Chapter 13 An Old Friend

The long awaited weekend has finally arrived, the first week of school had everyone somewhat exhausted but excited at the same time. Even as the sun rises above the horizon, the school grounds and dormitory still see no signs of any activity unlike the weekdays.

Say for a few students, in their sports attire, out and about jogging along the pathway or in one of the sport facilities.

Haru was no exception, despite the tense training Aiko-san has been putting out for the past few days. The new Linker still finds more than enough fuel to keep her strength in check.

“Alright, that should be enough!” Haru promptly sat on the sidewalks, stretching her arms and legs fully.

Face is covered top to bottom with sweat yet her expression is not anything but refreshed.

“Ah…! Today Shiro promises to actually take me out this time” After reminding herself, she springs back up instantly before continuing at a relaxed pace back to the dorm.

“Hey wakey wakey sleepy hea-“

To Haru’s surprises, Shiro was nowhere to be found in the room.

A moment before Haru left for her morning run, Shiro was still deep in her own slumber right at the desk. Checking the top bed still yields no clues or results.

Multitude of questions starts bursting in Haru’s mind but there’s very little answer she can draw from things she knew about Shiro.

Reaching the dead end in her mind, it is decided that asking someone like Riku or Lin-senpai might be the best bet. However, the dots in the mind start connecting the moment she notices her Wolf Module on the bed.

“Hey Wolfy! Are you… there?” Haru called out to her module, and not long after the familiar Linker’s interface appeared in her eyes.

“Oh! Right right…. Um… since you’re a wolf… could you somehow track down Shiro maybe?” Haru asks nervously, still somewhat scared of the creature inside her.

Without any response from the synthetic creature, a pulse of scanning ray burst around Haru which reveals a series of white footsteps belonging to the “Hawk Linker” as the system indicates.

Not hesitating for any longer, the wolf linker changes her own fit into a simple casual t-shirt and shorts before rushing along the tracks.

Running through the busy weekend metropolis city like Tokyo can be challenging, but Haru takes extra to avoid any more collisions like her first day of high school.

Barely getting a glimpse of the city she wishes to explore ever since arriving days ago, but her own mind was more fixated on where her sleepy roommate could be doing, let alone why by herself.

Eventually after what felt like another jogging session but with the difficulties of avoiding people left and right. She arrived at a place she won’t ever expect to find someone like Shiro to be.

A tall, expansive building coated in white color from sides to sides which separates into even smaller facilities that stills top over even her own school.

The sensors on Haru eyesight displays. “Tokyo International Hospital” with short descriptions telling the information relating to it. A fairly new hospital built by Atomos with the goal of incorporating advanced Alternium technology into treatments for patients.

Not to be stopped by the sheer awe, Haru proceeds through the entrance, the inside is as much grander than any hospital she has seen but that’s a given reaction for pretty much anything here at this point.

Before she took a step further, a floating white rounded robot with smiling pixelated face few towards her.

“Welcome to Tokyo International Hospital, how can we help you?” it asks in its’ robotic tone that simulates a welcoming receptionist.

“Uh… Um…” the unprepared Haru stutters as she tries to form reasonable excuses.

“Hey Wolfy which floor is Sh- The Hawk Linker is on??! I need to know like right now please!” Haru panics into her mind.

“The 9th floor, Alternium Disaster Patient Center…” the voice in a stoic manner reaches back to.

“Alternium… Disaster…?”

“T-The n-ninth floor!! I… uhh… visiting someone, yes!” Haru utters as she tries to side step away towards the elevator that’s in her sight.

“May I ask? Who are you visiting?” The robot closes in with each step Haru took.

With her thoughts running short of excuses she can come with, her hand swiftly turns the rounded robot away from her before making a beeline towards the elevator.

Just before it can orient itself and chase after her, Haru was already in the empty elevator frantically hitting the ninth floor button at a speedy pace.

Finally, the door clasped, cutting Haru off from any sight of the robot. She leans against the wall before letting a big sigh of relief. But not for as she could’ve gotten herself into a searing hot water worthy of trouble right now.

She really hopes whatever Shiro is doing here, it better be worth it to know.

Suddenly she comes to a halt, followed by the door opening in what seems like such a slow pace for her as she braces her heart for what is to come.

“Hey Haru~” was a familiar dragged out voice that greeted her first.

By Haru's own intuition, her hands dashes for the button to shut the elevator’s door up. However, Shiro was surprisingly faster as she was already holding the button outside the elevator.

“I thought you wanted to see me tho~” Shiro asks politely albeit with a sense of smug behind it.

“Uh… ha… I-I guess so…” Haru nervously responds

“Look I already knew the moment you came here~ I can also track other Linkers including you ya know~” despite Shiro mouth being closed shut, her voice now insteads is in Haru’s head. “It’s better if we talk like this just to be safe~”

WIth all her choices dwindling, Haru decided to step out of the elevator and confront her own crime in a sense.

*Sigh* “Now what do you have to say Ms.Wolf Linker~”

“I-I’m sorry i was just wondering where you went and…”

“And…?”

“The fact that it’s a hospital too… I was sorta worried…”

“...”

“Heh, guess you’re a kind of person with a golden heart like that huh” Shiro gave a faint smile to reassure Haru. “But no… I wasn’t here because I was hurt”

“Then why at the Alterni-”

Before Haru continues her word, The faint smile that was on Shiro's face quickly fades away.

“Shiro?”

“Follow me… I suppose you should know about this too…”

Shiro turns around and heads past the counter towards the hallway lined with multiple rooms. The atmosphere feels completely different from the first floor, no signs of any Alternium technology floating about. It feels like back home for Haru.

“Over here” Shiro called out to Haru who was abit in lost with the familiar feelings.

It’s a room at the end of the hallway, a tightly closed door with a sign on the outside.

“Imamura Hana…” Haru muttered out quietly.

Without a single word spoken between the two. then entered the room. The room filled with silence with the beeping of the heartbeat machine being the only thing that sounded through the room.

A young girl laid on the bed, long brown hair and a petite body along with a pale color skin, sleeping without a single breath can be heard thanks to the mask that covers her mouth.

Haru notices, shiro stood there solemnly without a single noticeable expression in her eyes. Haru tried to open her mouth, but not a single word came out.

The only voice that fills the room is still the beeping of the life support machine.

Shiro gaze towards Haru. “This is what happened in the first outbreak of tokyo…”

“The first outbreak?” she repeated, curious for more.

“Shiro figured that… Sooner or later you’ll ask about it…”

“What actually is going on here…” Haru replied in a serious tone. “Would you mind telling me… If it’s fine with you that is”

Shiro turns towards Hana “Even if i didn’t tell you’ll ask Lin or Aiko-san about it anyway”

“...”

“…It was 4 years ago”