Chereads / Valley Of The Kings / Chapter 17 - Chapter 17: Rest

Chapter 17 - Chapter 17: Rest

Seijuro takes a bite out of his sushi. He sits alone in the canteen, eating silently,

Makizushi.. my favourite. Mom always makes the best.. nothing like home cooking..

He smiles to himself, as he continues to enjoy his meal. Seijuro looks up to see Tenma. His eyes widen slightly as he sees a woman, who looks to be scolding him for getting his haori so dirty. The woman had brown eyes, and long black hair tied into a pony tail. Her lips were red and her eyelashes were long. She was around 5'7. Her face formed a scowl and she wore a pink kimono,

Wonder what Lieutenant Tenma did to annoy that woman…

Seijuro blinks in confusion and remains watching them bicker. A voice to his right interrupts his eavesdropping,

"Seijuro-san! How are you?" Lisa says, now sitting right next to him,

"Captain Lisa.. I'm great. I feel stronger than ever! Ready to get back to the mission!" He slams his fist into chest to demonstrate his confidence,

"Great to hear!"

"Say.. have you seen Lily?"

"I haven't seen her, little brother."

"Oh.." Seijuro looks down at sushi,

She's been going through a tough time.. I should probably find her after I've finished my meal..

He looks back up at Lisa, who's still smiling softly,

"Could I.. ask something.. Captain Lisa?"

"Of course you can, Seijuro-san."

"Was Lily able to do a Matter dash yesterday?" Her smile becomes dimmer and she responds sounding less enthusiastic,

"Unfortunately not, little brother.. she still remains too tense. I don't know why.. she's normally calm during her techniques.. but this.."

"I see…"

Something is definitely bothering her…

"I should probably check up on her…"

"That's a great idea, little brother! Send her my concern too!"

"I got another question…"

"Sure! Ask away!" Seijuro looks over towards Tenma,

"Who's that woman?"

"Oh, that's Tenma's wife, Hanae! She's quite ferocious and short-tempered!" Seijuro chuckles a bit, however hides his shock,

"He's married?"

"Yep! He got married 4 months before you showed up!"

"It's a bit strange… the fact that he's married…"

"Despite being mages, we are still human. We deserve to live normal lives, no?" He thinks about Lisa's words and then nods,

"I guess you're right." She smiles, expressing her delight at him agreeing with her,

"It's the least some of us deserve."

"If you don't mind me asking… you said before you had 3 sisters… is that why you have so many children in your place?" Lisa nods and smiles,

"Exactly the reason, Seijuro-san. Most these children, have lost siblings or parents who were once mages. So I look after them." Upon hearing this, he feels his heart warming,

"That's very thoughtful of you."

"Thank you, little brother! My sisters may have been lost, but what they believed in, and what they saw in me never died. Grieving is ok, but we never let that keep us down. We remember what they taught us, and we become an embodiment of their vision of us. Whatever your little brother saw in you, I know it motivates you, but don't forget the reasons as to why he loved you." Seijuro looks down and then back at her,

"You're right. Thanks, Captain Lisa." She smiles and tap his head,

"Great! Now, look after yourself! Make sure to find Lily-san and head to Frank-san whenever you're ready. See you around, Seijuro-san!" Lisa stands up and walks away,

Lisa's words were powerful, and I can tell she loved her sisters more than anything…

After finishing his Makizushi, he stands up and leaves the canteen. He walks through the courtyard, which is filled with other students, some carrying books and holding weapons. Sakura trees decorated the area, and to his right, was woodland. Seijuro walks towards the training grounds, believing Lily would be there. He walks past the steps to the main building, and the path towards the hospital before taking a right, turning into the training grounds.

Not to his surprise, Lily is standing on the tracks, her left foot positioned back, and her right foot lunging forward with the rest of her body. Her forehead is dripping with sweat, and her hair is tied back into a ponytail. Her eyes remain shut and her face expresses frustration,

I sure hope Lily is ok…

"Hi…" Seijuro says hesitantly.

Lily gives him a small grunt and her eyes open, looking upward to meet his. She glares up at him,

"What?"

"Are you ok? You've been stuck on the matter dash for two days."

"Thanks for telling me." She says sarcastically, Seijuro tries his very best to suppress his annoyance,

"Captain Lisa is also concerned about you…"

"I don't need either of you clowns to worry about me. It's not like you guys take anything seriously."

"We can't help if you don't let us."

"Good thing I don't need your help then." An awkward silence fills the air, before Seijuro sighs,

"Look, Captain Frank wants to see us later. Probably an update on the mission or something."

"Fine. Is that all?"

"Yeah."

"Then leave." She says quite coldly. Seijuro clenches his fists,

"The least you could do is tell us what is bothering you. You seemed fine on the first day."

"I told you when we first met, my problem is you, Yoshiki."

"Alright then."

Sounding defeated, Seijuro simply walks away, not wanting to press the matter anymore,

I don't understand what her problem is…

Instead of bothering Lily, he decides to head to Frank by himself. He walks back towards the steps of the main building and heads through the massive glass doors. In front of him, was a staircase leading to different floors, to his right was a hallway, stretching down for at least 30 metres. To his left, was another hallway, around the same length as the one to his right. Both hallways were clogged with students and each door lead to classrooms. Seijuro looks forward in the direction of the stairs,

Captain Franks office is on the next floor… I should head upwards… I wonder how he's been, I haven't seen him since my first mission…

A wave of nostalgia hits Seijuro, remembering walking through this place for the first time. He can't help but feel proud of how far he has come. After reaching the floor above him, he takes a left going down the hallway. He looks through each window he passes, the view never fails to amaze him. Once he reaches Frank's office door, he stops and opens it. Seijuro looks inside to see him. Frank turns his attention to the entrance. His hazelnut eyes shift towards the door to see Seijuro, and a smile begins forming on his face. He pushes his black hair back, before pushing himself towards Seijuro in his wheelchair,

"Young Seijuro! It's been a while. How have you been?" Frank says warmly. His tone expressing his happiness of seeing him,

"Great, how about yourself?"

"I've been well myself. I've heard about your training with Captain Lisa. Performing a Matter dash on your first attempt, not many can claim such a feat, you know?" Pride begins to fill Seijuro's heart, as he begins to smile,

"Thanks, Captain Frank." The sound of the door opening interrupts their conversation.

Seijuro turns his head to see a woman. She was wearing an apron and a small white toque on her head, overinf the strands of brown hair. Her eyes were blues and she was smiling slightly. In her hands, were a tray of pies,

"Maki! What brings you here?" Frank asks politely,

"I was… just passing by… and I made these! I thought you would like to have some! I hope I'm not interrupting anything…"

Seijuro looks between both of them, as an awkward silence fills the air,

"Oh no, I was just discussing something with my pupil." Her face brightens and she walks past Seijuro and towards Frank, handing him the tray,

"They look lovely Maki, thanks!" Maki's face turns slightly pink and she giggles a bit,

"Oh it was nothing, Frank! I best be going now, enjoy!" She quickly scurries out the room, shutting the door behind her.

Seijuro blinks in confusion,

Well… that happened… rather quickly…

Frank begins munching on the pies, finishing each one quicker than the last. He looks up at Seijuro and offers him a pie,

"No thanks… she made them for you, after all."

"Your loss." He chuckles and finishes the last pie, letting out a small burp.

Unexpectedly, the door swings open again, this time Lily standing the doorway, her face looking cleaner and her hair tidier,

"Ahh, angry girl! How are you?" Lily let's out a small grunt,

"I'm fine. Have you told Yoshiki about the plan?" Frank clicks his fingers, simultaneously turning around and grabbing a paper off his desk,

"So, back to the conversation, a few of our dreamcatchers have disappeared near the location you guys were in last time." He points at the paper, revealing it to be a map of Lunar Village,

"That same boogeyman you guys had fought is somehow the reason behind it, yet we don't understand how. The dreamcatcher that had survived, Jiro, went back in by himself and hasn't returned since. We need you to find him and bring him back safely. We don't want you guys going into a coma again, so that's the reason behind your training for three days. This boogeyman should be slain a lot easier than the last time." Seijuro and Lily nod,

"So our job so to rescue some dreamcatcher?" Lily asks,

"And disperse any boogeymen you find along the way. The location on the map has been marked, and remember… anything above that of a boogeyman, you press your buttons." The last part, Frank says sternly,

"Yes, Captain Frank." They both say, at the same time,

"That will be all then. Take care of yourselves." They nod and both turn to leave.

Seijuro looks at Lily, however he doesn't bother to say a word to her. After leaving the main building, they head right, towards the stables and grab their horses. Lily takes off first, with Seijuro following closely behind.