His eyes opened. A white marble ceiling brightly greeted Kenji. He frowned at the pouring light, then grimaced sharply at the pain he felt. The hot pain starting from his abdomen seemed to sharply scramble his head.
Still, it was better than before losing consciousness. Kenji gritted his teeth against the pain and groaned as he raised his body.
Then, someone suddenly shoved their face into his view. Kenji flinched as he met amber eyes staring intently at him.
"Corpse-san, you're awake."
"……Corpse?"
"Ah, my apologies. It's a habit, so I slipped."
She said that and then let out a hm hm sigh without any change in expression.
"Let me start over. Patient-san, you're awake."
Kenji let out a disbelieving cough. But what was important now wasn't her way of speaking, but where this place was. Looking around, it seemed to be a hospital, but the location of that hospital was important. If this was Trinity, there was a possibility someone had reported him after seeing the wanted poster.
Then he had to run. If the Student Council President's words were true, he shouldn't meet those kids until at least the Teacher appears. A misstep could twist everything.
"Where is this?"
"Gehenna Surgical Hospital."
"Gehenna……?"
At the unexpected answer, Kenji blinked and muttered.
Gehenna. Well, it was fortunate this wasn't Trinity. There was virtually no chance someone would report him after seeing a wanted poster. But he never dreamed he'd wake up in Gehenna. The distance between Trinity and Gehenna wasn't close either. Waking up in a completely different regional hospital after losing consciousness raised many questions.
"Yes, Gehenna. I'm Himuro Sena from the Emergency Medicine Department. I'm serving as your dedicated nurse, corpse…… I mean, patient-san."
"Do you know why I'm here?"
"What's that? Have you perhaps developed amnesia?"
The woman who introduced herself as Sena covered her mouth with her hand and asked. But there was no change in her expression. It was clear she was trying to express surprise, but with such an expressionless face, it didn't look very surprised.
Kenji stroked the pure white bandages covering his abdomen and spoke.
"It's not amnesia, but I don't know why I'm in this hospital. I lost consciousness and woke up here."
"Hmm. That's certainly plausible."
Sena nodded. She looked at Kenji's patient file and spoke point by point.
"Gender male. Identity unknown. Name unknown. Found collapsed alone at the hospital entrance. Condition was critical so surgery was performed first; fortunately, no threat to life. There may be aftereffects, but none have been found so far. Decided that Himuro Sena from Emergency Medicine, who assisted the surgery, would serve as dedicated nurse."
"……."
"I've roughly summarized and informed you. Is this sufficient?"
At Sena's question, Kenji nodded.
'The Black Suit, that bastard must have brought me here.'
He somehow bought time with medication and used some means to come all the way to Gehenna and left me in front of a hospital. Considering his situation in Trinity, it was an appropriate measure, but whether he had a reason to go that far was another matter. Thinking about his condition at the time, taking him to a nearby hospital would have been better than going all the way to Gehenna.
'Was he confident I'd hold on until I arrived here?'
Kenji let out a hearty laugh and twisted the corner of his mouth.
Anyway, he's a weird guy. Too ambiguous to call an ally, but showing a strange amount of goodwill and trust to call an enemy, someone you can't quite hate. Still, since he did save him, Kenji stopped judging the guy's rights and wrongs. It wasn't an important issue right now anyway.
"Thank you for telling me. And, might I know how long I've been lying here?"
"One week. The new year has already dawned."
One week. The time spent talking with the Student Council President in the dream was merely a few hours, but a week had passed in reality. Kenji sighed deeply and lay back down on the bed. He could have kept sitting up, but the pain was too severe. Lying down hurt less.
"I'll call the doctor soon. You can rest for a while."
"Yes……."
Kenji answered with difficulty and stared blankly at the ceiling. When Sena left the room, no one remained in the room except Kenji. It was a private room. Whether it was because his condition was critical or the Black Suit pulled some strings, it didn't matter. And being alone was better for organizing his thoughts.
'One year from now.'
After the seasons change four times, between the following winter and spring. Then, the Teacher will come to Kivotos.
If you said there was plenty of time, there was, but frankly, it felt tight.
First, he had to achieve something before meeting the Teacher. The best method was to hone the power he possessed. If he could reduce the recoil felt each time he used his techniques and master how to use power efficiently, he would clearly be of great help to the Teacher. Of course, the martial aspect might not be greatly emphasized, but it would be better than playing around for a year and then going as he is now.
And as time passes, various other good methods might come to mind. First, it would be better to gain better control over the Fear than now and then set new goals. Kenji thought so and nodded.
After organizing his thoughts, hunger surged. Having been unconscious for a week, it was natural to be hungry.
But he couldn't just shove anything in. His stomach probably couldn't handle it, and since the bullet penetrated his abdomen, he had to be cautious with food. If he carelessly ate greasy food and the barely recovering organs festered, it would be a huge headache. Not wanting to reopen the sutured area, Kenji erased thoughts of food from his mind for now. It was a matter he could ask the doctor when he came.
A few minutes later. Sena entered the room with a doctor. The doctor was a tall robot. He wore a kind smile on the screen serving as his face and asked Kenji various questions. Kenji answered by mixing lies and truths appropriately. He couldn't honestly explain why he was shot.
Fortunately, the doctor didn't interrogate him closely and left the room after telling him to speak up if anything was uncomfortable. Sena also bowed her head in greeting and followed the doctor out. When asked if he could eat something, they said to observe the progress first. Fortunately, they said he could drink water, so he filled his stomach with water for now.
"……Hoo."
He roughly wiped the water flowing from the corner of his mouth and smiled while staring out the window.
The world outside the hospital was entirely white. It seemed a heavy snow had fallen during the week he was unconscious. He hoped it hadn't snowed in Arius. It was already a cold place, and if snow poured down, there would be various things to do. Patching broken windows with boxes or newspapers and blocking window and door gaps with tape was frankly heavy labor.
But thinking about it now, it seemed somewhat enjoyable too. Memories of Hiyori crying with tape pieces stuck all over her hair while applying tape, or stopping Azusa who tried to make a booby trap with leftover materials, still remained as memories.
It wasn't particularly nostalgic. Well, since we're not going to be forever separated, is there a need to be nostalgic? He chuckled and watched students having a snowball fight on the street.
Among them, a girl with gray hair tied in a side-tail bullying a pink-haired bob-cut girl with tacky glasses was the most impressive. From a distance, it looked like a bully picking on a nerd, but seeing both laughing, it didn't seem like bullying. They must be friends. An unusual combination.
Kenji stared at the pure white world for quite a while longer, then shakily lay back in bed. Perhaps because his body wasn't fully recovered yet, fatigue surged insanely. Probably because his body demanded more energy. He didn't resist the lethargy pressing down his entire body and gently closed his eyes.
Soon, he fell asleep, exhaling evenly.
*
There was no need to pay the hospital bill separately. The reason was that an anonymous someone had already paid the price.
It was obvious without looking. The Black Suit, that guy definitely paid. But he wasn't grateful. Because the same amount as the hospital bill had been withdrawn from his account. So Kenji spent his hospital stay cursing him inwardly.
Fortunately, thanks to the Fear, recovery was quick. He used a wheelchair for just two days before discarding it, and simple exercise was possible without difficulty. Put differently, the wound would split open with just a little overexertion. Because of that, he couldn't act recklessly.
He couldn't smoke either. Somehow she knew, but the moment he just put a cigarette in his mouth, Sena would appear like a ghost and snatch it away. To this extent, one could suspect she was stalking him daily nearby.
But he couldn't blame her, because her actions were justifiable as a medical professional. It was natural to stop someone who had holes punched through his belly from smoking. Additionally, Sena took the cigarette and said, "If you don't want holes in your lungs too, don't smoke things like cigarettes in front of me." She was a scary woman.
Anyway.
Time flowed like water, reaching the end of winter. Beasts would gradually start waking from hibernation, and empty trees would also start sprouting leaves.
Spring was coming. For Kenji, it was the 13th spring he'd welcome in Kivotos.
And he left the hospital at that point when flower buds were beginning to bloom. The doctor said he shouldn't be discharged yet, but he couldn't delay any longer. For the Teacher who would come the following year, he couldn't just lie around.
Still, he left thank-you letters for Sena and the attending physician who had cared for him. Since the hospital bill was already fully paid, there was no risk of being chased by police over money issues.
He was free. He walked the streets and thought.
The shackles of the contract binding his body had long since disappeared. He was no longer tied to Gematria, and whatever he did, he followed no restrictions. It felt strangely like returning to the past. To those days years ago, with Mika, Seia, and Nagisa.
Only the feeling was like that. The situation was completely different. No one was around him anymore, and all that remained was his wretched body and money.
But it was okay. Time was tight but not insufficient, and the means to revert everything would appear in a year.
'Until then.'
I'll do what I can. Kenji hummed a tune and walked toward the Black Market.
Thus spring passed, and summer, autumn, winter ended one after another, and spring arrived again.
Around that time, the Student Council President disappeared.
And a few weeks later.
The Teacher arrived in Kivotos.
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