Reflection

//I'm not gonna be good at the start. I gotta work my way into this. Just give me a bit of time

Kanjo Umura.

That's the name that everyone seemed to keep calling him so that's the name he eventually decided to stick with. Though still having almost no clue as to what was happening around him or just how he had gotten to where he was, Kanjo was more then willing to play along with the current events. The more he listened and observed, the more he would be able to learn.

At least, that's how it SHOULD have been.

The opposite result happened.

The more he absorbed, the greater Kanjo's confusion became and the more overwhelmed he felt. Loads of information was thrown at him in seemingly random intervals, a smattering of details and knowledge hurled at him like unorganized puzzle pieces. He already felt exhausted, both physically and mentally, so trying to solve the mystery of his present existence was like trying to solve a complex equation without the proper formula.

From the time he was tackled by the fully grown man, a lot of things were set into movement.

The two men dressed in black proceeded to run a quick checkup over Kanjo's body, touching his arms, chest, and torso, examining his neck, checking his heartbeat. There was even talk about taking him to something they called a hospital, though the male and female from earlier quickly objected to it despite how hard the black clothed males pushed for it. They had even gotten into a heated argument with them for a solid minute before the other two backed down, apologizing before promptly leaving after a few more questions towards Kanjo such as why did he attempt to do such a thing and if he was hurting anywhere.

Naturally, Kanjo played dumb, answering only questions that he knew to be safe.

Once the black garbed duo had departed, the other two went back in for another hug before one of them left the room while the other one stayed, striking up a conversation with him.

That's when he began learning everything and when everything began to seem more and more like something out of a mere story.

"Hey Kanji. How do you feel?" The woman asked, sitting down beside him at the edge of the bed. She seemed nervous and tense, and the slow pace at which she spoke made it very clear that she was choosing her next words every so carefully.

"I'm.....fine." Kanjo muttered, barely managing to get the words out without somehow snapping his own vocal chords. "Just.....'ired."

"Oh. Okay." The woman looked slightly relieved, her blue eyes fixated to the spot on his neck where it was no doubt bruised. "I'll let you sleep in a bit. Though, maybe we can try and get the swelling down for you first? Maybe?"

For whatever reason, the older female looked to be rather hesitant to ask him the question and even looked as if she wanted to lean away from him. However, she stayed where she was.

"Oh...Kay." The black haired youth said after a half minute of contemplation. He had no desire to fight these people in his current condition. Unless his life was in immediate danger, he decided to resign himself to their care until more information was revealed.

For the briefest of moments, the look of shock was visible on the woman's visage, though it was quickly replaced with kindness as she stood up from the side of the bed. Without uttering another word, she walked briskly to the door and exited the room. A full minute passed before she came back, this time with a rag, a clear bottle of liquid, gauze, a transparent yellow cylinder, and a small bag of ice. Following close behind was the older gentleman from before, though this time he looked much more composed.

"Kanji." The man said, a smile spreading across his face. "I managed to get into contact with your highschool. They've allowed you to take a month off so there's no need to fret about that."

(("High school? Month off?")) Kanjo was immensely confused about what the man had said but he didn't break character as he nodded his head. (("Still don't know what I'm doing here but let's keep it going."))

"Thank.....you," Kanjo squeezed out, giving a half assed attempt at a smile. "Means...a lt."

The man said nothing else as he inside, leaning up against the dresser, his elbow brushing against the large rectangular contraption from before. On the other hand, the woman had already seated herself and began working on Kanjo's neck, dabbing at his neck with the liquid obtained from clear bottle.

No one said anything for a while. The woman simply worked in silence as she hurriedly cleaned the area in and around the swelling with the strong smelling liquid before quickly wrapping some gauze around it. It wasn't until she finally began pulling the cap off of the yellow bottle that the man finally spoke.

"I....uh...got your letter," the man said, breaking the silence. "The one you left for us. I didn't read it yet."

(("Letter? I've never even met you in my entire life.")) Kanjo merely stared as thousands of thoughts ran through his head, and had his vocal cords been in good condition, he probably would've already asked more than half of them. (("I honestly have no clue who the two of you even are. Though I don't think that now's the time to say it."))

"Oh." It was all Kanjo could think to say as he watched the man pulled out a white envelope out of his pocket and offered it over to him

There was something scribbled on the front of the envelope, though Kanjo had absolutely no idea what it said. Instead of asking though, he merely pretended to glance over it before gracefully accepting it, giving the man a nod as he set it to the side of him.

"I'm gonna leave you some Ibuprofen on the nightstand," the woman said as she showed the black haired teen two white things in her hand. "Please take them, okay?"

"Okay." Kanjo already decided that he wasn't gonna usee whatever it was that she was laying down on the table. Instead there's was one question that was eating away at him and one that he actually wanted answered at that very moment.

"Why didn't you just heal.....with magic?" Kanjo muttered, pointing at his own neck.

The two grown adults looked back at him, then at each other.

"What do you mean?" The woman asked, clearly confused. "Magic?"

After that response, Kanjo didn't say anything else, only giving them a small shake of the head. After they asked a few more questions and got no response, they hurriedly took their leave, closing the door behind them.

(("They have no idea what magic is. Act like they know me. Mention and show me things that I've never encountered or heard of. Show me some sort of writing I can't decipher.")) Kanjo tried to put everything together, but to no avail.

(("Damn. Guess I really did die.")) He thought as he struggled to his feet once again. (("Im already aware I'm not dreaming. Definitely not reincarnation seeing as how I can remember everything and I'm not a baby. Can't be the Land Of The Dead or The Temple Of Light. I can still feel pain."))

Nothing was adding up. Despite his mental capacity having returned to what it was before, the black haired youth wasn't able to fit any of the puzzle pieces together. He wasn't sure why these people acted like they knew him nor why this body and the room possessed indications of a hanging. He couldn't fathom why the two were so deeply concerned abou the wellbeing of the person they were mistaking him for while still being on guard and tense. He still had no clue as where he was and how he had gotten there nor any idea why his hair had suddenly turned black.

Making his way towards the other door, the one that hadn't been opened yet, Kanjo managed to wiggle it open after a few second of playing with the handle.

Inside the door was actually far more surprising then Kanjo had initially thought.

It was a standard closet, a large one, but still nothing special. However, the innards of the closet definitely stood out.

Rows upon rows of clothes lined the racks, all of the neatly hung up and organized by set and color. Varieties of shirts and pants lined either side of the wall, hoodies and jackets were carefully hung near the back. Caps, beanies, and other assortments of hats took up the top shelf and a number of shoes took up the other side of the same shelf. Even though there were almost no clothes or brands that Kanjo was able to recognize with the folds of fabric, the young black haired teen was still able to tell just how expensive it all was. As weird and complex as everything looked, Kanjo had no doubt that getting hands on anything remotely close to this amount of quality wear would cost ten pairs of arms and legs.

Wobbling into the closet, Kanjo carefully took everything in, dark red hues shifting over everything, fascination and astonishment written all over his face. It was such a weird surprise that he completely forgot his own situation for a full half minute

That being said, the real surprise came when he saw the mirror and when he saw just who was staring back.