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“What’s the plan for today? Some training?”, Hinako asked, looking up from the book she was reading.

“Huh? It’s our first day off in like ages… I would much rather spend it reading manga and watching anime…”, Kuro replied sitting at his PC and watching a live stream from his Oshi Vtuber.

“But I wanna train a bit…”

“We’ve been training every day we didn’t had a mission since the incident in Hakone. I think you could use one day of rest in a while…”

“Pretty please?”

“Ugh… fine… but later in the afternoon… I want to watch the live stream now…”

“Yay! Thanks, Kuro!”

Kuro’s phone rang suddenly. After a short conversation he turned off his PC and got up.

“What’s up? Thought you wanted to fawn over your Oshi a bit more?”, asked Hinako a bit surprised.

“Gotta step out for a bit…”, Kuro answered and went to his closet.

He changed from his sweatpants into jeans and then switched his at-home shirt with a different one, which was just another anime shirt as well.

“But what about our training? It’s still on, right?”, Hinako asked, while watching him switch out of his clothes, slumped over the back of the couch.

“I’ll text you later about it…”, Kuro replied curtly.

Hinako made some disappointed noises.

“Oh, and Hina-chan…”, Kuro said, when he was done changing.

“Yeah?”, Hinako said with a smile.

Since the Hakone incident, he had been calling her by her name, which she rather enjoyed for some reason.

“Could you stop just tossing your worn underwear everywhere on the floor? We have a laundry basket in the bathroom you know!”, Kuro said nonchalantly and picked up one of her panties from the floor.

“Huh? But I left them there for you! So, you don’t have to dig through the laundry basket, when you want to give them a sniff!”, Hinako replied with a cheeky smile.

“I don’t want to sniff your stanky undies!”

“Oi! How dare you say that to a lady! They don’t stink! If at all they are perfectly fragrant!”

Kuro just tossed the piece of clothing in her face.

“Oi! That’s rude… Oh… Shit, you’re right… these have a bit of a smell…”, Hinako exclaimed pulling the panty of her face.

“You could tidy your stuff up a bit at least, while I’m gone…” Kuro said and went to door.

“I’ll think about it.”

“… Well, I’m off. See you later, Hina-chan.”

“Take care, Kuro!”

Kuro went out of the apartment and into the elevator. He had a strange feeling. Yamada, who had called him just now and asked him to immediately come see her, sounded off somehow. But what worried him the most, was that she told him not to come to the office but the MDF hospital instead. Something had happened and he had a real bad feeling in his gut.

Forty minutes later he went through the front door of the hospital. Yamada already waited for him at the reception.

“Kuro!”, she called, as she spotted him.

“What happened?”, He asked worried.

“Promise me, you’ll stay calm.”

She avoided looking him in the eyes.

“Tell me what happened. Right now, Sachi.”, Kuro said emphatically and used her first name for the first time in over ten years.

Yamada Sachi looked him finally in the eyes and he immediately knew that something really bad happened.

“It’s Grandmaster Shinoha… she collapsed and is in a coma…”, She said.

Kuro blinked a few times, visibly processing what he just heard. Yamada took a step forward and wanted to put her hand on his shoulder, but hesitated.

“Where is she?”, Kuro asked, breathing heavily and his voice trembling.

“I’ll show you the way…”, Yamada said and turned around.

She led him through the hospital and onto the fourth floor. There she stopped infront of one of the doors.

“She’s in here…”, Yamada said.

Kuro immediately went past her and through the door. There was only one bed in the room. The rhythmic noises of a heart monitor and a respiratory device could be heard. Yukiko, who sat next to the bed jumped up at his sudden entry.

“Kuro…”, She said softly.

Kuro didn’t answer but went to the bed immediately. He saw Shinoha laying there. She looked grotesque with the breathing tube sticking out of her mouth, the tubes connecting her to a blood filtration machine, her skin pale and very skinny. Yamada went up next to him.

“What… how… why?”, Kuro stuttered staring at the old woman in the bed, who hardly resembled the Shinoha he knew since birth anymore.

“She had been in poor health for a while now. I treated her for months and it seemed to show positives effects at first, but today in the morning she collapsed and her organs failed. She’s now in a coma and on life support.”, Yukiko explained.

“But… she will get better… right?!”

“I don’t know… she isn’t reacting to any medicine or treatment…”

“But… You are the best healing mage on this god forsaken planet! Please! There must be something you could do!”

“I can’t… nobody can…”

Kuro looked from Shinoha to Yukiko and his eyes suddenly lit up.

“WHY NOT!?”, he growled, his body shaking.

“KURO!”, Yamada yelled and put her hand on his shoulder, without hesitating this time.

Kuro swatted it away immediately and turned towards her. Yamada gasped as he looked her in the eyes. She had seen this look in his eyes before and she thought Kuro would attack her any moment, but the raging glow faded the next heartbeat, and a tear ran over his cheek. Yamada Sachi now looked in the face of a broken man.

“Sorry…” Kuro whispered.

“It’s okay. I understand.”, Yamada said softly and gave him an awkward but friendly smile.

Kuro looked back at Shinoha. He suddenly felt really sick. He could not stand to see the woman he respected and looked up to most, next to his mother, in this state. Kuro had to get out of here, so he just turned and walked out of the room, without saying anything.

“Shouldn’t we follow him?”, Yukiko said looking at the door.

“No… I think it’s best to leave him alone for now…”, Yamada replied.

“Okay… you know him the best…”

“I do…”

Yamada Sachi quicky wiped a tear out of her eye before it could run down her cheek, as she stared at the door.

Kuro rushed out of the hospital. His head was spinning and he didn’t know what to do, so he began to run. Kuro didn’t know where to, nor did he care, he just wanted to get away. Away from all the thoughts that shot through his mind. He had done the same thing in the past already once, but for a different reason. He ran and ran down streets, walkways, though a park and wherever his feet took him. Kuro didn’t know how long he had run, when he stopped, because his phone suddenly rang and noticed him of an incoming message. After reading it and sending a short answer he looked around. Kuro was in an area of Tokyo, he wasn’t familiar with and he stood right in front of a bar. He felt really thirsty all of a sudden and went in.