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Rei Daji grew up in a small countryside town, isolated in a broken home where neither parent truly cared for him. Diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, he constantly struggles with his emotions, clinging to the few fleeting connections he has. At school, he wears a mask, pretending to be someone he's not just to blend in.

But Rei has a strange and terrifying gift—by touching someone, he can devour their suffering. The pain, trauma, and despair of others become his own, filling the void inside him. The more suffering he takes, the more distorted his mind becomes.

One day, he meets someone whose pain is so overwhelming that devouring it nearly breaks him. As he spirals deeper into a world of unseen agony, Rei must decide—will he keep taking in the suffering of others, or will he finally face his own?

Devourer of Sorrows

Rei barely noticed how much quieter he had become.

Not that he was ever talkative, but lately, words felt pointless. Conversations felt like traps, waiting for him to slip.

After his encounter with Tsubaki on the rooftop, he avoided her. Not out of fear, but out of caution.

At lunch, his classmates chatted around him, their voices blurring together. Once, someone asked him something—he didn't even register what. When he didn't respond, they just shrugged and turned back to their group.

The last time he trusted someone, he'd been ruined for it.

Now, when people spoke to him, he found himself wondering: Why?

What did they want? What were they looking for?

It was a quiet thought, creeping at the edges of his mind. Not suspicion. Not yet. But doubt.

Doubt that anyone ever reached out without a reason.

Doubt that anyone would ever see him for who he was, rather than what they could take from him.

Then why bother letting them in at all?

Chapter 13: Growing Doubt