On the Way to the Hospital,
The evening sky began to change when Nova and Kazui walked along the road toward the hospital. The streets were quite crowded with people coming home from work.
"I totally didn't expect a strange creature to suddenly appear at school like that!" Kazui said. "Just imagine, how does the mother who just lost her child feel? She must be very sad right now."
Nova walked with calm steps beside Kazui, both hands in his pants pockets. His eyes stared straight ahead with his usual flat expression.
"Yeah, we live in a world where strange creatures can appear anytime and anywhere." "So I'm not too shocked by that creature's appearance."
He paused for a moment.
"I'm more interested in that kid named Reno. Don't you feel there's something strange about him?"
Kazui stopped his steps for a moment, turning toward Nova with a confused expression.
"Strange? Hmm..." "I don't feel it's that strange, but I can sense the change in his character. He's become somewhat different. Usually he has sharp eyes. But today his eyes looked more... normal. Calmer. Maybe he wants to change for the better. Who knows, right?"
"Change for the better?" "What if he's actually become much worse instead of better?"
"Are you suspicious of him? I mean... do you think that creature has something to do with Reno?"
"Maybe yes, maybe no." Nova continued his steps casually. "I need to have strong evidence first before I can be sure. Accusing someone without concrete evidence will only make the problem more complicated."
Kazui nodded in understanding, then quickened his pace to catch up with Nova who was already several meters ahead.
"Alright, we'd better just wait for the results later. Besides, we've already arrived at the hospital where my mother is being treated." Kazui said while pointing to a white building.
The building looked clean and well-maintained.
The hospital's automatic doors opened when they approached.
*This is where Aunt Anna works. It seems she's already gone home!* Nova thought to himself.
In Kazui's Mother's Room,
After taking the elevator to the second floor and walking down a long corridor filled with the sound of nurses' footsteps and other visitors' quiet conversations, they finally arrived in front of his mother's room.
Kazui knocked on the door.
TOK TOK TOK.
"Mom, I'm here!" Kazui called out while slowly opening the door.
Inside the room, there was a hospital bed with neatly arranged white blankets, several chairs for visitors, a small table, and a large window.
A woman with a face that was still beautiful despite looking pale was sitting on the hospital bed with a pillow behind her back as support.
"Ah, just got back, yeah?" Her mother smiled gently, then her eyes glanced at the figure standing behind Kazui. "Hm, who's that kid?"
"This is the kid I told you about, Mom." Kazui stepped to the side so his mother could see. "His name is Nova. A kid who looks like he has no friends at all."
Kazui's mother laughed softly. She observed Nova carefully.
Nova felt somewhat uncomfortable with that gaze.
"Ooh I see..." Kazui's mother said after a few seconds of observing. "He does look like a kid who's hard to approach, but..."
"He has a pure heart. You really can choose friends well, Kazui."
"That's already obvious, right?" Kazui answered proudly while grinning widely. "I'm your son after all. Of course I have the ability to choose good friends!"
Nova, still curious about what Kazui's mother said earlier—especially about "pure heart"—asked,
"Can you see the contents of someone's heart?"
Kazui's mother smiled gently.
"See the contents of a heart, yeah?" She answered in a calm tone. "Maybe yes, but not 100% accurate either. There are also people who can 'hide' the contents of their hearts using special powers or those who are too strong. So, some can and some can't."
She looked at Nova with a warm gaze.
"But you... you have a pure heart. I'm glad you're willing to be friends with this son of mine. He's a kid who talks quite a lot, so just be patient, yeah?"
"Hey, Mom!" "What's that supposed to mean? I don't talk that much, you know!"
Kazui's mother just laughed softly seeing her son's reaction.
Kazui then quickly changed the topic.
"Mom, you know what, today at school there was a strange creature that appeared." "Then one of the students in my class suddenly disappeared somewhere. Maybe that creature made him disappear. I feel sorry for that kid's mother."
*Hey, doesn't this kid look like a little kid in front of his mother now?* Nova thought.
"A creature that appeared at school?" "Then, what happened to that creature? Are you all okay?"
"We're fine!" "That creature suddenly disappeared according to the principal at that time. Because of that incident, we won't have school for a few days. Maybe until that creature is dealt with by the Sages, then we can go back to school."
"I see..." "Mom understands. So how long will you be here? Shouldn't you be going home already? It's already getting dark."
She glanced at the wall clock showing 5:45 PM.
"It's still too early to go home." Kazui answered while pulling a chair and sitting beside his mother's bed. "I want to chat with Mom more. By the way, how are you today, Mom? Are there any changes?"
Kazui's mother smiled gently while stroking her son's head.
"Still the same, no significant changes." She answered honestly. "Just, Mom can sit up a bit longer now."
"I see..." "Alright then, I'm going home now. It's already too late. Sleep well, Mom."
"Yes, be careful on the road." Kazui's mother waved weakly. "And Nova, thank you for being willing to be friends with my son."
Nova nodded briefly.
After that, they both exited the room slowly, closing the door.
At the Flat,
About twenty minutes later, they arrived in front of a fairly large apartment complex.
"So... this is where you live?" Nova asked while looking at the five-story building in front of him with quite an interested gaze.
The building looked very modern—with a cream and brown facade, large windows, and a very neat design. To the right and left there were also buildings with the same height and design—forming a very large complex.
From where he stood, Nova could see a small, well-maintained garden with various ornamental plants, a basketball court, and a fairly large mini soccer field.
"This place is pretty cool, right?" Kazui said while smiling proudly. "This is one of the best complexes in this area."
"You're right. It seems you live alone here, yeah?"
"Yup. Since Mom went into the hospital, I've been living alone." Kazui answered while starting to walk toward the entrance. "But I'm already used to it."
They began entering the building through automatic glass doors. The lobby was quite spacious—with white walls with wood accents.
At each corner of the building were two escalators—one at the far left and one at the far right. These escalators moved very smoothly.
"These escalators are powered by energy from Energy Stones." Kazui explained while getting on the left escalator.
"I know that." Nova answered briefly while standing behind Kazui on the escalator.
They went up from the first floor to the fifth floor calmly—occasionally passing other residents going down or up. Some greeted Kazui warmly.
"Okay, we're here." Kazui stepped out of the escalator as soon as they arrived on the fifth floor. "My room is over here."
They walked to the right down a long hallway filled with room doors with different numbers.
After walking about twenty meters, they stopped in front of Kazui's room door.
Kazui had just reached into his pocket to get the key when—
"Ah! Brother Kazui! Are you just getting home?"
Suddenly a small girl appeared from the door next to his.
She was wearing a pink dress with small flower patterns and white sandals.
"Huh? Hi, Rika." Kazui immediately smiled seeing the little kid. "What are you doing outside? Shouldn't you be having dinner?"
"I heard brother's voice, so I came out." Rika answered in a cheerful tone. "Hey brother, want to play with me at home? Mama just bought me a new toy!"
"Hmm, unfortunately not today." Kazui answered in a regretful tone while gently patting Rika's head. "Another time, okay, Rika?"
"Oh come on, why not?"
"Look." Kazui pointed at Nova standing behind him. "I brought a classmate today. So you understand now, right?"
Rika stared at Nova.
"Don't understand at all!"
*This kid...* Kazui thought while shaking his head.
"Rika dear! What are you doing outside there? Come in quickly, the rice will get cold!" A woman's voice was heard from inside the kid's room.
"Alright, it seems you need to go in now." Kazui said while pointing toward Rika's room door that was still open.
"Okay then." Rika finally gave up. "Play again next time, okay, brother! Don't forget!"
"Yes, yes. Promise."
Rika ran into her room and closed the door.
"That's a rather... troublesome kid." Kazui said while opening his room door with the key he finally found in his pants pocket. "You know what? Playing with little kids, especially girls, is very troublesome. They want to play house, dolls, cooking... I as a boy look very strange if I join in playing all that."
"Even though you say that, you still play with her, right?"
"You're right though..." He scratched his head that wasn't itchy. "I absolutely can't stand seeing children cry in front of me. So yeah... What can I do, right?"
"Come in." Kazui opened the door wide and turned on the light with the switch beside the door.
The room immediately lit up—white LED lights illuminating the entire apartment.
"By the way, each unit here has three bedrooms, one bathroom with a bathtub, and a fairly complete kitchen." Kazui explained while taking off his shoes and placing them on the shoe rack near the door. "Can't say it's big, but it's decent for three people to live in."
Nova looked around the room.
This apartment was indeed quite tidy for a teenager living alone. The living room was quite spacious with a gray sofa, a 50-inch flat-screen TV mounted on the wall, and a soft cream-colored carpet under a small table.
"This does look quite spacious for one person living in a place like this." Nova commented while also taking off his shoes.
"Right? You can sit on the sofa." Kazui pointed to the gray sofa in the middle of the room. "Want to drink or eat something?"
"No need. Just a drink, anything is fine." Nova said while walking toward the sofa and sitting comfortably.
"Anything, yeah? Alright." Kazui nodded. "You can watch TV if you want. I'm going to shower for a bit!"
Kazui went into his room to get a towel and change of clothes, then headed to the bathroom.
Nova just sat calmly while looking around the room—not turning on the TV because he felt it wasn't necessary.
About five minutes later, Kazui came out of the bathroom with hair still wet and casual home clothes—a plain black t-shirt and gray training pants. He brought two glasses of cold drinks with ice cubes.
"Here, your drink." Kazui handed one glass to Nova while sitting on the same sofa.
"Thank you." Nova accepted the glass and immediately drank.
Nova suddenly glanced toward the TV table, where there was a fairly large photo frame.
"Is that your father?" Nova pointed at the photo with his chin.
In the photo was a beautiful woman, clearly Kazui's mother. Beside her stood a handsome adult man. His face looked very similar to Kazui, just with different hair.
And in front of them, there was a small boy—maybe around 7 years old—with a cheerful smile. His face was clearly young Kazui.
"Ah, you're right. That's my father." Kazui answered while staring at the photo. "I'm sure you must know him. He was a strong Sage. You know what, he almost reached the peak of light power, people said. But unfortunately..."
"You must already know, right?"
Nova had indeed heard this story from various sources—especially from the news a few years ago.
"He died as a hero, right?" "Someone who used his power too excessively to save hundreds of humans from a very strong creature. But unfortunately at that time, the other Sages arrived too late. If only they had come earlier, he might not have had to use his power to the maximum limit and could have survived. He died after he killed that creature—his body was destroyed because it couldn't withstand the power that was too great."
"Yeah." "I can't blame the other Sages for my father's death. Besides, my father was indeed someone whose job was like that—protecting the weak, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. Better to die as a hero than run away and leave weak humans to die."
"That's what my father said when I was little. 'Power isn't for yourself, but to protect people who can't protect themselves.' That's the last sentence I remember from him."
"Ah! I think I still have that!"
Kazui ran into his room. The sound of things being moved around quite noisily could be heard—the sound of drawers being opened.
"Where... where... it should be here..." Kazui's muttering could be heard faintly from inside the room.
*What is he looking for?*
A few minutes later he came out holding something with both hands. His face looked very satisfied.
"There, found it! Turns out I still kept this until now, yeah?" Kazui showed a mask made of clay with a... very strange shape. The mask was irregular—the right and left sides weren't symmetrical, the eye holes weren't aligned, and there were several parts that looked cracked. Its color was white with some unclear stains.
"What's that?" He asked.
"You know, because I really wanted to be like my father back then, I even made this mask using clay." Kazui explained while rotating the mask in his hand. "At that time I was still in 2nd grade elementary. I thought if I had a cool mask, I could become a hero like my father."
"So ugly." Nova commented very honestly without beating around the bush.
"I know that's already obvious!" Kazui laughed softly while shaking his head. "Especially since I was still little when I made this. I have absolutely no artistic talent. When I think about it again, the mask I made actually looks like a villain's mask—not a hero's mask. Even though back then I felt this was a suitable mask for me to wear when I grow up."
"At that time your thinking was still childish. What's ugly to others, wasn't necessarily ugly in your eyes back then. Little kids have a different perspective about beauty."
"You're right." "It seems I don't need this anymore. It's time to let go of childish past."
He put the mask on the table.
"Do you still want to be like your father?"
"Yeah... I don't know, I'm not sure. I'm still too young for that. Moreover..." "I'd better spend as much time as possible with my mother first. I don't know how much longer she can hold on. So I want to make sure there are no regrets when she goes later."
Nova nodded in understanding. He had already heard the complete story about Kazui's mother's condition during the journey.
"Alright, how about we play something? What do you prefer to play?" Kazui asked.
"Yeah, from the beginning, that was the purpose, right?" After that, they started playing PS.