Starting Out [2]

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My next instinct was to look for medical assistance, the only form of outside communication we had was a dusty rotary phone, I franticly punched in the numbers and tried to get a connection—but it was to no avail, the signal and electrical wiring around Rosemary was horrendous.

Next I tried to think of something I could do myself—although I quickly became confused, though Tomura's condition is clearly severe, the symptoms all point to just a common cold. But that's just it, it's the common cold.

Hirano loved to ramble about the other kids whilst she nagged me about studying, future prospects and whatnot. And she told me that Tomura was barely a newborn when he arrived on her doorstep.

Piecing that tidbit of information together with the lack of care the Government shows this place, the answer was clear—Tomura most likely hadn't received the mandatory shot, that's the only way a common cold could be so harmful, but considering none of the other kids are in such a condition—or are even showing mild symptoms of it, he must be the only one here who hasn't received a jab.

I went back into Tomura's room alongside Hirano and his condition hadn't gotten much better. The warmth provided by the towel and hot water was doing something to regulate his body temperature, but it just wasn't enough—his skin was still sickly and pale as ever.

Hirano looked at me with a helpless expression. "What happened? Are the medics coming?"

I could only shake my head in a similar manner. "The phone isn't working, I can't get a connection"

Her eyes widened in disbelief, if he was left like this untreated his condition would only continue to degrade—and eventually could lead to his situation becoming truly grave, possibly resulting in his passing—a child's body can't last for very long under such symptoms.

"Koen—stay here and watch over Tomura for me, I'm going to go check to see if we have any medication left over" I nodded and made my way to his bedside. I held my palm against the towel resting against his forehead and found that it was cold, I could just dip it in the water again to re-heat it, but I wanted to do everything possible to help the little guy.

He was un-consciousness probably a result of the fatigue coming from his body doing everything it could to fight the illness. Again, no-one was watching as the door was closed and Hirano had told the others to say outside to prevent any disturbances.

I internally used my flames to increase the temperature of my palm, and planted it against his forehead. The coloration of his skin became more vibrant, which was surprising, but a welcome change. It was a good thing I had insisted on increasing my control proficiency, otherwise I wouldn't be able to channel my flames like this without harming him.

I heard the footsteps of Hirano approach the door, I disengaged my flame and placed the towel I had been letting soak in the warm water on his forehead once again, I had infused it with my flames to allow the warming effect to last even without my direct interaction. She came back empty handed, it seems her search was fruitless. Sure my flames could keep him stable for longer—but it wont tackle the root problem, it would just give him more time before he can't hang on any longer.

"I'll go get help" I declared.

"What do you mean? I hope you're not planning to walk all the way to the main town, that'll take you ages!" she retorted.

I looked at Tomura with a determined expression. "Is there another option?"

I made my way out of the building and stepped onto the elongated footpath, it looked like it was un-ending, but I didn't have another choice. Hell, even if I make it to the main area of Kuoh Town I may not end up succeeding in acquiring help, but I would be dammed if I wasn't going to try.

I had been sleeping in during the day as normal—so it was already dark outside, I ignited a flame on my finger to prevent myself from getting lost or lead astray from the trail, and with that, my journey had begun.

---

I have no idea how long it has been, ten minutes? Maybe even fifteen...I'm covered in sweat and I'm beginning to slump, this atrocious cardio of mine has continued to be a thorn in my side, my vision every now and then becomes hazy, I have no idea how much longer I can continue until I pass out, I haven't even seen a glimpse of Kuoh Town, am I even going in the right direction?

Holding this flame is exhausting and causing me to exert double the effort, but without it I'd definitely be going in the wrong direction, the path constantly meanders—so I couldn't just find the general direction of it and walk forward.

My eyes...are getting heavy, I'll continue—I'll definitely continue...don't worry Tomura, I just need a bit of rest.

(Third Person Perspective)

Ultimately—Keon's body couldn't keep up, he collapsed to the ground, face flat out of exhaustion.

"Now then, I suppose it's time for me to act the Good Samaritan" A tall man who looked to be in his twenties with black hair with a golden streak and a goatee. He had twelve black feathery wings protruding from his back which he quickly put away.

His actions were rather unusual—he seemed to cast some light-golden beam of light in the direction of the Rosemary Orphanage, strangely enough it didn't seem to be a threat, rather an ally, but who could know for sure.

---

"Hirano! Hirano! Quickly! Come!" Maskai had gone into the room where Tomura was kept without the caretakers permission—but her intentions were good-hearted, she was simply worried and wanted to know how Tomura was doing. Hirano had gone to check again for any medication she might have left out which was when Masaki took the opportunity to enter.

Hirano was slightly annoyed that she disobeyed her instructions—but came to see what she was shouting about regardless.

*Crash*

She dropped all the bottles and pills she was holding in her arms and held her hands to her mouth in shock.

Tomura was fine! No, one could say he was better than ever.

"Tomura!? What happened!?" she exclaimed.

"I don't know...I felt something enter my body and all of a sudden I was better than ever" he was inspecting his body in disbelief, he had just felt as if he was on the brink of death—but just like that the feeling was gone, he felt like a new man.

"Masaki! Did you give something to him!?" Hirano didn't know what to think—on the one hand if Masaki had given something to him she would admonish her for her irresponsibility, giving medication without proper understanding nine out of ten times will only worsen the situation rather than improve it. On the other hand, if she had given him something it clearly worked.

Yet there was still one more issue—Koen! Tomura was fine now, but he was still out there supposedly trying to get help—they had to go find him.

---

(Koen's Perspective)

An unfamiliar ceiling. I slowly parted my eyelids and took a gander to try figure out the predicament I was in. I was laying down on a maroon colored couch with a moss colored blanket coated over my body. I had to exert a great amount of effort just to sit up properly, my arms trembled as I got up.

My lips felt dry and I had a terrible headache—I tried to get up but there was a considerable absence of strength in my legs, I held my left hand against the wall to support myself.

*Creak*

Before I could make it to the door, it opened by itself—and a figure walked into the room, with an very recognizable face. He smiled at me warmly, but I could tell there were hidden intentions behind that mask.

"Now now, you might want to rest a while longer—I found you in the middle of a hike I went on, I must say you're built like a skeleton, nutrition is important"

'Found me in the middle of a hike' What bullshit, I knew who this was, and could figure out immediately why he had bothered to save me.

This was Azazel, the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels as well as the head of Grigori. Both a collection and research fanatic with a distinct addiction to Sacred Gear's, and it seemed he had found about mine, why else would he bother with me? As if he just coincidently happened to encounter me in the middle of nowhere on a "hike" Hah.

The realization filled me with a sense of dread—didn't this mean he had known about me for a while? For him to have such perfect timing he had to have been monitoring me, I could guess he probably wanted to use me to fill his fascination.

My concerns were suddenly pushed aside when I remembered I had a bigger issue at hand, Tomura!

"Mister I'm grateful for your help—but I need to help my friend, so if you'll excuse me" I made my way to the door, but he stood in front of me preventing me from leaving.

"Don't worry, I've already dealt with your little friend" he conjured a golden light in his hand, and had this irritating look on his face, as if he knew everything.

"You killed Tomura..." I replied coldly—I didn't care that I had just revealed a bit of my knowledge on the supernatural, if this fucker killed Tomura he was about to meet the same fate.

He continued to smile—and un-expectantly shot a beam of light straight at me, it was too fast! I wouldn't be able to dodge!

It hit me straight in the chest.

However I felt nothing—no that was incorrect, I felt better than before, the previous sense of fatigue and drowsiness I felt all the time because of my malnourished body was gone, fuck, I had made an incorrect assumption—and revealed my knowledge of the supernatural for nothing.

"Now then, it's my turn to ask some questions, when you saw me conjure [Light Magic] instead of wondering what it was, you assumed I used it to kill your friend" he narrowed his eyes as he spoke. "Furthermore, you've been looking at me this whole time as if you knew who I was"

Fuck, I've made a huge mistake haven't I?

But then—his expression eased up immediately. "Relax relax, we all have our secrets—and despite what I am I haven't 'Fallen' so low as to extort a child for information" his next words were laced with a sliver of ice. "Even if you don't seem like one"

"Now then you're probably wondering what I want with you—and it's quite simple really, that flame of yours is the result of a common [Sacred Gear] by the name of [Flame Shake]—and frankly I want to research it, or more specifically, I want to research your growth with it"

Something was off about his words, I looked at him with a wary expression.

"You mentioned that it was common...so why would you want to research such a thing?"

He laughed upon hearing my remark.

"I feel that the way people assess Sacred Gear's is a huge misconception—there are no such things as bad Sacred Gears—some were just unlucky to get put with a lackluster host and never reached their full potential, thus no-one took notice of it, although I must say, you weren't curious in the slightest as to what a Sacred Gear was—secrets indeed"

Once again—I made another mistake, thankfully I had the body of a child so I doubt he would be too rough with me, but he already seems to have his suspicions that what's on the outside may not directly represent what's within me.

"Oh—and I forgot to mention, naturally you're co-operation will not go unrewarded, you'll be provided for and taken care off to the best of my abilities, and I'll be happy to listen to any other requests you may have in exchange, and when I say 'research' don't confuse it with spooky lab experiments, I simply want to document your training, and I'll even help you with it if you'd like"

I took a minute to ponder his proposition—perhaps this situation might not be so shitty after all.