- VOL 1 – THOSE UNITED BY THE FATE -
Chapter 3: Final Preparations (1/10)
----------------------------------------------------
Shp.
Drops of water from the passing rain added sounds to the empty streets. Slowly but with a certain regularity, the droplets falling from the roofs of buildings created a pleasant melody.
Chp.
This melody was broken by another sound of water. More violent and erratic than the previous ones, it came from a small puddle. After a few more random sounds, it disappeared and the raindrops regained their rhythm. Maybe it had actually made them catch a new melody, who knows?
As the moon's light reflected between the clouds caused the puddles to shine, the face of a young man with amber eyes lit up in one of the puddles. The young man had a strange expression on his face. He had a slight smile, but at the same time his brows were furrowed and he seemed to have a dissatisfied expression.
His eyes sparkled with excitement, but deep down there was a hint of disappointment. The boy who had just disturbed the melody of the water drops continued to move forward at a slow pace. But it wasn't long before he stopped his steps.
"Huh..."
His stop was sudden. In his previous footsteps, it seemed as if he didn't know where he was going, but now he stopped his movement quite sharply and clearly. It seemed like he had reached his destination with all the steps he had taken. He stopped at the entrance of a building.
"I..."
He muttered quietly to himself as his expression became even more uncertain.
"What am I even doing?"
Soon, however, the expression on his face was set in his heart. He took a deep breath and, as he composed himself, he listened to his heart and put a certain expression on his face. Cold and serious, it was absolutely clear in comparison to the face that had just been in flux.
"I guess I forgot who I am."
These were the last words he muttered aloud. Then he pushed the door of the building in front of him and entered, accompanied by the sound of a bell. As he entered, the pleasant melody of water drops and wind that had accompanied him outside was replaced by a confused and disturbing noise.
"Well, well. Who do we have here?"
A short woman with blue eyes greeted the boy at the door as if she had been waiting for his arrival. She had a nasty smile on her face, and her furrowed brow indicated that it was a smile of sheer anger.
The short woman was in the reception area near the door. After making a fist with one hand and tapping the palm of the other, she stepped out of her seat and approached the door towards the boy who had just entered.
"Ahh, so you wander away from your brother, little boy. He must have left you to your fate. Well, I shouldn't have expected anything different from him."
As she spoke, the anger on her face diminished slightly. She even let out a laugh after her last words.
"Hahaha! So you realize that you can't escape your punishment. Well then, I mitigated your punishment for being a good boy."
When she came right in front of the boy, she realized something strange. She had been talking to him for a while, but he hadn't reacted in the slightest, nor had he moved a single step after getting inside.
Even though the woman was short, the boy was not much taller than her. Nevertheless, she stood on her tiptoes to exactly match his height and began to examine his face, hoping to understand his thoughts.
"Huh? Pretending to be sick-"
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
As she continued to speak, the boy suddenly moved and their faces were directly opposite each other. The blue-eyed woman gave a startled shout and jumped back.
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
Her face was slightly flushed for some reason. She tried to comprehend the situation, but her brain was at a standstill. Meanwhile, the boy broke his stillness and started walking. Seeing this, the woman tightened her hands into fists and looked like she was going to strike back with a blow at any moment.
The chestnut-haired boy walked calmly towards her as if there was nothing to worry about. Unlike her, his hands were free. He was holding the side of his stomach with one hand, but in the end, he was not in a fighting stance like her.
"D-don't come any closer!"
The boy in front of her, fearlessly coming towards her, somehow shattered her earlier confident demeanor. Her eyes, which had looked like those of a wolf ready to pounce on its prey, now looked like those of a rabbit looking for a hole to run away from.
The chestnut-haired boy ignored her remark and continued to approach with light steps. When he was right next to her, he put his free hand on her shoulder and said something calmly.
"I would appreciate it if you brought me some hot water and a towel, Rina-san."
Although Rina had warned the boy in front of her, she made no move in response to his approach. She was even more bewildered when he simply walked towards the stairs and disappeared.
‘Just now, what happened?’
There was no trace of her anger from earlier. She just stood there in utter confusion and shock. For a few seconds, she tried to analyze the situation, but she couldn't come up with a single idea of what had happened.
‘He asked for hot water and towels. Must be for a bath. I'd better bring them.’
She didn't even know where to bring these items, but it was the only thing she could do in the situation.
"Hmm?"
When she came to her senses, something on the ground caught her eye. In the spot where the boy had just been standing, she noticed something quite ordinary and familiar to her. A wooden membership card...
"Room thirteen..."
-
‘Holy shit, I'm all rusty. It has been a long time...’
Shin slowly walked to his room at the end of the first floor. He took his key out of his pocket, unlocked the door, and threw himself on the bed as soon as he entered the room.
‘Humans... Absurdly, sometimes they can be even more unstable than wild animals.’
A stain had formed where he had been pressing with his hand for a while. He slowly pulled his hand away, looking uncomfortable.
‘My knife is a mess too. I can't just wash it with water, I'd better take it to a blacksmith tomorrow. I've had it for a long time, but I haven't taken proper care of it.’
He took the knife with the strange patterns on it out of its sheath, examined it for a while, and then put it on the bed.
‘I decided...’
He sat up, trying not to care about his wound. He had a pained expression on his face, but he tried to ignore it. He wiped it off as much as he could, as if nothing was wrong, and replaced it with a confident one.
After getting up, he picked up a bag next to the bed and took out a few items. One of them was a rather ordinary-looking green plant with long leaves. Another was a powdery crushed mix. It was a blend of the colors green and brown.
Shin took off his clothes slowly and carefully. His intention was to use these herbs to do something about his wound, but he was distracted by a voice from behind him.
"Here, MISTER."
The closed door of the room suddenly opened and a short woman entered. She looked quite interesting with two big buckets in her hand. Because the buckets were almost as big as she was. The boy, who was standing half naked on the bed, was also surprised by this sight in front of him, but he did not say anything.
"Would you like anything el- Vaah!? What are you doing?!"
When the woman had finished setting the buckets down at the bottom of the bathtub near the entrance, she turned to face the boy on the bed. When she saw him, her words were interrupted and she turned her head away, moving quickly towards the door.
"I'm undressing?"
Shin didn't understand what had happened, so he gave the first answer that came to his mind. Then he ignored it and went about his business. He got up from the bed, grabbed the materials he had taken out, and headed for the bathtub.
The short woman was still standing in the doorway with her back turned. The boy ignored her and picked up one of the buckets on the floor and emptied it into the tub. Hearing the sound of water, the woman turned her flushed face, covered with her hands, slightly in the direction of the sound, and looked at the boy through her fingers.
‘W-what the hell is that?’
The boy's back was to her. So she could see his bare back. However, her slight embarrassment had been replaced by great surprise. Her eyes widened and she began to carefully examine the boy's bare back.
‘What is that big scar on his back? And for a boy of his age...’
She paused for a moment. Her face was slightly flushed again.
‘Isn't he a little too developed?’
Shin emptied both buckets into the tub and proceeded to take off his other clothes. But just before he undressed, he paused and turned to the woman behind him who had been watching him silently for some time.
She was still looking at his body in return. This time not at the scar on his back, which was only a scar, but at the still bleeding wound on the side of his stomach.
"Thank you for what you brought, Rina-san. I would appreciate it if you could bring some food to my room in a little while."
After saying that, Shin was ready to get into the bathtub, but the woman at the door was still standing there. Her eyes were in the same place and she didn't seem to hear a word he said to her. When Shin realized this, he sighed and spoke again, looking her straight in the eye.
"Huff... Can I take my towel? Or if you want to watch me, you can stay here and I can take it after I'm finished taking a bath."
Hearing this, the woman seemed to finally wake up from her thoughts. She jumped up for a moment and shouted in alarm.
"S-Shut up!"
Then she threw the towel she was carrying over her shoulder at him and left the room in a very agile movement.