"We'll be collecting all the evidence for further investigation." Mr Oshiro told Douma, they were both at the waiting area of the hospital. Atashi was just admitted after his oxygen levels went down. At the same time, they needed to check his bruises in case something serious might have come up without him even realizing it.
Douma nodded and proceeded to head over to where Shinobu, Eiko and Reiji were. Mr Oshiro then called him, the man had something else to say.
"Thank you Douma, we truly appreciate your help. We wouldn't have been able to do this without you."
Besides Mr Oshiro who was grateful to have met the blonde, the three other men with him nodded and acknowledged the fact that Douma had done a great job at tracking down these criminals who thought they could get away with it for long. About time people found out about these running businesses that were out to break apart families and ruin the lives of many countless times.
"Well I'm just doing what I can." Douma replied with a smile.
"Oh I almost forgot! The totem that Atashi was given is actually a part of an ancient plate kept by King Seraph centuries ago. We were told about this at the museum where it got stolen by Tanashi." Mr Oshiro added.
"A plate that gives off fire huh, now that's something you don't see everyday."
"It's bizarre and fascinating at the same time, maybe I should consider digging deeper about King Seraph's treasure. Who knows maybe there's more relics out there that we have yet to discover."
Mr Oshiro bid farewell to Douma and left the hospital with the other three men. The shrine leader waved back and proceeded to where Shinobu and the others waiting at the hall outside Atashi's room.
"Let's go in." Shinobu said as Eiko jumped in excitement at the thought of being able to see her brother after a long time.
Douma remembered something important he wanted to ask Eiko now that the siblings were about to be reunited again.
"Eiko, do you know anyone named Martha?" He asked, aware that this question was very sudden.
"Who's that?" Eiko responded cluelessly. She really didn't know which was strange considering the fact that Eiko treated Martha like a close friend in her dream.
"Oh never mind." Douma decided not to explain further since it would only leave Eiko more confused. Maybe that interaction Eiko had in her dream wasn't that significant in any shape or form to real life events but it still remains a mystery.
The three of them entered the room and saw Atashi lying on the hospital bed with heavy breathing and bandages around his arm and foot. The boy looked really tired.
Atashi opened his eyes from the sounds he heard in the room, he turned around and saw Eiko standing with Douma and Shinobu.
Eiko squealed and ran to Atashi who sat up on the bed to get comfortable.
"Atashi... you're OK..." The girl hugged her brother who wrapped his arms around her weakly because of the strain in his muscles.
When Eiko was still standing there going on about the silly mistakes that Atashi has done, he noticed the bruises that Eiko had on her arms and neck were gone. Atashi smiled he was relieved that his sister had recovered from that illness.
"That was so stupid! You left us all worried! Don't ever do that again!"
"Eiko's got a point, that was really foolish." Douma added while Eiko was still nagging at the now-frightened Atashi.
Shinobu stifled a laugh. "If you thought this was going to stop at Eiko, Reiji is still at the vending machine so get ready."
Hearing that made Atashi let out a long sigh. He sat back and looked up at the ceiling to relax his mind for a while.
"You could've just been honest Atashi! Honesty is the best policy!" Eiko yelled.
~~~
Both Douma and Shinobu left Atashi's room leaving Eiko and Reiji there. About time their friend got to have a moment's rest with his family, so much has happened and it wasn't going to be easy for them to look past it.
"I can't believe it's over." Shinobu said as they walked out of the hospital and met with a cold breeze outside.
Douma stopped and looked up at the night sky. Shinobu could sense the calmness in the air, it wasn't always this peaceful when Cryptic Sanctuary was active. How the violette missed these times when she didn't have to worry about anything.
"Shinobu."
That was a surprise. The violette turned around to see Douma looking at her now with those glowing rainbow eyes. About a minute ago he was admiring the stars in the sky, now he was gazing at her purple orbs as though they were precious gems.
The violette was about to respond when Douma asked her something she did not expect at a time like this.
"Do you wanna get a better view up there? The night's still young after all." Douma continued with a genuine smile.
This was a tough question to answer. Shinobu swore that back at Atami he wouldn't let her roam around in the sky because of the dangers out there and his reasonings made sense but now he was going to risk it? This was odd, it was a once in a lifetime experience that she looked forward to but on the other hand there were consequences. Shinobu didn't know what to say her thoughts were contemplating with each other.
Douma stuck out his hand at Shinobu who panicked. "It's going to be OK don't worry." He assured the violette.
Shinobu looked at him feeling a little nervous about this whole thing, moreover she was going to be holding hands with the blonde, something she wasn't entirely comfortable with.
That aside, Shinobu believed Douma was someone she could trust. The blonde had proven numerous times that he meant no harm to anyone. His efforts to save humanity was proof of that.
The violette placed her hand on his, accepting the offer. Douma held her hand tightly, glancing at Shinobu as a way to let her know that everything was going to be fine. Her hand was trembling and she needed to remain calm in order to enjoy the experience in the sky.
When Shinobu was more relaxed, Douma took off into the night sky he flew to the lights ahead of them where the city stood.
Soaring higher into the night sky, Douma kept his pace allowing Shinobu to catch her breath and see the whole of Tokyo below them.
The lights from the buildings and streets flickered in Shinobu's vision as Douma spread his wings and continued flying in the night sky. Shinobu never expected a friend to give her this kind of fascinating experience, one that she would remember for a lifetime.
Slowly, Douma gave Shinobu enough space to admire the view below them while still holding her hand firmly. The violette was clearly enjoying herself and Douma was glad.
After some time, Douma kept Shinobu close as he dived past a few buildings. Somehow, no one saw them which was a close call for there were still quite a number of people walking down the streets at this hour.
Eventually, the two friends came to a landing on a roof above a few shophouses.
Shinobu sniffed the air that had a familiar fragrant scent that was strong. "I think there's waffles around here."
Douma could smell it too as the both of them looked below and saw a stall preparing waffles and other desserts. The stalls of these shophouses were bustling with customers.
"Let's go." The two friends got ready to get down from where they stood.