"You have to drink this, Seijuro!"
Ruma continues to wave the spoon filled with a liquid in front of Seijuro's mouth,
"It tastes disgusting! No way!"
"You've been drinking it for the past 2 days! You can firm another one!" Ruma brings the spoon closer, which causes him to lean his head back,
"Quit being such a baby and open your mouth." She scolds, her brown eyes glaring at him with a hint of annoyance,
Seijuro let's out a grunt and reluctantly opens his mouth. Ruma smiles and places the spoon inside his mouth. He cautiously swallows the liquid, letting out a groan as he clutches his abdomen,
"What even… is that…?" He questions in between gags,
"Medicine, and you'll be glad to hear you should be up and running now." Ruma places the spoon and bottle on the counter next to his bed,
"So I can go now?"
"Yep. Feel free to leave whenever you want. Your clothes are just in that drawer to your right, but be sure to come back tomorrow to get your bandages removed. The exit is just on the hallway to your right."
"Thank you, Ruma, for taking care of me." Ruma smiles, as a small blush spreads across her face,
"Anytime, Seijuro! Just take care of yourself." Ruma picks up the bottle and spoon, before walking away.
Upon hearing he is free to go, he stands up and stretches,
Ruma really did a good job. I feel like a new person.
He smiles to himself and walks to the drawer to get dressed. Seijuro walks out into the hallway, turning right as Ruma instructed to him. He continues down the hallway, glancing to his sides to see more rooms containing a patient and a nurse to attend to them. Seijuro suddenly stops and grits his teeth,
Damn it. I should have asked Ruma which way the armoury is.
He lets out a loud sigh of annoyance and resumes walking. Eventually, he reaches what looks to be the entrance of the hospital. Just before he could walk out, a woman suddenly pulls him into her arms and sobs into his chest, it was his mother,
"My boy! I was so worried about you!" Seijuro tears up slightly and wraps his own arms around her,
"That's it! You're coming home! You are not doing this anymore!"
"Mom, I…" His mother covers his mouth with her hand,
"No! I don't want to hear it! I lost my husband! I lost my youngest son! I will not have my last son be lost too!" She gently removes her hand from his mouth, her eyes glisten and she sniffles.
Seijuro wipes his mothers eyes and gives her a reassuring smile,
"Mom… I can't let Ren's death go unavenged. I don't plan on dying… and I promise I will try my best to be safe. Please, trust me on this…"
"Seijuro… I don't know… I can't bear to lose another child… I…"
"I know, but mom… please, believe in me… I will return back to you safe and sound." A voice abruptly intrudes in their conversation,
"Hey, Yoshiki." Lily was staring at Seijuro and his mother with a blank expression. She had a bandage wrapped around her forehead and her was tied into a bun,
"Captain Frank and Captain Lily want to see you pronto." Seijuro gives her a slight nod, while turning to look back at his mother with hopeful eyes that she will let him return to his mission,
"Mother…" Seeing that Seijuro is determined to stay, she lets out a long sigh and replies hopelessly,
"Is there nothing I can say to convince you?" Seijuro slowly shakes his head. His mother reaches for her small purse, her expression was one of pure defeat,
"Then take this." His mother places his necklace around him and hugs him tightly again,
"Be safe." A tear rolls down Seijuros cheek, as he wraps his own arms around his mother,
"I will."
With that being said, his mother reluctantly lets go of him, landing a small kiss on his cheek, before watching him leave. Lily walks next to Seijuro as they exit the hospital. His mother continues to withhold her emotions,
Please God… keep him safe…
Lily looks towards Seijuro,
"Your mother.. she seems nice." Seijuro looks at her and smiles slightly,
"Thanks."
"What's her name?"
"Asiya."
"Beautiful name. She seems to care a lot about you… why didn't you listen? A lot of us don't have our mothers around, you know? We would kill to have them back."
"I won't let my brother's death be in vain… I will find those kings if it's the last thing I do. No one understands what I saw that day. My brother looking at me… and I could only stare back at him helplessly. I was such a coward…"
"Let's be real, what could you have done in that situation. It's not your fault your brother died."
"I… know… but I won't let his death go unanswered." Seijuro's hands ball into a fist and he grits his teeth.
Lily glances at him and could feel the anger growing inside of him, so she decides to change the subject to ease Seijuro's mind,
"So… got any idea what Captain Lisa and Captain Frank want? They seem really concerned about you."
"Not a clue. Probably related to the whole boogeyman corruption thing."
Lily nods to his response, and with that, the duo remain silent as they continue advancing towards the main building.
Maple trees surround the path they walk on. People wearing training uniforms diverse with each other and the birds chirp above their heads. Seijuro takes a deep breath, the air smelt sweet and pleasant, and the peaceful atmosphere causes Seijuro to smile a little,
"Where exactly are we headed?"
"This time, Captain Lisa's place. All of this is her territory."
"I see. This place… it reflects her perfectly." Lily chuckles a bit at Seijuro's statement,
"Yeah, it does."
They take a left, the footpath now disappearing as they enter a clearing. A few feet away from them, was a gateway. Upon entering it, their eyes are greeted to a beautiful minka stretching upwards towards the sky. Children run around and play. The trees full of leaves with thick stumps and the grass is a rich, dark green. A large stone wall around 10 feet surround the area,
This place is amazing. You can definitely tell Captain Lisa is the one who cares for it.
Both Seijuro and Lily walk towards the building and reach the open door to which they enter. They glance around the room, the hallway was filled with rooms on each side, and to their surprise, children occupied these rooms,
Children? There's a lot of them here…
Seijuro and Lily give a questioning look to each other, before advancing down the hallway. Once they reached the end of the hallway, they turn to look right and see Frank, pushing himself forward with a warm look on his face,
"Young Seijuro!" Seijuro could hear the happiness in his voice and returns his kindness,
"Captain Frank. How you been?"
"I've been well. How about yourself? Heard you were hospitalised for 5 days."
"I'm holding up alright. You wanted to see me?"
"That's correct. You and Lily on your mission… came across something peculiar. Me and Captain Lisa would like to hear more of it. Follow me." Frank turns around, and pushes himself down the hall followed closely by Lily and Seijuro.
They reach a garden, filled with beautiful flowers and healthy greenery. In the middle of it, they see Lisa poking Kenjis arm. Kenji, who is clearly irritated by her action, has his arms crossed and is facing the other way with a frown,
"Lisa, stop that."
"Oh come on, Kenji-san! Just this once, smile, please!" Kenji let's out a small growl.
Lily and Seijuro stare at them complete dumbfounded at what they are observing. Frank face palms himself, before calling out to them,
"Lisa! Young Seijuro and Lily are here!" Lisa whips her head around and waves at both of them enthusiastically to which they wave back.
Prior walking over to them, Lisa whispers something in Kenji's ear, while giggling. Whatever she had whispered, causes Kenji's look to soften, as he opens a portal and walks through. She runs over to Seijuro and Lily, her red eyes glimmering with excitement, as she puts an arm around each of them, pulling them into a hug,
"Seijuro-san! Lily-san! Both of you did great! I heard you both managed to disperse 3 boogeymen!"
"Well… technically, Yoshiki got two of them by himself. The other one, took both of us to beat." Lisa let's go and takes a step back,
"We've noticed there's a lot of kids in this area."
"All children that have either lost their parents to fears or younger siblings of fellow mages! I created this place so I can look after them!" Seijuro's eyes widen and he looks down,
There's so many of them… and she attended to them all… Captain Lisa is really too kind for this world…
"Anyways, you know about the boogeyman we faced, right?" Lily changes the topic to one of more importance,
"Ahhh so I've heard. A boogeyman that can corrupt eh?"
"Yeah…" Frank and Lisa give each other a concerning look,
"What's wrong?" Lily abruptly asks,
"While both of you were in your comas, there have been more reports from our dreamcatchers in that nearby area of the same corrupting boogeyman." A shocked expression spreads across Seijuro's and Lily's face,
"But?! How?! Me and Lily took care of it?!" Lisa sees their confusion and replies in order to ease their conscience,
"We don't know. But seeing as you both are up now… we want you guys to continue investigating!"
"Really? Even though we almost lost?" Lily crosses her arms,
"You both are stronger now." Frank intervenes,
"How can you tell that?" Seijuro raises an eyebrow, as he asks this,
"Fighting a fear of certain levels is equivalent to training!" Lisa smiles warmly as she states this,
"Your body's absorb that experience, making you stronger than what you were, Seijuro-san and Lily-san!"
"So… we've basically got 3 months of training in?" Seijuro seems particularly satisfied,
"Precisely."
That's perfect! This means that I can easily get stronger the more fights I get into. Ren… I can avenge you even sooner now…
"Each of your nurses have confirmed that you both are ready for combat again. Young Seijuro. Lily. Take as much rest as you need before leaving. Head back to your old locations, if you find anything out of the ordinary, let us know immediately. If this is anything above the status of a boogeyman, you know what to do."
"Got it, Captain Frank, right Seijuro?" Lily looks at him,
"Got it!" He nods,
"Good. Then that will be all." Seijuro and Lily nod in response, before walking away,
"Seijuro-san has come a long way, hasn't he?"
"He has. I have full faith in him. He won't let us down."
"Of that, I am certain."
Both of them smile proudly, as they watch Seijuro leave,
"Where to now, Lily?"
"I take you to the armoury. Then we leave."
"Already?"
"You're healed up, right?"
"Ruma said to get my bandages off tomorrow." Lily sighs in annoyance,
"Alright then. Tomorrow it is. Be ready by noon."
"Sure thing." Seijuro replies as he follows Lily to retrieve his blade.