Standing outside Mei's bedroom door, Ryu felt like he was preparing to defuse a bomb. Except this particular bomb was thirteen years old, had pigtails, and could apparently knit. The muffled sounds coming from inside suggested she was either reorganizing her furniture in a rage or practicing for a future career in demolitions.
He knocked gently. "Mei? Can we talk?"
"Go away," came the muffled reply. "I'm busy reorganizing my life plans thanks to someone."
Ryu winced. "Come on, Mei. I know you're upset about the sweater - "
"I'm not upset about the sweater!" The door flew open so suddenly that Ryu jumped backward. "I'm upset that after three years of planning our future together, you suddenly decided to throw it all away without even talking to me first!"
She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, hair slightly mussed from whatever destruction she'd been wreaking in her room. Behind her, Ryu could see what looked like the aftermath of a small tornado - books scattered everywhere, her desk chair overturned, and what appeared to be knitting supplies forming a colorful explosion across her bed.
"Okay," Ryu said carefully, "I know this is sudden - "
"Sudden?" Mei's voice cracked slightly. "Izumi, we've been planning this since we were eleven and ten! We made a pact! We pinky swore! Do you know how sacred a pinky swear is to a ten-year-old?"
Behind her, Ryu could see what looked like the aftermath of a small tornado - books scattered everywhere, and what appeared to be knitting supplies forming a colorful explosion across her bed.
"You said we'd apply together," Mei continued, her voice getting more emotional. "You promised we'd look out for each other in high school. You made me feel excited about having my big brother at the same school as me. And now you just... want to go somewhere else? Without me?"
The pain in her voice hit him harder than any accusation could have. This wasn't just about school choice - it was about breaking a promise to the person who loved him most.
"Maybe I'm just... changing?" Ryu offered weakly.
"Changing?" Mei's eyes filled with tears she was clearly trying to hold back. "You ate carrots at dinner without complaining once. You thanked Mom for cooking. You didn't groan at any of Dad's terrible jokes - and he made four, including that awful volleyball pun. It's like you're a completely different person wearing my brother's face."
The comment was clearly meant as an exaggerated joke, but the accuracy made Ryu's blood run cold. She was closer to the truth than she realized.
"Look," he said, running a hand through his hair, "I know this seems sudden - "
"Sudden?" Mei wiped at her eyes angrily. "We've had this planned for three years! Three! We were going to take the entrance exams together, join clubs together, complain about homework together. We even practiced our acceptance speeches in front of the mirror!"
The accuracy of that statement hit him like a physical blow. Three years of shared dreams, and he was destroying them without the real Izumi even being here to make the choice.
"I can explain," he said, though he absolutely could not explain.
"Really? Because I'd love to hear how you went from 'Seirin or bust' to 'actually, never mind' in the span of one school day." Mei gestured him into her room. "Sit. And tell me what the hell happened to make you abandon everything we planned."
Ryu carefully navigated through the chaos and perched on the edge of her desk chair. Mei flopped down on her bed, sending knitting needles flying, and fixed him with a stare that demanded absolute honesty.
"So," she said, her voice shaking slightly, "explain to me why my brother who's been obsessed with Seirin's basketball program for three years suddenly wants to play volleyball at a school he used to make fun of."
Think, Ryu. Think of something believable that doesn't involve transmigration or manga worlds or -
"I had an epiphany," he said desperately.
"An epiphany." Mei's tone was flatter than roadkill.
"Yeah! You know, like a sudden realization about what I really want in life."
"And this epiphany happened when?"
"During the match. When I got hit in the face."
"So you're saying that a volleyball to the head gave you sudden clarity about your life goals?"
When she put it like that, it sounded completely insane. Which, considering it was actually true in the most literal way possible, was deeply ironic.
"Sometimes it takes a shock to make you realize what's important," Ryu said, proud of how philosophical that sounded.
"Uh-huh." Mei leaned back against her pillows, sending more knitting supplies cascading to the floor. "And what exactly did this volleyball-induced revelation tell you?"
"That I want to follow in Dad's footsteps. That I want to understand the sport he loves. That maybe basketball isn't actually what I'm passionate about."
That was all technically true, even if it was missing the crucial detail about him being a completely different person.
Mei studied him for a long moment, her head tilted like a bird examining a particularly interesting bug.
"You know what the weird thing is?" she said finally.
"What?" Ryu asked nervously.
"You actually seem happy about it. Like, genuinely excited. I haven't seen you this enthusiastic about anything since..." She paused, frowning. "Actually, I don't think I've ever seen you this excited about anything. You're usually so worried about whether you're good enough at stuff that you don't try new things."
The observation was so perceptive that Ryu felt his chest tighten. Of course the original Izumi had been cautious - growing up with loving parents meant having something to lose. It made sense that he'd be afraid of disappointing them.
"Maybe that's part of the problem," Ryu said quietly. "Maybe I've been so scared of failing that I never gave myself the chance to succeed at something I actually cared about."
Mei's expression softened slightly. "That's... actually kind of mature. Gross, but mature."
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, surrounded by the wreckage of Mei's emotional outburst. Ryu found himself studying the knitting supplies scattered across her bed - balls of yarn in Seirin's red and black colors, needles in various sizes, and what looked like the beginnings of a sweater sleeve.
"Six months," he said softly.
"What?"
"You spent six months learning to knit for me. That's... that's incredible, Mei. I can't believe you did that."
Her cheeks flushed pink. "It's not that big a deal. YouTube made it easy. Mostly."
"It is a big deal. It's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."
The words slipped out before he could stop them, and they carried more weight than they should have. Because while the original Izumi might have taken such gestures for granted, Ryu knew exactly how precious this kind of selfless love was.
Mei's expression grew concerned. "Izumi? Are you okay? You look like you're about to cry again."
"I'm fine," he said quickly, wiping at his eyes. "I just... I'm sorry. For not warning you about changing my plans. For making you feel like your effort was wasted. For being weird today."
"You have been really weird," Mei agreed, but her tone was gentler now. "Like, suspiciously weird. If this turns out to be some kind of elaborate prank, I'm going to murder you with knitting needles."
"It's not a prank."
"Good, because I've gotten surprisingly good with these things. I could probably take out an eye from across the room."
Despite everything, Ryu found himself laughing. "That's terrifying."
"I contain multitudes," Mei said primly. Then her expression grew serious again. "But seriously, what's going on with you? And don't say 'epiphany' again. I'm thirteen, not stupid."
Ryu looked at her - this brilliant, caring girl who'd spent half a year learning a new skill just to make him happy - and felt the full weight of his deception crash down on him. She deserved honesty. She deserved to know that her real brother was gone and she was stuck with a traumatized orphan wearing his face.
But how could he possibly explain that without destroying everything?
"I don't know," he said finally, which was probably the most honest answer he could give. "I feel different. Like I'm seeing everything clearly for the first time. It's confusing and scary and exciting all at once."
Mei studied his face with those sharp, intelligent eyes. "You know what? Fine. I believe you."
"Really?"
"Really. But if you think I'm letting you go to Aoba Johsai without me, you're insane."
Ryu blinked. "What?"
"You heard me." Mei straightened up, her expression taking on the determined look that usually preceded her most ambitious schemes. "I'm coming with you. Aoba Johsai it is."
"Mei, you can't just - "
"I can and I will. Their academic program is actually better than Seirin's anyway, and if my weird pod-person brother is going to completely upend our life plans, then I'm making sure I'm there to document the whole disaster."
"But you've been planning on Seirin too - "
"Plans change," Mei said with a shrug. "Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you. Make sure you don't forget how to be human completely."
The casual acceptance, the willingness to change her own plans just to stay with him - it was exactly the kind of selfless love he'd lost when his real parents died. The guilt hit him so hard he could barely breathe.
"You don't have to do that," he managed.
"I know I don't have to. I want to." Mei's voice grew softer. "We're a team, remember? The Yukitaka siblings against the world. That was our pact when we were little."
A pact that the real Izumi had made. A promise that Ryu had no right to claim.
"Plus," Mei added with a return to her usual mischievous tone, "I can restart the sweater project with Aoba Johsai colors. Though you owe me big time for this. I'm talking major sibling debt. Years of doing my chores, buying me snacks, pretending my jokes are funny - the works."
"That's... that's fair," Ryu said, his voice rougher than he intended.
"Damn right it's fair. Oh, and I want full documentation rights. If you're going to embarrass yourself learning volleyball, I'm recording every spectacular failure for future blackmail purposes."
"Of course you are."
"It's called being prepared." Mei grinned at him, and for a moment she looked exactly like the little sister he'd never had but had always wanted. "Besides, the sweater was turning out to be a disaster anyway. I may have overestimated my knitting abilities. It looked more like abstract art than clothing."
Despite his emotional turmoil, Ryu found himself smiling. "I would have worn it anyway."
"I know you would have. That's what made it worth making."
She stood up and started gathering the scattered knitting supplies. "Now get out of my room so I can clean up this mess and start researching Aoba Johsai's admission requirements. We've got work to do."
Ryu stood slowly, his legs feeling unsteady. "Mei?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For... for everything."
She looked at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "You're welcome, Pod Person Izumi. Just promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Promise me that whatever's going on with you - this personality change, this sudden volleyball obsession, all of it - promise me you're not going to disappear on me. That you're still my brother, even if you're acting like a different person."
The request hit him like a knife to the chest. Because he couldn't promise that. He wasn't her brother. He was a stranger who'd stolen her brother's life and was now accepting her love under false pretenses.
"I promise," he lied, hating himself for it.
Mei nodded, apparently satisfied. "Good. Now seriously, get out. I have research to do and you look like you're about to have some kind of emotional breakdown."
She wasn't wrong. Ryu stumbled out of her room and into the hallway, closing the door behind him with shaking hands. The moment he was alone, the full weight of what had just happened crashed down on him.
Mei was willing to change her entire life plan for him. She was going to give up the school she'd been dreaming of attending, restart a knitting project she'd been working on for months, all because she thought he needed support.
And he wasn't even her real brother.
He felt like a fraud. A thief who'd stolen not just a body but an entire family's love and trust. Every kind word, every gesture of support, every moment of affection was based on a lie.
What kind of person accepted a thirteen-year-old girl's selfless devotion when he didn't deserve any of it?
Ryu made it to his room before the panic attack hit.
His chest tightened like someone was squeezing his ribs, his breathing became shallow and rapid, and the walls seemed to close in around him. The system interface flickered urgently at the edge of his vision, but he couldn't focus enough to read what it was saying.
He collapsed onto his bed, pressing his face into the pillow to muffle the sound of his ragged breathing. This was wrong. All of it was wrong. He didn't belong here, in this house, with this family, in this life.
Somewhere out there, the real Yukitaka Izumi was missing his loving parents, his devoted sister, his comfortable life. And Ryu was here, wearing his face, accepting his family's love, making promises he had no right to make.
The guilt was suffocating. It pressed down on him like a physical weight, making it impossible to breathe, impossible to think, impossible to do anything but spiral deeper into the knowledge that he was living a lie.
[System Alert: Critical Emotional Distress Detected]
[Host mental stability compromised]
[Initiating Emergency Stabilization Protocol]
[Sleep Mode Activated - Forced Rest Period: 8 hours]
[Memory Integration Process: Restarting]
[New Phase: Orphanage Training Years - Processing...]
The blue text swam in his vision as an overwhelming wave of drowsiness crashed over him. He tried to fight it, tried to stay awake and deal with the crisis, but his body was already going limp.
As consciousness faded, his last coherent thought was a prayer that when he woke up, he'd somehow find a way to be worthy of the love this family was giving him.
Even if he wasn't really their son.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
[Current Status:]
[Host: Yukitaka Izumi (Soul: Ryu Miyamoto)]
[Level: 1 (11/100 XP)]
[Skill Points Available: 0]
—
[Stats:]
- Serving: 2/100
- Receiving: 1/100
- Setting: 3/100
- Spiking: 0/100
- Blocking: 0/100
- Stamina: 15/100
- Jump Height: 28/100
- Game Sense: 15/100
—
[Abilities:]
- Empathic Connection (Level 1) - Active
- Critical Strike (Level 1) - Locked
—
[Active Quests:]
- Daily: Complete 1 hour of focused volleyball practice (Deadline: 13 hours)
- Tutorial: Successfully receive 10 serves in a row (No deadline)
- Main: Find Your Team (Deadline: 30 days)
—
[Status Effects:]
- Memory Integration - RESTARTING (Processing orphanage training period)
- Identity Displacement -> Identity Crisis (EVOLVED) - Severe guilt and emotional distress (14 hours)
- Family Bonding - Enhanced emotional connection, +10% XP gain from family activities (64 hours remaining)
- Emergency Sleep Mode - Forced rest for mental stability (8 hours remaining)