After they had explained what had transpired from the point of Kaiyo and Anna getting kidnapped and to how Kaiyo was transported to the hospital to undergo operation, Rimu was on the verge of wailing on the spot, but he tried his hardest to hold them back. His lips quivered and his hands shook even after clenching his pants to keep them from trembling.
It was hard trying to get Rimu to speak about his and Kaiyo's father. He then explained that their father was currently on a business trip. It was understandable that the two siblings didn't want to disturb their father as he work, but it doesn't explain the reason about not telling him about Kaiyo being admitted to the hospital.
After speaking to the little boy for a while, they found out that the two of them had lost their mother to a car accident.
Kusanagi had an inkling feeling that there was something wrong. Even Anna said that there was something that's preventing Rimu and Kaiyo from telling their father about the situation. There's something blocking her from reading into their thoughts whenever she tried to by using her ability.
--It's like they have a wall in both of their hearts and minds.
Anna glanced between Rimu and Sakura. A thought flashed through her mind and she lifted the marble in her hand. She looked through it towards the female sitting beside the boy.
Looking into her thoughts she saw the brief image of people screaming and a bottle flying through the air before it vanished. The next scene was a scene where Kaiyo came running towards her—Sakura—and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly.
Anna pulled the marble away from her eyes when the scene ended since Sakura's attention was taken away from her thoughts and memories when Rimu called her name.
Mikoto saw the conflicted expression on Anna and questioned her. "Did you see something?"
Anna thought about it before shaking her head. "It was nothing."
Mikoto knew she was lying but left it at that.
Looking at the tired Rimu, Kuanagi sighed out softly and thought it was best to leave it as it was.
"I apologise," Kusanagi said, taking the boy's attention to him. "for... interrogating you like this on and on. It wasn't my business to butt in."
Rimu stared at him before shaking his head, indicating that he didn't mind it. Rimu actually expected those questions to be asked for him. He knew they wanted answers, but Rimu didn't want to tell anyone because he promised Kaiyo. Sakura kept mum as well, in respect for Kaiyo and Rimu. It's not her place to say anything.
Just then, someone approached their group who were sitting by the tables. It was the doctor who talked to Kusanagi and Anna right outside the operating room.
"She's stable now." The doctor said. "My boss said you can visit her now. She's in the hospital class A wing. I can bring you there if you would like."
Eyes widening, Rimu pushed himself off the chair and stood onto his feet. "I want to see her!"
Thanking the doctor, the group was directed into the A wing of the hospital. Class A wing hosts one bed per room.
The hospital was empty at this time of the late night other than the occasional appearance of doctors and nurses, so it was easy to navigate to the A wing. Passing the gantry with a pass given to each of them, they took the elevator up and touched down on a floor.
Walking out and being guided to an opened door, the doctor gestured inside. "Please do not touch anything in the room. If something was to happen, please call for a nurse or a doctor. I have some things to settle. Oh and, my boss wants me to tell you that he will be coming in a while."
Mikoto and Kusanagi nodded their heads; the latter thanked the doctor for his efforts.
Rimu went in first. Upon seeing his sister on the bed, tears sprung to his eyes as he slowly trudged towards the bed.
With an oxygen mask on her face, Kaiyo was dressed in the hospital gown. Any areas of her body that weren't covered by the gown, was covered with the peach-white bandages. There was the heart monitor stuck to her body underneath the gown connected to a machine and an IV drip on her left hand.
"Nee-san..." Rimu sobbed as he touched her bandaged left arm lightly. "Why... Why does this always happen to you..."
--Always?
Sakura approached the bed, placing her hand on Rimu's head to console the crying boy. She turned to look at Kaiyo who laid unconscious on the bed.
As the three Red members were watching, a knock resounded from the door of the room. The people in the room turned their heads to see a doctor standing by the door with a smile on his face.
Kusanagi gave his attention back to Sakura and Rimu. "He's our friend. We will be out for a while." He turned to Anna. "Anna-chan, stay with them."
Anna, "Hn."
With the nods of their heads, Mikoto and Kusanagi left the room.
"Let's talk in the next room." Their friend said as he slid open the unoccupied room next door. "C'mon in."
Kusanagi slid the door close since he was the last to enter.
"It's been a while." Their friend spoke as he sat on the end of the bed in the unoccupied room.
Mikoto grunted. "It had been."
"It was a surprise! Calling me at a godly hour, telling me to hurry to this location with an ambulance."
Kusanagi let out a stiff short laugh. "We had a lot on our plate at that time, Soma."
Soma pursed his lips before it set into a thin line. "As much as I can help you get an ambulance every time, there's always a limit to how much I can talk to the top. You can't suddenly call me and ask for an ambulance asap..."
Mikoto's gaze hardened upon Soma who flinched from his hard look.
Sweat appearing on his forehead and hair standing on the back of his neck, Soma held up his hands. "Don't! Don't set anything on fire! Please I beg you." When he saw that Mikoto's expression had lessened, he let out a sigh of relief. "If I overstep my boundaries, I could get kicked out from this hospital... In that time, I can't help you anymore, can I?"
"This hospital still specialises in healing people with abilities..." Frowning slightly, Mikoto looked away as he mumbled under his breath.
"We do have our own limitations as a hospital. Do give us some credit." Soma couldn't help but sigh. "So, what happened? I was one of the doctors that overlooked the operation on your member. She came in in a bad state.."
Kusanagi took the initiative and gave him a brief explanation about Anna and Kaiyo being kidnapped. They went to rescue them only to find Kaiyo in that kind of state.
"She was tortured by the kidnappers? ... At such a young age as well." Soma thought about it. "I fear for her mental health..."
Mikoto eyes softened from the frown he had plastered on as he stared at the wall by his side.
"Wait..." Something dawned in Soma's head as he listened to Kusanagi's explanation. "She's not a member?"
Kusanagi opened his mouth before closing it. "... Half half?"
Soma deadpanned. "What the hell are you talking about. This is not some fictional story where you can be in between."
Kusanagi laughed dryly. "Well... It's hard to explain. But the term 'half' explains her situation quite well despite how unsound it is."
Soma turned to Mikoto who averted his gaze away from his friend.
When the red head didn't want to explain it further and he knew Kusanagi will not if he didn't, he let out a sigh and left it as it was. "Alright, I won't ask anymore. But I would like to ask about the girl's situation.
"I think my fellow colleague had told you." Soma eyed the two people in front of him. Hands crossed over his chest, he said, "There is something that perturbed me."
Back at the room where the ravenette laid unconscious, Rimu sobbed as he held onto her sister's arm. His eyes scanned the bandages on wrapped around her skin and he cried even harder, his cries coming out in choked sobs as he tried his best to hold them back.
"Why... Nee-san... Even though it's not for the same reason you're this injured... You're always the one suffering... You're always the one..."
Sakura looked down at the boy before placing a consoling hand on his shoulder. A sad look crossed her features as unshed tears glistened in her eyes.
Anna looked through her marbles again, but it had the same results as before. She couldn't see Rimu's thoughts. She could feel his torrent emotions of sadness for Kaiyo and anguish for something but other than that, her abilities seemed to be blocked by something.
When looked into Sakura's mind, the same scene of Kaiyo running towards Sakura and wrapping her arms around her protectively played in her mind. A second later, the scene changed and they were thoughts and memories about the days they spent happily in school and attending school events and participating in them with their other friend Amuro.
Anna slipped the marble back into her pocket seeing as she couldn't find anything else. The first scene did make her question and have doubts, but she didn't know where to start. Asking them like that would be rude in this situation.
Moreover, it was her fault that Kaiyo was the injured patient on the bed. It should have been her. Because of her actions and mouth, Kaiyo had to step in and take the brunt of it.
Thinking back into her memories about catching the first sight of Kaiyo tied to the chair and bleeding heavily, her lips quivered and she felt the prick of pain at the back of her eyes. Approaching the bed, she held back her tears with clenched hands.
But when her eyes laid sight on the ravenette, she couldn't help the tears that started to escape.
--I should have been the one there...
Amber eyes flitted from the ground and settled upon the still sleeping ravenette as he sat on the couch facing the bed, placed three meters away. By his side laid Anna who had fallen asleep. A blanket was draped on her.
Sakura sat on the couch beside the one Mikoto was sitting on. She had fallen asleep as well.
Rimu sat on the chair beside the bed. He had both of his arms folded on top of his other and his head rest on top of them, his arms nestling around his head. Not willing to leave until Kaiyo wakes up, he continues to sit there and no one said a thing. Eventually, exhaustion pushed him off and he fell asleep.
"He fell asleep." Kusanagi pointed out. He approached the boy from where he stood and scooped him up into his arms gently. There was enough space for him to lie on the couch Sakura was sitting sleeping upright on so he placed him by her side. Taking the extra blanket he had asked from Soma, he covered the blanket over Rimu up till his neck. He took another blanket and covered it over his sister.
"They have gone through a lot huh."
Mikoto eyes looked away from the ravenette and glanced upon the three sleeping figures on his left.
It had been hours since Kaiyo was wheeled to the room and all five of them had never left the room other than getting necessities like food and water.
"King... Are you sure you won't regret it?" Kusanagi asked as his eyes laid upon the sleeping ravenette.
Glancing back at the ravenette, he grunted out an answer, "No."
With a raised brow, Kusanagi finally let the problem in his mind drop with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "Alright. Just confirming. But," he crossed his arms on his chest, "don't you think she might not be happy about it?"
"There's no disadvantages for her." Mikoto only closed his eyes and crossed his arms on his chest. Just then, his phone rang. With one eye opened, he fished out for his phone. Seeing the name on the screen, he accepted the call.
"Yes?" He grunted out. After hearing the commotion on the other side of the call, a clear frown plastered on his face. "Alright." He replied back. "I will be back soon."
Ending the call and keeping his phone, Mikoto cursed under his breath, "Those damn Blues doing whatever the hell they want." He looked up at Kusanagi. "I will be going back to deal with the problem." He stood up. "Will be leaving things here to you."
"Take care, King."
Mikoto nodded his head. Before leaving the room, he glanced back towards the bed before stepping out.
A long loud sigh left Kusanagi lips. He couldn't understand his King sometimes.
--What is going through your mind, Mikoto?
It was closing to dawn. The smallest glint of the sunlight seeping out from the horizons met the eyes of the only one awake--Kusanagi. Looking at the clock, he approached his sister. He called her name, shaking her awake.
Still half asleep, Sakura pushed the hand away. "Ten more minutes..." She mumbled.
"There's still school for you today."
Drowsily, Sakura opened her eyes. "But... Kaiyo-chan..."
"I can't have you skip school. Mother will kill me."
"But still..."
"Sakura." His voice was low. His face was masked with an expression of held back anger.
Awake once after recognising the look on her brother's face, she quickly folded and placed the blanket on the couch and stood up. "Yes sir!" She whispered-yelled. She looked to the side, seeing Rimu sleeping on the couch. "What about Rimu-kun?"
"Well..." He glanced towards the bed with the patient. "I will have to call the school and ask for a leave of absence due to a family problem. But it's just for a day. Today's a Friday, so he will have to still go back on the Monday."
"What about—"
"No." Kusanagi interrupted her, knowing what she was about to say. "Go back home and start preparing. And, could I trouble you to apply a leave of absence for Kaiyo? You can use this report copy as evidence." He picked up a few pieces of paper from the low rising table.
Accepting the papers from his hands, Sakura looked at the name of the patient on the paper.
--Kaiyo Sakomoto.
Mouth set in a thin line she nodded her head. "Alright..."
With goodbyes said and a dejected look on her face, Sakura left the room.
Exhaustion seeped into his bones and Kusanagi finally sat onto the space on the couch Sakura was sitting on previously. The only strength left his legs as he could finally take a rest.
He had been very busy since being notified of the kidnapping. Calling up his sources, giving instructions to his members and keeping Mikoto in check before he could burn down his precious bar from anger. Going to rescue them and bringing them to the hospital. Preventing Mikoto from burning down the hospital as well.
'I could take a nap too...' He thought before letting his half-lidded eyes close fully. 'Just for a short one hour then...'
Yells filled the room and the noise grated against the ears of the sleeping Kusanagi. He was sent jostling awake from his sleep when someone pulled on his hand, jerking his arm forward.
"Kusanagi-san! Kusanagi-san!!"
Kusanagi blinked his eyes, clearing his sight from his momentarily shock from being startled awake. He realised that it was Rimu who had woke him up, pulling his arm with his hands.
"What is it Rimu-kun?" He asked, his voice somewhat dry and hoarse.
"Ne-Nee-san is awake!!" Rimu choked back a sob as he yelled.
Eyes widening, his eyes glanced back onto the bed. Anna was standing by the side of the bed, overlooking at the ravenette laying on it. He stood up.
The moment his eyes clashed with the eyes of black, he approached the bed. "You're awake, Kaiyo-chan?"
Kaiyo blinked her eyes once as a response. She found talking hard with the oxygen mask on her face. She woke up to the sound of machines beeping by her ears and something wrapped around her mouth. The air was rich and easy on her lungs. There was the distinct scent of antiseptic as well. Knowing that she was in the hospital from her memories of being forced to be sent here, she opened her eyes. She first saw the white ceiling. Turning her head to the side, she saw the drawn translucent curtains over the window. Looking to the other side, she saw three people.
One was someone she was very familiar with. She had been living with him since day one of his birth. He was sitting on the chair with his head and hands on the side of the bed she was laying on.
The other two were people she had met few months ago and worked with. One with pale blonde hair and the other with white hair.
Looking at the sleeping figure by the side of her bed, Kaiyo slowly lifted her hand. She noticed the bandages wrapped around her arm starting from her wrist and down to her upper arm. Placing her hand on the figure's head, it aroused the young boy from his sleep.
With groggy eyes, he rubbed them with his hands. Opening them, he saw a pair of eyes looking at him and a hand on his head.
Eyes going wide open, he whispered, "Ne-Nee-san... Nee-san!! You're awake!!" He took her hand into his. "You're awake!! Thank god...!"
Hearing the ruckus from Rimu, Anna who was reading a book in her hands looked up from the texts. Upon seeing her awake, she threw the book onto the couch and ran to the side of the bed. Rimu then went over to call Kusanagi who approached her when he had woken up.
"How are you feeling?" Kusanagi asked before he shook his head and mentally slapped himself. "Wait, I will go call a doctor." He then left the room to call a doctor.
Half a minute later, Kusanagi had returned with a doctor.
"God, give me a break... Can't you call other doctors... You woke me up from my sleep and...!" Soma eyes widened when he saw that Kaiyo had woken up. Kusanagi had dragged him from where he had accidentally fallen asleep by the nurses' counter without telling him why he did so.
Anna and Rimu made way for Soma as he stood by the side of the bed.
"You're awake quite quickly. We had guessed that it would take you a few more days to regain consciousness." Soma explained as he took a glance at the monitor machine beeping quietly by the side. "Vitals are fine... We have given you a blood transfer during the operation... Seems to be adapting well." He took a look at the IV drip. "Since you're awake, I will increase the portion by a bit then." He fiddled with the IV drip for a few seconds before taking his stethoscope that was draped on his neck. "Are you able to lie on your side?"
Kaiyo moved her limbs a little before nodding her head lightly, determining that she was fine to do so.
Turning to her side, she felt the dull ache on her chest. The medication they had injected into her had lessened the pain.
"Okay stop. Anymore and you might overexert your body." Lifting the back of her shirt, he placed the bell of the stethoscope on her back. "Alright breathe a few times..."
After giving her a few more short examinations, Soma deemed her well enough. He was surprised. She had healed quite fast for a normal human. After taking a blood sample from her, he stuck a plaster on the needle wound.
"Can you remove... the mask...?" Kaiyo asked.
Soma thought about it and shook his head. "It's better to put it on. It eases the burden to breathe in air since you had broken your bone on the chest. With more oxygen, your lungs wouldn't exert too much."
With a grim look on her face, Kaiyo eventually accepted the need for the mask on.
"Another doctor will see..." Soma trailed off when he felt a glare on his back. Without needing to look back, he knew it was coming from Kusanagi. "...I will be back later in the day to give another examination after the results from your blood sample is out." Grabbing his clipboard he had left by the side table, he darted out from the room with a wave of his hand and a goodbye.
The moment his figure was gone, Rimu leaped to the side of the bed. "Nee-san.." He was already crying. Tears glistened in his eyes as he wiped them away.
"... How long was I out for?" Kaiyo asked.
Kusanagi looked at the clock. He was surprised to see that it was the afternoon. He had fallen asleep for that long. "You started your operation last night. About... sixteen hours."
She nodded her head. Plastering on a smile, Kaiyo greeted her brother.
"I'm sorry for worrying you like this." Kaiyo mumbled out softly. But it was loud enough. The room was filled with enough silence that a pin dropping on the floor feels loud to one's ears.
"It's not your fault!" Anna yelled out. Brows furrowed and lips pulled down into a frown, she glared at the ravenette. But she wasn't angry at her.
She was angry at herself.
"It's not your fault..." She repeated; this time in a softer tone.
Kaiyo looked at the white-haired female. Her eyes softened when she saw her trembling shoulders trying to hold back the tears. Flitting her eyes upon the table, she saw her necklace by the side table. Pushing herself up carefully, she grunted when she felt the ache in her limbs.
Kusanagi walked forward and helped her. "Don't rush to sit. You have broken bones."
"I tend to heal faster."
"That doesn't mean you can still... Haaa..." Kusanagi trailed off before sighing.
Kaiyo stretched her hand over to the side table and grasped her necklace in her hand. She touched the item with her thumb, lightly rubbing over the metal.
"Ah, Sakura found it by the site you were kidnapped at and we kept it for you." Kusanagi explained. "I heard from Anna-chan that you can't heal anyone without your necklace on you. Is your necklace the medium to use your abilities?"
Kaiyo had an unreadable expression on her face. "How much did Anna-chan tell you?"
Anna looked at the ravenette who was staring at Kusanagi. "I told them about your ability not working without your necklace and also... how you're able to fight using aura too... I'm sorry..."
Kaiyo stared at the female for a few more seconds before shaking her head and waved at her, signalling her to come closer and she did.
"It's fine... When you interrogated me the last time, asking me about my abilities, I did not tell you everything." Kaiyo touched the gauze pad on Anna's cheek.
"... That's understandable..." Anna mumbled under her breath. "But still this all happened because I ran my mouth without thinking... It doesn't change—!" She gasped when the hand by her cheek enveloped itself in a yellowish-green flame that coated the hand. Although she couldn't see the colour, she knew what it would be as she had seen it before. She felt the cut wound on her cheek closing slowly beneath the gauze pad.
The ravenette's name left her lips.
She raised her hand to stop her, but Kaiyo shook her head, indicating that she wants to do this.
Kusanagi, "But you're—"
"It's not all your fault either Anna-chan." Kaiyo spoke as she held the necklace close to her chest. It had glowed a dim yellowish colour when she coated her hand with her aura to heal Anna's wound. "You're HOMRA's precious member... They wouldn't want you hurt, Anna-chan."
Kusanagi, who stood by the side, stared between Kaiyo and Anna, had a thought pass his mind. 'But you're not even apart of us. Why do you go so far?'
When Kaiyo felt the wound would have closed fully by then, she brought her hand to the other side of the face, healing the bruise that could be seen to the eye. "You're their pillar of support. If something was to happen to you, the whole clan will fall into chaos."
She then moved onto the bandages on her head which covers the wound on her temple. "The one who will be the most conflicted and scolds himself will be Suoh-san because as a King, he carries a lot of burden on his shoulders." She then moved to the last wound on her arm. "If the King was to fall, the knights below them will fall as well. I didn't want that to happen," she pulled her hand away and rest both of her hands on her lap, "so I couldn't—"
"Couldn't let them do anything to me?" Anna interrupted. Tears gathered at her eyes. When Kaiyo started healing her wounds, she felt a torrent of emotions.
Both Anna and Kusanagi thought, 'She's gravely injured and healing my/her wounds was more important than recuperating?'
The scene of seeing Kaiyo tied to the chair with horrible bleeding wounds on her skin flashed across Anna's mind again. If Kaiyo was not traumatised, Anna was traumatised for her sake.
"You're not even... even..." Anna choked out. "You would sacrifice yourself for the safety of someone you don't know...?!"
Kaiyo's eyes blinked once. "I do know you." Kaiyo replied calmly.
Anna clenched her hands by her side. "But you didn't have to go so far!"
Kaiyo let a smile paint over her face. "Even if I did do it or not, it still wouldn't matter. I just wanted to do it." Kaiyo looked at the necklace she was holding onto. "Because no matter what I did, I had already lost your trust."
Kaiyo paused. It was such a tight silence that it felt as if it was strangling everyone in the room. Kaiyo's mouth moved to speak again. "That time," Kaiyo lifted her head and stared at Kusanagi, "the two of you believed in the leader's words, didn't you?" Her eyes were filled with hurt as she stared. She tried to control herself not to show any emotions. But her façade was cracking. All her efforts of self-control were breaking away from her face.
Kusanagi's shoulders tensed in response. Kaiyo saw that. Eyes looking away, she moved her head and stared past the translucent drawn curtains and out the glass window on the right. Her hand moved to remove the mask from her face. She had things she wanted to say. Things she didn't want to push back.
"Although you said you have forgiven me and made known that you don't think of me as a spy anymore, I have broken your trust once.
You have remembered that feeling at that time. When one had felt the feelings of despair and betrayal before, they will subconsciously remember it by heart. The heart will always remember who was the one. ... It's particularly hard to take being stabbed in the back close to home. I was once, although not very close, but still had communicated with you all. So... So, there is always a mixed feeling of betrayal when people of your own group oppose you...
When you heard the leader's words, those negative feelings resurfaced and you couldn't help but have doubts and suspicions if I had told them about your clan's secrets."
Kusanagi felt guilty. She was right. Even if they said they acknowledged that she was not a spy and that she had even used her ability to save Totsuka and Yata from their wounds on the spot regardless of being sick, when the leader spoke, he felt the feelings and thoughts of betrayal squeezing his heart.
Distressed, Anna looked down at the floor.
Kaiyo, "... You know, there is a saying, 'It is easier to forgive an enemy than a friend'."
Anna's head shoot up. "... Mikoto... Mikoto had made up for that..."
Realising what Anna was trying to imply, Kusanagi asked Rimu to leave the room for a few minutes. Rimu wanted to ask why, but upon seeing the look on his face, he understood the seriousness and nodded his head, saying that he will be getting a few drinks from the vending machine downstairs for them.
Confused, Kaiyo moved her head back to glance between Anna and Kusanagi.
With an unreadable expression on his face, Kusanagi stepped forward. Kaiyo saw the particle-beings around him turned a brighter hue of red on his arm, and just as she predicted, he coated his hand in a thin layer of his flames.
Kaiyo frowned upon seeing his hand. "What are you—"
"We... hesitated in rescuing you and we still feel terrible till now." Kusanagi explained. "After dealing with the leader and his men, Mikoto-san rushed over here. Ever since you have been warded in this room, he had never left except this early morning because he had some business that needed his attention. He was the most affected, self-inflicting himself with guilt. You begged us... you begged him to believe in you and yet we didn't move until Anna yelled at us to wake up. That had hit him the most."
Kusanagi continued to speak, "I know I can't ask you to trust me, or trust us now, but..."
Standing by the side of the bed, Kusanagi flamed hand lightly grasp her left hand that rest on her lap.
There was no heat, there was no signs of getting burn; his flames was just aura with no offensive effect.
Just as Kaiyo opened her mouth to question him about his actions, a pale dim red colour light ignited from her peripheral. Blinking once, her eyes looked down. She could feel the warm and mellow tingles on her left hand which was covered by Kusanagi's flame-lit hand.
Her brows creased together. Kusanagi was currently using non-heat properties of his flames. She shouldn't be able to feel any heat.
Kusanagi then had let go of her hand.
Shock overcame her as her eyes widened as large as saucers.
A red light filled her vision as she stared at her hand. It was so distinct that her surroundings and the sounds of the machines beeping by her ears due to her racing heart were meaningless to her.
The colour was recognisable. For someone who could see clan's members colours, the colour was so recognisable for her. And... She knew the pattern that was painted on her skin. She had seen it before on some other people back when she was working in the bar.
--The Red Clan's insignia.
Kaiyo snapped her eyes to look at Kusanagi wide-eyed. Her mouth open and closed like a fish breathing out of water. Her mind was swirling with numerous thoughts and her emotions were a torrent of rain.
It was only a minute later that she sucked in a breath and spoke.
"What is the meaning of this?"