Page 108 of Pandion

“How was it?” Harumine hurried to ask.

What? The lung thing? It was fine. Or, some damage. They want to keep an eye on it, but they gave me some meds. It should be fine.

“Why don’t I trust you?” Harumine shook his head and turned to the nurse who’d escorted Kagesawa out. “Could you repeat his results and instructions to me? He has DEFD. I’m his link.”

Kagesawa nodded to give the nurse the go-ahead.

“You’re here to take him home?” the nurse confirmed from Harumine. “He’ll probably be a little tired today and tomorrow. Here are his prescriptions, but he’s not allowed to eat or drink anything until his cough reflex returns. It could be an hour or two. If you have any questions or concerns, you can consult the medical app. He will be invited back for a check up, or you can get in touch if any of his symptoms worsen, but he should be fine for you to take home.” The nurse gave Kagesawa his bag of prescription medicine.

“He’s fine?” Harumine confirmed, still suspicious.

“Relatively speaking, yes. If he takes it easy and everything heals as it should, he’ll be as good as new by the end of the year.” She smiled at the both of them and excused herself.

See, it’s fine.

They were about to leave, but the other ferry passengers still in the waiting room surrounded Kagesawa before they could. The passengers took turns to bow and give thanks as Kagesawa grew increasingly flustered and uneasy. When they had all had their turn, they remained eyes fixed at him waiting for a comment.

“Um, he’s not deaf or mute, is he?” one of the passengers finally dared to ask.

“No.” The one syllable Kagesawa got out was something between a croak and a whisper.Can you tell them my throat’s a bit sore?

“Oh?” Harumine hadn’t even realised. “He says his throat is sore. There was a fire on the car deck, and he inhaled a lot of smoke.”

“Aaa, of course, of course! That explains it.” The other passengers nodded in unison.

“We really should get going. Our ride is waiting outside.” Harumine guided Kagesawa gently past the tiny crowd that had started another round of praises and thanks.

Harumine spotted his aunt waiting for them not far off from the entrance, and they hurried over before anyone could make a scene outside. Good thing they did because only a handful of minutes later a small convoy of news reporters arrived at the hospital.

“That was close.” Harumine closed the car door, fastened his seatbelt and helped Kagesawa with his.

“Were the two of you being chased?” Harumine’s aunt, Fujiko, asked half in jest.

“That seems to be the case.” Harumine dismissed it with a laugh. “Thanks for picking us up, and sorry we kept you waiting.”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s great to have you back. We’ve all been waiting for you since you sent the message. Everyone’s been really worried—your mom especially—and they can’t wait to meet your colleague.” Aunt Fujiko started the car and started driving.

Harumine glanced at Kagesawa, who was more subdued than usual and giving off some subtle but peculiar vibes.

Is everything OK? It’s home-stretch now. Just a couple of hours to go.

“We did run into some trouble on the way, but we’re here now.” Harumine resumed the small-talk with his aunt, but eyed Kagesawa with some suspicion.Why are you dampening again? Didn’t they give you something for the pain?

“I’m thinking of cooking tonight. Would you like that?” Aunt Fujiko stopped at a red light and glanced back at her passengers.

She was one of the best chefs around, so her cooking was something Harumine had genuinely been looking forward to, now even more so, to see what Kagesawa would make of it. There was that excitement he’d felt wanting to show Kagesawa the SEU campus resurfacing again.

Yes, they did.Kagesawa closed his eyes.And I feel like I was hit by a truck-load of fluffy, soft mochi.

“I’ve been looking forward to it. I probably would have taken another seven years to come home if I hadn’t missed your cooking.” Harumine gave his aunt a happy smile, and his flattery made her beam in kind.

Well, this is a good chance to rest before meeting my family.Harumine extended his smile to Kagesawa, though it was slowly turning into a smirk.What I’ve found with the empath-type analgesics is that they can have some weird side-effects, butthankfully they don’t usually last for very long.He patted Kagesawa’s thigh and laughed.Relax and enjoy it. You’ll feel miserable again in no time.His aunt was driving on but glanced at them through the rearview mirror.

“Everything all right back there? Your friend looks troubled. Was it OK for him to leave the hospital?”

Uhhh, I hope this passes soon. I don’t want your family to think I’m a drugged-up dirty old homeless guy, and that’s exactly what they’ll think if I, uh, if I show up like this. I was counting on being just my regular dirty old homeless guy self, and at least having my remarkable wit to sweep them off their feet.

Kagesawa rubbed his forehead with some chagrin. He’d washed his face, but he was admittedly still in a dire need of a shower. The charred remains of his slippers weren’t helping, although they’d put up with the abuse remarkably well to still be wearable. He was undeniably a mess.

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