Chapter Two

 Marino woke up to a jolt. He hadn't had any dreams, but he felt an odd sense of dread as he opened his eyes. He turned his head, scanning the area around him- which was just a simple bedroom. He lifted his hand up to his face. Half of it was covered by a bandage. 

 "Hey."

 Marino whipped around, looking for the source of the voice. There was a girl in the corner. She looked to be about his age, but she had long red hair and green eyes. Marino felt his face pinken slightly, but he shook his head rapidly and the feeling vanished. "Who are you?" he asked. The girl smiled slightly, and said "My name's Noda. Noda Kohaku, that is. What about you?"

 After they introduced themselves, Marino tried to stand, but he stumbled back from the effort. "What happened?" Marino questioned. "Well, Koyonagi — that's a friend of mine — found you about two days ago, and she recommended that you take your time healing. She'll be back in a few hours, so just..take it easy, champ." Marino quirked an eyebrow. "Champ?" Noda smiled again. Marino liked it when she smiled. "Yeah, sorry. It's what I call most of the people that get picked up by Koyonagi. If they ever recover, that is. It's kind of rare for people with Awakenings to recover, because the stress from their powers and such starts to weaken their health, and..yeah."

 "Oh," Marino said. "I'm sorry to hear that. Are there any others here except for me?"

 "No, not now. But, we did have a girl here. She already woke up and went with Koyonagi to Tsa. It's about four hours away, so.."

 "Wait, four hours..is this city Gaong?"

 "Yep."

After a few more minutes of chatting, Marino finally drifted into a deep sleep. Once he woke up, Noda was gone and a woman walked in. She was tall, and she looked about 25. She had orange hair mixed with black streaks. Her eyes were amber, and behind her, a small girl was standing, covered by a shawl. "Finally you're awake," the woman said. Marino nodded. "You're Koyonagi, right?" The woman nodded. The girl behind her looked up, smiled, and ran toward Marino. "Big brother!" Uemura said. Marino smiled wide and hugged her, then looked at her scars. "What state was she in when you found her?" Marino asked. Koyonagi's mouth tightened, but she spoke. "She was nearly dead. After you passed out, I had to get Matsushima to carry you here, and then once he returned, I found her. She's a lucky girl." Marino nodded, still hugging Uemura. My family and I used to call her Kōun'na Hito." Marino thought back to the day that his father had died and his mother came crying home. It was a factory fire that had killed him, and his brother Takashi, who was a deadbeat, tried to comfort Marino's family, but failed miserably. It'd been years since Marino had seen Takashi, and the last time he did, it was him getting pushed into the Tsa jailhouse.

 Later, Marino and Noda made lunch, which allowed them to talk some more. 

 "When did you come here?" Marino asked. Noda told him that she'd been there for as long as she could remember. Noda asked Marino about Takashi. He was a convicted criminal. It was assumed that Takashi had murdered Rokero, Marino's father, but no evidence was ever accumulated against him. However, due to multiple accounts of aggravated assault, Takashi was arrested, and had been in jail for a few months. Last Marino knew, Takashi had escaped and was currently evading police.

 Marino and Noda finished the dishes a few minutes later, and Marino stumbled to his room, flopped onto his mattress, and instantly fell asleep.