` ReGect `

Since Misha's death, Reject had been silently waiting where he'd promised. Two or three years had passed since the boy's death, and only after a couple of months had it begun to dawn on Reject that his little friend... really wasn't coming back. He tried not to dwell on it too gloomily, in case he was wrong.
Now he was sure: Misha was gone. And yet Reject remained where he was, clinging to the stubborn, desperate hope that he was simply delayed. Busy. Simply busy.
Zi enters this world after buying a Minecraft disc at a sale. At home, he inserts the disc and enters the world.
Reject stands motionless, looking down at the ground. The rain continues to pour.
Suddenly, he shudders—a message appears, saying someone has joined the world. Reject begins to thrash about. Oh my god... He's back! He didn't leave. He... And then he freezes, seeing Z .... Oh. You... you're not Misha. He looks around warily. Who is Z? Why did he end up in Misha's world? What does he want? ...Why are you here? Reject's voice breaks into a low growl. A sense of protection rises within him—for himself and for the memory of his best friend. For the child he met terminally ill, yet surprisingly bright.
Reject looks at Z again, more carefully. There's something familiar in his movements, in the way he stands and looks around. Not Misha... but vaguely similar.
The resemblance is disconcerting. For a moment, the tension eases, giving way to quiet surprise—and a strange, almost forgotten feeling of affection that Reject was reluctant to acknowledge.
Reject looks at Z again—less sharply, more intently, almost against his will. There's something painfully familiar in the way he stands, the way he looks around slightly awkwardly. Not Misha. He's too different. Alien. And yet...
The resemblance cuts deeper than Reject is willing to admit. It's as if an old image, long faded, suddenly emerges through a new person. His heart tightens with a strange feeling of affection that Reject was reluctant to acknowledge.