Chapter 27: The Hospital

White.

As Asumi’s eyes slowly fluttered open, that was the first thing she registered.

A white ceiling. White walls. White hospital bed. White machines.

Her arm felt heavy – shifting slightly to feel the tug of a needle lodged in her wrist, clear fluid dripping steadily into her veins. Wires ran from her chest to a monitor beside the bed, its soft beeping the only sound in the room.

Asumi cracked her eyes open a little more.

The door was closed, but there was a narrow window set into it. Through the glass, she could see the back of someone’s head.

A suit.

She closed her eyes again, pondering the sight before her.

Her body responded sluggishly, like it was wrapped in cotton. She could feel her mana, but her body was hardly responding.

The suit’s probably waiting for me to regain consciousness. I still have my memories… I remember everything.

She twitched her fingers slightly.

I can just barely move. There’s something in this IV – anesthesia? I doubt it’s a dangerous substance, but it’s stopping me from moving well. Taichi isn’t here – he might be in a different room. Should I try to escape? There’s only one guard.

She cracked open her eyes and peeked out the small glass window on the door again, seeing the suit.

No… I don’t know where I am, and I won’t be able to defeat them with the drug in my system.

With her eyes shut, she began channeling her mana slowly into the room, maintaining steady breathing so as to not alert the guard.

For now, this is all I can do.

-

Taichi woke to the same white.

The same quiet beeping.

His body felt hollow.

He shifted slightly and felt the IV in his arm, the weight of wires against his chest. A small bottle of mana restoration tablets sat on the bedside table.

He twitched his fingers slightly and looked around.

A suit stood outside his door.

Inside his room, there sat one person, lurking over his bed.

“Good morning, Taichi,” Akihiko said pleasantly. “You slept for quite a while. All day and all night!”

“Headmaster… Kishimoto,” he muttered, his body feeling weaker than ever.

He reached over to the needle feeding him the IV, but Akihiko quickly grabbed his hand, stopping him with practically no effort.

“Come on, we can’t be having that,” he said.

“You’re drugging me,” Taichi said flatly. “I know what stamina deprivation feels like. This isn’t the same.”

“Now, why do you think I’d do that? Because you punched me? Knocked me out? I don’t hold simple grudges like that, kid,” he replied, patting Taichi’s head. “You are right though – I can’t have you leaving here, so there’s just a bit of anesthesia in there. Just enough so we can have a nice little chat. It’s not dangerous.”

“Where’s Asumi?”

“Safe,” Akihiko replied without hesitation. “A few rooms over. Alive. Unharmed.”

“Her memories…” Taichi muttered.

“Oh, I see Kodaka told you about that,” Akihiko nodded. “I haven’t erased them – not yet. She’ll be after you. But I am curious – what else did he tell you about?”

Taichi stared at the ceiling. “That you had my dad killed.”

“Killing Rintaro?” Akihiko asked. “Oh my, what types of things is that man saying?”

“You were scared of him, so you had him killed by one of your pets in Project NATSU,” Taichi elaborated.

“Scared?” he echoed. “No, no… I had nothing but respect for Hayato Rintaro.” He leaned back in his chair. “After all, he was one of the geniuses who helped me pioneer Project NATSU!”

“Pioneer?” Taichi muttered. “No, he wouldn’t do a project like that… you’re lying.”

“Oh, but I’m not – he was my closest student,” Akihiko said calmly. “My protege if you will. We were going to change the world together.”

“Change the world… you’re creating human weapons!” Taichi argued.

“And that human would protect a whole country,” Akihiko nodded. “I will say, every now and then, he fought the idea of it, so I had to… nudge him a little. After all, I couldn’t do anything without his genius on my side. The same genius that was able to craft that little pendant of yours.”

“But you aren’t able to manipulate his memories…” Taichi thought aloud. “He had the same aspect as me.”

“Oh, but it wasn’t the same,” Akihiko smirked. “His aspect wasn’t always activated like yours. If I caught him at a time it was off, it was simple to wipe him. As for you…”

Akihiko reached down to Taichi’s pendant hanging around his neck, fiddling around with it.

“So long as you have this on,” Akihiko added. “I can do anything.”

“How did he do it, then?” Taichi asked.

“How did who do what?”

“How did my dad keep straying from the project even with your manipulation?”

Akihiko clenched his teeth.

“I see…” Taichi smirked weakly. “So that’s how it is.”

“You haven’t figured out anything, and even if you did, it won’t help you.”

“You’re probably right – after all, you’re gonna wipe out everything I learnt here,” Taichi nodded slowly. “So… since we’re talking… what about Natsu?”

“Natsu? Ah, yes, Natsu… you and Asumi left quite the dent on that last one. I might have to retire it.”

“It, huh?” Taichi muttered. “How many Natsu’s have I fought? How many have you made me forget?”

“You’ve met a total of three,” Akihiko offered freely. “The first Natsu you fought was the same up until after Natsu fought Yuki. The one you fought in your Rank #1 match was different, and then the one you fought in the gym was also different.”

“Why did you change them out?”

“The first one was getting agitated and violent against everybody. The second one was weak.”

“How often does it happen that you have to swap them out?”

“Every time they become irrational. They tend to have a pretty short shelf life for the period of time that they use the Natsu identity.”

“The Natsu identity?” Taichi asked, a shiver being sent through his spine.

“Natsu isn’t a real person. The subjects of Project NATSU are lab rats with no personalities. I took them away because they’re unnecessary.”

“But… they’re people,” Taichi murmured.

“They’re weapons.”

“But were they people before you turned them into weapons?”

“Of course they were… just like you. They just had no family. Nobody to go back to.”

“That doesn’t…”

Taichi had a shiver sent down his spine.

“Headmaster… what do you plan on doing to me? Why are you answering all my questions?”

The sound of lightning’s crackle leaked into the room as footsteps rushed across the halls.

“Meguri…” Taichi muttered.

“Oh, looks like we don’t have much time left,” Akihiko smirked, flowing his mana into his hand. “I’m glad you enjoyed your stay at Eclipse Academy, Hayato Taichi.”

-

From Asumi’s room, the crackle of lightning was far louder, piercing through her ears.

Asumi stayed in bed, her eyes closed.

The suit standing guard opened the door, rushing in to directly stand guard over her.

In the doorway, Meguri stood, electricity crawling down her arms.

“Get away from her,” Meguri said, her voice shaking despite the lightning.

The guard raised his blade to Asumi’s throat. “Drop your weapon, unless you want your friend’s blood to be the first ounce of color this room sees.”

Meguri gritted her teeth, hesitating, staring at Asumi.

Asumi’s eyes opened while the suit was looking away, a confident smile tracing her mouth.

Meguri nodded, dropping her sword and backing out of the room.

“Very well, sir. You can have my sword,” she said with a smirk. “Don’t think it’ll do you much good, though.”

“Huh?”

From the hospital bed, Asumi’s finger moved slightly as mana flooded the room.

“Bloom.”

Embers surged from the floor, fanning out and spiraling upward in a violent bloom. The guard barely had time to scream before the flames consumed him, all attempts to escape being perfectly futile.

“Meguri…” Asumi muttered, removing the IV from her wrist, stumbling out of the bed.

“Asumi!” Meguri exclaimed, rushing over to her side and supporting her before she fell.

“Meguri, we… we need to get Taichi…”

“I know – I’ll go look for him now… but stay here and keep yourself safe while you recover. You can’t move right now.”

“The headmaster… he might be there,” Asumi said, trying to get up.

“And if he is, you won’t be able to get away from him being this sluggish. Stay here for a few minutes, set ember traps like you did earlier. Once you recover, you can find me,” Meguri said, clenching her fist.

As she approached the door, she turned to look at Asumi.

“We’ll both be alright.”

She left the room as lightning crackled through the halls once again. She kicked open every door she saw, waiting to find Taichi, until reaching only a few doors down, seeing him with the headmaster.

“Taichi!” she cheered, shooting a bolt of lightning toward Akihiko to separate them.

Meguri’s smile suddenly turned.

Taichi kicked off his bed, jumping in front of the headmaster.

The lightning hit him, and he nullified it. He protected Akihiko.

“Taichi… why?”

Clenching his fist, he looked up at Meguri, his eyes completely void of thought.

“Who’s Taichi?”