The hospital was only a few minutes away. It was a large structure with maze-like corridors leading to all sorts of rooms. While walking through the hallways, Kinson kept a close eye out for Celeste, but failed to find her.
"Hey Rose, do you know where the girl that was with me is? Could we see her?" he asked the woman beside him on the way to the examination room.
Rose looked at him and shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not. I don't know much more than you right now. I'll try and find out how she's doing while you're getting checked out."
"Oh, okay." Kinson replied dejectedly.
They entered a small, white room with a few computers, medical instruments, and one of those weird medical recliners. Rose left him there to wait for a few minutes before the doctor showed up. She was an elderly woman wearing a white coat and a stethoscope, exactly as one would expect. The examination proved much simpler than he anticipated, and, after a few moments, the doctor kindly released him from the hospital.
Kinson walked outside the room and ran into Rose once more.
"Hey, glad everything's fine. I ran into a nurse, and found which room your friend was taken to. Unfortunately, she's still unconscious, but I heard everything will be fine with her," the woman informed him.
"Phew. That's a relief," Kinson sighed, "When will she wake up?"
"The nurse wasn't sure, but it might not be for a while. She's been severely weakened from psionic over-exertion, which damaged her soul. I don't have too much experience with those sorts of things, but it might be a few days to a week," Rose explained patiently.
Kinson nodded and thanked her for her efforts. With nothing else to do, he headed back to his dorm. The hospital was far off campus, and even the autoways took almost half an hour to whiz him home. The entire time, Kinson relived the past day, judging his choices and reactions. By the time he reached the dorm, frustration welled up in his mind.
"Stupid pirates," he muttered as he unlocked the door.
The lights were still on, and he immediately saw Trevor. He sat in a chair reading a book, his legs propped up on the table. He turned when the door opened, nearly falling off the chair.
"Kinson! You're back!" he exclaimed.
Kinson walked in and collapsed on the couch. "Yeah, I guess so," he said tiredly.
"THey said you and Celeste had an accident at the BPI building, and might not make it home tonight. Is Celeste alright too?" Trevor asked with a worried look.
"Not sure yet. She's in the hospital right now," Kinson explained.
Trevor creased his brow. "What happened to you guys?"
"Not sure if it's classified, but no one said anything to me, so… We got kidnapped by pirates." Kinson said. Better to rip the bandaid off.
"What!!!" Trevor really did fall off the chair this time. "You're kidding!"
"Oh, close your mouth. Not all of us have a boring life, you know," Kinson smiled for the first time since the incident.
"No way!" Trevor rose to his feet and righted the chair. "Did this have something to do with yesterday? Was Griffon there?"
"Sure was. That guy is amazing!" Kinson exclaimed with respect.
"Tell me about it," Trevor asked quickly.
Kinson spent the rest of the night explaining the events of the day. He wasn't in a mood to care much about the rules of the BPI, so he also explained some of the deathdream from the day before. By the time the lights went out, he and Trevor were in the middle of a discussion about the possible conspiracies the BPI and Space pirates were in.
"Shoot, there got the lights," Kinson said, scrambling to pull out his phone. I
In the dim light of his phone, Kinson quickly changed and jumped into bed.
"Night. Uhh, glad you're safe, I guess," Trevor said awkwardly.
"Yeah, me too." Kinson relied sleepily. Then, his eyes shot open. "Wait, isn't your little tournament thing in a few days?"
"Hah, so you actually remembered. Yeah, It's next week. Make sure to watch me. I'm going to win," Trevor yawned, but even that sounded cocky.
"Heh, okay. I bet I can get at least a week of leave," Kinson yawned in reply.
That night, Kinson actually slept soundly, his dreams completely devoid of any nightmares.
Over the course of the next few days, Kinson took advantage of his "trauma" to slack off. Or at least, that was the plan. Early the next morning, their apartment resounded as someone fiercely pounded on the door. Kinson murmured sleepily, and groped for his phone. The bright light of the screen nearly blinded him, but rubbed his eyes and forced them to focus.
"What time is it?" Trevor groaned from above.
"Too early… like 3am," Kinson replied sleepily.
Trevor rolled over heavily. "Let it go. Whoever it is isn't worth it," he sighed.
A second series of knocks shattered any of their chances to follow that advice. Kinson begrudgingly rolled out of bed, flipped the lightswitch.
"Come on!" Trevor complained and threw a pillow over his head.
Kinson ignored him and unlocked the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see an elderly woman peer up at him from underneath a dark shawl. Her impatient hand was raised before him, ready for another knock.
"Uh, Rachel, why are…" Kinson trailed off, openmouthed.
"Hmph, didn't I say we'd be having a chat soon?" Rachel snorted.
"We heard what happened yesterday. How are you holding up?" Kinson peered back and saw Winston. Hid stood behind Rachel, framing her frail body through the doorway.
"Couldn't you have waited?" he asked, irritated, "it's like 3 in the morning!"
"'Fraid not, there's been a situation," Winston shook his head.
Kinson stared at him for a moment. "What? It hasn't even been a full 12 hours since the last one, or 24 since the one before!"
"Relax, kid, this one isn't as relevant to you. It's just that the pirate that kidnapped you has disappeared from under the Planetary Prison. He'd be an idiot to swear revenge and come after you now," Rachel chided him.
Kinson blinked. How was that supposed to happen? "He couldn't have escaped. You might not know it, but he was definitely almost dead when Griffon was done."
Winston sighed. "Not our place to ask those questions. It's a big deal now, but not for us."
"Besides, we're here about another thing now. The hospital report has come through, and it's left me rather concerned," Rachel said.
Kinson was about to reply, but stepped back instead as she pushed her way into the dorm.
"Hey!" he yelped from the side as she took the best seat.
Appalled, Trevor cried out. "What the heck?"
"Sorry," Winston said sheepishly, following them inside.
Kinson shook his head in unbelief. What was even happening? Then, his face brightened.
"Wait, you got the report? How is Celeste?" he asked quickly.
"Is she alright?" Trevor echoed after him.
"The girl's fine, for now. She exhausted herself past the point she should. Although foolish, there shouldn't be any serious long term consequences," Rachel explained disapprovingly.
Kinson inwardly sighed deeply. "Oh, that's a relief. But it wasn't foolish. She saved my life!" he said defensively.
"And she nearly crippled herself doing so! Even with as many cases as I've reviewed, which is a lot, by the way, I'm shocked she recovered," Rachel retorted.
"..." Kinson sat down heavily.
"A young man like you ought to look out for the girls around you. No chance getting hitched otherwise," Rachelsnorted.
"It wasn't like we wanted to fight them! How could you blame us for…" he cut off suddenly and looked down. Could she?
"Regardless, That's not why we're here either," Winston broke in gently. "I brought her here to look at you, Kinson."
"Huh?" Kinson looked up in confusion. "But the report should have said I'm fine."
"Too fine, if you ask me," Rachel said seriously, "No one's fine who nearly killed, and then kidnapped right after, and almost killed again, especially if they're a normal kid like yourself."
Kinson coughed awkwardly, "but I really am…"
"Hmph, we'll see about that. I'm actually a professional psychologist, in addition to my work on souls. Now, sit closer. We've got some things to discuss." And with that, Rachel went into psychologist mode, asking question after question.
In the beginning, he answered them almost robotically, a combination of the early morning and his stubbornness. Still, although conscious of the other's presence, Kinson was still rather open, not caring to hide much. Eventually though, he began to notice something peculiar. The Rachel before him was a kind, understanding woman, who cared about the things he offhandedly shared. He found his answers growing longer and closer to his true feelings, an unconscious reciprocation of her efforts. Before he knew it, Kinson found that an hour had passed. Rachel snapped her notebook shut with a satisfied nod.
"Very good. Somehow, you are as you said," she said as she stood.
"See? I told you I was fine," Kinson felt rather justified.
"Ha. Who said you were fine? Alright, I admit it. You're the same as you were a few days ago, at least. However, I'd now like to look at your soul for a bit, if you don't mind," Rachel said with a huff.
Kinson expressed his approval and relaxed under her hands. As before, her presence swept through him, drawing a small gasp from his lips. Unlike the first time, however, he keenly felt her find his soul, as well as the energy flow therein. Before long, the elderly woman's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"What's this?" she asked intently.
With greater intensity, Rachel scanned him repeatedly, as though searching for something specific. After nearly ten minutes had passed, Kinson started to shift about uncomfortably. He no longer felt much activity, and could tell she had long since fallen into a daze.
"Uh, Rachel?" he prodded timidly.
Even then, she didn't respond till Winston shook her gently on the shoulder, then exclaimed, "Huh? Oh, yes, sorry about that."
"Is everything alright?" Kinson asked curiously.
Rachel nodded slowly. "I think so. If I'm not mistaken, your soul's energy has reached stage 2."
"What! Is that even possible?" Winston gasped, "he hasn't been practicing for more than a few weeks, not to mention his late start! I wouldn't have been surprised if it took a few months before he made any progress!"
"Thanks for the confidence," Kinson rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"Now, I'd like to remind you I've been wrong about these things before, but the truth is, I haven't," Rachel said apologetically.
What kind of humility is that? Kinson rolled his eyes again. "It's not like it's a bad thing, right?"
"Well, it shouldn't be. But like muscles, your soul won't get stronger for no reason. As I'm sure you know, most people's souls have a relatively fixed energy level that settles soon after they awaken. Although the boundaries between classes are mostly abstract, it is still rare for someone to increase much long after they awaken. There has always been a sport of hard cap, if you will," Rachel explained.
"But why bother meditating then?" Kinson asked sourly.
"Simple, it's like a knife. It can only get so sharp, but over time and with use, it will dull. And of course, some improvement is possible, if rare. Mostly, it just allows one to gain greater control over their abilities," Winston broke in.
"Oh, so that's how it is," Kinson looked down, feeling some embarrassment. It seems his dream of overcoming the world and tearing down the heavens with his power wasn't exactly realistic.
"Of course, we mustn't overlook the fact that you are still young. Growth like this isn't exactly unheard of or even unlikely. I'm afraid I jumped to my own experience, which is mostly with adults over the age of 30," Rachel added thoughtfully. "But my gut tells me otherwise."
Winston leaned down and whispered, "Always trust a woman's gut," he smirked.
Kinson cracked a smile, they both froze as Rachel looked over disapprovingly.
"Keen ears," Winston muttered.
Kinson laughed out loud, forgetting the early morning. Trevor, who had at some point fallen asleep, stirred.
"Well, it's about time for your day to start. Don't even think of getting out of school, young man," Rachel cut through his mirth with a withering glare.
Kinson nodded glumly then glared at Winston. Winston shrugged apologetically and changed the subject.
"We'll be taking our leave. Remember to head over to the BPI today. I heard you made some interesting discoveries in the deathdream, and the team is eager to hear them. Especially Kael. She hasn't quite bothered me about your condition," Winston nudged him knowingly.
Kinson ignored it and said, "Fine, I will. But I'm sure they've already discovered it all. It is not the first time anyone's walked in a deathdream, after all. Kael herself survived it, if I remember right."
The two rose and headed towards the door. Kinson found himself walking them out, but hesitated before he shut it.
He finally opened his mouth and called out, "Hey, will you teach me how to fight?"
Winston turned around, his eyes flashing with surprise. Then, he flashed him a crooked grin and a thumbs up.
"Count on it!" he said.
Kinson stood there motionless until the two disappeared down the passage. Then he closed the door quietly and sagged into a chair. Just as he considered jumping back into bed, the lights flickered on.
"No!!!" Kinson cried in despair. It was already morning time.