewhere so bright to this abyss of torture he was chained to?
Truly, of all the torture he was forced to endure… this was the worst of them all.
A warm feeling on his palm awakened him, and looking up, he was faced yet again with that beautiful smile.
"Stop smiling so much…" he muttered in a daze.
'Or the envious demons that surround you will rip your smiles to shreds.'
"Oh, but what can I do?" Jerry replied, ignoring the pain in his throat. "You barely smile. What else can I do but smile for two?"
He spoke merrily, and then a cheerful grin graced his lips.
"... Idiot."
Jack muttered helplessly.
Jerry chuckled, "Jack, you seem to be mistaken about something."
The bandaged palm struggled for a while then grabbed his calmly. Jerry smiled again—but this time, it held in it a sombre look that Jack had never seen before.
"I… From the very first meeting, I've been in that abyss of torture. I'm not as clean as you think I am. If anything, I'm way worse than you."
He gripped Jack's hand harder before staring right into his eyes. The teen's eyes were red from excessive crying, and under them were a pair of dark circles.
In contrast, Jerry's eyes were as bright as ever. It was impossible to tell he had gone through a near-death experience from those eyes. Only his completely bandaged body and face littered with band-aids told the tale.
He smiled deeper. "Because, unlike you, who desperately tries to prevent me from falling in, I'm simply here to find a companion. I'm sorry... But I'm not as pure as you think I am."
Jack stared at him with an astonished face, and then he smiled softly. "It's alright."
He grabbed the bandaged palm with slight force. "I'll be your partner."
Actually, he had lied. It wasn't that he was afraid of dragging him down to this pit of despair—he was reluctant to see yet another person dissolve within the torturous hell of this abyss.
He wanted a partner too. He was also lonely. It was horrible, but what could he do when even his mind refused to obey him?
He glanced at the smiling Jerry one last time in guilt, and then held on even tighter without hesitation.
It should be fine. Just for a moment until he broke. He still wanted his company within this bleak reality. And until he was eventually ruined, he'd selfishly cling to this little satisfaction he had.
Oh, he truly was… trash.
***
[
Excellent work, Transmigrator!]