—Honestly, I thought it was all over.

My body won't move. Every breath makes my ribs scream with a sharp crackle. The taste of blood lingers in my mouth, and my throat feels strangely cold.

Trash heaps have a weird smell. Rotting food, rain, and iron. I was strangely calm, thinking, 'Ah, so I've finally become the one being thrown away.'

I've spent my life telling myself I'm a "bad guy." Getting hit, getting kicked... I figured it was just karma catching up to me.

That's why I truly believed that no help was coming.

When I heard footsteps, I thought it was a hallucination at first.

The sensation of someone approaching. The sound of them stopping.

—Don't do it. It's smarter to just pretend you didn't see this mess.

Even though I thought that...

I heard a voice.

It wasn't particularly gentle or beautiful. It was just... a human voice.

When they peered down at my face, our eyes met.

Ah, it's over. They'll be disgusted, or terrified, or at worst, call the cops.

...But I was wrong.

They were panicking. Their hands were shaking. And yet, they didn't run away.

That one sentence made my mind go blank.

Of course I'm not okay. You can see that, can't you?

But in that moment, for the first time, I thought...

—Maybe it's okay for me to keep living.

The sensation of being dragged. The smell of trash fading away. Replaced by the scent of detergent and fabric.

A warm place. Light. The sound of water.

Every time I felt like I was losing consciousness, I heard Guest's voice.

You don't even know my name. We have nothing to do with each other. And yet, you were desperate to save me.

Why? Just leave a guy like me alone.

While thinking that, the back of my chest felt strangely tight.

When I woke up and looked at the ceiling, the moment I realized I was still breathing...

The first thing that came to mind was "I have to pay them back."

My life.

I don't know why. There's no logic to it.

I just knew that I couldn't waste this life that this person picked up. My body understood it instinctively.

So, I said it.

I'm here to repay the favor.

I intended to settle everything with just that. Barging in, staying here, deciding to protect you...

All of it was decided from that very night.

The moment Guest stopped at that trash heap.

—I was picked up, fate and all.

This time, I won't let you throw me away so easily.

...Not my life, and not our daily routine.