Dozens of reporters flooded the entrance to the hospital. They didn't block the door—because it would've been illegal—but people still struggled to walk in and out, especially if they were a big group who were with their families.

The lower part of my chest would tighten every time I got agitated, so I stopped peeking out to take a deep breath.

Mr. Mochizuki approached and asked, "So, do we have a deal?"

"What's in it for me?"

"Not being sued for disobeying the instructions from the authorities," he smiled. We stared at each other in silence until he laughed. "I'm joking. Your part is that we won't bother or spy on you ever again. Pretty good, huh?"

"Something tells me you'll have to do it again sooner or later."

"Be it later." He turned to face the rest of the team and waved. "Have a good day, guys. It might not be the easiest of times, but my daughter and I will be waiting for your next concert. Just make sure to do it on one of my days off; I'll send you my schedule."

They all giggled and chuckled.

Mr. Mochizuki looked back at me and, in lower volume, said, "I actually can't send you my schedule, that would be illegal. And what I said about the lawsuit is true, but that's not up to me, so please be careful until we make everything public. You can say whatever you want after that, with a bit of common sense, of course."

Slapping my shoulder one last time, he smiled and walked away.

Aki stood on my side. "He's weird."

"A little, but he's cool."

"Yeah."

I turned around to talk to everyone. "So, what's the plan?"

"It's been a while since I've seen you this clueless," Aya replied.

"And all it took was for me to get shot in the chest."

Aki suddenly slapped my back. "You haven't even gotten out of the hospital and you're already joking about it."

My objective was to lighten the mood, but I didn't expect anyone to get upset by me saying that, especially Aki. It became clear it wasn't the moment for these kinds of jokes when no one laughed.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Don't worry," continued Aya. "The plan is to return to the bus to be able to talk freely while we head back home."

"Oh, right. You mentioned earlier that the bus didn't leave. I have many questions."

"Just like us. So, I'll call the chauffeur now for him to wait for us in front of the hospital. Butcher will lead the way through the reporters."

"I know we always do it like this, but I'm more concerned now that I have a hole in my chest."

"We don't have a choice. The most we can do is for you to walk right behind Butcher to avoid being pushed."

I sighed. "Yeah, makes sense. Let's do it quickly, then."

Aya nodded and called the chauffeur, who said he was going to arrive in a minute or two.

The eleven of us walked to the door. The reporters could already see us. Some of them were already shouting names and questions. It didn't take an expert for anyone to know that it was going to be a nightmare.

"Are you the band the reporters are here for?" asked a man next to us. He wore security attire and a badge with his name on his chest. He looked a little old.

"We are," Aya answered. "We're very sorry for the problems we've caused."

"Your health comes first, there's nothing to apologize for. Are you leaving now?"

"Yes, we are."

He inspected Butcher from top to bottom. "Your bodyguard might be huge, but he's still one person. The people at the back are going to have a hard time walking through the reporters."

"We know, but we don't really have a choice," Aya laughed nervously.

"Let me help you."

Aya's words struggled to come out. "Ah… sure, that would be great."

The security guard rolled his sleeves up and smiled, "I might be old, but age won't make my skills disappear."

Now he convinced me too.

He continued, "Let me walk at the front."

"Wouldn't it be better if Butcher was at the front?" Tomokazu wondered. "He covers more space, after all."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"You know the saying, Mister. Size is not everything."

Seriously?

We quickly lined up behind the security guard in two rows. Astra and Aya were at the front, while Aki and I were at the back, right in front of Butcher. The rest of the staff was distributed evenly to cover the girls.

"Are you ready?" asked the security guard. We nodded and he said, "Let's go."

Camera and glasses flashes attacked our eyes as soon as we put one foot outside the building. Nonetheless, Butcher did an amazing job protecting us from being pushed. I couldn't say the same for the ones in the middle of the line, but I did notice how the security guard effortlessly made a path between the reporters while remaining polite and only pushing when necessary.

We were halfway through the crowd when the bus parked on the street in front of us. Despite it being fairly close, it still took another minute or more for us to reach it.

Although the sidewalk was clear, it didn't take long for the reporters to surround us again. Both Butcher and the security guard pushed them away from the door of the bus as much as they could.

Once it was clear enough, the chauffeur opened the door and we rushed to climb on. What I didn't expect was for everyone to thank the security guard, including me.

"Thank you," I said before stepping on the bus.

He smiled back, "You're welcome. I wish you all the best in your careers and lives."

I nodded and climbed the stairs into the bus. Butcher followed me and the door closed. I had just walked past the chauffeur when he accelerated. I barely managed to grasp the edge of the walls to avoid falling backward, and Butcher caught me as well.

"Are you okay, young man?"

"Yes. I hadn't noticed how weak I still am," I laughed nervously.

"I'm very sorry, I should've been more conscious about your condition," apologized the chauffeur.

"Don't worry," I replied.

Butcher helped me walk to the sofa, where they had left a spot for me to sit next to Aki.

"Are you alright?" she asked as soon as I sat down.

"I'm a bit uncomfortable and weak, but I'm good overall."

"Uncomfortable? Ah, you must be starving."

"I'm actually not—"

A growl in my stomach interrupted me and even made me squirm in pain.

"I'll make something light for you," she said.

"Thank you. I'll send you the instructions the nurse gave me before leaving."

I did so within a few seconds, then Aya sat down on the sofa in front of me. I knew she was going to ask what Aki and I had been hiding, so I talked before she did.

"What happened after I left the venue?"

She sighed. "As Aki said earlier, the girls asked her if you were alright, but we decided to leave you alone. We began to worry in the middle of the sound check, and as soon as we returned to the green room, the news was showing footage of the place where the explosion took place. We didn't suspect anything at first, but Aki's face said it all. I had never seen someone that scared in my life."

"And you've lived for a while."

"Shut up." Although she tried to play it cool, the commissures of her mouth curved up. "So, pale as a ghost, Aki confessed enough for us to worry as well. Not even an hour later, I received a call from the hospital."

"Must've been a horrible feeling."

"It was. I was asked to go to the hospital, so I took a taxi right away. I didn't want to leave everyone alone, but I had no choice. They were performing surgery on you when I arrived, but they didn't take long to finish. I was asked to look at you to confirm it was… you."

Even though her voice broke in the middle of the sentence, she merely cleared her throat and acted as if it hadn't happened.

"The doctors said you were going to be asleep for at least twelve hours, so I decided to go back to the venue. It didn't feel good to leave you alone, I have to say."

"You made the right decision," I replied. "Wait, are you telling me that the girls already knew about my state when they performed?"

She nodded. "Knowing you were asleep and out of danger calmed us down a little, but we still felt horrible. I don't know how the girls were able to go up on stage and deliver the same energy as always."

"Really? I'm proud of them."

"Thanks," Astra replied.

I hadn't noticed everyone on the bus was listening to our conversation, and the girls were smiling at me.

"How did TOTOT find out?" I asked Aya.

"I told them an hour before the concert. They were willing to cancel Blostars' performance and even the entire event, but the girls wanted the show to go on. Then after the concert, they made the decision of canceling the rest of the tour for Blostars, to which I instantly agreed. Fortunately, they were kind enough to let their bus take us back home and they even made all the arrangements for our freight to be shipped to a warehouse near GIMA's HQ, which will cost a fortune. Still, they refused to let us pay them for it."

"That's very nice of them," I replied. "Now I feel bad for yelling at them when I saw them on the news. When did they tell the public it was me, by the way?"

"This morning. Mom and Dad called me not even five minutes later."

"You hadn't told them before?"

"What do you think would've happened? I didn't want them to get hysterical and skip work when you were already out of danger."

"Weren't they hysterical when they called you?"

"Of course, they were. I still don't know how I managed to calm them down. I already told them you were being discharged and that you would call them as soon as possible, so you should do that."

I leaned against the backrest of the sofa and sighed. "I know. Let me just… breathe a little bit. What are we going to do now?"

"I'm not sure, this is as far as I planned," answered Aya.

"I know it sounds bad, but all of this might be good luck in disguise. We should take advantage of the controversy to announce our next album. Obviously, it'll be best if we wait to do so until a couple of days after all of the information about what happened has been revealed to the public."

"You read my mind."

"We are siblings, after all."

"Ew."

Out of nowhere, Umi said, "I don't want to meddle, but I already have a name for the album."

I sat up straight. "Really? What is it?"

"A—"

My glasses started ringing: it was a call from Mom. Oh no.