Seriously Amazing

Midoriko collapsed to the floor of the entryway in their apartment, letting out choked sobs as she weakly punched the door. Ryouma slumped down next to her and pulled her into his arms. He petted her hair soothingly as she buried her face into his chest.

There was so much they needed to discuss, but it could wait until after they’d had a moment to recover. He’d exerted himself back there, but not to an excessive degree. Midoriko, however, seemed to have taken emotional hit after emotional hit.

After a moment, when his heart rate had started to come down, Ryouma noticed how dark and quiet it was in the apartment. He glanced around the entryway to find that the shoe rack—no, the entire entrance was completely devoid of any shoes, bags, and coats.

His blood ran cold. Where were the children?

“Ryouma…?” Midoriko called his name softly, noticing the tension rising in his body.

“Wait here…” He moved her aside as he stood up. Ryouma crept over to the door separating the entrance to the main living area and slowly pushed it open.

When he saw the state the apartment was left in, he gasped. Every piece of furniture, tipped over and broken, broken dishes and the food he prepared for dinner littered the kitchen floor. Glass from broken lightbulbs crunched under his shoes.

A thud followed by some clattering came from one of the bedrooms. Ryouma readied himself for defense and crept forward slowly.

At the same time he turned the corner, Xiǎomíng rushed him, swinging a table leg like a club. Ryouma dodged, then caught the boy by the shirt collar as the momentum of his attack sent him falling forward.

“M-Master?!”

“Xiǎomíng?!”

“I thought…they came…back,” he said, wheezing. Xiǎomíng went slack, and Ryouma lowered him to the floor.

“Who?! What happened here?!”

The boy was covered in welts, bruises, and tiny cuts. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and his nose was crooked with dried blood caking the nostrils. His breaths came out shallow and labored.

“What’s wr—oh my God!” Midoriko gasped as she pushed the door open.

“Stay there. There’s broken glass.” Ryouma held out his hand to stop her from coming any further. Her shoes had been left behind at the restaurant, leaving her with only her socks on.

“Two men…took Itoko…” Xiǎomíng clutched his ribs as he struggled to speak. “One sorcerer…one neutralizer…”

“...!”

Midoriko broke out in a cold sweat. She clung to the doorway as the room started to spin.

“Mr. Kuroiwa has a job to do.”

“If you do as I say, I’ll even allow you to continue pretending to be that little girl’s mother.”

All of it, the whole ordeal, was undeniably connected. How and why didn’t matter anymore. All Midoriko could feel was the guilt of knowing she bore some responsibility for the outcome.

“I tried…to fight…them off…” Xiǎomíng continued. He clenched his jaw and covered his eyes. “I’m sorry…Master…I…”

“Shh…You did well, Xiǎomíng,” Ryouma said gently. He hoisted the boy to his feet, then turned to Midoriko. “I’ll take him to the other house, then come back for you.”

She bit her lip and nodded. When Ryouma was out of view, she stopped fighting her trembling legs and slid down the doorframe.

Fat teardrops hit the wood floor as she wept for her sweet, precious Itoko. Thinking about how terrifying it all must have been for the girl, Midoriko pressed her forehead to the floor in repentance. She whispered I’m sorry, I’m sorry over and over again like a sutra.

When she felt a hand on her back, Midoriko jolted up and slapped it away. Kneeling next to her was Ryouma, eyes wide, mouth agape. She hadn’t even heard him approach.

“S-sorry. I…I just–”

There was a sudden knock at the door, startling both of them. They looked at each other with concern and fear as the knocking continued.

“Hello? It’s the police. Is anyone home?” called out a voice from the other side of the door. Ryouma’s look of concern turned into one of deep annoyance.

“I’ll take care of this,” he whispered as he stood up. Ryouma opened the door and peeked out at the two befuddled police officers standing outside.

“Ah! Good evening, sir!” greeted one of them.

“What can I do for you, officers?” he asked, forcing a smile.

“Several of your neighbors filed a complaint for excessive noise. One of them was concerned about a possible domestic violence issue,” an officer explained. “May we please ask you a few questions about what happened here?”

Ryouma maintained his smile, but felt like he was going to pop a blood vessel. He always worked so hard to keep a low profile, so the fact that the police had become involved sent him over the edge of rage.

“Actually, officers, nothing happened!” he said cheerfully. The two officers looked at each other with bemusement.

“Um…That’s–”

Ryouma stared into their eyes, waving his finger side to side rapidly. The police officers’ eyes glazed over as they followed the movement.

“Nothing happened here. You’re going to go back to the station and report that it was a false alarm,” he commanded. The two officers, now entranced, nodded in unison. “Once you file the report, you’re going to forget even coming here.”

They nodded once more, then Ryouma ceased his hypnotism.

“Well, thank you for your time!” said one of the officers, bowing politely.

“Yes. Sorry to bother you this evening, Mister…Er…?”

“Kuroiwa. Kuroiwa Akira.” Ryouma offered a polite bow, then closed the door after they walked away.

He softly banged his head against the door, letting out a long sigh. When I find out who is responsible for this disturbance, I am going to rip him to shreds.

“Ryouma? Is everything okay?” Midoriko asked softly.

“It’s taken care of,” he announced, spinning around with a smile. Ryouma walked over to her, crouched down, and outstretched his hands behind him. “Get on my back. I’ll carry you.”

Midoriko reluctantly climbed onto his back. The way he fussed over her sometimes felt deeply shameful for someone like Midoriko, who was loath to rely on others. But deep down, she loved it.

She pressed her body against him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as Ryouma carried her through the devastated apartment. It looked like a high-magnitude earthquake was entirely localized to their home. Even the bedroom connecting the apartment to the big house was torn apart.

After they’d crossed over to the tatami room where Xiǎomíng lay on the floor, Ryouma shut the portal connecting the two places.

***

Midoriko watched Ryouma help Xiǎomíng remove his shirt, then gave the boy’s wounds a quick once-over. In addition to his battered face, large bruises were forming on his torso and back.

“Looks like a few of your ribs are broken, but it doesn’t seem like it was bad enough to puncture your lungs,” he announced.

“H-how do you even know that?!” questioned Midoriko.

“Because he’d be having a much harder time breathing and moving if that were the case. You can still breathe, right Xiǎomíng?”

“Yes…Just hurts…” he wheezed.

“Still! Shouldn’t we take him to a hospital?!”

“No. I don’t want to draw any more attention to us than we already have,” Ryouma said, shaking his head. “Besides, it’ll be faster if I use magic heal him.”

Xiǎomíng flinched as Ryouma pressed his hands to the bruised areas. After a few minutes, he’d lift his hands, and the bruises would be almost completely gone.

Midoriko couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Ryouma looked at that moment. He worked silently—his concentration was wholly devoted to the process. His breathing had the kind of mindful regularity of someone practicing meditation. When he would press his hands to a wound, Ryouma would exhale deeply and close his eyes. By the time he opened them again, he was moving on to the next spot.

Ryouma prioritized the broken ribs first. When Xiǎomíng’s breathing returned to normal, he moved on to the face. The erasure of the wounds was spectacular enough, but what truly mesmerized Midoriko were the visual traces of Ryouma’s healing spells left behind.

Each healed spot was glowing with a faint light that reminded her of the kīla. Maybe there was a similar kind of energy imbued into the artifact? Then her stomach sank.

Did that thing even survive the complete destruction of the apartment? After Ryouma took it the night before, she had no idea what he’d done with it. She wanted to ask, but now was not the time to fuss over that thing.

“Xiǎomíng, who was the neutralizer that took Itoko?” Midoriko asked. She knew the answer, but part of her was still in denial that she was fooled to that extent.

“The neighbor,” he answered through gritted teeth.

Ryouma’s face briefly contorted with anger. It took several deep breaths for him to regain concentration on the healing process as he focused on Xiǎomíng’s broken orbital.

Midoriko hoped that talking to Xiǎomíng wouldn’t disrupt Ryouma’s process too much, but quickly realized her mistake. She waited until the last bruise faded away to ask the question that had been on her mind since the restaurant.

“Ryouma, you said you got a message from me earlier. What message was that?”

“This one…” He dug his phone out of his pocket and held it out to her. It was the photo and address of the restaurant—the message she’d started but never managed to send.

“I don’t understand…They broke my phone before I could send it…” she murmured, looking at the message.

“Is it possible that you managed to hit send before they broke it?” asked Xiǎomíng.

“I…I don’t know…” Midoriko closed her eyes and tried to think back to what happened. “A call was coming through when they broke the phone. After that, I just kept wishing and hoping that the message went through somehow.”

“Maybe you used magic…” posited Ryouma.

“Master, is it even possible for a neutralizer to use magic?”

“I don’t see why not,” he said, rubbing his right shoulder. “Neutralizing magic is a magical ability in itself. Maybe with enough training, someone could…”

“My father said a skilled neutralizer should be able to activate their ability at will,” Midoriko interjected. She looked intently at Ryouma. “You also once told me that the way magic works is through willpower. Does that mean my will was strong enough?”

“Magic is also more easily performed when it’s through a medium,” added Xiǎomíng, pointing to the smartphone in Ryouma’s hand. “I think it worked because you were specifically channeling your magic through a medium.”

Midoriko’s eyes widened in surprise. “Then…”

“That’s right!” Ryouma clasped her cheeks in his hands and smiled. “You’re seriously amazing, Midoriko.”

Her heart fluttered, then sank as his smile faded.

“Now, I think it’s time you shared everything that happened before I came to your rescue today,” he said coldly. The way he held her face no longer felt like an affectionate gesture. “You’ve been keeping secrets from me, and I don’t like that.”

Midoriko swallowed hard and nodded. Ryouma released her from his grip. She took a deep breath, then shared everything that happened involving Akira and the meeting with her father.