The Unlife Resuscitation

"Ahhh!"

"Mia! What happened!"

"Grandmother, there's-" She froze when she saw the side of the stranger's face.

'He's come back for me!'

She rushed over and rolled him to his back.

"Brother! Wake up, brother!" She yelled and shook his body to wake him up.

'Why is she calling him brother?' Hikaru thought.

After he had assimilated Edward's body, he was able to shapeshift into him and did it out of instinct although he was undecided on what to do next. Not that he couldn't easily form a plan but he was wondering why he didn't just end his own life.

From Edward's memories, all of his siblings were at the Castle, it's highly improbable that there was some sort of scandal and a secret blood relative was abandoned or exiled here but he'll have to confirm that later. He couldn't open his eyes at the moment to verify the face anyways.

A hard slap went across Hikaru's face.

Although he's had worse in battles, the sensation was quite…

'Stimulating?'

Although that was just the beginning... More slaps came his way not out of anger but because she truly wanted to save him, so the smacks had some vigour…

Hikaru turned off the pain sensors on his face because he was no longer curious.

Mia didn't enjoy slapping him but she had to do it for the slim chance he might wake up, or he'll really die.

The sound of slapping went on and Hikaru patiently waited. His face, that is Edward's face was a deep red colour like a tomato and that made Mia a little relieved. Blood flow meant that he was still alive.

Then suddenly Hikaru's chest was thumping.

Mia was now trying to revive him by smashing his chest with her two hands held together into a human hammer.

"Grrr Yan-daraaa! Wake up!"

*Crack*

He felt a rib break.

He immediately turned off his pain sensors in there as well and reshaped his internals into alien physiology so that his true layer was under the fake human layer. He wanted to keep the body realistic so that it would even fool an autopsy.

'Is she trying to save me or kill me?'

Hikaru was unsure now if the supposed brother who she thought he was, was a person she cherished or someone she wanted to kill for vengeance.

"Mia! What are you doing?"

"Grandma! My brother came back to me, I have to wake him up!"

"You're not saving him!"

Although her grandma was usually gentle, she pushed Mia away because time was of the essence.

"Save him, Grandma! Please save my brother!"

Mia clutched onto her knees and cried.

The Grandma was experienced and immediately felt his chest to check the lungs.

'A broken rib…'

"Mia, you broke his rib," the grandma said perfunctorily

Mia looked up in shock and cried.

The rescuer pressed her ears against his chest and flicked on it a couple of times. After reviewing the rebound noise, she gave her breath to Hikaru

She avoided his broken rib and gave him a gentle but firm force.

Hikaru coughed up some water and immediately lost 'consciousness' again.

***

'Shh, shhh, darling, he's not your brother."

"I'm sorry…"

"That's okay…"

After a while when she got Mia into bed, she returned to the room with a knife in her hand.

She grabbed Hikaru's wet clothes that were on the floor and cut out the royal insignia. Then she hid the insignia in her pocket and left the room with the clothes.

"..."

***

Hikaru woke up from his bed. It was a simple pile of straws on the floor with a rag over it.

He was awake the whole time and waited for them to leave. Then after midnight had passed and several hours since then, it was probably early in the morning as it was grey outside and the sun hadn't shone through the window yet.

The bed was so uncomfortable, he had also turned off his back sensory neurons so that not only did he not feel pain but he didn't feel anything. The sensation of uneven straws was uncomfortable.

That said, it didn't really bother him since his body was extremely flexible in battle or leisure.

He looked at the clothes he was wearing, it looked like it was initially grey rags but because of the soil pigment, it became a dusty brown.

There wasn't a mirror in the room, so he grew out a tentacle with an eyeball on it and looked at himself.

Sure enough, he looked like Edward, no the body was exactly Edward's, cloned to the last genetic detail.

With his super hearing, he could hear shuffling outside the room. No, he could even hear the worms moving underneath the soil but he decided to limit his senses because he wasn't going to war.

While limited, he still had hearing stronger than a dog's.

There was movement and breathing outside his room but they were silent and not saying anything. It seemed like the air was heavy out there.

Hikaru slowly opened the door, which creaked.

They both turned to stare at him.

The two were both sitting on rocks, the table was a wooden plank supported by two large rocks as well.

Although he wasn't an anime enthusiast and was a genius back in High School in the wards far off from Tokyo City, his body had absorbed millions. Most were human, some were the enemies he faced.

So the memories of anime and manga were so many that not even the largest library back in his world could contain them all in physical copies. He hadn't expected that in an "Isekai world" like this that even the lowest commoners were this poor. Although perhaps it was strange that all of them could afford chairs and tables in fiction.

On his left was the grandmother who had long grey hair that reached just under her shoulders. She had greyed-out blue eyes.

On his right was the girl, Mia had a short brown bob hairstyle with bangs that stayed above her eyebrows. Her eyes are hazel brown.

They both wore rags but Hikaru's rags were a bit more rough so this must be the spare.

Mia's mouth opened and her cheeks blushed.

Edward was handsome looking.

The grandmother took one look at Mia and smiled.

"Sir, you've awoken, excuse my rudeness but how should we address you?"

Mia knew that the person, especially with the good looks was a Noble by the look of the expensive clothes that hung to dry outside.

There's a clear divide between commoners and Nobles, a hierarchy that cannot be broken. Even saving a noble, just by touching them, they can still be executed later if the Noble feels offended by their filthy hands. Although if commoners let a Noble die due to inaction, the commoners will definitely be executed as well.

Although it would be too severe of a punishment to save a Noble by touching them, it would be illegal to execute them but it's commonplace for Nobles to make their lives hard in other ways or find an excuse to kill them.

However, the two didn't think of that and truly wanted to save the stranger by the river bank.

"Hmm, so you know… Then here is your first order. Keep my nobility a secret. Is that understood?"

The two were confused by the strange request but they quickly cleared that expression from their face to not offend the Noble.

"Yes, we will obey without doubt, then how should we address you?"

"Your second order is to completely ignore my title and treat me just as another commoner."

"!"

"!"

What did they just hear?