Three-Tails Appears, Akatsuki Organization Arrives

"Home?"

That casual two-word remark from Arata had completely seized Yukimaru's heart.

He murmured the word he had always longed for, his eyes rippling with emotion.

"Will Guren be there in my home too?"

Coming back to his senses, he looked seriously at...

"I was a failure. I hardly ever noticed whether the sun was shining, because I had no time.

"My parents couldn't support me, and I wasn't well educated. Alone in the city, I searched for a future.

"I looked for many jobs, but none would hire me. Maybe no one liked someone who wasn't good at talking, didn't like socializing, and hadn't shown enough ability.

"I spent three whole days eating only two loaves of bread. Hunger kept me awake at night. Luckily, I had paid a month's rent in advance, so I could keep living in that dark basement without having to go outside and face the unusually cold winter winds.

"Finally, I found a job. I kept watch at a hospital, watching over the morgue.

"The hospital was even colder at night than I had imagined. The wall lamps in the corridors weren't lit, and everything was dim. I could only rely on the faint light spilling from the rooms to see where I was stepping.

"The place smelled awful. Every so often, a dead person would be delivered stuffed inside a body bag, and we would help carry them into the morgue.

"It wasn't a good job, but at least I could afford bread. I could also use my free time at night to study. After all, no one wanted to come to the morgue unless a body needed to be delivered or taken away for cremation. Of course, I still didn't have enough money to buy books, nor could I see any hope