Glimpse of Eternity [A Reincarnation Isekai Fantasy]

Ken slept unpeacefully in the opulent hospital room he'd been staying in for the past thirteen years. He'd been drifting along between the domains of sleep and consciousness for a while now. And his patience was, understandably, wearing thin. When was a terminally ill patient supposed to catch a break and actually get a good night's sleep?

Thinking that his current position was uncomfortable, Ken turned over and faced the left side of his bed — getting a faceful of blinding sunlight as a reward for his valiant efforts.

'Ah! Fuck!'

If the constant surges of chronic pain didn't pull him away from dreamland enough, the sun's unwelcome enthusiasm definitely did the job. With his eyes still closed, Ken struggled to sit up with his frail arms, determined to go ham on the button that closed the curtains. Unfortunately, reaching for it where it should be resulted in disappointment.

Cursing in his mind, Ken gave up on catching some more shuteye. He rubbed his eyes free of sleep crust and looked forward with half-lidded eyes, contemplating whether life was worth living if he couldn't even sleep in fucking peace.

"Were you looking for this?"

Ken, still struggling with a bit of drowsiness, took the remote offered to him and immediately used it to close the damned blinds. After all, whether he was asleep or awake, he preferred them undrawn. Like a vampire. Like a terminally ill, incredibly grumpy, and moderately handsome vampire. He had the unhealthy pale skin checked on the list, at least. Now all that was left was the capability to stalk girls and shimmer under the light of the sun.

With a press of a button, the thick curtains slowly started to return to the way he liked. He patiently waited for them to close before pressing the button to turn on the room's lights. Why he preferred artificial light to the radiance of a giant ball of fire was anyone's guess, however.

"Hm... That's better." Greeted by the scenery he was most familiar with, the fog in his mind started to clear up. And with that clear mind of his, he suddenly wondered how the remote got in his hands in the first place. They certainly didn't have a built-in function to jump into his hands when he lost them, that was for sure.

"Good morning."

Prompted by the bell-like voice, Ken turned his head to the right to see the most beautiful woman he would ever lay eyes on. No particular part of her face stood out, but each and every aspect was part of a whole that went beyond its separate parts. Even if Ken was given a year to ponder, he was incapable of picking out a single feature that made her beautiful — she just was.

The playful grin on her pink lips annoyed him a little. Or maybe a lot. But her star-like blue eyes somehow brought him peace.

Ken heaved a sigh before greeting his younger sister, who was sitting on her favorite armchair right next to his bed. "...Good morning, Kyouka. What're you doing here?"

She smiled that impish smile of hers. "Naturally, I'm visiting my favorite person in the world."

"Uh-huh." Ken rolled his eyes, not necessarily displeased by her flattery. "I seem to recall you being a student. And this is a hospital. Correct me if I'm wrong, but students go to school in the mornings, not hospitals."

"Nursing students might."

"You're not a nursing student."

Kyouka looked away, fiddling with her black ponytail. "I'm a university student now. University students have loads of free time, y'know~? We mainly just bum around!"

'Apologize. Apologize to all the university students in Japan! No, the world!'

Ken wasn't buying her bullshit though. He glared at her until she withered, eventually sighing in defeat.

"Don't look at me like that. It was all just orientations and welcome parties and stuff. There are club recruitments too... but I'm not planning on joining any. It'll take away time for my hobbies." Kyouka explained.

'What a load of horse shit.'

Despite what she said, he knew the real reason why she refused; it was because she didn't want to reduce her visits to him. It upset him to be the one holding back his most beloved family member, but he couldn't help from being delighted that she cared about him so much. The conflicted emotions didn't stop him from wallowing in the usual shower of self-hate, however.

'And that's why you're terminally ill, Ken Kagami. You're a bastard that feels good about troubling his loved ones.'

Ken fell into a pensive mood as his face fell, and Kyouka didn't fail to miss it.

"What's up with your face?" She sneered, lips curled in obviously fake disdain. "Don't start thinking that I'm holding myself back for you, okay? I'm just not interested in any of the clubs. And I really am busy enough as it is. I feel like I don't have enough time for my hobbies. Stop looking like a kicked puppy. Gross!"

Kyouka harrumphed. She then turned her face to check something on her phone and stopped talking, but Ken didn't miss the slight redness of her ears.

"Tsundere," he remarked, a sneer on his face.

"I'll end you. Dare me."

"Yikes." Ken raised his thin arms in surrender, acting scared of the way she waved her fist at him threateningly. Still, he couldn't help but think that his little sister was slightly more adorable today.

Probably wanting to pull his attention elsewhere, Kyouka pointed at a few gift-wrapped packages in the corner of the room.

"Offerings?" she asked.

Playing along with her, he nodded. "The usual. Wine, clothes, and a few exotic stuff from overseas. Oh, but one of them gifted me some books, which is great."

"Oh? How old's the wine?"

"I received a bunch, so I'm not sure...." Ken trailed off before he realized where this was going. He crossed his arms, doing his best to look imposing as he stared at his sister. As imposing as a frail young man could be, at least. "What's it to you? My dear sister, you're underaged. Even if it was a thousand-year-old wine, you're not getting a single drop."

Kyouka clicked her tongue. "Stingy bastard... Shouldn't this be the perfect time to try some, then?"

"What the hell are you on about now..."

"Just listen. What if my first time drinking ends up being with a bunch of university seniors, and they end up getting me drunk and wasted? They obviously won't be able to resist doing something to me. Just look at me. I'm a goddess. They'll take pictures and videos of the things they do to me, then blackmail me into being their sex slave or something. Are you gonna let that happen? Are you just gonna let that happen to your beloved little sister?"

Ken's mouth gaped as he was flabbergasted by the plot that came straight out of an NTR story.

"You won't, right?!" Kyouka exclaimed theatrically. "Then this is the perfect opportunity to start training my alcohol tolerance. That way, I won't be taken advantage of!"

"You should write a book." Ken sardonically replied after he recovered from his shock.

"D-don't be silly..." she cleared her throat and avoided his gaze. "I don't have time for that."

'Don't take it so seriously, for Christ's sake...'

Of course, he knew why. But that was a can of worms he didn't feel the need to open right now. He was more in the mood to wipe the stupid grin off her face.

Ken pointed towards the double doors leading out of his private ward. The doors had a square portion in the upper half of it that was made of stained glass, where you could see two hulking silhouettes seemingly standing guard outside the door.

"Kyouka, we have bodyguards assigned to us. Tons of them. We don't even know how many there are exactly. Since most of them are in disguise. And if anyone tries to blackmail you, they're going to be buried."

Kyouka shrugged her shoulders, seemingly giving up. "Fine, fine. Whatever. You're no fun..."

Seeing her actually bummed out, Ken couldn't help but sigh in exasperation. He immediately used his favorite weapon against her: changing the subject.

"So I read that web novel you recommended to me. The Author's Survival Guide, right? I loved it."

"Really?!" Kyouka excitedly exclaimed, forgetting all thoughts about the wine.

The fashionable and extroverted beauty that she was, Kyouka may not have looked like someone who indulged in otaku culture, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

'I mean... she was the one who got me into that stuff in the first place.'

He still couldn't forget that nasty look on her face when she introduced him to "Sword Art Offline", "Kurama", "Detergent", and "Two Piece". By then, he was halfway down the swamp that was Anime. With zero intentions of coming out of the cesspool.

Seeing how effective praising the novel was at improving Kyouka's mood, Ken proceeded to list various things he liked about the web novel.

"I knew you'd get it!" She pumped her fists in excitement and leaned over for a hug. "All those haters just keep spouting crap, but they don't even understand the novel's appeal! I just knew you'd understand though! As expected of my brother!"

'It feels like if I praise it some more, she'd start dancing around or something.'

Ken chuckled at his own thoughts while enjoying his sister's warm hug. Even though she didn't mean to, his body erupted in pain from the pressure. He resisted the urge to groan or grimace, lest he hurt his sister's feelings.

Still, it hurt like a bitch.

With a light and playful push that made the bones in his arms ache, Ken parted from his sister. "Okay, okay. I know I'm great. You don't have to remind me too much."

Seemingly not minding, she sat back down on her soft armchair and said, "So, since it's a Yandere story, who the MC gets with is set in stone. But which one of the side characters would you wanna see more of?"

Ken didn't have to waste a second of thought. "I want more of Olivia."

"It's because she has big tits isn't it."

"It's because of her big tits, yes. That part was pretty nice."

"You disgust me..." Her gaze — as she looked straight at her brother — was like someone looking at a pile of filth.

'Wow, some people would pay top dollar for her to look at them like that.'

"What can I say? I'm a man with simple tastes." Ken ignored her disdain and shot back. "Who would you choose, then?"

"Miriam, naturally," Kyouka said, without any hesitation.

Ken was well aware of Kyouka's preferences, so he naturally had hunches as to who she would choose. And he'd gotten it right.

"It's because of her glasses, huh?"

"It's because of her glasses, yes."

Ken shook his head and shrugged theatrically in exasperation, stopping only when a familiar discomfort struck his neck, reminding him that every movement was accompanied by pain. If he had more mainstream likes about women, his sister absolutely went bananas over female characters with glasses. It didn't matter if they were the female version of Hitler or Stalin, she would gush over them if they had glasses. Which was mildly concerning, but he trusted her enough not to actually marry the tyrants if they ever came back from the dead as anime girls.

The siblings argued over stupid things, sharing the obscure and unpopular web novels they uncovered, and traded opinions on the popular ones. They barely noticed the time pass until both of their stomachs grumbled.

Ken chuckled. "Reminds me, I haven't had breakfast."

"And lunch. It's past noon already." she drolly reminded. 

"Whoops. Didn't notice. Anyway, go get me something, minion."

"Don't call me a minion. At least promote me to secretary or maid. Also, you should eat something healthy."

"Don't wanna. I wanna eat what I want."

Kyouka frowned, making her stubbornness clear.

But Ken wasn't an elder brother for nothing. He gestured at the row of refrigerators on one side of his hospital ward. "There are some cookies in the fridge."

"You're a persistent little shit, aren't you? I said you should eat a proper meal."

"But they'll spoil. The new nurse made them especially for me too..."

Kyouka's eyes widened a bit as she perked her ears. "The new nurse...?"

'Hook, line, and sinker.'

"Yeah." Ken nodded with a grin. "The one we talked about before."

"You mean the sexy one? With the glasses and everything?"

"The very same."

"Well, why didn't you say that sooner!? We can't let her precious food go to waste!"

Ken watched, amused, as his sister jumped out of her chair and practically skipped toward the fridge, she opened each one, revealing countless expensive snacks and pastries within, but failed to get the one she wanted until the fifth and last one.

Kyouka, with a big smile on her face, took out a simple transparent pouch with about a dozen cookies inside. It stood out when placed among the various goodies in the fridge, all of which had ornate packaging that advertised the high-class establishments they came from.

"I'm confiscating these since they're bad for you." she shamelessly hid the box of cookies from him. "Be thankful!"

"That's tyranny, but I'll allow it." Ken chuckled in exasperation as he was served a plate of special gruel — one of the safest dishes he could eat since there was no risk of him choking on it if he suddenly had a fit.

Naturally, Kyouka immediately stuffed her face with reckless abandon. "Delicious! She'd make a great wife!"

As Ken sipped on his surprisingly delicious gruel, watching Kyouka made him think about how unfortunate his parents were. After all, their only son was a terminally ill cripple like him who couldn't do much of anything, much less provide a replacement heir. And then their only daughter was a lesbian, who naturally wouldn't be making babies any time soon.

Kyouka Kagami was into women and actually had a bit of a prejudice against men — with him as the only exception.

This was a fact that only Ken and the women Kyouka was involved with knew. Not even her bodyguards were aware, despite shadowing her every move. They didn't really follow her into private rooms and bathrooms — a practice that was supposed to let her live a somewhat normal life, but was now being exploited to hide her sexual orientation from their parents.

'Even her fetish for glasses has evolved to a freakish level.' Ken massaged the bridge of his nose. 'Well, I'm just glad that she doesn't want to change what's between her legs and switch her name to Kyouya, or something.'

Ken didn't really have anything against people who did want to make those alterations, but he loved his Kyouka just the way she was. Her and all her imperfections. He didn't want her to change too much.

After she finished drinking, Kyouka returned to her armchair with two tumblers filled with water, giving one of them to Ken. "So about that nurse..."

"She's married."

"Fuck!"

"Hey, watch your mouth, young lady." Ken scolded with feigned indignance before chuckling. Cursing was a matter of course between them. A bad influence of growing up with free access to the World Wide Web.

"I had my eye on her though..." Kyouka sadly muttered as she deflated into her chair.

Ken offered some comforting words he didn't really mean that much, reminding her that she had other girlfriends to play around with. That seemed to cheer his sister back up enough for him to change the subject again, returning to their discussions about their hobbies.

The two never ran out of things to talk about. The hours flew by... and before they knew it, it was already 5 pm.

"Oh!" Kyouka gasped. She fished out her vibrating phone out of her pocket and turned off the alarm. "You gotta take your meds."

She stood up from her seat and started preparing the various pills that Ken had to take with practiced hands; her speed and precision would put veteran nurses to shame — which made sense since she'd done this thousands of times. Finished with her work, she put a small cup containing various pills on a tray before placing it beside him on the bed.

"Thanks, minion." Ken smiled at her before he looked at the cup with thirteen pills of differing colors and sizes. He proceeded to take three at a time, drinking a bit of water to help them go down easier. If he'd tried to take all the pills at once, he would've choked on them, after all.

'Reminds me of that time when I tried taking six pills at a time...Not my brightest moment, I'll admit.'

When the ten-year-old Ken collapsed from his disease in the past, the best doctors money could hire had been tasked with his treatment. They had even told him that he wouldn't live past thirteen years old. And yet here he was, still alive, at twenty-three years old. He'd endured for thirteen years already, so If he'd ended up dying from choking on his meds, he would've really lived in vain. It would make for a hilarious cause of death to engrave on his tombstone, however. Though, nobody around him would enjoy that kind of dark humor.

Ken could feel his sister's gaze on him as he robotically swallowed the medicine that helped barely keep him alive. Her face was calm and serene, but he knew that was just her best attempt at keeping the anguish from showing. It was the same every time she watched him go through the motions of taking his medication.

'Well, look at the bright side. At least I'm kind of improving. I used to take twenty pills every few hours. That's gotta count for something.'

Even if he could feel her pain, Ken chose to feign ignorance. If he brought it to light, his dear sister would probably start crying in earnest.

'Heh. You used to cry so much when we were little...'

The first few years of his confinement in this white prison were especially bad for her emotional state. Fortunately, after she turned eight, Kyouka started spontaneously erupting into tears less and less. It was when she turned ten, the tears must have dried up because she started being more cheerful.

'I haven't seen her cry in so long...'

And he had no intentions of breaking the streak any time soon.

 

---

 

After Ken finished taking his last pill, he placed the empty bottle of water on the tray before trying to pick it up—but Kyouka was faster than him.

She scooped up the tray before he could even try to lift it. With her back toward Ken, she started returning things to where they were supposed to be kept.

It was clear to Ken that she didn't want him to see her face right now. The speed she showed off earlier was nowhere to be seen. Ken just sat there in silence as well, giving her time to calm herself down. This was not the time to show off how brutishly uncouth he was.

Eventually, he found the silence a bit stifling, so he looked for something to do. He soon noticed that the room was a bit dim — which made him remember that he'd closed the blinds, so he used his handy remote to open them up. As it was five in the afternoon, the scenery outside was starting to get dimmer. The heat and the blinding light from the sun that he oh so hated had also abated.

'Beautiful...'

Ken stared at the afternoon sky fondly, following some strangely shaped clouds drift by. One of them was somehow shaped like a bird, flying freely across the orange-tinged expanse. In his musing, he recalled that the last time he'd left his private hospital room was thirteen years ago. In other words, since he was confined here, he hadn't left this place even once.

'Well, everything I need is here. And if I ever wanted anything I could easily just send someone to get it for me. But still...'

He had never felt the need to go outside after his confinement. Even as a child, he understood that this room was where he was safest. The adults had even told him that he could die anytime even when he was here — where all the tools and equipment that could help him stay alive were kept — so the dangers of going outside were clear. If he had another one of his fits, the response would be much slower. Ken, like most people, didn't want to die. So staying in the hospital was essential.

Even so, Ken had been a very athletic and outdoorsy kid before he got sick. In his heart, he understood that he should stay in this room. But the desire to go outside was always there, gnawing at the back of his head.

The urge had been buried, but not erased. Sometimes, it would resurface.

Just like today.

After a few moments of hesitation, he called out to his sister. "Hey, Kyouka..."

"Hm? What is it?" Kyouka — her back still turned — asked.

"I wanna go outside," Ken stated, his voice filled with longing.

Kyouka seemed so surprised by his request that she, again, forgot all about the anguish from a while ago before racing up to his bed. She had a look on her face like she was going to beat him to death before his disease killed him.

"Are you being serious right now?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Yes."

"Have you forgotten just how horrible your condition is?"

"I'm in constant pain." Ken smiled wryly. "It's pretty hard to forget."

Kyouka looked pained at his answer but she squared her expression quickly. "Then, what's this nonsense about going outside? Hm?"

"No, but... look at the sky outside." Ken gestured toward the window.

"What about the fucking sky, Nii-san?"

'Oh god, she's really mad, huh?'

He scratched his cheek while trying his best to convince her. "The Sun's not tryharding anymore..."

"..."

"The weather looks nice..."

"..."

"It feels like the wind blowing on your face would be really pleasant, right? Right?"

"..."

There was palpable anger in Kyouka's eyes as she stared silently at him.

'It kinda feels like she's waiting for me to run out of bullshit to say before she blows up on me...'

Ken knew that she was just angry for his sake, so he was in a bit of a tough spot right now. His mind started thinking about what tricks he could use to coax his little sister into indulging him, but then decided against it. Rewarding his sister's love with his usual lies just didn't seem right. Not today, at least. He chose to speak from the heart instead.

"Kyouka, I've been in this room for thirteen years." Ken softly said as a forlorn smile crossed his face. "I've never left even once in that time."

Kyouka's eyes widened in shock but quickly hardened her expression once again. She was good at that, apparently. Though she still had to work on actually preventing her poker face from falling.

"Back when we were little, before I got sick, I used to take you out to play all the time. Do you remember?" Ken asked with a smile, letting nostalgia seep into his voice.

"...Of course, I remember. How could I ever forget?" Her hardened expression seemed to show cracks as she briefly recalled her childhood memories with her beloved brother. She bit her lips to suppress the nostalgic smile that threatened to slip out.

Ken chuckled. "I'd never forget it either. I'd sneak you out of the mansion... then we'd play all sorts of games together in the garden..."

"..."

"You'd climb up on my shoulder, then I'd try to carefully run as fast as I can so you wouldn't fall off. Y'know, it was really troubling for me. You wouldn't grab onto me properly, so sometimes, when you thought you were gonna fall off, you'd grab my hair instead..." He brought his hand up to massage his scalp. "That seriously hurt like hell."

"..."

"And there were those times when our parents' colleagues would bring their kids to play with us. Then we'd play soccer or baseball in the garden. You were shy back then, so you didn't wanna join in... but you would cheer for me really loudly." Ken scratched the back of his head while laughing awkwardly. "You've no idea how motivated that made me feel, though the pressure got higher too..."

"..."

"Kyouka, I..."

"..."

Ken turned his head, and once again yearningly looked at the sky.

"I really wanna go outside. So badly."

"..."

"Just this once. Please?"

"..."

"I won't ever ask for it again. We'll just go out this one time. And just for a little while."

"..."

Kyouka was still quiet, so Ken turned to face her again. But what he saw wasn't her hardened expression. He looked back and met with Kyouka's watery eyes staring right back at him, the tears threatening to spill out.

'Oh no. the ten-year streak...' Ken couldn't help but have such a stupid thought. It really made him feel like he should have his brain checked out, but it was the perfect chance to strike.

"Please?" He put his hands together in prayer while pouting with his lower lip sticking out.

Kyouka, on the other hand, hung her head low as she clenched her fists. Honestly, she could have been laughing at his stupid attempt at puppy dog eyes. Or she could have been hiding her tears. It could go either way.

'Is it no good? If she still refuses, I guess I'll give up. But...'

Ken peered through the window like the sickly caged bird that he knew he was. He really couldn't understand himself either. Suddenly, he just felt an overwhelming urge to go. To feel the breeze on his skin, and breathe in the fresh air that he'd missed for over a decade. Maybe his repressed desires simply had too much time to fester inside him, and today was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Even knowing this, he just couldn't help but want to go.

'Sigh... I guess it's no good.' He shook his head before chuckling in self-deprecation. 'Geez, I'm a twenty-three-year-old man, throwing a tantrum cuz they wouldn't let him play outside. This is actually so embarrassing...'

Just as Ken was about to apologize to Kyouka for being selfish...

"Fine." Kyouka — with furrowed brows and a wrinkled forehead — finally answered.

Ken just sat there, dumbfounded. "Really?"

"Yes." She nodded with a look of resolve.

"Wow..." He was a bit moved that his sister humored his selfishness.

"But you have to use a wheelchair," Kyouka demanded. "I won't accept bullshit about trying to walk."

"Seems reasonable."

"And you have to do everything I tell you to do."

"Yes ma'am."

"And naturally you can't do stuff that I tell you not to do!"

'Did you really have to separate the two? Whatever, I guess.'

"Alright. Understood."

"And you can't do this to me again!" She looked at him with a hint of resentment. "No more bringing up mushy stuff to cajole me into going along with your selfishness!"

"Busted, huh?" Ken chuckled wryly before crisply saluting. "I mean—Yes!"

"...Alright. I'll go have some people take care of everything. And don't you dare get up yet. Or I swear to god, I will kill you before you die." Kyouka warned. She made sure to glare at him for a bit longer before turning around and heading for the door.

Right before Kyouka's hand reached the doorknob, Ken called out to her.

"Kyouka."

"...What?"

"Thank you." Ken gave her his most heartfelt thanks. It wasn't just for today. But for all the years she'd given him more love than he deserved. "In this world, you're really the one that treats me the best."

"...Of course. If I didn't treat a sack of shit like you well, then who would? Hmph!"

With that final harrumph, Kyouka quickly left the room as if she were escaping.

'Fucking adorable.'

Ken chuckled at his beloved sister's actions, before leaning on the back of his bed and closing his eyes.