Taoreta's POV

  Kibishi's Room

  After Kishi was on the table, Mato and his workers brought him to his office to get him treated.

  It took an hour, but Mato managed to pull through and fixed up Kishi's concussion.

  Right then, I was currently sitting on top of Kishi's bed right next to him. Kuma, Kujira, and Yosei were standing on the other side of the bed.

  David and Riley, on the other hand, were standing beside me.

  We all were watching Kishi sleeping away.

  I could tell that what just happened to Kishi really shocked us up.

  No... I couldn't really speak for everyone there. But I could say for certain that seeing someone who you deeply admired and cared for freaking out like that could sink your heart.

  It wasn't his fault.

  It was probably a reaction of some kind. As Mato was expining things to us, Kishi's breathing had gotten heavy.

  What in the world was he thinking about?

  Why had he acted that way?

  I wasn't sure why it happened in the first pce.

  Was it due to shock? Learning that he was the concept of death itself?

  And furthermore, the concept itself?

  Were we all concepts of our supernaturals?

  With all these sudden actions, we didn't get to my supernatural counterpart, but honestly, I didn't really care about that right then.

  Because of how people were whispering and sounding around him, he must have felt even more nervous than before.

  Yet.

  Why did he smile like nothing had happened.

  But then...

  "Aaahhhh!!!"

  Kishi's scream. It was so out of nowhere that I didn't even have time to react. But that was nothing compared to what happened right after.

  With a heavy sm on the table, Kishi burst his head open while looking frightened by his own actions.

  The way he just stared into space without reacting to anyone frightened me the most.

  I didn't care whether he was a concept of death. I didn't care if that made him inhumane. I just didn't want him to get hurt that badly. And I reacted so slowly when it happened. David was the first person to react to his state.

  I only did seconds ter when the smell of blood appeared in my nostrils.

  Remembering that made me feel guilty.

  All in all, deep down, I knew it wasn't my fault. But that didn't matter to me since my best friend wasn't conscious right then. On one hand, I wanted to wake him up. But on the other hand, doing so might have made things worse. My head was currently spinning. I didn't know what to do.

  I couldn't really focus on anything else but Kishi right then.

  What was I going to do then?

  I knew that we had a mission to do. And I knew that the training definitely improved my skill as a swordswoman. But what did it matter if the one person I swore my sword to wasn't by my side? I knew that I also swore to protect my friends, too, but still. I just didn't see myself motivated to keep fighting at the moment.

  I was sorry, Kishi. But I wasn't as strong as him..

  Sm!

  I then heard something get thrown on the ground. I saw David breathing heavily with his shoulders going up and down. It seemed like he had thrown down some trash cans that were next to the bed. Everyone else seemed to notice the loud noise, too.

  "David!" Riley yelled out David's name.

  "What?! I couldn't seem to calm down! I needed that!" David shouted back at Riley.

  "What if that wakes up Kibishi?!" Riley looked up at David since she was a bit shorter than him. David then met her gaze with his. "It was better than sitting on our asses, Riley!"

  "You guys! Calm down!" I stood up and raised both of my arms.

  "How?! Tao, your best friend, is in a fucking coma right now! Don't you feel frustrated, too, as his best friend?!" David asked while narrowing his eyes at me.

  "I know that, but still!"

  I wanted to say more, but no words were coming out.

  I clenched my fist in frustration. Of course, I was angry. I was furious, even. Seeing Kishi like that was very heartbreaking. Why WOULDN'T I be angry? But if I got emotional right then, I knew I would let my feelings out. ALL... of my feelings. However, I wasn't certain about some feelings I had.

  But those were trivial things at the moment. Who cared about how I felt?

  I gnced back at Kishi. I felt a certain emotion that I mentally locked away. But even then, I wasn't WHAT I locked away. I could have been daydreaming about such silliness.

  All that mattered was Kishi's health.

  "Hey, Tao!" David screamed at me once more. But only that time, it sounded more hurt than his normal aggression. But even then, it was a sign of him caring.

  I opened my mouth to say something, but then Kuma stood in front of me.

  "Please calm down, David," Kuma said calmly.

  "Huh?! What gives you the right to say that?! This is-!"

  "It very much so gives me the right! Even more than you two! David! Riley!" Kuma narrowed her eyes seriously at David and then Riley. "You...!" David raised his fist?! But before he got the chance to attack, Riley grabbed David from behind.

  "Don't do it, David! You'll be banned from here!" Riley cried.

  "Let me go! This bitch thinks she knows Kibishi!"

  Kuma remained calm despite David's choice of words. Kuma then slowly raised her left hand. "Back off.... Jir. This guy has the right to be angry at me..."

  I looked behind Kuma and saw Kujira who had summoned her twin golden spears. She seemed to be ready to aim and attack David if he so happened to y a finger on Kuma herself. Kuma then reached out and grabbed a hold of David's fist.

  "Hey..!" David barked at Kuma.

  But as a response, Kuma's hand trembled a bit. This made David's expression soften.

  Kuma showed sadness and regret. Almost as if she bmed herself for what happened to Kishi.

  "Don't do this. It's not because I could've taken the hit and reported you. It's because, despite not being hurtful physically, it will hurt someone who you consider your little brother. You and I both know that..." Kuma lowered David's fist as she closed her eyes.

  "Sorry for the remark just now. But it's the truth."

  Kuma pced her hands inside her jacket. "As far as the people of this pce are concerned, I'm a higher rank than you. And since Kibi and Tao are in the same group as me, I'm within my rights to intervene in all of your retionships. That is just how it goes..."

  "..." David lowered his head.

  David shoved Kuma's hand away and backed off.

  "Whatever..." David folded his arms. His body showed softness and timidity. And not because he was weak or even afraid to stand up for himself. But the fact was, David knew that because there were rules on this ground, he could not reject Kuma's statement. It wasn't only that which made David silent.

  David knew that doing anything beyond punching would cause Kishi trouble.

  And David wasn't the type to mess up someone who he considered his brother's life just for a temporary victory.

  Yosei deeply sighed at the sight of that.

  Not because David was causing chaos in the room. But she couldn't do anything that wasn't reted to her being a leader. And that wasn't to say that she COULDN'T do anything. But if she did something, it would look unprofessional in front of two new rookies that wanted to be soldiers.

  But even still, Yosei stepped up at long st.

  "Okay, let's not argue any longer. We must figure out our next step." Yosei announced.

  "Our next step?" Riley repeated in confusion.

  "Trust me, David. This hurts us as much as it hurts you." Yosei looked away with her eyelids lowering halfway. "No, I shouldn't say that. We may have the right to worry about Kibishi as a teammate and a friend, but your worries run way deeper."

  "...." David remained silent.

  "You all are like family, right?" Yosei gave a sweet smile. But, from there, I could see some hurt in her eyes, which I didn't understand at all.

  Yosei closed her eyes and breathed out. "Kibishi is so lucky to have you three. Your worries outline ours by miles. We can only say that by papers, we have to worry about our fellow allies. But you...?"

  Yosei opened her eyes halfway with a small smile.

  "....You worry because of care and passion. Not by rules or work. Funny. Somehow, even if I'm the head leader of the supernaturals, I'm jealous in a way. You all became a family while the rest of us have to obey the rules of those that we consider 'family', but mostly workers at best..."

  "What?" I raised my brows.

  "Aha! Of course, I'm kidding! I love everyone here as the oldest among us all!" Yosei smiled brightly with a hint of blush. She then cpped her hands together. "But seriously, I find your bonds very sweet and pure!"

  "...." I looked at the ground.

  That... that was a weird reaction to the whole situation. I wondered what all of that was about?

  But I doubted that Yosei would answer my questions at the moment. I didn't have any proof, but it was a feeling I was getting. Yosei pced her hands on her hips and turned serious. "Well, I cannot overlook violence, David. Especially to someone I consider my little sister!"

  "H-huh?!" David jolted.

  "Also, Riley! You just stood there until the st second. You were acting like you were an NPC from an RPG video game! You, too, shall be punished!" Yosei scolded Riley.

  "H-huh?!" Riley flinched.

  "Wait, Kuma is your sister?" I tilted my head.

  "Well, it's a long story. I'll talk about it ter if I have the chance. But right now..." Yosei turned towards Kishi. "We have to head back towards the meeting to finish it."

  "Really?!" Kujira raised her brows in shock.

  "You're serious?" Kuma frowned.

  "Dead serious, I'm afraid. The Founder told me before leaving with you all that the meeting would resume any minute now. No... it was already starting." Yosei expined and looked determined.

  "Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.

  Yosei simply folded her arms and had a childish look. Her eyes were lowered halfway as her lips looked straight. I could also see Yosei blushing slightly, too.

  "... Who knows? As someone who's not built to be an older sister, when she needs to, I figured that I can "break" a few rules for everyone's mentality. Also...!"

  Yosei blushed intensely. "... I also found everyone worrying about Kibishi without work being in the way very sweet. So I allowed you all to skip a few minutes within the meeting."

  "..." Everyone else remained silent, including myself.

  Wait.. did she... not say anything on purpose so that we all could get our feelings sorted?

  Huh.

  Not only was that not professional, but that was very sweet and sister-like. At first, I thought that she had spoken up since it would have gotten worse and she hadn't done her job right due to her emotions. Now I understood that I was completely off.

  It seemed like being a leader took more out of her than I originally thought.

  "So! You all got your feelings sorted! Great! Now then, on to the meeting!" Yosei said pyfully and turned around with her yellow hair getting flicked by her right hand.

  "W-wait! I'm so confused!" David raised his hand to stop Yosei but she stopped even before he had the chance to do it.

  "I don't understand what there is to be confused about." Yosei swiftly turned around and leaned forward with her hands behind her back. "Unless... you all are saying that I'm some kind of monster that doesn't allow my Kohais to release their stress under pressure!"

  Yosei joked around.

  "Phrasing, Yosei. Phrasing..." Kujira muttered while closing her eyes.

  "Ah, I give up! I'm tired of being professional right now. Let me say what I want until the meeting area!" Yosei said pyfully and turned around once more. "Right! Time to get moving! Get your butts in gear and move out, people!"

  "..."

  .... 'Kay. I could see where Kuma got her teasing and taste from now.

  I wasn't gonna judge since the things I liked were probably worse in comparison.

  But that aside, I found it strange that we would have to go back to the meeting after all of that. Didn't they have a little respect for the injured? Then again, maybe since Kishi was away and from harm's way, the rest of us had to follow in line once more.

  While I didn't fully agree with the idea, I did want to know what the rest of the meeting was going to be about. Was it going to continue on about the topic from before? Or would it be new information?

  David and Riley hung their heads in defeat and followed Yosei right after Kuma and Kujira. I turned back around and looked at Kishi one st time. My heart didn't want to leave him alone. But if I didn't listen to The Founder, then it could lead to Kishi getting involved, and I would rather avoid that if I could.

  With an exhale, I followed the rest of them out of Kishi's room.