Weeks passed and the world had entered its last few days of the year before the people on earth each celebrates the coming new year.
Schools were currently on winter break and companies were giving lighter hours on their workers as most of them were spending their last few days with their families and friends or just using up the paid leaves they have saved up to be used in a row.
A phone vibrated on the study table, its screen lighting up with a new notification pop up. It vibrated a few more times as more messages were sent. Placing the book in their hands down, a hand reached out towards the phone, picking it up and swiping at the screen to look at the notification message.
The sound of a door being pushed opened sounded before a voice called by the door that just opened. "Nee-san, don't keep studying, have some tea and take a break."
Kaiyo turned her head towards the door, seeing Rimu standing there holding the door open. "I will get the tea and snacks, so sit by the kotatsu." With a nod of her head, she stood up from her seat by the table and walked out; not without leaving her room with her phone and the Chemistry book she was flipping through. She brought along a notebook, a practice book, and a pen as well.
As she left their shared room, her eyes glanced towards the door at the end of the hallway. After a moment of staring, her eyes flickered away and moved to Rimu's figure who was heading to the kitchen. Walking to the living room, Kaiyo pulled a zaisu chair over to the kotatsu and sat on it by the table; cosily snuggling herself to the heat.
Rimu came not long later with a tray carrying two cups of steaming tea, a bowl of bite-sized roasted sweet potatoes and a few manjus. When he placed the tray down, Rimu fretted over Kaiyo. "Nee-san, you have been studying since early morning! Lunch had just finished a while ago and you're still studying! I know you're aiming to go to medical school, but your health comes first! If you don't take better care of yourself, how do you expect to care for others? Here," Rimu took up a cup of tea from the tray and placed it in front of his sister, "drink this first and take a bite of the manju. ... Nee-san?"
Blinking her eyes, Kaiyo glanced up from the page she was reading off. "Hmn?"
Rimu blanked. "Were you listening?"
Kaiyo blinked once again before speaking. "You said something?"
"Nee-saaannn!"
Chuckling, Kaiyo apologised. "Gomen gomen. Alright, I will take a break. There's a practice paper I want to do later after reading this section." She said, tapping her finger on the practice book once.
"... Ha, here, eat a manju, you need the energy to study," Rimu pushed out the plate holding the manjus, taking one for himself. Rimu wanted to say something about it because he had seen the amount of practice papers she had already done. It was being stacked on the study table, increasing each passing day. Seeing her so diligent and the reason why she was driving herself to go to med school, Rimu could only close his mouth back and silently support her through small means like these.
Stuffing the manju into his mouth, he went back into their shared room and pulled out his homework and extra study materials. Seeing his sister so determined, he needs to buck up too!
Setting his materials on the table and sitting opposite Kaiyo, he got to work while chomping on the snacks.
The phone on the kotatsu table vibrated once and Kaiyo picked it up to see the message. She contemplated for a moment before replying with the message. She then looked up at Rimu.
"Rimu-kun. Sakura-chan asked to study outside tomorrow. She asked if you want to tag along as well? Since Father will be on an overseas trip till the end of the year, do you want to head out to the library in the early morning?"
Head snapping up and beaming at Kaiyo, Rimu grinned widely. "With Sakura-nee-san? Of course!"
Seeing his beaming smile, Kaiyo couldn't help the smile reflecting on her face too. Raising her hand, she pulled out a tissue from the box on the table and swept the paper over the corner of his mouth, wiping away the red bean paste of the manju he ate.
"Alright, I will send a reply back."
Replying to Sakura, thoughts about tomorrow's outing to the library had improved her mood. Being in the house most of the time was suffocating to her.
--But between being free and being cautious were two different things. If she was to choose, she would choose the latter in her situation.
'I wonder if Amaro will be going with it? If Sakura is fine with Rimu tagging along, I don't think she just wants a girls outing.' Thinking about it, Kaiyo sent a quick text over to Amaro.
When Amaro confirmed that he was free tomorrow, Kaiyo blinked once before smiling gleefully. 'I shall bring Amaro over too.'
Looking at that expression on her face, Rimu thought if his sister was playing cupid again.
Sakura's eyes and mouth fell open wide as she saw an approaching male with his hand waving in the air towards the group.
"Yo~!" Amaro greeted with a cheeky smile on his face as he approached the two females and one younger male standing by the entrance of the library. "That's mean, leaving me out of this, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura stared at Amaro for a few more moments before she snapped her head to Kaiyo. Seeing Amaro here, she instantly knew who was the one who told him. Kaiyo gave her a sideward glance before smiling despite the half-felt glare being shot to her from Sakura. "You will thank me for this, Sakura-chan," she said, leaning towards her to whisper to her ear before smiling widely.
"I won't thank you for this!" She whispered back fiercely.
"Is there something wrong? Was I not supposed to be here?" Amaro pouted. If he had dog ears, it would have fallen to the side to give a sad mournful expressive pout.
Gasping in exasperation, Sakura leaned away and whispered-shouted back, "Since you're here already, let's just go in!" She said storming into the library. Kaiyo internally laughed. 'Such a tsundere.' She could see the tips of her ears turning pinkish-red.
Amaro glanced over at Kaiyo and gave her a short wink and a thumbs up, mouthing a 'thank you' before following after Sakura.
Rimu had a feeling that Amaro was going to come for the studying session; seeing Kaiyo's expression when she was replying to Sakura yesterday, he had guessed right. "Playing cupid, Nee-san?" Rimu smiled gleefully, holding a fist to his mouth. Kaiyo rubbed at the top of his head, messing up his hair. "Geez, you little. Who taught you to say that?"
The group of four found a round table for themselves and sat down. Learning materials, assessment books, papers and pens soon scattered across the table as the four studied and worked diligently. After three hours of studying, the four packed their bags and left the library for lunch. They would be returning back to the library after getting some food for their starving stomachs, so they settled for the Japanese restaurant opposite the street.
"Yay ramen! It's been a while since I ate a bowl!" Rimu's face brightened upon being served the bowl of ramen he had ordered. "Oh but Nee-san's home-cooked ramen is still the best!"
"Are you trying to earn back the favour of your sister so that she could cook ramen more often? Hahaha, cheeky!" Amaro laughed.
"No! I genuinely like Nee-san's cooking! It's just not often that we can eat ramen," Rimu quickly corrected Amaro's statement before eating a piece of Naruto.
"I bet if you said her cooking isn't good, she won't cook for you anymore. Are you that lazy to prepare your own food? Didn't you cook bento for your sister from time to time too?"
"I'm not lazy! But I really like Nee-san's food! It's really the best in the whole world. I can vouch for that. If Nee-san was to enter a cooking competition, she will come up first!"
Amaro and Rimu bickered between each other and Sakura occasionally agreed to each of their statements from time to time, adding in her own opinions. Kaiyo felt second-hand embarrassment with them speaking as if she wasn't there eating and sitting with them herself.
The more she see Rimu laughing, the more the smile on her face grew. She was glad that he was enjoying his time. Her smile fell slightly when memories of the past filtered in. Ever since that day, their familial relationship in the house had fallen apart and it was rare to see any one of them smiling or laughing, putting the past behind them.
--None of them could. For each of them have their own guilt for the hurt caused towards each other were too deep to just say 'I'm sorry'
Staring at the back of her left hand, Kaiyo thought back to Genji's words that he had conveyed to her in the bar.
...
"Being with them is more dangerous. They have enemies after their group. Wasn't the previous event enough for you to understand? What about Rimu-kun? Wouldn't being with them more often bring more trouble"
"Your hands are already full... Why are you putting more on your plate?"
"It's your safety, or not."
"You know my words aren't wrong."
...
That conversation was in the first week of December, and it was now the last week of December. After that day when Genji had spilled his honest thoughts to Kaiyo about the connection between her and the Red Clan, although Genji and Kaiyo never contact each other much other than getting supplies from him, Kaiyo could feel the rift between them.
She knew full well how true Genji's words hit home. But hearing his words... made her heart ache without reason.
'And the expression he had, it was so... grief-stricken...'
When they had finished their lunch and drinks, they left the restaurants and headed back to the library. Unfortunately for them, though it was expected, the tables were filled with students who had the same idea as them to study in the library.
Defeated, the group left the library. Standing by the small hill of steps outside the library, they were discussing where they would want to go, or they could start going back home or have the study session at someone's house instead.
"How about my house?" Sakura suggested. "It's been a while since we held a study session there anyway! My mom has been wanting to see you three, especially you Kai-chan! C'mon? Let's go? We can give a mini early new year celebration too!"
Seeing her face beamed so brightly, no one could refuse her. Eventually, they had decided to head over to Sakura's house for the study session and stay over for dinner.
They left the library sector and walked to the bus stop, waiting for the bus to bring them over to their housing areas. Kaiyo pulled out her spectacles to clean off the dust on them. When she put them back on her face, a scream broke out nearby, capturing the attention of those around. Heads turned to the left to where the scream had rung out, Kaiyo watched a few numbers of people running as well as some making way by bolting to the side for the people that were running through the crowd.
When the crowd gave way for the people running, Kaiyo immediately recognised the first person running—or at least, rolling down the street using the skateboard. "Yata-san?"
The person chasing behind him was familiar, but Kaiyo couldn't remember where he had seen the guy before. Yata skated for a few more seconds before he whirled around on his skateboard as a film of red aura coated his board and with a swift kick, it flew through the air and hit squarely against the person's head.
The guy fell to the ground, clutching his now bleeding and slightly burnt off head. Wasting no chance of letting the opportunity pass by, Yata ran forward to close the distance and coating his right foot with his red aura, he kicked out his right leg, aiming to hit the guy's head.
The guy was competent in fighting and used the fallen skateboard beside him as a shield against his head. Yata's foot met the board and the board made a loud 'crack' sound.
"!? You asshole!" Angered that his skateboard was used to defend against him, he grabbed at the person's collar, pulling him off the ground and coating his fists. Feeling the heat of the aura, the person struggled and threw a strong swift punch to Yata's jaw, taking the male by surprise.
He let go of the person's collar and the guy managed to stand on his two feet before kicking out a leg and hitting the teenager in his stomach, sending him flying backwards for a second and hitting the hard bricked ground.
Grunting and coughing, Yata grabbed at his stomach as he tried pushing himself back up after seeing the male approaching him.
Unable to watch any longer, Kaiyo passed her bag to Amaro haphazardly and ran towards the fallen Yata.
"E-Eh Kaiyo!? Hey!!"
They were fighting on the same side of the street the bus stop was on. It would only take a few seconds to reach them. "Hey!"
Hearing someone calling behind him, he looked over his shoulder and saw the familiar hair colour and face. "Y-You!" He spluttered out as Kaiyo kneeled down and helped pull him up quickly. Embarrassment poured out his pores, but because of the situation, he contained his flustered self and didn't refuse her help. Kaiyo slid a step forward, standing in a stance in case the person in front of them lashes out.
"Now you're getting a girl's help? What a coward you are! I didn't know Red members are such wussies," the guy jabbed at Yata. His expression was beyond cold and black, meaning he was angered. "You guys lashed out at us and even stabbed one of our members with a knife so suddenly? Who are you trying to anger? If it wasn't for Boss Genji instructing us not to make any trouble with you Reds, we would have shot a bullet to your heads!"
'What?' Kaiyo was stupefied by the words she was hearing from the person.
"We weren't planning to do that! I don't know why he did it... ugh that asshole just acted by his ownself!" Yata started muttering to himself towards the end, cursing at one of his clanmates.
"I don't care who the f*** is responsible for what shits, but I need your ass handed over to Boss Genji."
'He has relation to Genji-san? ... Now that I'm much closer to him... Isn't he...?'
Eyes widening, Kaiyo's raised hands unclenched from their fists. "Aren't you..."
The person frowned at Kaiyo who seemed to have recognised him. "You know me? Never mind, I have matters with the person behind you. Could you move aside quickly? I don't want to hurt innocent people but I want to settle this quickly and drag him to the hospital and right in front of Genji-sama." His eyes darkened. "Unless you're a Red?"
"Chojiro! There's no time to lose! Get over here! We need to bring him to the hospital!!" Someone yelled. A distance in front were two guys on the floor—one was holding onto another person lying on the ground, clutching a part of his body.
Having recognised the person fallen on the floor, Kaiyo's eyes widened like saucers. Mouth dropping open, her legs moved before her brain could think. She kneeled down beside the person gasping in pain while pulling out her phone in her pocket.
The guy holding onto the injured person looked at Kaiyo with surprise, but immediately struck his hand forward and pushed at Kaiyo's shoulder. She fell backwards from the sudden action.
"Who the hell are you!? Citizens just back off! Don't think I won't skin you alive if you touch him!" The person yelled. His head snapped to the right and he shouted at the person sitting on the floor with his back resting against the building. A part of his face was starting to turn a dark blue and a trail of blood was seen dripping out from his mouth. A bloodied knife was seen in his hand. "You should be glad we can't make a damn move against your ass because of our own orders, but if you move another f***ing step, I will really shoot a bullet into your f***ing head!"
Eyes narrowing, Kaiyo guessed that he was the one who attacked the person on the floor. She took off her glasses and saw a thin red aura emitting from the person's figure. '... I can't believe what I heard was right... Isn't this bad? Won't this cause a feud between Homura and Genji's people?'
She then glanced at the injured person who was more important than her thoughts. She pushed herself up and quickly punched a number into her phone and called the number. The person on the other side took a while to pick up, grating on her nerves. When it finally connected, Kaiyo spoke first, "Soma-san! Come to this location with an ambulance, or a car or whatever!"
Kaiyo called Soma because the hospital he was working in was the closest to here.
Soma, who just picked up the call, was confused about her words. He voiced out his concern as he noticed how the other side was speaking very urgently. "What happened—"
"There's someone heavily injured here! Please come! You have to come!" Kaiyo yelled into the speaker once before cancelling the call and sent a GPS map of her current location. She then typed in another set of numbers and called it. This number too took a while to pick up.
"Hey! What are you trying to do!?" Chojiro, the guy who fought with Yata and had dealt with him and rendered him unconscious. He was holding him by his clothes and dragging him on the floor. He threw him by the man leaning unconsciously against the building and walked over quickly. He had burn marks over his skin, showing the raw bleeding flesh underneath and his hair was crisped at some ends with his temple leaving dried specks of blood. He paid his injuries no mind, but his face was scrunched up in pain as he pulled out a roll of bandages to wrap over his arm.
The call connected just when Chojiro stood by her side and reached out a hand to her shoulder.
"Little one? Why are you calling—"
"Get over to AX hospital right now! Your men will tell you more!"
Before she let the other person on the call say anything else, she passed the phone over to Chojiro while smacking his hand off her shoulder. "Take it and speak!" She forcefully pushed her phone to the person's ear. When Chojiro heard the other side's voice, he was visibly surprised. "Boss!?"
"Huh? Chojiro? Why are you on this phone?"
"That's what I want to ask you Boss! Why is she calling you?" Chojiro looked over at the female and asked, "Who are you?"
"I don't know what happened but if you are on this phone and she's asking me to go to the hospital, follow her orders. I will be there soon." Genji on the other side had a bad foreboding feeling as his chest tightened. He picked up his suit coat and left his office.
Kaiyo ignored what was happening and kneeled back beside the person gasping in pain. Assessing his injuries, he was stabbed twice on his body. One at his right abdomen and the other at the right side. The side knife mark wasn't deep, but the other was a deep stab; blood was profusely flowing out, staining his clothes and the bricked floor where she had kneeled on. He was injured in a very dangerous place as well. Every second counts, but she couldn't use her healing ability directly out in the open.
"You... wait, you..." The other person who stood by Kaiyo's side sucked in a breath. He seemed to finally recognise the female. Upon realising it, he snapped out of his stupor and left his injured teammate to her while he went over to the Red member who had attacked them. While he was doing so, Kaiyo placed a hand on the person's hand that clutched his injury while her other hand lightly tapped on the person's shoulder. "Goto-san! Goto-san!"
Goto squinted open an eye at her voice. He could vaguely recognise the voice, but his brain wasn't working well enough. Pain and fear clouded his mind and he was trying his all to keep his conscious. Kaiyo used her ability on the output that wouldn't have her hand coated in aura, at least hoping that she could ease his pain or decrease the blood flowing out.
Just then, sirens rang and an ambulance was seen swerving down the road. Within a few seconds from the sound ringing, the van pulled by the side of the pavement as close as possible. A white coat male stepped down from the driver's seat and saw the scene in front of him—Kaiyo and the injured male—and ran to the back of the van, opening the double doors and pulling out a stretcher.
"Soma-san!" Kaiyo was glad. He was quick on his feet. Thoughts about how many traffic rules he had flaunted to come here so quickly surfaced on her mind and she reminded herself to thank him for his help.
"It might hurt real bad, but we need to pick you up," Soma explained as he kneeled beside Goto. Goto grunted in answer. Soma then pulled Goto onto the stretcher with the help of Chojiro and the other guy, Soma pushed the stretcher into the ambulance and Kaiyo stepped inside. When the doors were closing, a hand grabbed onto the side of the door, pulling one side back open. Chojiro stood by the door. Kaiyo's phone was returned back to her. Chojiro had returned it to her after Genji had given him a few instructions.
"I don't know who you are, but if Boss asked me to trust you, I shall deem you as not our enemy. But if you do anything funny, you better watch your back," he threatened with a harsh glare on his face.
She quickly cleaned her bloodied hands on her clothes to receive her phone.
Kaiyo steeled her gaze and nodded her head. "Don't worry. With me here, Goto-san won't be placed in danger."
Chojiro's glare lightened when he noticed how she called Goto with such familiarity. He opened his mouth and said, "We will see you at the hospital. Boss said to tell me that he will see you there too." He then turned on his heels and Soma quickly closed the doors back.
Quickly sending a message to Sakura to tell her that they should head home and have Rimu stay over at her house and that she will owe her a favour, Kaiyo pocketed her phone and bolted to Goto's side. She knew that her friends will question her about these people, but now, she couldn't leave Goto like this.
Within the back of the ambulance filled with the smell of antiseptic and strong medical alcohol, Soma cursed. "He lost consciousness! There's too much blood loss!" He then rushed to get Goto's blood type to call the hospital to prepare a bag for him.
His mouth fell open when Kaiyo grabbed a pair of scissors and started cutting Goto's clothes into half from the front and pulled them apart, showing the bleeding injuries. Kaiyo's eyes widened with horror when she saw how severe the abdomen injury was. The guy not only stabbed deeply into the body but twisted the blade in the flesh and dragged it to the left side of the body. The sides of the knife wound were slightly scarred and blackened. "Did that bastard coat his aura on the blade?!"
Soma, who was prepping up the oxygen mask on Goto, stopped his movements. "What!? It's good that the blade didn't touch the abdominal aorta, but it is harder to work on and heal burnt cells! Hey wait—!"
Kaiyo placed her hands on the wound. The red blood stained her hands and her brows scrunched together from the sensation of the thick, sticky yet mucky feeling of blood against the palm of her hands and fingers.
Taking in a deep breath, Kaiyo gathered her aura at her hands. The yellowish-green aura coat her hands, fanning out from her fingers and reaching up to her wrist. As she sent her aura into the open wound, she could feel the burnt cells and tissues around the sides of the wound.
Soma stared wide-eyed at Kaiyo, unable to believe the sight in front of his eyes. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water; his voice stuck without a sound leaving his lips.
The recovery was slow as it was hard to rejuvenate the cells and have the other cells clear up the dead ones. And if Kaiyo forces it, it would cost Goto's body. His body may go into shock if the change was too sudden. At the very least, she should stop the blood first. The aura spiked and flared on her hands as she pushed her aura to cover over the injury more.
Soma, "What...?"
Kaiyo breathed out slowly and spoke, "Please don't share my ability out. I'm healing him but it will take time. I think it's best we put him up on an IV drip and get his blood type for a blood transfusion later... I have stopped the major blood flow, but he will still be losing a bit from the process of healing the burnt and dead cells, so he had already lost quite a bit..."
Soma blinked once before snapping out and getting the necessary equipment.
As Kaiyo was working on the injury using her ability, she stared at the nearby floating beings in her sight. A pleading smile crossed her features and she softly asked them for help. A few of them looked up at her with their tiny eyes and floated onto the back of her hands. Her aura permeated into the beings, turning their translucent body into a more solid yellowish colour. The aura on her hands spiked and glowed a brighter yellowish green.
Soma stared for a few more minutes before shaking his head and going back to his work. He work in a hospital that treats people with abilities and works with people who have them, but most of them were offensive abilities and Kaiyo's ability of healing was something he has never seen before.
"We are here!" The driver yelled from the other side of the closed window where he was sitting at the driver's seat.
Kaiyo's head snapped to the right before looking back on her hands. "Soma-san could I trouble you to find something to cover my hands? I..."
"Huh?"
"I would prefer... if no one knew..."
Realising what she was referring to and her worries, he nodded his head. "It's the least I could do. You're the one doing the work now, so I leave him to you." He took out a water-resistance gown, tore it out from its package and covered it over Kaiyo's hands that were still held over Goto's half-healed injury just as the doors of the ambulance was opened. As they will be dragging the stretcher out, Kaiyo took a step up and climbed onto the stretcher Goto was on and used her knees to support herself from sitting on Goto's legs.
Soma directed the nurses that came to help to drag the stretcher out, telling them to let Kaiyo do it. Those who saw Kaiyo were surprised but quickly brought back their professionality and pushed the stretcher into the A&E ward.
Soma quickly pulled the curtains to cover their bed area, giving Kaiyo the privacy she had asked for. Kaiyo stepped down from the stretcher to stand by the side.
She had stopped the blood flow and was starting on the burnt cells around the wound, but it will still take a while more. At least they had crossed the dangerous line of his death. She moved one hand to the other injury on his side. The wound too had signs of burnt cells and will take a while to heal over, but it would be much faster than the deeper one. Her eyes looked over at Goto's face—seeing his pale skin and scrunched brows.
Just then, the curtain was raised before it fell back down. Soma rushed to push in a medical cart with each section holding a metal tray with a few items on it and a vital signs monitor machine.
"How's it going?" Soma started putting on medical gloves after disinfecting his hands. "I will be putting him on blood transfusion and a shot of bacterial infection."
"I have stopped the blood flow and am trying to close both of the injuries, the one on the abdomen and the side. But the burnt cells are making the recovery a little harder... The person who used his ability had wielded it well..." Kaiyo was not complimenting the person, but she was cursing at him in her heart. Anger swelled as she thought about returning Goto's pain to him, stabbing the same knife into his body.
Once Soma had started setting up the drip for blood transfusion and gave Goto a shot of bacterial infection, he wired Goto up to the vital signs machine and was glad that his signs were in the agreeable numbers except for blood pressure due to blood loss. Soma then gave him another jab to help increase his blood pressure.
He glanced at Kaiyo as she stood there, unmoving, eyes trained on her hands still resting on the wound. Sweat could be seen visibly appearing on her forehead and temple, showing signs of tiredness but she kept going. He didn't know much about her abilities, but he knew working on both injuries at the same time will exhaust her more.
He thought about how he knew this person. Was he related to her for her to be this anxious? Yes, he could see the fear and unease showing on her face, as well as the determination to save the person on the bed.
Kaiyo wasn't sure how long had passed, but by the time she had deemed that both the wounds were closed, she removed her hands to check over the injuries. Her palms reached out, only to stop when she realised how 'painted' red both her hand were. "Um... Soma-san, I've closed the wounds but I think we will need to double-check if it's properly done. But I can't do it." Pulling her hands away, she looked up to face Soma, "so could I trouble you to help me..." Closer to the end of her speaking, her eyes went wide from surprise. Her lips fell open and a name passed through.
"... Genji-san?"
With a hand above his head to lift the curtain to pass through and look in, Genji was standing there, breathing a little heavy after having run his way from the carpark to the reception and entering the A&E bed wards to get to where Goto was stationed at.
The moment he so as lift the curtain, he was greeted with the most unforeseen and astonishing sight that he was left stunned in his position of lifting the curtain. Even after his breath had stabilised from his short run, he still had yet to move nor say anything.
Kaiyo knew that Genji was coming over, but she never thought that he would come that fast.
"That blood..." Genji slowly spoke, expression turning dark and grim, "They aren't yours..." his jaws locked, "are they?"
Kaiyo blinked once. "No... They are not. They are... " She slowly turned her head to glance over at Goto. She then turned back to Soma. "Soma-san, I have to trouble you to clean the blood. I think it's best to check if his wounds are fully closed and healed."
Genji frowned further and stepped in, letting the curtain fall back down. He walked over and stood on the other side of the bed, his eyes looking over at Goto's pale face before moving down to his abdomen while Soma was cleaning the blood off. Once the blood was cleaned off and Goto was transferred to another bed. Kaiyo looked over the injuries and nodded her head, finally letting her tense shoulders relax and sighed out in relief. Soma had checked the vitals and they were good, fortunately.
Genji's cold voice sliced through the busy environment of the somewhat silent environment within the closed curtains around the bed. "What really happened? Tell me."
Kaiyo looked up and met Genji's heated gaze.
Soma stepped in, saying, "Let her clean herself first. She was the first to administer first-aid and heal him up. She must be exhausted. At least let her wash the blood off." He turned to Kaiyo. "You should wash them off right away, lest it cause a bacterial infection in yourself. Let's talk more about it later." He then pushed the medical cart away from the bed after giving directions to the toilet.
Kaiyo followed his directions to the nearest restroom. As she neared the restroom, she felt something draped over her shoulders. She felt the material of a cloth and looked up and over her shoulder to see the taller figure of Genji behind her.
"Sorry, I was too heated. It was very inconsiderate of me. Wear it... To cover the blood over your clothes. From his words, I guessed that you had saved Goto." Genji's low voice filtered from above her head, tinted with a hint of concern. He had pulled off his coat and draped it over her shoulders, letting her wear and cover her figure. The warmth from his palm could be felt through the coat and her shirt, telling her that he was there. "I don't know how you did it, but I'm thankful for saving him, Kaiyo."
Kaiyo held up a hand to grasp the coat, only to stop mid-way after seeing her bloodied hand and dropped her hand back down. Genji looked at her, seeing how she was thinking about something before nodding her head, thanking him for his suit coat and entered the restroom.
Genji stared at the closed door for a few seconds before pulling out his phone when he got a notification and send the ward and bed number Goto was at to Chojiro. He wanted to know what happened, so he had Chojiro come to the hospital while he had Tarou—the other person with Chojiro and Goto—look over the two Red members at their separate base building.
Keeping his phone, he waited for Kaiyo. She exited out from the restroom a few minutes later with clean hands. She bad buttoned up the middle button of his suit coat to cover her bloodied clothes.
Genji felt more at ease without the sight of blood on her. When he had seen that amount of blood on her hands and clothes, his heart dropped and fear ate into him.
"Thank you for the coat. I will wash and dry clean your coat before returning it to you." Kaiyo thanked him.
Genji put on a smile. "No worries. Don't rush in returning it. I still have a few of them at home."
They walked back to Goto's side. With every step he took, Genji's eyes hardened. Kaiyo could feel his presence turning icier. Just as they took a turn that will lead them to the main bed areas in the A&E, they saw Chojiro standing by Goto's bed. Walking over quickly, Genji called Chojiro's name. Said person turned his head and saw his Boss behind him and bowed his head, furiously apologising to him.
Kaiyo stood a step behind Genji. Genji patted on Chojiro's shoulder, telling him that it was fine and that he was glad that he was not seriously injured. When Chojiro had straightened his back, he asked him what had happened.
Chojiro's expression twisted at that moment, eyes blazing with resentment. Knowing that he was in the emergency section, he kept his voice low as he explained what had happened, but he didn't hide his anger.
In gist, Chojiro and Tarou went out with Goto to handle a grocery business related with the bar as they were short on stock and met the two Red members. They seem to recognise them and thus stopped them with the basis of introducing themselves as part of wanting to know about the other group partnering with them. While they were speaking, one of the members pulled out a knife from somewhere and attacked Goto. To stop any further attacks, Chojiro and Tarou attacked the two Reds back.
Chojiro paused in his explanation. He was enraged by the member's actions that caused such serious injuries to Goto, but knew that fabricating what had happened with lies would do themselves no good. Sucking in a deep breath, Chojiro then said that the teenager with the beanie and skateboard—Yata—tried to stop the other Red from further attacking them and protected them when the other person wanted to drive the knife into Chojiro. But because they were too aggrieved, they attacked him in return after subduing the first Red attacker.
Genji had seen his hesitation in telling the actual truth and was contended that he told the truth. Patting him on his shoulder again, Genji squeezed his palm to tell his fellow member that he was proud of him. "It was a good choice. Thank you for telling me the truth." Releasing his hold, he glanced over at the unconscious Goto, his eyes darkening with hidden malice. "I will make sure that they will have the proper repayment. Looks like I will have to make another meeting with the Red King."
Kaiyo's jaws locked against each other, her eyes staring at the back of Genji's. Genji might not have any abilities, but it was his wits, combat strength and sharp intuition that led him to where he was currently at. She felt uneasy for Homura now.
Soma had returned from attending other patients and looked over at Goto's vitals before facing Kaiyo. "I'm really thankful for your help. If not for your help there, he..." Soma's eyes glanced towards Goto's face, "... it would be hard to say if he could survive with the injuries he faced by the time an ambulance came and bring him over to the hospital for surgery."
Genji's eyes went wide upon hearing Soma's statement. Coming from a doctor, those words hold a meaning sometimes and can be taken at face value.
"By the way, it's not a good time and I'm in no position to ask, but do you know them?" Soma looked between Kaiyo, Genji and Chojiro.
Kaiyo stiffened momentarily, not knowing how to reply to that question. She wrecked her brain for an answer that wouldn't sound too suspicious but couldn't think of anything. "I..." She started, "... We met before, but we aren't too close. I knew them from Suoh-san and Kusanagi-san. You can call it an acquaintance thing. I couldn't stand not helping and letting Goto-san..., so I helped out with healing him."
Genji looked over to Kaiyo, an unreadable expression crossed his features before he kept a straight look. He noticed that she had said 'healing' and thus questioned about it.
Kaiyo looked up at him. The two of them never broke contact. She was contemplating in her head before casting her eyes on Goto. She then looked over at Chojiro. Hands gripping at the ends of the coat's sleeves since the sleeves were longer than her arm, she made up her mind and turned to close the curtain to prevent outside people to see.
Genji raised a brow at her actions but never asked about it.
Facing Genji, Kaiyo whispered out loud enough for only those within the curtains to hear, "For the things that will happen from now on, please keep it to yourself."
"Alright."
Kaiyo's eyes didn't leave Genji's face. The latter raised a questioning brow and it dropped back down when Kaiyo added, "Please swear it as the Boss of your group."
Chojiro was flabbergasted before irritation took over him. "How could you say—!" He paused in his words when Genji held out a hand in front of him. He looked over at his Boss who was holding Kaiyo's gaze.
Genji held Kaiyo's eyes that looked back at him. It was stern and deep, and he understood that she was trusting him with this whispered secret. Nodding his head, he kept the promise he would be saying to his heart. "I swear on both as the Boss and myself. I don't know who this guy is," Genji cast a glance on Soma before looking back at Kaiyo, "but if there is anyone here who dares leak what will be said here, I shall see them staked before me and I shall leave their bodies to ruins."
Chojiro glanced over at Kaiyo with his mouth wide open. Who was this girl for his Boss to swear a vow like this? His body stiffened when he felt the heavy pressure laid upon him when Genji looked over to him with his gaze. He understood what he wanted from him just by his look. Turning to Kaiyo, he bowed his head a little. "I follow Boss' wishes."
Kaiyo felt that he was forced into the promise but didn't push him to do it. She knew the people under Genji were loyal to him. Stepping closer to Chojiro who took a step back when she approached him, she said, "I won't do anything to harm you, so could I ask if you can put out your arms?" She noticed that his arms were wrapped haphazardly in bandages.
"What are you going to do?" Chojiro asked, sounding and looking hesitant but when Genji nodded his head towards him, he reluctantly held out his hands. Kaiyo then started unwrapping the bandages. Chojiro's face started twisting into an uncomfortable look to express his discomfort when the bandages rubbed against his torn and marred burnt skin on his arms. "What are you trying to do?" He asked.
Kaiyo placed the bandages aside and held her hands above the burn marks on his skin. Chojiro wanted to ask his question again, only to have his mouth hang open when an aura of yellowish-green spread out from Kaiyo's hands, coating her palms and his arms.
The moment this sight was seen by Genji, he couldn't help the exclamation of shock. "You—!" His astonishment grew when he saw how the burn marks were healing.
Chojiro felt the pain and discomfort on his arms decreasing as he watched with bewildered eyes as the reddish-black marks slowly disappearing from his skin. Eventually, the wounds on his arms disappeared, leaving no scars nor physical evidence that he was injured. Chojiro held up his hands, turning his arms around to inspect the surface of his skin while clenching and unclenching his hands. She healed up the wound on his temple too, only leaving the dried blood there as evidence of an injury.
Chojiro stared blankly.
--It was all better now.
Whilst doing so, his hands were grabbed by Genji to be inspected by him. No scars, no evidence of being burnt. The skin was healed properly. Eyes sharp, Genji turned to look over at Kaiyo who have yet to say anything and only stood there, looking back at the two of them.
"You, this... Aura? But the colour is..."
"I just have this ability. I'm not part of any group," she shook her head, "You asked about what I had done. I healed Goto-san with this ability." She glanced over at Goto before looking back at Genji.
Chojiro looked between his hands, Kaiyo and Goto; feeling a sincere feeling of gratefulness and awe.
"I hope you keep this to yourself. You know about the current clans. The colour representation of my ability is not under any of the clans colour representation."
Genji understood her meaning. If her ability were to get out, it would cause a sensational uproar between the clans. Especially one that could heal injuries, to an extent. But still, after knowing her for so long, he wasn't let known about her ability. He felt as if he was smacked from the back, but also given a second chance at redemption at the same time.
Facing Kaiyo, the two of them looked at each other. None making a move, none saying any words.
Feeling that he wasn't needed to be there anymore, he lifted the curtains and left to attend to other patients. He had deemed that the two strangers would not do anything in the hospital and to Kaiyo and thus left them to their own devices.
Seconds passed before Genji settled his emotions and arched his back, giving Kaiyo a deep bow. This act stunned both Kaiyo and Chojiro, where the former lifted her hands to try and have Genji straighten his back in a flustered manner and the latter staring at his Boss while blinking multiple times.
"Promises aside, I'm now in your debt. If you weren't there, Goto would have suffered more consequences and who knows what would happen."
Kaiyo's hand that was on his shoulder paused as she listened.
"If I were to lose him, I will not only lose a right-hand hand to the group but also a very, very important friend..." Genji's voice tightened upon imagining such a scenario. "I'm really thankful for your help. I would also like to thank you for healing Chojiro even if it was to explain about your abilities. This secret, we will keep it." His actions and words were showing and giving his full gratitude to Kaiyo for saving Goto and healing Chojiro.
Chojiro too bowed his head when he heard his Boss' words. He might not have ties with Kaiyo but saving Goto means she is a good person. Those were his thoughts.
"I know, I know. Goto-san is a friend too, so let's stop this!" Kaiyo pushed at Genji's shoulders, prompting him to stop bowing and lift his head. She looked over at Chojiro, asking him to lift his head too. She was relieved that the curtains were drawn, else she would have been embarrassed for the people watching these two grown men bowing their heads at her. She was already flustered enough as it is. "I can't bear to witness Goto-san like that knowing that it's Goto-san. If it happened again, I would still not hesitate to do what I did. So please, come on! Don't be like this!"
Since Genji was much taller than Kaiyo, just by lifting his head, he could see Kaiyo's face. It was somewhat cute, her actions and words. Whenever they meet, she always don on a serious and cold expression, as if she would rather not see him or know him at all from the very beginning. To a certain extent, he felt hurt. But after witnessing—or in his case, told—that she had saved Goto, an itchy feeling scratched at his heart.
With a rare gentle smile on his face, his hands reached out, wrapped themselves around the shoulders and he pulled Kaiyo into a hug.
Kaiyo's hands slipped off his shoulder and were held in the air, frozen in place by the sudden act of being pulled into Genji's hold.
Chojiro stared flabbergasted before quickly looking away and slowly turning around to avoid being a disturbance.
Kaiyo blinked her eyes a few times and she heard Genji whispering a soft 'thank you' by her ear. "No amount of thank you can express how grateful I am..."
His warm breath that touched against her skin made her ear twitch and the tips turn slightly red.
"Um ... Genji-san?"
Genji didn't reply nor did he move.
Helpless, Kaiyo hummed and quickly returned the hug and patted his back softly in a gesture. "You're welcome."
A/N
It's been a while and I agree QAQ I got a little blocked about how to continue or what to write about. Quite funny for a fanfic right hahaha I was thinking it's quite contradictory too since as a fanfic, I'm somewhat already writing on top of a story content that is already out.
Time was hectic too, I was a little busy and with the blocked mind, I took a while to think about the story.
As a gift, I had written this chapter a little longer than usual, I think. Hope you have enjoyed reading!
And the past few months, I have been reading on novels and man, I have been sticking to BL novels, just can't stop. Just finished 地球上线 on top of many many others and it's really nice :D Reading 默读 and I can't wait for the donghua to come out! There are a few other novels I'm reading too and wanted to read. Now that I think about it, the list is long. OH and 天观赐福's donghua is having a S2 soon!! CHEERS CHEERS
If you have read to the end of this ' 'author' have something to say' note, I bid you a good day ahead and do rest well! :)