AKA Someone called Ego out.
Shidou ran. Fast and quick. Passing by people and their indigent yelps as he shoved those standing in their way.
He didn't care.
Why should he?
Leon was more important.
He ran even faster as he felt the warm body in his arms slowly going slack. Cold sweats formed on his back at his worried thoughts.
He gritted his teeth, and whispered with a shaky grin, "It's okay, You will be okay. We will meet up with the doc soon," Not knowing whether he was comforting Leon or himself, the atheist Shidou prayed that the infirmary would be in sight soon.
The road to the infirmary felt like spending lonely days in the abyss to Shidou. Losing sight of the light and anxious, he was afraid that he would soon lose this warmth.
"How is he, doc!?" Shidou gently laid Leon down on a white bed and asked the doctor.
He became more and more anxious as the doctor ignored him in favor of continuing tending to the patient on the bed. He wanted to beat the doctor and shake the answers out of him.
However he restrained himself because he knew Leon was at stake here.
After the doctor tested, he waved Shidou off. "He isn't in danger. Healthy and all good. I guessed that he just had a panic attack."
Guessed? GUESSED!!??? Shidou wanted to scream but he held back again. You are going to have to give me tons of headpats and hugs when you wake up.
"Then, why did he faint?" He asked. The doctor, who apparently was writing something on paper, replied, "That should be asked to his therapist –if he has one in the first place– as I do not specialize in mental health."
"You mean…" Shidou started, feeling dread growing in his stomach. "His mental health might not be steady?"
The doctor looked at him and sighed, whispering barely high enough. "That should be the case with most of the kids in this fuck up place."
Shidou fell silent.
Oh, Jinpachi, Jinpachi… What have you done to those poor kids? The doctor sighed again, inaudibly.
He took his glasses off and messaged his glabella, and his eyes strayed toward the two kids, one of which was sleeping and another was standing quietly by them.
He removed his gaze as he could no longer bear watching the scene. He said to the kid whom he known as a troublemaker by Jinpachi, "You know, there's a stoll and you can sit there." He lit up a cigarette, which he knew shouldn't be done in the presence of a child but did it anyway.
"I will tell Ego to push the limit of your timer until that platinum blonde hair kid wakes up. As for now, you should accompany him."
With a hand on the door knob, he said one last thing: "If you need something or if the other kid woke up, there is an alarm on the table." He gestured at the remote with one only red button on it. "Or, go to the staffs and tell them that you need Dr.Miura."
He then came out of the room, feeling that the kids need their alone time and shouldn't be further disturbed.
Exhaustion showed in his eyes as he thought, These kids seriously need a therapist. He planned to go to Jinpachi's office to talk about these issues with him.
On the way, he notified a staff member about the two kids in the infirmary and not to go into the room and disturb them, but position a staff member near the room so that they could find him whenever they want to.
A trail of smoke followed him as he walked. His eyes resolved as if he made a crucial decision and his back appeared indescribably strong.
Back in the infirmary, Shidou was silent until two or three minutes after the doctor had disappeared. His eyes went to the stool by the bed and he plopped on it.
"You know," He spoke softly, tucking a stray hair behind the sleeping beauty's ear. "That doc is seriously one of the coolest adults I've ever met."
His elbows sank onto the bed as he stared at Leon's face closely. "Mental issues, he said. Most of the kids in this place might have it, he said." Shidou whispered, "That's not wrong, y'know?"
His eyes were downcast, unusually looking vulnerable. Something he would only allow one person to see. Even if that one person was sleeping, he would only let his guard down by his side.
"I already knew that I'm fucked up. But what about you?" He laid his head down on the bed, while still sitting on the stool. It was an awkward position but he didn't mind it. "Who would've thought, who would've known? When you always appear invisible, as if nothing could bring you down. What got you shaken up so bad?"
"Yet… I feel comforted. I feel comforted by the fact that you, too, could be shaken. That, you too are… a human."
An indescribable expression appeared on Shidou's face. As if he wanted to laugh but cry at the same time. His voice had guilt syncing it too.
"I'm really fucked up, aren't I?"
Knock.
Knock.
"Come in." Ego said, slurping his noodles.
Light footsteps announced the other's arrival to the room owner. Ego knew by his heart who belonged to those kind of footsteps.
"...You are eating those unhealthy instant noodles again, Ego."
Ego paused, "Ego? Not even Jinpachi?"
The voice sneered, "You knew what you did to earn this, Ego."
"It's a necessary sacrifice, Hiro." Ego apparently knew what he did wrong. However his tone clearly showed that he truly understood what he was doing was wrong but didn't care.
"Don't fucking Hiro me!!" Hiro– no, Dr.Miura stomped over Ego and slapped him, stunning Ego as his head snapped to the side and his cheek stinging.
"You…!" Tears welled up in Hiro's eyes, his cigarette snuffed out long ago. He spoke through gritted teeth, "You are subjecting your dreams, your ideals, your embodiments onto those kids! Those kids' mental health are all messed up by you!"
Ego's adaptability was indeed excellent. Soon after he was slapped, he went back to eating as if nothing happened.
"...So what?"
This time it was Hiro's time to be stunned, "What…?" He said slowly as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So what?" Ego repeated one more time. Looking straight into Haru's amber eyes.
"... 'So what'? Was that right? Huh, Jin!? Have you lost your mind? Crazy. You are crazy. How did I never notice you have become such a madman? Let me ask you one more time! What have you done to those kids!?"
Hiro screamed, tears of frustration and regret raining down his face. "I… I should've objected to this project happening in the first place. If I prevent this… maybe they could've.."
"Let me get this straight," Ego said, bringing Hiro down by his wrist, and making their eye levels the same. "This is all happening because of Ose Leon's unstable mental health, right? You are not discovering right now that Blue Lock is supposed to be this kind of place, right? This– This is excellent. Sacrificing other 299 to have one stand above all. Those who stand in the way will be destroyed, including their mental health and self-worth." Ego grinned wickedly, his eyes changing him into someone Hiro no longer recognized. No, he was no longer the same person Hiro had fallen in love with.
"This is what I envisioned. This is how it is supposed to be. Further they are pushed, the further they will be better. So…" Hiro winced and pain showed on his face as Ego gripped his wrist to the point of hurting him. "Don't try to come in the way and destroy it all."
"Besides… I gave them a chance, didn't I?" Ego whispered, his tone low enough to almost mistake it as 'gentle'. However, his eyes were anything but such, "And they stayed."
Their breaths were touching each other. But Hiro didn't find it romantic at all. A manic look had then taken over Ego 's face, "This is… all for the sake of reviving Japanese football!"
"A therapist, right? I will have one station for you." He said coldly, throwing Hiro's wrist aside and staring down on him as he fell down.
"Now, strip."