Humans have a very high sense of self-preservation. Fear of pain and fear of death identify these factors. At the same time, due to their courage or foolishness, some people will push through no matter how dangerous something can be.
"Diego-kun, are you really sure you don't need a wheelchair?" His uncle asked as they packed his things.
"Indeed. You don't need to be embarrassed about it. As a patient, it's normal for you to rest." Issei pushed his glasses and added.
"There's really no need. And I need to walk so that my body can get used to moving." Diego replied with certainty.
This was the longest experience of him laying down on a bed. Instead of sitting on a wheelchair, he prefers to walk.
Plus he has already recovered. At least his body doesn't hurt compared to the first time he woke up.
Walking is no problem for him.
"Then I won't stop you. Just tell me if you're tired, we will assist you." Issei wasn't pushy and agreed.
Mr Ryuudou was the same.
As they were talking, the door opened, revealing the doctor who had a smile on his face.
"Congratulations for your recovery. I hope that you recover your memories as well." Hearing the polite words of the doctor, Diego offered his hand to which the doctor shook in return.
"Thank you, doctor."
"This is what I should do."
Then the doctor turned to the elderly in the room, "Ryuudou-san, don't expose Seijuro-kun to stress too much. We don't know if it'll cause his injuries to open up."
"I understand." Mr. Ryuudou nodded seriously.
Seeing him nodding, the doctor turned to Diego again, "Seijuro-kun, I'm going to remind you again. In case you experience headaches and the like, please don't hesitate to tell us."
"Sure…" Diego nodded slowly.
After some farewells, the doctor left, leaving the three of them inside the room.
"Let's go. Issei, Diego-kun." Mr Ryuudou said.
"Wait!" Diego suddenly said.
Before Issei and his dad could say something, Diego came to the bed and patted it for some time.
"What was that for?"
"I just tidied it up for one last time." Diego replied while smiling.
The two didn't notice anything strange about this and just nodded.
After packing up their things, Diego took one last look at his bed before leaving.
'As expected, the railing is chirped.' He thought.
—
The trip to the Ryuudou Temple was smooth. It was pretty early so there were no pedestrians walking.
While in the car, Diego was observing the streets while familiarizing himself. The streets are very clean, as expected of Japan.
The car suddenly stopped, snapping him out from his thoughts.
"Diego-kun, we're here."
Looking at the long stairs, Diego's eyes widened.
Are we seriously going to climb that?
He could see the shrine gate here but barely!
"Are you surprised?" Mr Ryuudou chuckled, "If we want to go out, we must go down, vice versa."
"Diego, don't worry about it. We are used to doing this, even you." Issei assured him and started to climb up.
Diego wanted to say something but held himself.
Seriously, what the hell is this?
Ignoring the stairs itself, the more he walked, the more he sensed a feeling of familiarity.
Is it this body's memories? No, that couldn't be it. The feeling is as if he's watching from a third person view.
No one spoke as they climbed up, probably because there's no common topic to say and they don't want to waste their breath while going up.
Not long after they arrived at the temple's gate, the peaceful environment gave people a feeling of desolation.
"This temple is really something. There must be a lot of tourists who go here." Diego said while looking around.
"That's right, Diego-kun. Once in a while, some people will go here for spiritual practice and become a monk." Mr. Ryuudou said with a smile.
"Indeed. The temple has a long history with Buddhism so it's not really strange for tourists to visit. Sometimes, even locals too." Issei added.
"Then doesn't that mean that we are monks too?" Diego asked with an intrigued expression.
"This…" Issei hesitated for a moment but his father beat him up to it.
"I'm a monk and I've been the high priest of this temple for years. As for Issei, he's an aspirin monk. He still needs to practice."
"What do monks do actually? Do you exorcise ghosts?" He asked.
"Ghost? Hmm, it depends. Most people came here to pray or do some spiritual practices. A commission about ghosts is rarely encountered." Mr. Ryuudou replied with seriousness.
"I see…" Diego narrowed his eyes. So do ghosts exist in this world? "So if that happens, can you deal with it? You and Issei must have some ways to deal with ghosts right?"
"... I can't tell you much." Mr. Ryuudou's mouth twitched. He actually has never encountered the supernatural personally.
But he does know they exist. According to an old friend, the power behind the Ryuudou Temple is enough to keep ghosts away and for the current world, there's people who can deal with it without the public knowing.
The existence of ghosts is a knowledge from the history of his ancestors and his father does tell him of some events where supernatural was involved.
As for why he was sure despite not encountering one personally. It was because of an incident 10 years ago.
He was there in person so he knows that whatever happened that time cannot be explained by mere science.
"What about you, Issei?"
"Don't ask me. I may be an aspiring Buddhist monk but my ability to sense the supernatural is very weak." Issei pushed his glasses and answered indifferently. It seems that he had already said this sentence countless times.
"What about me then?"
The father and son stopped and looked at him.
"What?" Diego feels weirded out by being stared at by them. Did he say something wrong?
As expected, lack of information is a disadvantage but he has no choice but to ask.
"Diego-kun, although you're not a monk, you do have some ways to contact the supernatural." Mr Ryuudou asked with some uncertainty.
Diego's eyebrows rose hearing that. He does? But why do they look so unsure.
"It's complicated. We'll show it to you later." Issei backed his father up.
"Sure." Diego did not say anything about this. He's curious but not impatient.
"By the way, I thought you'll be more suspicious about the supernatural. After all, you lost your memories, " Issei continued walking. He isn't exactly sure if Diego would have a response related to abnormal phenomena, especially now that he lost his memories.
Just so you know, Diego can't even remember his name.
"I don't know. Somehow, I won't be surprised if those exist." Diego gave a dry chuckle. In truth, he was also skeptical but since he has a Stand, it wouldn't be surprising if ghosts were actually real.
"Understandable." Issei nodded. He heard from his father that Diego's mother is adept at dealing with the supernatural.
Maybe it's a reflex? Even if the mind forgets, the body would remember?
"We're here." They entered the house which was really large before they arrived at his room.
"Diego-kun, this is your room." His uncle said as he unlocked one of the sliding doors, introducing him to his room.
Looking around, Diego secretly admired the feeling of peace, it makes people want to lie here all day.
The previous self does have some good taste.
"Familiarize yourself first. Maybe this environment will awaken some of your memories." Mr Ryuudou and his son, Issei left after putting down some things.
After they left, Diego walked around while looking at the cabinets.
Seeing his clothes and stuff, Diego once again appreciated the taste of the previous self, at least he wouldn't need to spend some time to adjust things.
Buying clothes and the like sounds too tiresome for him who just recovered.
He laid down on the mattress and closed his eyes but not long after, the familiar feeling of headache came again, forcing him to open it.
Just like the first time, the world became full of cracks again, making him squint his eyes.
The world right now is really hard to look at but compared to the first time it happened, this time was more bearable. Probably because he wasn't fatigued, physically and mentally.
Blinking his eyes, the red cracks still haven't disappeared and sometimes, when he tries to focus, his eyes would suddenly zoom in, making him close it again.
He opened his eyes once again but the red cracks were still there.
Thinking back in the hospital, Diego laid down on the mattress and closed his eyes.
Let's see if it works.
—
A few hours later, Diego woke up again and unsurprisingly, the world finally returned to normal.
"The only way for my perception to return to normal is by sleeping?" Diego sighed but he didn't find it surprising. It must be some form of mental strain and resting his mind is the most optimal way to remove those.
Standing up, he went to a mirror and took a good look at himself. He has deep pink colored hair with dark green eyes. He can be called quite handsome.
His only confusion though is if his name is Japanese, then why is his face more on the European side? He felt scammed for some reason.
Deciding not to think about it anymore, he took his clothes off and decided to change to a more comfortable outfit of black t-shirt and green trousers.
"This body has been training really well." He admired his eight packs in the mirror. Thinking about it, with such a strong body and muscular body, it's not that strange if he can survive a truck hitting him.
*Knock* *Knock*
Hearing a knock, Diego put his clothes on and went to the door to open it.
"Issei?"
"Did you rest well, Diego?" Issei was now wearing a priest's robe, but still had his glasses on.
"Yes. This place feels comfortable." Diego nodded.
"Is there anything else you remember here?"
"The mirror looks very good. Mostly when I stand in front of it but nothing else." Diego thought for a moment and answered with a serious expression.
"..."
Are you narcissistic? Issei wanted to ask but held himself.
Just treat it as a side effect of losing memories.
Then again, they didn't have an interaction that deep. Mostly because Yurei back then was too withdrawn.
"Is there anything else?"
"... My father wants to take you to the place you were talking about earlier."
"Are you coming?" Diego's eyes flashed with curiosity.
"I'm afraid not. I still need to practice." Issei sighed with tiredness.
Diego nodded.
He doesn't know how these things work so it's better to leave Issei on his own.
After getting out, he saw Mr. Ryuudou waving at him and he immediately followed.
Now then, what's the mystery of this body?
—
"... This is?" Diego's lips twitch as he looks at the building in front of him that says, "Almighty Exorcist" on its sign.
"A shop you can say. For exorcism and the supernatural." Mr. Ryuudou opened the door with a key before opening it, and gestured to him to come.
After entering, Diego felt a sense of deja vu. This is similar to what he saw in his past life.
Some antique looking objects and mystical artifacts like crystal balls and talismans are displayed, giving the store a mysterious appearance like it's someone owned by a psychic.
"And people buy this? Like, this sounds like a scam." Diego strode further and rubbed one of the objects, before looking at his finger which was stained in dust.
Poor maintenance too.
Mr. Ryuudou just looked at him for a moment and said, "Yes. In fact, it has high ratings. People are satisfied and they also spread the word to others, bringing more customers."
Hearing that made Diego blink in surprise, the owner of this shop must be quite the con artist then. Keeping a facade like that without breaking a sweat.
"So… where is the owner?" He looked around and asked. Considering it was locked, he assumes that the owner isn't here.
"Well, the owner suddenly disappeared, making his clients worry and fear that those exorcism events he did went to bite him back and bring him tragedy, causing him to not return for a week."
Typical. Diego snickered inwardly. He had already heard those reasons before, something about their relatives needing help so they might not be able to go back or how they can't stay here anymore due to some bad karma bullshit.
"Guess he must be done scamming the—!" Diego suddenly paused before looking at Mr. Ryuudou who was staring at him intently, "... Did you just say, "not return for a week"? Or I'm just hearing things?"
Mr. Ryuudou just grinned before saying, "Welcome back, Mr. Exorcist. I'm sure that your clients are missing you."
Those words made Diego's mind blank before the world "Almighty Exorcist" flashed in his mind.
The world isn't looking too bright for him it seems.