baraquiel

Expedition to Isekai

---

As the sun gradually set over the horizon, Asahi was growing more and more frustrated and disappointed with himself.

He and Duncan spent the last couple of hours healing Maki and Yuki. For the pink-haired lad, physical injuries were the easiest ailments to heal but also very painful. For the most part, he could already see which parts of the body he could fix which was a good thing. The bad thing was being connected to his patient meant he could feel whatever they felt

During the entire process, it wasn't just Maki holding back tears. Both of them groaned and whimpered at the same time as he fixed her broken bones. He was moreso psyching himself up more than Maki and at the end of the healing, Asahi was much happier than she was when it was all over.

He could never get used to the whole 'literally-feel-what-they-feel' thing he got going on with his Fascimile. He was never the empathetic type and more like the selfish type that got what he wanted from someone and use it as an advantage for himself. While it was nice Asahi had full-on access to his target's hopes, dreams, desires, fantasies, fears, regrets, shames, and secrets, he felt that getting access to their emotions and pains was the drawback despite it being probably helpful to figuratively connect to someone.

However, despite his newfound power, it seemed that Asahi still had a long way to go when it came to Yuki's case. No matter what he did, no matter how long it took him, he couldn't get anything out of his classmate at all. It was like wading through a thick fog. He could see glimpses, faint silhouettes, but he could never see clearly beyond himself. Was it really the end for Yuki?

Asahi almost didn't want to go to the meeting so he could keep on prodding his classmate's mind, but ultimately decided to join in with the rest so he could at least do something more fruitful.

"Yeah. Sure thing, I guess." Asahi shrugged when Masato told him it's better to join in with the rest of the Unawakened. While Duncan had the healing blood, Asahi's pink threads were more vital to ensure the survival of their classmates, Awakened or no. He didn't want to boast to Duncan but there's no need to really. Besides, the farther Asahi was away from all the fighting, the better.

"Hunt the beasts? The same monsters who almost succeeded in killing us?" He raised an eyebrow at Shun. "We still don't know the full extent of their abilities and their intelligence. We don't want to start a fight in the enemy's homebase. Although..." He rubbed his chin and pondered for a bit. "It would be ideal if you guys could capture a beast or two alive for me. Let me see if I can use my threads to connect with them, sift through their memories and knowledge about this place. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't but it's worth a try."

Asahi stretched his arms and legs out. "I do agree with the night watch thingy. Four or five people along with at least one Awakened. I've gotten enough rest so I volunteer to be on the first watch. Helps with watching over Yuki too. I still can't get a hold of him. He's alive physically but his mind is like..." He sighed sadly. He clearly didn't know what the future had in store for their poor classmate.

"As for my idea, and I know this is already like shooting for the moon, I just thought it would be very helpful if some of us managed to get to a high viewpoint. Climb the tallest tree, hike a mountain, I don't know, just to get a general image of the place we're in and where we could possibly go next. Take a picture maybe or draw a rough sketch of a map, stuff like that. Too bad none of us developed the power to fly but who knows? Maybe some of us are just late bloomers."

Expedition to Isekai

---

Upon waking up, Asahi panicked for a second when the sky was black. When he realized it was just night, he softly groaned and stretched his limbs. "Ugh, I feel so hungry..." He grumbled, rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes as he turned to face the other direction. He saw Sasuke smiling and nodding at him while eating skewered fish. Asahi blinked at him, his mind still hazy from overexerting himself earlier and using too much energy.

When he realized it was indeed Sasuke and he wasn't dreaming, Asahi nodded back in greeting. "Hey." He simply replied before closing his eyes. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that he was still exhausted even after a deep sleep, but he was thankful for that because he wouldn't have been able to contain his joy and excitement upon seeing his classmate alive and well.

The memory of what Sasuke was like earlier this morning was burned into Asahi's mind. The purplish lips, the ashen white complexion, the way his heartbeat was getting slower and slower. He vowed to never let that happen to him again. The vow was also for his other classmates of course, it's just that Sasuke will always have first priority.

Asahi spent a couple more minutes resting and getting his bearings before gradually sitting up properly. Yawning, he looked around his surroundings and found that the group had made camp by the lake. He was both surprised and delighted to notice their group had advanced so much that they started building walls. It's definitely an improvement from the last time.

"Please, please. Save the applause for later~" He teased and waved his hand at his classmates when they were noticing he was up and they greeted him. It was only right that they acknowledged him and his Awakened power. Sure, Duncan had the golden blood that could heal anyone but Asahi's connection threads made sure everything was in proper order.

When he noticed Yuki was still sound asleep, Asahi grimaced. "That doesn't seem right. Is Yuki still sleeping this entire time?" He asked Maki while he reached out to place a hand over Yuki's forehead. He did the same to Sasuke and felt his forehead and neck, smirking as the youth looked as handsome and energetic as ever.

Asahi then snapped his fingers multiple times. "Alrighty then. Someone get me food. Lots of 'em. I need to eat to replenish as much of my energy as I could so I can go check out Yuki's situation. Daisuke, go ask around if anyone's feeling funny or something hurts with them and tell them to come here to me. Duncan, be ready in case we're gonna need your blood again. Try to make the hole smaller this time, save up your energy as much as you can."

Expedition to Isekai

---

"Oh... My gods..." Asahi shakily said, exhaling and laughing in exhaustion and relief when they all managed to save Sasuke's life. To see him breathing peacefully and to hear his heart beating steadily, Asahi felt so elated that he could jump for joy-

Except his vision dimmed even more now and his mind was getting numb from so much exhaustion. He doubled over and almost vomitted over Sasuke, his eyes watering as he tried to squeeze them shut and will the overwhelming sleepiness away. Words could never describe what Asahi felt while he's connected to Sasuke a while ago. It's like every nerve on his body was on fire and he had never felt so weak in his life.

The aftermath of that connection was still felt by Asahi's body. He pointed a shaky finger at Yuki, motioning for his classmates to bring their other unconscious classmate over. With the help of Duncan's golden blood/healing potion and Asahi's connection, they managed to save h8m from the brink of death. While Asahi did manage to get a peek at the lad's memories, he wouldn't think of them as much now.

As soon as Asahi felt Yuki was safe and he broke the connection, he fell sideways on the grassy ground. He's too exhausted to even lift a finger, his body now falling victim to the consequences of experiencing all the pain and suffering of the classmates he connected to. As he finally succumbed to slumber, the last thing he saw before he shut his eyes and drifted into dreamland was Sasuke sleeping peacefully.

Unfortunately, he fell asleep just as things got more interesting.

Expedition to Isekai

---

"W-Wait, not too much..." Asahi worryingly said, his hand on Duncan's arm as the latter poured his golden blood into Sasuke's parted lips. Asahi was way past the disbelief of the thought of ingesting someone else's blood, yet he was still concerned about Duncan especially with the way he moved around as normally as he could despite the very obvious open wound he had. Not only was Duncan practically immortal but, if their theory was proven right, his blood could probably heal too.

Asahi would definitely tease Duncan of being like a religious figure under any normal circumstances, but not right now. Not when Asahi's breath stuck in his neck as he and the rest of the group watched how Sasuke's body was affected by the golden blood.

As soon as the first drop went down the hatch, Asahi let out almost a laughter of relief when Sasuke was being healed almost instantly thanks to Duncan's power. He didn't look like the undead anymore and with each passing minute, he looked more and more like that of his original self with the colors returning to his skin. Asahi felt even more relieved when he could hear Sasuke's heart beating so strongly. Perhaps a little too strongly, in fact, but again Asahi didn't care about that at first. Finally, they had something they could use to heal and save their classmates!

However, that joy was short lived when black rotten blooded gushed out of every orifice of Sasuke's body. It was straight out of a horror movie, with the way his body was twisting, his bones grinding, and his joints cracking as he was also drowning in poisoned blood.

"NO! I TOLD YOU IT WAS TOO MUCH!" Asahi screamed in anger and terror as he pushed Duncan away. He put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders to try and pin him down but his body was just convulsing violently, darkened blood splattering all over Asahi's clothes and the grass around them. Asahi couldn't help but cry again and, in perhaps one last effort to save the only man he admired, he connected again to Sasuke's temples using his pink threads.

"Sasuke..." On top of the fish he ate, Asahi could also feel the effects of Duncan's ichor-like blood coursing through his system, giving him like a short burst of energy that he could use to help refuel that forge within. No matter how weak that fire would be, no matter what he will experience upon his reconnection with Sasuke in his current state, and no matter how much of a toll his own body would take from all these factors, Asahi will still try his best.

Expedition to Isekai

---

Asahi really couldn't stand it anymore.

"Ughhhh..." It seemed like the world was spinning and flipping over at the same time. His eyesight dimmed and he could barely keep his eyes open. His stomach must be growling like one of those morbid beasts they faced yesterday. On top of that, he could barely move a muscle.

All in all, it was a tough day for the pink-haired lad.

Despite that though, Asahi did gain something else from their connection which related to Masato and his past. That was certainly an interesting tidbit about their supposedly calm and cool class president but it's not something Asahi could make use of at the moment. Besides, there were other pressing matters to attend to.

Asahi tried to squeeze the sleepiness out of his eyes as he reached out to put a hand on Sasuke's forehead. He's getting colder and paler by the minute, and Asahi's heart would be beating like a jackhammer in panic when he wasn't smacked on the face by a fish.

It slipped off down to his hands and he took a minute to process what happened. Fish... Fried fish... Food? He nibbled a bit and it was like an explosion of flavors went into his mouth. For a guy who was starving to death and had used all his energy throughout the day, this simple fried fish was probably the best food Asahi had in his lifetime.

He devoured the fish ravenously, taking out big chunks of its soft meat and savoring the crunch its fried scales made against his teeth. He was so engrossed in his eating he didn't notice the commotion happening right next to him.

"What the fuck?" Golden blood spilled out of the hole on Duncan's chest. Grass and plants grew and creeped more towards the source of all the gold blood like it was nourishing them. Ayana did her best to contain the wound as much as she could while Shun, being Shun, dipped her finger into Duncan's wound like he was a chocolate fountain to taste the blood.

Too exhausted to even be disgusted, Asahi did the same thing. He reached out, letting a few droplets of that rich golden ichor into his palm. He then put the half-eaten fish down to rest Sasuke's head on his lap. Asahi opened his lips and poured the blood into his mouth. He didn't know if it worked but at this point, everything was on the table.

Expedition to Isekai

---

The last time Asahi felt this much exhaustion and hunger was when he was a kid, on his first time waking up at the crack of dawn to join his father and grandfather to catch fish. They were only out in the waters for fifteen minutes.

This was just one of the many embarrassing secrets the pink-haired lad had kept to himself. Only his family and a few of his closest friends knew about some of these secrets and he made sure nobody else knew about them. It took him years to build his reputation as this cool, calm, and calculated individual, and it only took a couple minutes of him crying and being a mess to destroy all his hard work. It didn't seem like the others noticed nor cared about him showing weakness at all but for Asahi, it's all that mattered to him.

He did however learn the hard way that reputation meant nothing when one was stuck in a world where everything's set on killing him. Every minute they all spent on his god-forsaken version of their Earth was hell, and Asahi even thought that this world was actually it.

It didn't matter, none of that mattered anymore now that they have two people who were dying right before them, especially when one of the people dying was the boy he admired from the sidelines for years. Gods, his throat was parched from dehydration and crying his heart out. Despite not having any more strength left in him, he kept gripping Sasuke's shirt as his way of stopping him from going to the other side. He could hear the others talk and felt the presence of Duncan and Masato sitting at his sides. His hands gradually relaxed as he reached out to both the boys, pink threads now more fragile than before reaching out to connect to both of them. Once the threads made contact, all three of them were fully connected.

Asahi had all this pent-up emotions of anger, exhaustion, desperation, sadness, grief, and terror that he didn't know how to release. Upon connecting, all those emotions came crashing down like water from a broken dam. Masato and Duncan might feel extreme pain from the onslaught of all these very strong emotions but for Asahi, for that brief moment, he felt a bit of clarity like someone helped take the load of his shoulders. Just like with Tsubaki, Asahi could also see glimpses of memories that didn't belong to him. Thoughts and feelings, basic knowledge about stuff he didn't know, they all crashed down on him as well especially since he was mentally connected with two people now.

In the midst of all this, despite the hurricane of all their different memories, emotions, and experiences all mixing together, it's the fact that they're Awakened that helped anchor them to their own consciousness and sanity. Each of them had their own unique abilities while they all had the superhuman aspects about them as well. Their Facsimiles, joining together like pieces of the same puzzle, reminded them that they could make the impossible possible, do feats no ordinary human could do, and hopefully, achieve miracles.

Asahi couldn't contain the connection that much longer anymore. Soon enough, they snapped back to reality as his pink threads dissipated into nothingness. Still, that connection that they had might be the key to solving their crisis and save their two classmates. Hopefully.

"Well?" Asahi said, his sassiness coming back even for just a tiny bit now that he had a newfound sense of clarity thanks to their connection. Perhaps after all, not all hope was lost. "You boys better think of something to save these two because I don't want to lose them, and you both know just how much I hate losing."

Expedition to Isekai

---

"Oh god... Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god..."

Asahi kept muttering in a state of panic. This could not happen, not like this. Asahi was supposed to be at the finish line with Sasuke, triumphing over others. He was supposed to die like a hero, not succumb to pathetic internal bleeding. If only he ventured out further into the forests, if he only finished off the hulkphant earlier, if only...

His tears kept dripping down Sasuke's unconscious face. Even now, he knew he was at death's door with the way his skin was turning paler with each passing moment. Asahi then noticed his hands shaking and he thought that the only time his hands would shake like that was when he was so frustrated at himself for not achieving his goal. He could only hope Sasuke would not become another one of his reasons.

"Fuck... Fuck... Oh god..." He took in a deep, shaky breath and closed his eyes. He concentrated as hard as he could, focusing on that forge within him, scavenging for something, anything that could help him help Sasuke. Alas, it was all in vain. He was not powerful enough on his own right now. He was beyond exhausted and he hadn't had a proper meal since last night.

"I-I need... I need someone like me." Asahi said to the group. "I need someone who has superpowers like me. I-I-I need to... Connect with you and-and-and share this... thing to Sasuke so he could... Gah!" He yanked on his pink hair, frustrated that he couldn't properly explain how his powers worked. It wasn't as simple as super strength or forming weapons so it was difficult to put the functionality of his Awakened power in words. "Please... Anyone...?

Expedition to Isekai

---

"Wait, what...?"

This was weird. Asahi was expecting to feel a barrage of different emotions and memories that will all surge onto him the moment he connected with Sasuke. He was expecting to feel his insides burn with so much pain and to see snippets of Sasuke's past.

Instead, there was nothing: a dark, cold empty void of nothingness. Asahi's expression soured, he was ready to share half or even more than half of his Awakened state to Sasuke to speed up his recovery but he had nothing to share it to. However, Asahi could also feel something else. He couldn't describe it in words, he could just feel that it's there despite it being very faint. It seemed to get farther and farther away from him the more he willed himself to chase after it. Deep inside Asahi, he knew this faint feeling was Sasuke's life force slowly but surely fading away until there's nothing more.

"No... Nonononononono. This can't be happening...!" The pink-haired lad was panicking and he was immediately channeling every single bit of his strength to save Sasuke. He stoked his forge as hard as he could but, in a matter of speaking, there were no more coals to burn. Asahi had little to no sleep, he was terribly exhausted after swimming in the lake and catching those fishes, he was absolutely starving that he could literally eat a horse or three, but most of all, the hot fires that burned within the forge was replaced with the coldness of dread.

Panic creeped up his system as he struggled to maintain his focus and his pink threads vanished. He doubled over Sasuke and he gagged violently with his stomach doing somersaults, but he had nothing to vomit but air. Even if he did have some sleep awhile ago, he now felt even sleepier and tired, unable to keep his eyes open for a second. He cradled Sasuke's head as his body rocked back and forth, tears dripping down his classmate's blank, expressionless face.

For the first time in his life, Asahi felt completely, metaphorically and literally, powerless.

"E-E-Elp..." All around him, Asahi's classmates were arguing. He couldn't understand what they were all fighting about; all their screaming were making it harder for him to keep it together. Asahi breathed in deeply multiple times through shaky breaths until he had enough strength to give what little power he had left to his voice.

"H-HELP!" Upon shouting, everyone would see the once calm and collected pink-haired classmate of theirs in total disarray. Tears and snot dripping down Asahi's face and he kept making the saddest noises as he struggled to breathe properly through his crying. "I-I'm l-l-losi-sing 'im! I-I... I ha-ave n-nothing left t-to give... P-Please help m-me!" Asahi stammered, looking hopelessly at his classmates but moreso to those that were Awakened just like he was.

Perhaps with their help, Asahi could conjure up a miracle.

Expedition to Isekai

---

Asahi exhaled through his nose when he found the fruits of Kogen and Akito's labor: barely anything. He growled in annoyance. He didn't care about the presence of animosity increasing in the air within the group. They were all irritated, exhausted, filthy, thirsty, and hungry. If it wasn't for his power-up, Asahi wouldn't be so sure if he could survive in the night too. He'll probably be one of the few who'd perish last night.

Still, a man's got to do what a man's got to do to survive in this god-forsaken world. Even with their child-like bickering, the two still did their part in helping and that counted for something in his book.

He looked at the fish he caught and glanced at his reflection in the water. He was wet, his damp clothes stuck to his skin, he felt really cold, and he was starting to get stinky from the fish. All in all, it helped make him feel at home.

He was in the middle of examining the fishes, cutting out pieces of them, and studying their anatomy to see how similar they really were to the fishes back on their world. He could hear them before he could see them: several pairs of footsteps trudging along the ground coupled with heavy breathing, some breathing heavier more than the others.

"They're here." Asahi said out loud and soon enough, the other half of their group emerged from the forest. While everyone felt elated upon reuniting with everyone that survived, there was only one face Asahi was fixated on.

"Sasuke..." He said softly, quickly washing the fish blood and guts from his hands before running towards him. He looked really pale and he could now tell Sasuke was one of the people Asahi heard breathing heavily a while ago. The pink-haired lad could only imagine the pain he'd been experiencing overnight and he felt so, so glad Sasuke managed to pull through enough for him to heal him.

Asahi helped his classmate lay down on soft grass underneath the shade of a tree. "So, I have this thing..." He would say while helping Sasuke get comfortable. "Just... Whatever you're about to experience, know that I am only doing this to save you just how I did with Tsubaki." He sat above and near Sasuke's head, placing his fingers at the sides of his temples. He willed his pink threads to emerge from his fingertips and attached them onto his head. Thankfully, it seemed that his subconscious knew enough from mentally connecting to a target to physically aiming them. Nevertheless, Asahi took a deep breath in, mentally prepared to undergo another hours' worth of saving someone's life.

Expedition to Isekai

---

"Okay... I'll just be over there by the water..." Asahi said to no one in particular, going to the lake once he got his fang/dagger back.

He was the son of a fisherman so this should be a walk in the park for him, but there were a lot of odds stacked against him. Mostly, he wasn't back to his complete strength yet despite his powers healing him up and sustaining his stamina. He still needed lots and lots of rest to be back to full health. On top of that, he was exposing himself to uncharted waters. He wasn't even sure if he should apply what they knew from their world unto this world. Those fishes could even be potentially dangerous and there's no way of knowing until he approached them. Heck, they weren't even sure if they were edible.

Still, doing something was better than doing nothing at all. Having a spear would be far easier to catch them since he only had a dagger, which also meant she had to approach them and go to deeper waters. It was a drag but he couldn't think of anything else better to do anyway. Besides, he was already wet with sweat and grime so he thought, why not go all the way?

Taking a deep breath, Asahi fully submerged himself and swam forwards. The water resistance made him slower with the fact he's still wearing his clothes, but the cool, refreshing water instantly gave him a burst of energy. However, it was still particularly hard to catch even a single fish with just his dagger.

He swam upwards and took a moment to breath again and rethink his strategy. If only he had some sort of net but he only had his pink mental threads or whatever they were. He initially thought they could only be used psychologically, but there's no harm in trying it out himself. He willed the threads to appear and let them grow longer and longer until they reached their limit, wading through the waters below. Asahi looked like a human jellyfish and he reckoned this might be worth a shot.

He got back deep into the waters and extended his arms and fingers out, the threads fanning and billowing forward. It took a bit of practice and he would've gotten the hang of it too if it didn't tire him out so quickly. Still, he thought four fishes was enough for them to cook and test out which ones were safe to eat and which ones were not. He swam back into the shore, carrying the fishes he caught by his pink threads as he saw Akito and Kogen acting like children.

"Oy! Knock it off, will you?" Asahi angrily said at the two. "Do something that could actually help us instead of fighting like a bunch of brats!"