Chương 90: Chapter 25 Tentative Title: “The Duo(Part 2)

Leaving Bite behind to watch the house, Rina, Mochida, and I got into the car and headed for the Self-Defense Forces Hospital. If Takatsuki happened to be there, I might get another examination done if time allowed. Mochida dropped me off at the entrance. Without a hat to hide my face, I immediately attracted attention. People whispered among themselves from a distance. I'd simply have to get used to it. At the reception desk, I gave Miyafuji's name, and a nurse offered to escort me.

As we walked, she explained that nearly everyone injured during the Akihabara incident had been admitted here. Among them, Miyafuji's injuries were considered some of the most severe, so he had been placed in a private room. Once I'd finished visiting him, I'd stop by the other patients as well.

"Excuse me. Miyafuji-san, are you doing alright?" After thanking the nurse and seeing her off, I knocked and stepped inside. It looked like he already had visitors. Two young men—probably college students. One had several cuts on his face and carried the rough, rebellious air of someone who'd gotten into plenty of trouble. His spiky hair only reinforced the impression. The other had narrow eyes behind thin glasses. He looked calm, but there was a stubborn determination about him. Wait... Weren't these two...

"The high school kids from Akihabara?"

"Thanks for helping us back then. We're both college students."

"We're really sorry about what happened... We both let our tempers get the better of us." Both of them bowed deeply. College students, huh... If I hadn't spoken up for them back then, they would probably have ended up either in jail or detention. Looking back, I'd made the right call. Right before an operation like that, the last thing we needed was to lose capable fighters.

"Ah... um... First-san. You actually came." Miyafuji lay in bed. His right arm was gone, and his body was covered in countless scars, yet he looked surprisingly well. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Still... This was an odd combination. I couldn't immediately see what connected the three of them. If anything, perhaps they'd simply met on the battlefield. Then again, if they were college students, they must have been among the civilian volunteers. Well, putting that aside...

"Miyafuji-san, just call me Chloe. So... who are these two?"

"This is Yuji, and this is Suguru. They saved me in the outer perimeter, and we fought together afterward." So they were volunteers. The fact that the two of them were together probably meant they were in the same party. A case of 'after the rain comes firm ground.' Youth really was something. Yuji still seemed to have injuries himself, and there had been plenty of casualties among the volunteers in the outer perimeter as well. The fact that they'd helped Miyafuji in the middle of all that... I owed them my thanks.

"Thank you, both of you, for saving Miyafuji-san. Yuji-kun, how are your injuries?"

"Ah... um... I'm fine. More importantly, thank you for speaking up for us back then. As for my injuries... yeah, I'm okay."

"I'd like to thank you as well for peacefully stopping our fight." Hmm. Surprisingly decent young men. They'd even come to visit Miyafuji. Perhaps they weren't bad kids by nature. Maybe they had simply lost themselves after suddenly gaining power. Or maybe they'd just gotten carried away. Either way... Youth had a habit of making people reckless. I had one or two embarrassing memories of my own. (Man... she's nothing like I imagined.) (You're still an idiot. Just look at how she's treating everyone.)"You two...

Believe it or not, Chloe-san is actually older than I am." Miyafuji said with a wry smile. That man really was troublesome. He knew information about me—including who I had originally been. Well... This body wasn't exactly something people could judge by appearance alone. Besides, I'd been smoking during my livestreams for quite a while now. Even Tachibana used to casually recommend tobacco while we were streaming.

"Seriously!?"

"Seriously!?"

"Miyafuji-san, don't reveal too much or you'll end up exposing my identity." I shrugged with a smile.

"I'm forty-three. That's my actual age. If you want to laugh at someone my age walking around dressed like this, go right ahead." The two of them froze. Whether they chose to take that as a joke or believe me was entirely up to them. My age wasn't exactly a secret worth protecting. Leaving the speechless pair aside, I turned back to Miyafuji.

"How are you feeling?"

"My body's fine... but my arm..." His gaze dropped toward his missing right arm.

"It was an honorable wound, but... I doubt I'll be able to return to duty." He lowered his head.

"More importantly... I'm sorry. I couldn't hold the line. I had to leave everything to you."

"No." I shook my head.

"I'm the one who should apologize. I was busy hunting down the Small Bones and couldn't make it back in time." We both bowed our heads. You could dismiss it as fate. Or luck. Or simply say it couldn't be helped. But... I still believed it had been my failure. There was no point dwelling on 'what if.' Even so... I couldn't stop myself from wondering. If only I'd arrived sooner. If only I'd made it in time.... Still... Returning to police work would be difficult.

A police officer missing an arm would always be at a disadvantage. Even restraining a criminal became much harder with only one arm.... Alright.

"Miyafuji-san... if you end up leaving the police force, would you consider working with me?" He looked up.

"You have legal knowledge. More importantly, you survived this battle."

"If you aren't interested, feel free to refuse."

"The work would all be related to Gates."

"... Does that mean fighting monsters?"

"It means working with Gates." Not necessarily fighting them. Miyafuji fell silent. Losing an arm... That kind of fear naturally left scars no medicine could erase. Besides, not every Gate-related job required entering a Gate. If headquarters was going to be established, it would also need administrative staff. More importantly... I was the Director. Miyafuji was too valuable to leave idle. He had helped defeat a Small Bone. His experience alone would make him an excellent instructor. But...

If he truly wanted a peaceful life... I had no intention of forcing him.