Chapter 32
Almost a week and a half had passed.
The hospital room felt strangely empty now. No machines beeping. No nurses rushing in and out. Just sunlight coming through the window and the quiet hum of the city outside.
Lily stood near the bed, stretching her arms slightly.
"Uhhhhhhh finally it's time to go home ,Renji looked her over, arms crossed ... Hmmm looks like you're back to normal."
Lily gave him a small smile .."Shut up, big brother."
"Yeah, yeah…" Renji waved his hand lazily.
Just then, a voice broke through the moment.
"Oooi, Mr. Renji."
Renji turned.
"Ah Doctor Pako. I really can't thank you enough truly Thanks for all your help."
Lily bowed slightly.
"Thank you, sir."
Doctor Pako smiled and waved it off.
"Nah c'mon it's no problem. It's the least I could do."
He adjusted his glasses and looked at Lily more closely.
"But Lily… I've known your brother for quite a while. While he has explained why you suddenly look like a twenty-four-year-old…"
He sighed lightly.
"…I must say, nothing surprises me anymore."
Lily smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head.
"Ah… I see."
Doctor Pako's tone shifted, more serious now.
"But you need to be more careful," he said firmly.
"You were this close to dying. It's a miracle you're alive."
Lily lowered her head.
"Possibly," the doctor continued, "because of the power within you."
"I know," Lily said quietly and that's why I'll be more careful."
She bowed deeply.
"Thank you, doctor." Doctor Pako panicked a little.
Wgatyno, no, no please don't do that."
Then he smiled warmly ,and listen… don't believe everything you see on the news, okay? They don't know the real you. They're just scared."
He chuckled.
"I mean, I was scared of your brother the first time I met him.
Renji grinned, Yeah, you should be scared. Lily laughed softly i'll keep that in mind."
"Good, Doctor Pako said now go… and be a hero."
Lily smiled.
"Yes."
She and Renji stepped forward see ya, Pako," Renji said, waving.
Thirty Minutes Later — Renji's Home
The door barely opened before
"LILYYYYYY!!"
"Eiiiii—Sakura-san!" Lily yelped.
Sakura pulled her into a tight hug, crying exaggerated tears.
"Ooooh, I was so worried! I'm so sorry, my love! I'm sorry I couldn't come to see you at the hospital!"
She sniffed.
"Your brother told us to focus on finding Choji… and we still found nothing."
"No, no, it's okay," Lily said quickly.
"I understand. Really."
Dracan stepped forward next.
He knelt slightly, placing a fist to his chest like a knight before royalty.
"Welcome home, my queen."
Lily froze.
"…Ehh That's creepy," she muttered.
Just then....
GBIM!!
Lily stiffened.
"Big brother something is here," she said.
Renji smiled calmly.
"Your senses are still sharp. Sorry—I didn't introduce you."
Slowly, a figure stepped forward from the hallway.
A calm presence. Balanced. Heavy, yet gentle.
Renji gestured.
"This is Elyra. She's our new friend, he glanced at her. She's a demigod"
Elyra spoke, her voice formal and composed.
"I am Elyra. God of Balance
Before she could say anything else Lily stepped forward and hugged her
Ehh! Elyra froze completely.
"Welcome to the family," Lily said warmly.
For a moment, Elyra didn't move.
Then she slowly placed a hand on Lily's shoulder.
"…Yes," she replied softly.
"Thank you very much.
LOCATION: FORCE AGENCY
"The meeting room was sealed.
No reporters. No cameras. Just men and women in dark suits sitting around a long table that felt too large for the number of people present.
Coffee cups sat untouched. Steam had faded long ago.
A large screen showed paused footage from Tokyo
a street torn apart,
emergency lights flashing,
a single blurred figure frozen mid-motion.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Finally, a man near the center cleared his throat.
"Thank you for assembling on such short notice."
Low nods followed. No one needed an explanation.
"The Tokyo incident," he continued, voice even, controlled, "has left the public shaken. No confirmed civilian deaths, but dozens injured. Infrastructure damage across three districts."
A woman adjusted her glasses. "The word lucky has been used too often in the reports."
"Luck is not policy," another man replied quietly.
The screen changed. Graphs appeared. Fear indexes. Emergency calls. Civil unrest probabilities.
"In the past three years," a man on the right said, tapping a document, "Japan has recorded the highest fatality rate in human history related to hunter activity."
The words landed heavy.
"This cannot continue," he added. "We clearly need control."
Murmurs spread,soft, restrained.
A younger official spoke up. "Let's choose our words carefully. Control isn't what the public wants to hear."
"Then don't call it control," someone else replied. "Call it public safety."
That phrase stuck.
"Temporary measures," another voice added.
"Transparency," said a woman near the end of the table.
The man at the center nodded. "Exactly. We are not controlling the hunters."
He paused, letting the silence settle.
"We're protecting civilians."
A few people nodded. Others didn't.
A man leaned forward, fingers interlocked. "We start with voluntary activity reports. Nothing invasive. Location, scale, duration."
"Voluntary," someone echoed.
"For now," the man replied.
Another official raised a hand. "Tracking devices could help. Assistive tools only. Emergency extraction, medical response."
A woman frowned. "That's still monitoring."
"Yes," the man said calmly. "But monitoring saves lives."
Across the table, someone shook his head. "Hunters save lives. We can't curfew them. Restricting them will disrupt their work."
"And what job is that?" another man snapped softly. "Destroying buildings? Putting innocent lives at risk?"
"That's unfair," the first man replied. "Without them—"
"Without them," the second interrupted, "Tokyo wouldn't need rebuilding every few months."
The temperature in the room dropped.
A woman spoke carefully. "Medical checkups should be mandatory. Power instability is real. We can't pretend it isn't."
"Mandatory?" someone asked.
"For safety," she answered.
"For whose?" another voice pressed.
Silence.
Then a different concern surfaced.
"Funding," a man said. "We can't keep allocating resources blindly."
Heads turned.
"Missions should go to registered hunters," he continued. "Hospitals should prioritize those on record. It's not punishment. It's… organization."
A quiet understanding spread.
A man finally said what everyone was thinking.
"And the ones who don't comply?"
The response came gently.
"They may find it harder to operate."
Harder to heal, to fight or to survive.
Disagreement surfaced again.
"This shouldn't be enforced," one woman said. "They save lives."
Another countered, "And people die anyway."
The room divided—not loudly, but firmly.
Then...
"Enough."
The voice wasn't raised.
But it cut through everything.
President Nakamura had not spoken until now.
Every head turned.
The room went completely still.
"I agree," he said calmly, "that the fatality rate is unacceptable."
A few officials nodded, relieved.
"But," Nakamura continued, eyes sharp, "we will not force this on the hunters."
A ripple of surprise moved through the room.
But mr president!!...
"Enough you have no idea," he said, "what threat is coming."
Some shifted uneasily.
"Placing pressure on the hunters now will only make things worse."
A man near the edge spoke carefully. "Mr. President… with respect… if there is a war coming, then this is exactly when we should prepare."
Nakamura looked at him.
"You think this is preparation?" he asked quietly.
The man hesitated. "You may be the president, sir, but no one is above the law. Not even you."
For a moment, the room felt fragile.
Then Nakamura smiled.
"Oooh," he said softly. "You think so?"
He stood.
"Then let me tell you about this war," he continued, voice steady, "and we'll see whether law saves us"
His eyes hardened.
"or the hunters do."