The Forgotten (Arifureta x original character)

Chapter 93: To Japan

A day and a half passes with Zane still asleep. Several of the girls have taken shifts watching to make sure that Zane is alright. Namely, Shizuku, Kaori, Taeko, and Suzu all take turns watching him sleep. Remia tells them that this is not necessarily, but all of them still take turns because they are worried about him.

During this time, the group is just waiting for him to wake up. They spend a great deal of time discussing going back to Japan. Several of them are very excited about this, while others feel bad about leaving the other students behind.

During one of these discussions Hajime says, "You can all do whatever you want. I am going back to Japan as soon as Zane wakes up though."

"Aren't you worried about Kouki and the others?" Kaori asks.

"Why would I be? They have made their choice so they will have to live with it. If that means they are stuck here, then so be it," Hajime says.

"Papa, don't you think you should help them though," Myu asks.

"No. Getting home has been my one and only goal since getting here. I am not going to let Amanogawa's stupidity get in the way of me doing that," Hajime states. He then says, "None of you have to come with me if you don't want to."

Yue says, "I will go wherever you go Hajime."

"Me too," Shea states.

"Papa, I want to go with you too. It is not nice for you to leave your friends though," Myu comments.

Tio says, "Myu, he is not leaving them. He is just honoring the choices that they have decided to make. They wanted to stay here so we are going to let them."

"I guess that makes sense," Myu replies. She then says, "I want to go with you too Papa. Mommy is coming too right?"

"Of course I am," Remia says.

Shizuku states, "I understand where you are coming from. It still feels wrong to leave Kouki in this world alone though."

"He is not alone. He has most of our class with him," Nana comments. She then says, "Plus Zane can just send them back at a later time."

"I don't know that he can," Tio says. She then explains, "The magic that Zane is going to do is a very powerful one. I have my doubts that he will be able to use it more than once."

Yuka says, "Plus since he will be back in Japan there is no way for him to really send the others."

"Oh, duh. I didn't even think of that," Nana comments.

Shizuku gets up at this point and walks away from the group. She understands where Hajime is coming from, but she also feels that it is not right to just leave Kouki in this world. She knows that Kouki is just being his usual gullible self and will eventually come around. However, she also does not think it is right to ask Hajime to wait on going back until they find Kouki.

Shizuku makes her way into the room that Zane is sleeping in. She sits down on the chair that is next to the bed. She is only sitting there for a moment, when she hears movement. Shizuku looks over and sees that Zane's eyes are open.

As Zane is starting to sit up, Shizuku bolts up from the chair and hugs him. Then without even thinking Shizuku presses her lips against Zane's. When this happens, Zane's eyes get very big as he was not expecting this. He however is now wide awake.

It takes only a moment for Shizuku to realize what she has done. She then quickly pulls back as her face gets bright red. She then whispers, "Sorry. I didn't mean to."

"I don't understand. How could you have not meant to?" Zane asks.

Before they can discuss this further, Zane's phoenix flies into the room and lands right on Zane's shoulder. Seeing the bird Zane says, "It is good to see that you are alright. I hope that Myu has been taking good care of you."