Immediately after getting back home and lazily carrying his own wobbling body, Ginji dove right into his bed and passed out at the tip of a hat.

When he came to, he felt something slowly stroking his hair while he returned to his consciousness. The first thing he saw was Yui's face appearing over the bosom above him. His eyes widened for just a moment, and slowly propped himself up from her lap, only for his head to land on her significant other's shoulder.

"I'm back, Yui… How long was I out for…?"

"I think for about an hour.

…

Welcome back," with her worries coming out of control, she gave Ginji a warm embrace that had finally woke him up.

"You look quite hurt."

"Sorry to make you worry.

By the way, did Mom let you in here?"

"You idiot. I've been here even before you got home. You looked so tired you didn't even notice me. Auntie went out shopping though so she asked me to watch over the house."

"Ahaha… I'm sorry about that."

"You've always been incredibly busy at IIAT, but I've never seen you this tired before."

"Hahh… At least I've done all I have to do so I can finally rest. Want me to make some tea? I'll tell you what happened."

"I feel bad… but I miss how you make your brew."

"Well, I missed you."

"S-Shut up," Yui uttered shyly and let out a weak laugh.

…

After coming back with the tea, Ginji wrapped a blanket on Yui as they sat on the bed feeling the warmth of the heater to fend off the spring coldness.

"This is probably not the best way to start this, but do you remember what Gin had told you back in high school after you confessed to him?"

"…? You mean, there were a lot that was discussed at that time. I can't really pinpoint what you're referring to. I guess… about Gin's condition?"

"Yup, yup. I think this goes without saying, but I'm sure you remember what happened in our last school trip in Blue Ink."

"How can I even forget about that…"

"Well… just to spill it all out, I got these wounds from him. What he feared came true, and he ran wild. Compared to what we went through, what Gin did on the truck back then seemed like something a toddler did.

I can't say the specifics but he pretty much went out of control and wrecked stuff. Ringo's illness really had took a toll on him."

"I feel… really bad… I still haven't been able to visit her…"

"Hey, I'll come with you if you want to see her," he then gestured some reassurance as he patted Yui's head.

"It's not all bad, though. These wounds were worth it since Gin is doing better now. And besides, I think Ringo can be saved."

"Really?!"

"There's still no guarantee, but I helped out on finding out a lead on a solution."

"Haaahh…!"

As though losing all of Yui's strength, she fell on Ginji's lap—a reversal from earlier—but beads of tears had welled up on the corner of her eyes as she made a relieved smile before burying his face on Ginji's stomach.

"You really are amazing… I love you so much."

"What's this… I'm usually the only one venting but now you're getting clingy. But I love you too, you got that?

Now let me take a bath since I really just want to rest for the rest of the day. Oh, are you staying for dinner?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Alright," he then proceeded to caress Yui's hair that showed great care for it as his hand flowed smoothly to the soft and somewhat satisfying surface.

"I hope the two of you will return to this kind of days soon."

▪ ▪ ▪

"We've finished sterilizing the room."

Two Exiles emerged from within Dr. Nishina's laboratory as they removed their gloves and discarded their cleaning equipment.

Unsurprisingly, Dr. Kurt Snetr gave a genuinely shocked look rather than that of showing judgment towards the two masked men.

It was the day after the discussions pertaining the possible remedy to BEF-1 had been concluded. Without any more time wasted, they began immediately to gather further data in Dr. Nishina's home laboratory.

Unable to hold back his queries, Dr. Snetr started asking, "Why are we doing the extraction here as opposed to doing it in Mykes where we have more equipment?"

"Please remember," Tenth started, "the fact that the sample is going to come from Gin and Gin only must be kept under wraps to protect him from the public.

We have all agreed to cover this up with a story that this was the result of your and Dr. Kagetora's endeavors."

"It is as Mr. Juushiro said, Kurt."

Dr. Kagetora had managed to step out of Mykes for this very situation. But they are in a time limit as he is not able to leave for long as he is a main part in the problem-solving the still incurable disease along with other doctors from around the world.

"Also, don't mind the two Exiles with us today. They are more than capable in the medical field, but I guess they will just be assistants to you three doctors."

"They… have saved me time and… time again. I'm sorry that… I have to say this… but they are the ones I trust the most… when it comes to my condition…"

Gin let out a small smile as he sang Hiroomi and Sean praises.

"Now that I think about it," Dr. Kagetora wondered, "we might have met each other from back then."

"We neither confirm nor deny."

"So much for that," Hātori clapped once, "let's do this as soon as we can so we can move on to the next steps. Well, it's not that I'm much of help."

"Please don't say that, Dr. Nishina. Your laboratory has quite a lot of advanced equipment so I can't help but be curious."

"It's frankly for my selfish goals that they are here. It's for a research that I have been doing for decades now. Pay it no mind."

"Well then," Dr. Kagetora called. "Please wear your PPEs, everyone."

~ ~ ~

The simplest part of the process had quickly been done, as a sample of Gin's blood was immediately drawn out. With the blinds of the laboratory lifted, he stepped out to another room to watch from a window with the other guests not invited inside the sterile room.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"This might take a few hours, but we really don't know. Are you going to be alright with this, 027?" Dr. Kagetora spoke through an intercom, while Gin only gave a thumbs up as a reply.

"Is your throat doing okay now?" Tenth asked.

"Somewhat better…"

"I think you really should go back home, you know."

"Not yet… but I will once things have become… easier, and when I don't have… to be here when… they're working.

I want to apologize to my family… and Haku too."

"Sounds like he should be the saying sorry for breaking your ribs and all," to lighten the mood even if by a smidgen, he cracked a little joke.

With things the way they are, Gin is rehabilitating in their underground base. He had found himself the prior night reading the manuscript that Kuroko had left him while he went home to take care of her sister. Gin had gotten very little sleep with the thought of the potential future Kuroko had created for him to ponder about, and it had unsurprisingly made him fearful of that future.

Nevertheless, he snuck in that night to enter the Void. He ignored the warnings of the dangers of him entering the room, as told by the manuscript, but he had thought to himself that he perhaps could now enter now that he had broken away from his distorted mind. And so he decided to stay for six hours with a duration of only five minutes on the outside.

As he had expected, the entire room turned to black from white in a blink of an eye, and the gravity had jumped twenty times that of the normal pull. Ken, who had also established a shared sense with the room, did not seem to notice him.

But despite the dark memories the Void had shown him, nothing dangerous had happened to him. He let a few hours pass silently as he tried to clear his mind, and he fell asleep only to be woken up by a nightmare closely connected to the manuscript. By that time, there were only a few minutes left in his stay.

…

"Oh, right. Have the spies contacted you?"

"Not yet… How were they with Makoto… and the others anyway?"

"You'll have to thank Ginji and Kuroko for that. If not for them having a memory of you having information about Oregano, they wouldn't be there. The two asked me for help in negotiations, and everything went well thankfully.

Also, haven't you told them that something like this was bound to happen anyway?"

"I did… but thank you, Tenth…"

"I think sometimes you forget I'm currently the Exiles' leader, young man," he whispered.

"Excuse me…"

"Oh, Tatsu… Been a while."

Dr. Nishina's son had always had a cautious personality—moving carefully and not making unnecessary sounds around people. He then gently opened the door of the annex of their house with a tray of coffee and freshly baked scones.

His grip trembled upon seeing Gin with his hair and a smile that made him appear as though he had aged a few years. Tatsu recognized him immediately, but it was very different from what he expected him to look normally.

"A-Are you alright, Yuka Gin…?"

"Nothing serious… Just got on an accident."

"O-Okay… Mom asked me to bring snacks here. I think Dad said food is only allowed in here so the lab is off-limits.

I'll be going back, then."

"Alright, thank… you for bringing them."

"You said his name is Tastu, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Hahh…"

"Something… wrong, Tenth?"

"Not really… I thought about giving you a few words of encouragement, but when I saw him, I felt really guilty."

"About Akira… huh."

"I also ran away not knowing what to do. I know things are fine now with Meg, but every time I get reminded of my inaction feels like a punch on the gut."

"Or on the rib…"

"Hah. That's a good one."

"Who knows… maybe in some different timeline… just like Kuroko wrote… I took my inaction to my grave…"

"Bottom line is… we both have things we'd rather want to forget but can't."

"At least… you have your family… now.

It's… It's quite literally in me… if I'll also… have my own one…"

"I also wish to see that, so let us hope for the very best."

Their conversation ended there. The coffee was still steaming but the scones that they wholly enjoyed had cooled down beforehand while they observe in silence what is beyond the soundproofed window.

Not long has passed, and Dr. Nishina pressed on the intercom.

"Gin, Taketo. Please wear a mask and gloves then you may enter."

…

"We've successfully taken the virus from your blood sample, Mr. Sakato. Will you please look at this screen?" Dr. Nishina then pointed to a large monitor displaying what seemed to be visuals from a microscope.

"What surprised us the most is how prevalent the virus is from your body. From just a small sample, I think we have enough for practical application and propagation, separately.

What you're seeing right now is just a tiny amount from what we now have stored for preservation until it reaches Mykes. Dr. Kagetora brought an instant sedative and we tested it, following Mr. Satoshi's suggestion."

Dr. Snetr then approached the microscope itself and fed the sample with a drop of the sedative fluid. It was that moment when what Gin felt back in high school has been visualized. The moment the drug made contact with the virus, the latter immediately began to attack the drug and eradicated it in a matter of seconds.

"By nature, it seems that it really is a bacteriophage, but after further observations, we inferred that it was definitely more than that. After a rough comparison of your data from the Medical Children Program, it held some notable characteristics from the substances tested in you, as though they were combined together.

It is only a guess in my part, but the severe physical and mental reactions you had from those times were a possible response to the multiple substances clashing together before they underwent adaptation in your body."

"I have had… extremely bad mental episodes that surface a few times… Is that tied to that if your… explanation is on point…?"

"We cannot say for certain… But it might have already become inherent in you, I am very sorry to say."

"I see… then that's fine…"

"Since we're very pressed on time, we would like it if we're able to transport this to the hospital as soon as possible so we could hold a meeting with the other doctors and present a brief proposal."

"In case you're wondering," Dr. Kagetora butted in, "it is permitted by law across the world to administer treatment from a remedy that is very recently developed in times of emergency.

Since we have a good base, being this virus, give us a few days to examine and synthesize treatment."

"Understood. If we're all wrapped up now, I'll be taking these two Exiles with me back. Gin, I'll drive you to the hospital."

"Sorry… I still can't make a grip…

Thank you all for the help."

~ ~ ~

As Gin entered the hospital room, he saw that Nagi was accompanying Rin with a chat. With his presence noticed, Nagi immediately stood up and ran to wrap his arms on Gin while patting his back.

"So glad you're alright…"

"Sorry… it's been a while…"

"Should I give you two some space?"

"No… It's fine. Are you with Shiro…"

"It's just me today. But man, your throat's really shot."

"It's inflamed… but nothing worse.

I'm back, Rin…"

"Hi. You caught me awake this time."

"She looks even thinner…"

"I got a permit to stay here… so I'll be here for a while…"

"You don't have… work?"

"Hiro told me not to… worry about it. I want to… prioritize you from now on…

How are you feeling…?"

In response, she moved began moving her fingers.

"Good, I guess."

Good, Rin said, in a sense that she's pertaining to the remaining extremities that she can still use.

Pulling his back from leaning on the chair, Gin sat closer towards Rin and grasped her hand. He briefly looked at Nagi and pulled his sight back to the hand.

"…

So it turns out… I might have something in me that can save you, Rin."

"Y-You're kidding me…" Nagi shot up from seat while darting a look at Gin and exclaimed on a very low voice.

"Apparently I have a virus… a good virus… that developed in me when I was a Child… I was in Dr. Nishina's place earlier… and we got what we needed. You'll probably… get the news later…

Well… nothing is set in stone… and we still don't know… what the success rate will b-"

He felt Rin's grip tightening on his hand. She did not give a verbal response, but there were no signs of her loosening the grip from him. As he sensed her turning to look at him, he looked back to see her pale lips trembling.

By some miracle, a small smile emerged from her muted visage.

Seemingly as movements that exerted her, she relaxed back on her pillow and closed her eyes. The smile had already disappeared, but then she opened her mouth.

"You're strong… in so many ways.

Thank you for not giving up… It made me think of a lot of things while being here… and it made me feel like the simplest things became special…"

"Mhm."

"So I only have really one wish…

I want you to teach me… to walk again."

"The simplest things became special."

Gin had understood what her lover meant in that very moment. For the longest time, crying has not been something that is very present in him when it is something that is in nature to humans. There were times where he just wanted to cry himself out but he can't, making him curse his very own self.

The release felt somewhat painful yet comforting as he let his worries wallow in his overflowing emotions even if just for a short moment.

Later that night, several doctors had come to visit Rin's hospital room bearing news about a potential cure to her disease while Gin who had opted to stay for a prolonged period of time in the hospital listened, while already knowing the gist of it.

Kurt Snetr and Rishou Kagetora, as a facade, presented a newly-found virus that the two had accidentally discovered while researching for a solution to fight the disease. While in reality, they had discreetly snuck the virus sample into the hospital's laboratory, immediately conducting tests on different harmful bacteria and presenting the data to the association of doctors. The proposal had successfully got a collective seal of approval with the evidence backing that all, without fail, the bacteria in which the virus was tested were completely expunged.

Within the explanation to the patient, the doctors preemptively sought for her permission to draw out blood samples to test the virus pre- and post-synthesis to see its efficacy. They had stressed that BEF-1 is very characteristic of being a strong consumer and decomposer, which made finding a substance that is equal or stronger than the bacteria to defeat it.

With mutual agreement, the parents of the Akanami family had signed the papers on behalf of their daughter to which documents note that there is high uncertainty in immediate administration of a cure to the patient, and that it could lead to unforeseen side effects that may end up to severe consequences weighing in with the chances of success.

The formalities having concluded, the doctors had immediately continued the decades-long conduction of research of the disease in hopes that this would be the one to end the study.