Chapter 45: ???

When Owen awoke the next day, he didn't feel like getting up, but he sucked it up soon enough and wiped the crust around his eyes as he quickly left the inn at the edge of town. He didn't even bother to fix his hair, which was a mess, but he didn't care since he had no plans to be seen anyways for what comes next. As he walked down a less populated road, he took directions from others to help him find his way to his destination, which turned out to be the Koutetsujou, now stationed on some tracks not too far from town.

Observing the people coming in and out, the kids playing around, and the women hanging clothes and other items out to dry were just side notes for Owen. Instead, he looked around for two specific people.

'Oh, there goes Kurusu, but where is Ikoma?' Owen thought quietly as he looked at the group from the tree line he was standing from, immediately noting Kurusu, who as usual was following Ayame around and acting as her guard. But that was not who Owen was looking for as he continued searching. His search soon ended as Ikoma came into view, wearing nice-looking clothes which were far better than his usual half-naked state.

'Now, if I can just get him alone...' That's what Owen thought as he watched Ikoma go around in conversation with everyone in and around the train. An opportunity soon came when Ikoma went off alone to tinker with his weapon, something Owen soon took advantage of as he followed to see Ikoma sitting alone on a rock with no one else around, modifying his weapon amongst the silence of nature, not noticing Owen creeping up on him with a smirk on his face.

"Boo." That's all Owen said before Ikoma found himself leaping inhumanly high into the air before slamming down on the ground at a weird angle, causing Owen to chuckle slightly as he watched Ikoma's mixed reaction of shock, joy, surprise, and anger, with words barely able to leave his lips.

"Relax, Ikoma. Speak calmly," Owen said, his words seemingly working wonders as Ikoma soon cleared his throat and let out the questions Owen expected.

"How did you survive? You got smacked away by the Black Smoke from 40 meters up! 40 meters! You should be beyond dead right now!" Ikoma said, but Owen only chuckled as he quickly spun up a lie.

"I got lucky and was in a water tower," Owen said, getting a nod from Ikoma, who whispered something under his breath that Owen didn't quite catch. He soon moved on from that as he began to tell Ikoma how much of a manipulative jerk Biba is, causing the young man to light up and shout, "I knew it!" into the air.

"That guy Biba, ever since he got here, has been nothing but manipulating Mumei! And I'm sure she's the reason she was acting the way she was at the station before we fought the Black Smoke," Ikoma said, causing Owen to sigh. He soon asked the question he wanted to ask.

"Can you take me to see Shino?" Owen asked, causing Ikoma to nod as he began to take Owen to see Shino. He also took the time to tell Owen about how hard Owen's 'death' hit Mumei, as she didn't speak for most of the ride here and even cried quite a bit.

"Didn't think she would care that much," Owen thought, kind of surprised. But he didn't get much time to dwell on it as he was easily escorted onto the train, with no one even seeing him as Ikoma had a surprising ability to distract people. With his high level of stealth skill, Owen was able to get into the part of the train where Shino was, which was mostly empty except for the bed Shino was in and the one or two other women she was having a conversation with. Luckily, they left, giving Owen the chance to come sit next to the surprised Shino, who sported a massive stomach that looked like it held half a dozen children.

"How have you been?" Owen asked as he looked at the smiling shino who rubbed her massive stomach, but behind that smile Owen could see the worry, which combined the black circles under her eyes shows she was anything but happy.

"I'm...scared" she said as she looked away Owen and towards her massive stomach which had veins shining brightly across it which pulsed every time shino's hand ran over it.

"Well, it makes sense. You're more than likely going to be the first kabaneri to give birth," Owen said, trying to comfort Shino, but he knew it didn't work.

"I'm going to die, and I worry what comes after for my child," she said, causing Owen's mind to stop. But when he was about to speak to stop her from thinking like that, she soon spoke with her voice clear and sure of her fate.

"I'm losing strength in my entire body to the point I can't even stand straight without assistance. And not only that, I'm losing my senses, be it touch, taste, and sight. Right now, I can barely see your face....I'm destined to die," her voice silenced any argument Owen had as he sat there and stared at Shino, who continued to speak.

"So can you do me a favor, Please take care of my child"

...

..

.

"Okay"

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How do you feel about my choices so far are they alright?