Chapter 21: Endeavor
"I need to get into the forest first. It's not certain he's dead yet. Kazuka, are you okay? Wait for me."
Haruki dashed into the forest at high speed, heading in the direction Itsuki had fled earlier.
Kuroha was panting heavily after unleashing that last strike. However, her focus remained fixed on the explosion. As the smoke and dust gradually cleared, Itsuki was seen falling, his entire body covered in wounds, his eyes rolled back, and a bit of smoke trailing from his mouth.
— "Damn it, are you dead, Mukuro? If you're dead, what am I supposed to do?"
He gritted his teeth in fury.
"Wait for me, I will definitely avenge you, Mukuro."
Despite his rage, Itsuki remained conscious. He twisted his body in mid-air and landed on the ground, causing it to crack in a wide radius.
"That damn Haruki, you want to cut me off? Soon enough, I will return and crush everything."
Having said that, he ran toward a different part of the forest. Kuroha, exhausted and unable to take another step, could only watch him disappear into the distance.
"Letting him escape is not good."
Haruki rushed deeper into the forest at great speed, his face showing clear signs of anxiety.
"Damn it, why haven't I found them yet? Or was that just the direction he wanted to run? But what about his younger brother? Does that mean Kazuka..."
Looking from afar, Haruki spotted two figures lying on the ground. Haruki was stunned, unable to believe his eyes.
Running closer, he saw Kazuka and Mukuro lying there, neither showing any sign of movement. Haruki ran to Kazuka's side, knelt, and pressed his ear to the boy's chest.
Faint heartbeats sounded like soft whispers—a flickering lamp in the wind about to go out. Haruki lifted Kazuka's head, but a long piece of fabric fell loosely from the boy's back. Haruki noticed it and held Kazuka to look at his back. It was an extremely long and large slash running down his spine.
Haruki's eyes bulged in shock, his face filled with disbelief. Immediately, he flipped Kazuka over and channeled energy into the wound.
"Damn it, what did this boy do to receive such a wound? He definitely hasn't learned healing yet. This is too deep in the forest, and I'm not a healer; I can't make it mend quickly. Damn it, Yuna is all the way outside the forest."
"You must hold on... you must... Aiko will kill me if I let him die. Hang in there, Kazuka, don't let go of life so soon."
Haruki exerted all his strength, opening his energy gate wide. A massive surge of energy illuminated the forest in a sea of blue light. Haruki screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Give me all your energy... you damn body..."
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Outside the forest, Yuna had just stopped channeling energy to heal Morita. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a long, weary breath.
"It's done. I need to help that girl."
The sound of Haruki's loud scream echoed from the forest, and the faint blue light could be seen from afar.
Kuroha sensed something was wrong inside. She pointed toward the sound and shouted.
"You, the healer girl! Run into the forest and check the situation! I'll handle things here!"
Yuna nodded and ran with all her might into the forest, filled with worry.
"I hope nothing happened to Haruki."
Inside the forest, Haruki was doing his best to save Kazuka, but the boy remained on the ground, eyes tightly shut.
"Damn it... Why isn't it working? His heart is beating even slower and it's unstable."
"Has this wound been here too long? It feels like his body isn't responding to the treatment."
Just then, Yuna arrived. She was blinded by Haruki's blue light for a moment, but she quickly grasped the situation and pushed Haruki aside. Haruki fell to the ground, still dazed.
"Get out of the way, let me help him! You, channel your energy into me!"
Yuna unleashed a golden light, enveloping Kazuka's entire body. Haruki placed his hands on Yuna's back to supply her with energy.
The wound on Kazuka's back began to close slowly. Standing behind her, Haruki finally let out a joyful smile.
Five days later, Kazuka woke up. He opened his eyes with difficulty. He was lying face down, his head tilted to one side, his body feeling as if a giant boulder were pressing down on him.
A familiar room appeared—the room he usually slept in at Aiko's house.
The room had simple patterns, and the morning sunlight streamed in gently.
Yuna entered, a large bag slung over her shoulder. She opened her eyes wide in surprise and ran toward Kazuka with a worried face.
"You're awake, Kazuka? Quickly, tell me how your body feels."
Kazuka braced his hands against the bed, trying to sit up.
"Wait, take it slow! Even though the wound is healed, you still need to rest."
Kazuka sat on the bed with his usual bright smile.
"I'm fine, you don't need to worry."
"Can I go outside, Sis? It's so boring in here."
"Fine, but no strenuous activity, do you hear me?"
Still smiling, Kazuka nodded.
"Yes."
As soon as he got Yuna's approval, Kazuka ran outside at full speed, much to her surprise. Yuna could only call out after him.
"I told you no strenuous activity!"
"I'm not doing anything strenuous, Sis!"
Running into the yard with excitement, he saw Haruki sleeping in the shed, his snoring filling the space. Kazuka ran in and shouted.
"Why are you sleeping here, Haruki?"
Haruki jolted awake. Seeing Kazuka standing before him, Haruki felt a surge of grievance and hugged the boy's leg.
"Kazuka! Please, talk to Aiko for me!"
Kazuka looked bewildered.
"Huh? Talk about what?"
"Ever since you were seriously injured, Aiko has made me sleep here. Please help me!"
"Huh? But why did she make you sleep here?"
Haruki wailed even louder.
"Because I failed to protect you and almost let you die!"
"Oh, so that's why. Okay, I'll go talk to her."
Suddenly, Aiko ran over from a distance, her face pale with worry. She approached, her voice warm and her face beautiful.
"Are you okay, Kazuka? How far have you recovered?"
Kazuka scratched his head and laughed.
"I'm fine, I recover quickly. Just a few more days."
"You must rest. When you first came back, I thought you wouldn't make it."
"Haha, how could that be? I have a grand fate, you don't need to worry."
"By the way, Sis, Haruki doesn't want to sleep here anymore. Please forgive him."
Aiko glanced at Haruki and then turned her head away. Her resentment toward Haruki was still evident. Haruki remained on his knees, looking at Aiko piteously.
"No way. Let him sleep here for a few more days."
"Oh, don't be like that, Aiko! Let me back in! Are you really that heartless?"
Aiko turned back to Kazuka with a bright smile.
"Anyway, to celebrate your recovery, let's go on a trip with me."
Kazuka turned back to Haruki with an awkward smile.
"I'm sorry, I can't help you after all."
The pitiful Haruki knelt on the ground, reaching out as if to hold them back.
"Don't go!"
The next morning, Kazuka was practicing in the courtyard. Haruki called out to him loudly.
"Kazuka! Come with me to the guard headquarters."
Kazuka opened his eyes.
"For what, Brother?"
"There are some things they need to ask you. Hurry up and come with me."
"Okay, wait a second."
They went to a tree where everyone was gathered: Himura, Asano, Yuna, Kuroha, and especially Morita, whose body was wrapped entirely in white bandages, leaving only his nose, eyes, and mouth exposed.
"Oh... the two of you are here. Please, sit down."
Kazuka sat down and looked at Morita with a worried tone.
"Brother, are you okay?"
Morita chuckled awkwardly.
"I'm fine... I'm fine, I'm okay."
"How is that okay? With you looking like that, I'm afraid you won't be able to get a wife in the future."
Haruki glared at Kazuka.
"Kazuka, you shouldn't say that."
Kazuka flinched and looked at Haruki.
"Huh? Oh... right... I'm sorry, Brother, I shouldn't have said that."
"It's fine... it's fine. Alright, everyone, let's get to the main point."
Himura spoke in a serious tone, his eyes interrogating Kazuka.
"Kazuka, I'm asking you now. How did a kid like you defeat that murderer?"
"Huh? It's about that murderer?"
"That's right. Everyone is curious and finds it hard to believe that you defeated him."
"Alright then, let me tell the story."
After the retelling, everyone was shocked by what Kazuka described. Haruki spoke up.
"That is truly interesting. So you ran around the tree trunks many times, stopping every so often to prepare each stage of the trap. But the trap failed, then he suddenly lost his cool and ran—who would have thought he'd run right into the path of the original trap that was supposed to have failed? So you succeeded in killing him."
"That's right, Brother."
Yamato stroked his chin and marveled.
"That is very surprising indeed. In short, you are quite clever, kid."
"Oh, one more thing. When I was about to faint, someone suddenly appeared. He emitted a terrifying source of energy; it made me feel like I was suffocating and my body was being crushed into the ground. Especially his eyes—they looked so bizarre when he looked down at me. Then I fainted."
Everyone was stunned by Kazuka's story. But Kuroha, Himura, and Haruki had thoughtful expressions. Kuroha, in particular, seemed extremely focused on a specific thought.
— "Why did they appear here? and another suspicious point is that Kazuka felt suffocated? Could this boy be... But I heard Aiko's story before. Is the boy lying? Or does he not even know himself?"
On the way home with Haruki.
"Brother, I thought you had to leave today."
Haruki looked down, surprised by the question, then thought for a bit and smiled.
"Well, because of the fight with the murderer and successfully killing him—even though one is still out there—and being injured, I wrote a letter to my Great General. I've been given another 5 days of leave."
"Oh, I see."
"By the way, tomorrow I'm going to your master's place."
"Huh? You're leaving already? Stay for a few more days to recover fully."
"No, thank you. I feel I'm too weak and need to learn more."