Seijuro's eyes slowly open, his body feeling slightly stiff and his head was slightly throbbing. He sits up and recognises where he is. The ceiling had white and grey tiles, while the floor was white with black dots. He was lying in a bed with a heart monitor to his left, beeping loudly. He looks at his right arm to see it wrapped firmly in a white bandage. His cheek had a small plaster and his forehead was bandaged too. The television hanging down from the ceiling was showing the news. He looks in the doorway to see a familiar face,
"Ahhh, Seijuro Yoshiki, you are awake." The voice says in a calm voice,
Her voice… I've heard it before…
He squints his eyes and his vision slowly becomes clearer. It was Ruma. She was staring down at him with her big, brown eyes. Her black resting on her shoulder and her lips were curled into a warm smile,
"How are you feeling?"
"Better, a little dazed but… better. I'm guessing I have you to thank." She blinks and chuckles a bit nervously.
She closes her eyes, but keeps her smile,
"Yeah! But Captain Rose was the one who told me what to do." Seijuro's eyes widen slightly and he turns his head to look at Ruma properly,
"Captain Rose… where is she?"
"Gone. She's looking for Lily." He feels his heart throb and he looks down at towards the blanket covering his body,
Captain Rose… Lily… I'm sorry… if I had made a better plan… Lily would be here right now…
Ruma notices his expression and places her clipboard down on the bed, just in front of his feet,
"It's not your fault, you know? I'm guessing you tried your best."
"I didn't try hard enough." Ruma frowns slightly at his pessimism,
"Sure you did! You were out for 2 days. Shorter than last time, which shows you've gotten stronger and smarter! Besides, you're stronger now as well! Isn't that what you wanted?" Seijuro looks at Ruma, before looking back down again,
"I don't feel any stronger. I still failed someone today."
"You failed no one, Young Seijuro." His head instantly rises, knowing who the voice he heard belonged too.
He looks in the doorway to see Frank, wearing a black top and trousers. His shades covered his eyes and his black hair was slightly messy. Seijuro smiled slightly at him,
"Captain Frank…"
"You and Lily, fought extremely well against someone who was way out of your league. Distracting and then planning to steal the button to call for aid knowing you were outmatched, demonstrates a high level of battle intelligence. Lily will be found, don't worry about that."
"I wanna help Captain Rose find her, if that's ok?"
"Captain Rose left yesterday to find her. I am… sorry, young Seijuro." His hopes start to dwindle upon hearing this,
"Where's Captain Lisa?"
"Patrolling. She left those for you, just in case you woke up with her not being present." He follows Frank's finger and glances to his right.
He sees a bouquet of flowers with a small note inside saying,
Get well soon, Seijuro! You're on your way to becoming one of the strongest, I just know it!
He smiles slightly upon reading this and looks at Frank,
"Does my mom know I'm here?"
"She doesn't, but do you want her to know?"
"No… she's… got enough on her mind." Frank nods and opens his mouth to speak again,
"We have a new assignment for you once you've recovered. I won't keep you in the dark about it."
"Does it involve Lily?"
"Possibly… former Captain Bruno was able to leave breadcrumbs of his own dark matter onto the nightmare he fought. The trace stopped just outside of a nearby town."
"A town… but they're far from here. Does Captain Rose know about this?"
"Yes, she does. You'll not be going there alone though. I'll be accompanying you, Young Seijuro." His eyes widen slightly and he nods,
"However, first, you'll train up a bit, then we will leave. You need to at least hold your own against a nightmare."
"I understand, Captain Frank." Ruma turns to look at the doorway to speak to Frank,
"Seijuro should be all healed by tomorrow. Most of his wounds have healed quite quickly. His dark matter while he was unconscious, it seemed to have been regenerating him at an abnormal rate."
"That's not really a surprise, Ruma. Young Seijuro has shown phenomenal dark matter control once his emotions are in check, he will only get better." He smiles at the praise Frank was giving him.
Although he was happy about his upcoming mission, in the back of his mind, he didn't want to wait too long before leaving. However, Frank's voice interrupts his train of thought,
"Oh and one more thing…" Seijuro looks to his left and listens intently to what he had to say,
"You'll be going to college, Young Seijuro." His eyes widen and his face portrays his shock,
"What?! Why?!"
"You need cover, don't you?"
"But! I don't even know what I'm studying and what are you doing then?!"
"I got a job as a teacher. Don't worry, you'll be fine, Young Seijuro. We faked your qualifications."
"But I can't fake my intelligence!" He frowns, his mood shifting to annoyance,
I can't believe this… I had no say in this! Not only do I have a mission, but now studies! At least this will probably bring me closer to finding Lily… Jashin… I will hunt you down…
Frank turns himself around and pushes his wheelchair down the hallway, leaving Seijuro and Ruma alone. They both remain quiet, as she gently changes his bandages,
"Ruma… can I ask something?"
"Sure."
"How can I focus on my mission, while my friend is in danger?" She stops wrapping his new and clean bandage and looks up at him,
"You have to faith in them and have hope that they are alive. Try to ask yourself a question, would they want me to be worrying about them?" Seijuro nods, understanding her wisdom,
She's right… I need to stay focused for a little while.
"Thanks, Ruma." She nods and goes back to changing his bandages,
"Could I get you anything? Do you want a newspaper or should I change the channel?"
"Got any manga? I was reading Dragon Ball with my little brother Ren at the time."
"Well, I have it in my bag actually. I'll go grab it after I'm finished here." He nods and sits back.
He sits quietly, watching Ruma adjust his bandages. Loud footsteps can be heard in the hallway getting closer to the room they are in. The person turns the corner and smiles widely at him. It was Lisa,
"Seijuro-san! You're awake!" She walks in the room, her red eyes were wide and her smile was as vibrant as ever.
She wore her normal uniform, a white cloak, a light grey shirt and pants, however she wasn't holding her spear. She stands on his left side and looks down at him to speak,
"How you feeling?
"Better. You probably heard about everything that's happened, right?"
"Yep! I'm sorry about Lily, but the pair of you do make a great team after all!" She chuckles and Seijuro forms a weak smile,
"You stopped a nightmare from attacking your village. We've set up a lieutenant closer to that area this time. We're sure that Lunar Village is now safe from any types of fears!"
"Really?"
"Yep, really! You've saved a lot of children by doing this, Seijuro-san. Your little brother would be proud, I know your mother is." He couldn't help but smile at this.
He looks up at Lisa and nods,
"Did Captain Frank tell you about your next mission?"
"Yeah… he did. He's accompanying me on it… but first I have to go through some training."
"Yep! Me and Frank-san are coming with you!" His eyes widen in shock and he forms a smile.
He chuckles nervously and scratches the back of his head,
"Is that really necessary? For one nightmare?"
"Well, most fears don't tend to run into populated areas when they have tasted defeat. What happened in Lunar Village, is happening in other villages too. Tenma-san was able to do the same thing as Bruno-san, leaving breadcrumbs. Something bigger is plotting something by sending out the weak to do the bidding of the powerful." He nods and it now clicks in his head,
I see… the Kings must be behind this… I'm definitely getting closer to them, but still… I lack the strength to face them… Ren… Lily… I promise I will make up for my mistakes… I won't let either of you down again…
He hasn't noticed, but his hands were digging into the mattress and his eyebrows furrowed. He takes a deep breath and relaxes himself. He looks back up at Lisa and speaks, his voice was filled with determination,
"Tomorrow, I'll be up again and ready to fight. I'll face anything if it means I get stronger." Lisa smiles and nods at him,
His commitment hasn't changed a bit. I don't doubt his power will only grow, hopefully it will even surpass me one day…
"Great, Seijuro-san! You're training will be with Frank-san, not me this time!" He nods in response to this and looks back at Ruma,
"I need to get out of here then."
"Oh no you don't! Your injuries still need to heal!"
"Ruma… please…" Her glare slowly fades and she lets out a sigh upon hearing him plead,
"Fine, just don't blame me if your injuries get even worse." He smiles and nods,
"Guess I'll see you out there then, little brother!" Lisa turns around and walks away down the hallway, leaving Seijuro to think about his next mission,
Guess this is the next chapter then…