I adhere to the Hippocratic Oath

As Seiji made his way back from the hospital where Hideaki was staying, he strolled amidst the bustling streets of Tokyo, deep in contemplation.

He walked slowly, hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on the pavement.

'Permanent loss of Magic Ability... the doctor didn't say that lightly. It's a real threat.'

He recalled the moment Hideaki grimaced at the word 'months of rehabilitation.'

'He hates waiting. With his impulsivity I'm afraid that even though he was told to not use his magic for some time, he will use it anyways. Even to ensure that it's still there. From the fear of losing it completly. That's... his greatest fear. Exactly what will push him to think about cutting the process short.'

Seiji stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn green.

'If he takes shortcuts — we both lose. He, because he'll lose his Ability. Me, because I lose my death.'

He moved on, passing people with shopping bags and teenagers returning from club activities.

He glanced sideways at his reflection in a shop window, as if speaking to himself.

'That's why I have to think several steps ahead. Anticipate the moment he tries to force something — on anyone. And stop him before he reaches for solutions that will destroy him forever.'

He sighed quietly, his face remaining cold and focused.

'I can't trust him in this matter. I have to control his decisions... and maybe even his impulses. He doesn't understand what consequences mean. But I understand them all too well.'

Seiji adjusted the bag slung over his shoulder and headed toward the subway station.

Suddenly, his phone rang, pulling him from his thoughts. Glancing at the screen, he was slightly taken aback as he noticed it was his mother calling.

"Hello? What's going on mom?" He answered.

"Seiji! I'm calling because Akemi won't stop bothering me about this..." In the background, a teenager's voice chimed in, adding unsolicited advice on what their mother should say. "Fine, alright, I'll tell him, Akemi! Now stop whining in my ear, would you!?"

Seiji could hear the irritation in his mother's voice, followed by a resigned sigh.

"Listen, Seiji, could she come to you for a few days on vacation? I know you're busy, but can you take some time off?"

"Vacation...? I'm not sure..." Seiji hesitated. "I don't think I can really take time off right now." The thought of his younger sister meeting his killer roommate filled him with dread.

"Honey, please. Can you do this favor for your mom? I mean... for your sister?"

There was a hint of embarrassment in her voice as she corrected herself.

"Akemi would be very disappointed if her plans fell through..."

Suddenly, Akemi piped up, "Yeah! Exactly! I'd be so upset if you don't agree, big bro!"

"Akemi!" Their mother scolded her, followed by another sigh. "She's been relentless about traveling to Tokyo to see you..."

Seiji sighed inwardly.

'Damn... Akemi you really had to have the ‘perfect time’ to want to go to my place, huh?'

Seiji sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. Disappointing his family wasn't something he relished, but...

He glanced at his calendar.
"Alright. I'm looking at my calendar now. When would she arrive?"

"During the Summer Fireworks Festival. She's been looking forward to it for a month..."

'The festival is in a few weeks... I don't want her here for a whole week... I have work. And I really wouldn't want to leave her alone with Hideaki. That is... assuming Hideaki doesn't go off the rails again because of his weakened state...'

Then he heard his younger sister's whining again, and his mom pissed off tone.

'Damn you two... Both of them always been stubborn, but if I refuse, mother will be furious with me, and Akemi will be even more disappointed. I can't afford another conflict within the family.

It's better for her to see and remember me as a brother who never lets me down.'

He paused analyzing his choices.

'Hmm... Even if his usage of his Magic Ability is limited for now.... Looking from a logical point of view, if ever there was a time to let Akemi come, it's now. It will be risky, but not as dangerous as when he was at full strength.'

Seiji nodded.

'Alright. I could manage to give her one weekend.'

"Alright." Seiji nodded lightly "I can pick her up. She can stay for the weekend. Is that acceptable?"

"Hmm... Yes, I think that would work well."

"Okay then. I'll find a place for her to sleep."

"Thanks, Sei-chan. You make me so relieved..."

Seiji felt irritation rise. "Mom, I've told you countless times not to call me that. You know I hate it."

"Oh come on, don't be so uptight!" she waved a hand on the other side of the call. "I just like calling you that — it suits you, Sei-chan! It reminds me of when you were little. Anyway — how are you? How's Aoi doing? Still together?"

He felt a knot tighten in his chest.
"...We're not. We broke up."

"What!?" Her eyes widened. "Don't tell me she—"

"...She cheated on me," Seiji finished for her quietly, eyes turned away. "I broke up with her as soon as I found out."

There was a pause. Then, her voice shot up:
"That little bitch! I knew I didn't like the way she smiled. Always too sweet, too fake — what kind of idiot throws away a guy like you?! Honestly!"

"I-it's nothing." He wiped away the tears that threatened to spill. "Somehow, I survived... It's been only two months so, heh..." He tried to mask his state.

Mom nodded "Two months but for what. To waste your time with a woman who played unfair with you!? Disrespectful." Then, her voice softened. "But...You okay, though?" She stepped closer to the window in the kitchen.

He hesitated.

"...Yeah. I'll live." 'Not quite, but I can't dwell on that.'

"That's a relief to hear."

"Mhm... Thanks, Mom."

"Now, focus on your work. Don't waste your time on untrustworthy girls, Sei-chan. Your success is what matters. You'll find someone better eventually."

"Mhm..." As he reached the station, he noticed his train was approaching. "Mom, I have to go. My train is here."

"Okay, honey. Take care."

"I will... Bye, Mom..."

He hung up.

As he stepped into the first available carriage and settled into an empty seat, memories of his time with Aoi flooded back, causing a sharp ache in his heart.

'The pain lingers... even after all this time. I need to push it aside. I can't dwell on the past.'  He shook himself from the reverie. 'I have other priorities now. If she chose someone else, let her have him. I need to move on.'

He took a deep breath to steady himself. 'I made a deal with Hideaki and with myself, and I intend to keep that promise, no matter what.'

He glanced at the time on his phone. 'In a few weeks, Akemi will be visiting... I need to make the most of her time here. After all, these could be her last vacations with me...' he thought and tucked his phone back into his pocket.

[Meanwhile in the hospital]

Hideaki lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, his thoughts swirling in turmoil.

'Why... Why... WHY! WHY!! WHY!!? Why am I so weak around him!? Why do I cry in front of him!? I hate him!' An internal scream echoed within him as he clenched his teeth, frustration boiling over.

The plate that once held a cinnamon roll sat empty.

'I want to get out of this damn hospital!'  he growled, his anger rising.

'My Magic Ability... it can just disappear like that!? If I'm gonna use it!? Tch!'

He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, faintly but still digging his nails through the bandages on his inner hand. In his eyes formed tears, but he refused to let them out completely.

'Its all because of this dick!!! This fucking robber!! I want to punch this guy!!! I want to gut him! I want to choke his fat neck! I want to crush his skull against the wall! Hehehe...'

As Hideaki spiraled deeper into his distress, the urge to inflict pain consumed him, and sanity slipped further away.

'I want to break his bones! I want him to writhe in pain until he BEGS me to stop! I want him to suffer... I want to kill him for putting me here!! I want him to die!!!! Ehehehehehe!!!'

A maniacal sneer twisted Hideaki's face as his pupils dilated, the desire for murder overwhelming his senses.

Engrossed in his sinister thoughts, he was suddenly interrupted by the brisk entrance of a nurse.

"Good evening again, Mr. Miyahara." In her hands she was holding sheets of papers and some single pills medicine. "We checked-um..." Her gaze met Hideaki's crazed stare, sending a shiver down her spine. "Y-your results from cytology... We also have prescribed medications for you to take after surgery to help your bones and body heal fully..."

'He looks creepy...' she thought.

"Hehehe..." He started to silently chuckle to himself, almost letting his laughter go louder.

The nurse swallowed from the unsettling sounds, but decided to remain calm.

Then, 

"Ehehehehe!" 

His laugh broke into a rasping snarl as the nurse’s hand reached for the pill cup.

Pain shot through his ribs with every breath, but panic and delirium overrode it. 

He lurched forward — more flail than a controlled move — and clumsily grabbed at her uniform.

"EEEK! Please, let me go!" she screamed in fear, accidetally making the cup fell from her hand and spill the water on the floor.

His bandaged fingers closed around fabric and slipped; the grip hurt and burned, but he held on, teeth bared.
"I’ll kill him— I’ll kill you—" he spat, voice cracking, more terror and confusion than clear intent. 

He fumbled at the nurse’s pocket for the pen, his hands trembling; the pen clicked, the point wobbling uselessly in his weak clutch.

"HELP! HELP!!!" The nurse screamed. 

Two steps later, Watanabe and Fukuda Daisuke - the hospital's seasoned security guard, alerted by her screams, rushed into the room.

"What's happening!?" the doctor demanded.

"Stop it right now!" Daisuke shouted seeing Hideaki's chaotic state and his hand aiming to stung the pen onto the nurse.

"She's gonna die with this idiot who shattered my Magic Ability! NOW! Ehehe!" Hideaki screeched with almost maniacal joy,

"No! L-listen, it's okay! You're not in danger! P-please, calm down!" the nurse stammered in panic.

"Tch! Shut the fuck up!" Hideaki growled back. Suddenly he felt a strong crushing pain in his lungs.

'Sh-shit!'  He paused for a moment, trying to regain his breath. 'My lungs! They are hurting me so much! Did I pull some muscle in them!? Fuck! I can't die now! I can't!!'

'Fuck! He is pissing me off!'
"Calm down!"
Daisuke loudly screamed.

"Tch! F-fuck off!" Hideaki hadly yelled back.

Seeing that words alone won't do much effect, and time was running out, Daisuke quickly subdued him.

"Auch!!! Release me, you idiot! Or I'll kill you too!!!" Hideaki shouted, thrashing against the grip that held him, feeling that his arms were hurting badly.

"You're not going to kill anyone in this hospital, you hear!?" Daisuke barked back.

"Fukuda, he's still recovering! Be more gentle!" Watanabe yelled at the guard.

Then, turning to Hideaki, he spoke firmly, "Miyahara-san, please calm down. I assure you that we provide only help here."

"Tch! Just let me go!!!" Hideaki screamed, his body aching from the struggle. Each hold only fueled his rage further. "I WILL KILL YOU ALL!!!" he screamed with raw desperation.

With words failing to reach him again, the doctor acted quickly, administering a sedative injection into Hideaki's furious form.

The momentary surge of energy faded under the weight of the pain; Hideaki’s shoulders shook, his face drained. A calming injection followed almost immediately.

His fingers loosened; the pen clattered to the floor. 

He took a last deep breath, before his voice trailed off weakly with a sudden wave of relaxation washed over him. Not so long after, he succumbed to sleep, leaving an unsettling silence.

"That should do it..." Doctor said more to himself, than others in room.

"Are you alright?" Daisuke asked the trembling nurse.

"Y-yes! Yes..." she stammered, still shaken.

"Please tell me from the begining what happened," Doctor Watanabe pressed, while finishing his work.

The nurse collected herself and explained rapidly, "I went into the room to give him the test results and give him post-operative pills. But when I was giving him the water to make him swallow the pills better, h-he suddenly yelled at me and tried to attack me with a pen! He was acting like a complete lunatic!"

Watanabe nodded, his gaze remaining fixed on the Hideaki's unconscious body.

"Stay calm. I'll check his vital signs now," he said, reaching for a stethoscope and blood pressure monitor. "We need to make sure the sedation hasn't affected his respiratory system."

In the background, the steady beeping of the heart monitor could be heard.

"Blood pressure... slightly elevated. Pulse is fast, but rhythmic. Breathing is stabilizing," he added, speaking partly to himself, partly to the nurse.

He then, looked at her.

"I see you're still pretty shaken. Can you please, go to the bathroom and compose yourself?"

"Of course. I'm so sorry, doctor." The nurse bowed and went to the bathroom.

'I'll also check his oxygen saturation and glucose levels. Sometimes these kinds of outbursts can be triggered by hypoglycemia or a sudden cortisol spike. '

Watanabe thought, meanwhile continued the treatment.

Then, he paused for a moment, staring at Hideaki's still face, as if searching for answers there.

'This man... he's not just suffering. He's falling apart from the inside.'

Moments later, the nurse emerged from the bathroom, visibly steadier. 'This job is supposed to be rewarding...'  she thought bitterly.

She retrieved her pen, and exhaled heavily.
"Again, I'm sorry for my non-professional action towards the patient." She bowed apologetically.

The doctor gave her a kind nod and gently dismissed her for the evening.

Left alone in the room were only the three man: Doctor Watanabe, Hideaki - as the slumbering patient, and one observant man: Daisuke.

Daisuke stood silently, arms crossed, eyes fixed on Hideaki in the bed. His Mana Detector Magic Ability hummed faintly under his skin, attuned to the sleeping figure. His fingers twitched slightly as the magenta coloured aura eminated from them.

'Strange...'  Daisuke mused. 'According to the hospital files, his Magic Ability is Blood Control... rare as hell. But what's more unusual is his mana... Since he was brought here, it shows that it's climbing. Slowly, but steadily. Like someone recovering from complete depletion... And he was brought from apartment they said. So why his magic shows as if he was freshly brought from streets...'

He saw Hideaki's fingers twitching lightly.

'And what about that attack? Why a civilian suddenly attacked a hospital's personell?'

He mused, then turned his gaze on doctor Watanabe.

"Doctor, why the attack?"

Watanabe adjusted his glasses, and spoke

"This state we just witnessed is most likely postoperative delirium. It's fairly common in patients after major surgery, especially when the body is exhausted and the nervous system is still recovering. It manifests as sudden agitation, disorientation, aggression, sometimes even hallucinations."

"Postoperative delirium? But it looked like concious attack. At least to me..."

Watanabe shook his head.

"I can assure you, that it wasn't. I understand that from the outside it looked like a deliberate attack — especially when someone is shouting, 'I'll kill you all.' That's deeply disturbing for anyone who witnessed it. However, in medicine impressions aren't enough — we have to look at the causes."

Watanabe sighed slightly, fixed his gaze on Fukuda and spoke calmly but with authority:

"It's not 'malice of will,' it's a disorder of consciousness. That's why we treat it as a medical condition — not as a crime committed with full awareness."

Daisuke rubbed at his chin. "But if it wasn't fully conscious, then, doctor, can these sudden episodes repeat? He doesn't control it. What if next time he really hurts someone?"

Watanabe nodded.

"I assure you the hospital is prepared for such situations. The patient is under constant monitoring: saturation, pulse, ECG, and he will be placed under night observation.
If something would go bad, as it was a while ago, we'll do the same procedure as we did now, and perform controlled pharmacological calming to minimize the risk of sudden outbursts."

Watanabe paused briefly and looked at Fukuda expectantly.

"Does that allay your concerns?" he asked matter-of-factly.

"Yes... it does," Daisuke answered.

A silence fell over the room.

Daisuke narrowed his eyes, noting in his mind that what he had just heard sounded like both a diagnosis and a warning at the same time.

"Doctor... Why his magic is that weak? It was told that he was brought from apartment. Doctor Yuki said to me that an accident as he had, shouldn't make it that critical state. Besides... Thinking logically... An apartment — there, he must had food, shelter. Everything he needs for energy recover. All of that stabilizes mana. I've seen plenty of cases. Yet his levels are closer to those of a man dragged off the streets, starving and burning his life away through reckless overuse."

Doctor nodded,

"Indeed it does look like that. But remember, that for some, even a slightest magic usage and then regeneration, can lasts for a few days. For those with a very sensitive physical-magical structure, this process can take weeks... or even longer. And sometimes, full recovery doesn't occur."

Watanabe explained, then added more firmly

"I supposed that you should know these things already, especially with your special Magic Ability, Fukuda-san."

'He is right.'  Daisuke sighed 'But even if so... I don't think it's only magic problem... I've seen few cases of those who have very sensitive physical-magical structure regeneration before, but none of them ended up this extreme...'

Daisuke narrowed his gaze at Hideaki's face — pale, young, calm in slumber. But something felt wrong. Too wrong.

'Why was he at rock bottom in the first place?'

He analyzed

'And to add... not only he has Magic Ability of Blood Control... he was threatening to kill people... like some psycho that could have escaped from jail...'

Suddenly, the pieces clicked in his mind like falling dominoes.

'His name... Miyahara Hideaki... Was on news some time ago... This Magic Ability... Could that be?'

"Doctor Watanabe..." he said slowly, voice barely above a whisper. "Isn't that the serial killer they've been talking about on the news?" his hands shaking a little.

The doctor, standing with his back to him, didn't flinch. He calmly adjusted the IV.

"Yes... it is him."

The answer hit Fukuda like a gut punch. 'W-what!? It is really him?? No... No this can't be... It's insane!'

"You... knew?" He asked the doctor cautiously.

"I did."

A long pause.

"Then why aren't we doing anything?! Shouldn't it be reported? Given he's a serial killer..." Daisuke hissed. "When he said he'd kill us, he meant it, didn't he?"

Dr. Watanabe finally turned to him, his expression unreadable but calm.

"Fukuda-san. As medical professionals, we must provide care for all patients," he replied, his tone steady.

"But we're taking care of a serial killer! Isn't that too risky, especially without notifying the police?"

"As a doctor, I adhere to the Hippocratic Oath. We must assist those in need, regardless of their actions."

"But he kills people. Innocent people. You're protecting a murderer!"

"No," the doctor said firmly. "I'm treating a patient."

"But-"

"Fukuda-san." Watanabe interrupted him with more harsher but still firm tone of a voice. But then... His tone softened, "We're done here."

"Doctor..." Daisuke paused, fighting with his own thoughts. "W-why... Why are you treating a monster?"

"I've told you already. I've got my values. And human lives are the most important value out of all." Watanabe replied firmly.

Daisuke's fists clenched at his sides. He remained silent, analyzing every word.

"That oath... the Hippocratic Oath... it really means that much to you?"

"More than ever," Watanabe replied, gazing at Hideaki's still form. "If we abandon our principles when it's hardest to uphold them, then we never believed in them at all."

A heavy silence fell.

"I..." Daisuke clenched his fists "I understand, Doctor," he muttered at last, though uneasily. "But still, this feels dangerous."

"It is. And that's why I will handle the paperwork carefully. The injection will keep him sedated through the night. If something changes, I'll act. But until then... he rests."

Watanabe walked to the door, then paused, looking back.

"You may go, or join me in my office. I'd appreciate the company. These days... I find myself lonelier than I expected."

Daisuke hesitated. One last look at Hideaki — motionless, peaceful, monstrous.

"I'll join you, doctor."

And with that, the two men exited the room, leaving the sleeping killer behind in the sterile silence.