Two days had passed since the end of the first test, and the clinic was still crowded with recovering patients and wounded ones. In one of the rooms, Akio was lying on his bed, his expression caught somewhere between pain and boredom. He muttered while staring at the ceiling:
"Two days of sleeping and injections… is this really the life of the Shogun who will change the world?"
No one answered him except the ticking of the clock on the wall. After a few minutes, the door opened quietly, and Yoko entered pushing a movable bed. Mabushi was lying on it, his expression slightly pale, his hair covering his half-closed eyes.
Yoko spoke with a faint smile as she positioned him near the window:
"Since you're starting to recover, we decided to move you here. Being with someone else might help lift your spirits."
Akio slowly raised his head, his eyes widening the moment he recognized who it was.
"Huh? It's you?!"
Mabushi gave a tired smile, and raised one eyebrow.
"I'm really popular."
Akio sat up against his pillow and pointed at him:
"You're the crazy one who challenged Silvara in the test! You were… honestly amazing, and even more reckless than me!"
Mabushi chuckled quietly, placing his arm behind his head:
"Reckless? Maybe. But I made her step back half a step before I crushed."
Yoko headed toward the door:
"Don't talk too much, the doctor said you both need rest."
But she smiled in the end and left, giving the room to the two. Silence lingered for a few seconds. But Akio, as usual, couldn't stand quiet for long. He sat upright despite the bandages on his shoulders, speaking with the same fiery tone that didn't match someone who almost died days ago.
"You know? I thought I was the only one who lost it with hero mania during the test, but you surpassed me! How did you even think of facing Silvara while bleeding like that?! You were… like a scene straight out of a heroic play!"
Mabushi opened one eye, glancing at him from the side with a cold sarcastic tone:
"A heroic play? Do you think this is an entertainment show?"
Akio ignored the sarcasm completely and continued with excitement:
"I mean, the way you fell after the fight was amazing! If I were you, I would've asked for applause first!"
Mabushi raised his eyebrow, then let out a sharp broken laugh:
"Applause? You really don't know what fighting means yet."
Akio laughed loudly, as if what Mabushi said only fueled him more.
"What's wrong with fighting with some style? Fighting only for survival is boring! It needs flair, artistic touch!"
Mabushi opened both eyes this time, staring at him then answered with light sarcasm:
"Artistic touch? Were you dancing or fighting there?"
"Huh?! Me?!"
Akio pointed at himself in exaggerated seriousness:
"I was moving with a very precise strategy! It's called… strategic improvisation!"
Mabushi laughed harder, then sat up despite the pain:
"Strategic improvisation?! You're not a fighter, you're a battle clown!"
"Clown?!"
Akio shouted in fake outrage, grabbed his pillow and threw it at Mabushi. It hit him right in the face. Silence hit for a second… before Mabushi burst into loud laughter, contagious enough to make Akio laugh with him for no reason.
Mabushi held the pillow and said:
"Well, looks like I found a better treatment… laughing at your stupid face!"
"Hey! Don't mock the future Shogun!"
"The future Shogun? Sure… in your dreams!"
The room exploded into chaos. The two started throwing pillows and nonsense like kids in a school dorm. Their voices and laughter echoed all the way to the hallway, until a nurse came out from the next room shouting:
"You idiots! This is a hospital, not a playground!"
Akio answered from inside:
"A medical sponge flew by mistake!"
Mabushi added:
"We're just testing post-injury flexibility!"
Noise grew louder, and even some patients started laughing despite complaining. Even Yoko, hearing the noise from the end of the corridor, placed her hand on her forehead with a quiet sigh:
"Now I finally understand what morale boosting means."
Suddenly, the room door flew open like a storm, and Koto's sharp voice exploded:
"What the hell is happening here?! Which one of you decided to turn this hospital into a circus?!"
But before she finished, a pillow flew from Akio's hand and struck Koto right in the face. The fabric slammed into her hard, and time froze. Both boys froze where they stood, watching her expression shift into something dangerous and quiet.
Akio tried to speak wi5 a trembling voice:
"I swear I was aiming at him but—"
Koto had already moved forward, gripping both their heads at once and smashing their foreheads together hard enough to make sparks fly in their eyes.
Both screamed at the same time:
"Aaah!!"
She grabbed both their ears with one hand like two troublesome kids:
"Did you think this was a five star hotel? Or that the other patients here are your cheering audience?!"
Mabushi tried to hold in laughter through pain:
"Doctor Koto… you're very strong for a doctor…"
She gave him a death glare:
"Strong enough to send you back into the coma you just woke up from."
She smacked his head lightly but painfully onto the pillow, then turned toward Akio, who was trying to crawl toward the wall to escape.
"And you, future Shogun… how is your kingdom doing now after destroying the clinic's peace?!"
Akio gave a nervous awkward smile:
"Uh… thriving?"
A small medical shoe flew and hit him straight in the shoulder.
Mabushi shouted through laughter:
"Oh, now that's what I call shock therapy!"
Koto let out a long sigh, then pointed at them like a judge delivering her final verdict:
"One more word from either of you… and you'll drink soup through tubes for an entire week."
Both went silent immediately, like someone hit their off switch, while Koto slammed the door behind her like the final shot ending a war.
After a few seconds of silence, Akio whispered to Mabushi:
"I think… I lost half my hearing."
Mabushi laughed painfully:
"And I lost my dignity… but she's an amazing doctor, isn't she?"
Akio smiled faintly despite the pain, and silence settled again. Awkward, tense… but full of quiet laughter underneath.
Three days passed… steam filled the place. Mabushi was lying in the wide stone bath, half of his body submerged in the hot water, the other half gleaming under the yellow lamp.
A giant black tattoo on his right chest shaped like a sun cracked down the middle, lines stretching from it like shattered rays. A tattoo with the number (3) marked in his neck. A long scar ran along his left arm.
He was alone, the water boiling around him like warm mist. He grabbed a cold drink, lifted it to his lips and closed his eyes, enjoying the contrast of heat and cold at once.
He smiled slightly and muttered lazily:
"Life is beautiful when you ignore it."
But the wooden door suddenly opened, and a group of men wearing white towels entered. Their laughter was loud, but they froze instantly when their eyes fell on the man lying in the middle of the spring.
They stopped like they had seen a ghost. One of them muttered nervously:
"M… Mabushi? Mabushi the rogue?!"
Mabushi raised one eyebrow, opened one eye and spoke calmly like this whole thing was entertainment:
"Oh? Even here I have fans? Seems like my reputation gets here before I do."
He stood up calmly, water sliding down his balanced athletic body, the yellow light reflecting on his defined muscles as if he was presenting himself without trying to. He grabbed the towel from the edge of the bath and began drying his shoulders slowly, smiling as he glanced at the frozen men.
He spoke with sharp relaxed confidence:
"Don't stare too much. I know the view is confusing."
He ran the towel across his chest, then glanced back at them with a side smile and a light wink:
"What do you think? This is a real warrior's body… not like your rice-fed lazy bellies."
One of the men chuckled nervously, another spoke with tension:
"Y-yes… it's clear you… take care of your fitness."
Mabushi laughed lightly as he tossed the towel over his shoulder and headed toward the exit:
"My fitness? No, my friend… this is called the art of staying good-looking after death."
He stopped at the threshold, his voice was more provoking, without turning around:
"But don't worry, training begins when you stop being jealous."
He opened the door and left slowly, his voice echoed from outside:
"Make sure you don't get envy-injuries… confidence isn't something you can buy."
Mabushi stood before the locker room door, tapped it lightly open with his foot and walked in. He looked around, found no one inside, then approached his metal locker and opened it with a quiet click. His black jacket hung inside, pants folded lazily. He reached in and pulled out the jacket, breathing deeply, releasing a long exhale like he was expelling the last remnants of heat and boredom.
He slowly lowered the sunglasses resting on his forehead until they settled on his eyes, eyebrow slightly raised, expression empty and unreadable. He wore his pants first, then threw his jacket over his shoulders and zipped it halfway, letting the cracked sun tattoo peek through.
He stood in front of the mirror in the locker door, ran his fingers through his short hair, then smiled a small smile. He left the locker door open and walked out with slow steps.
In the long hallway, he walked with his hand in his pocket, sunglasses concealing his wandering gaze. Inside his mind, the chaos was quieter than usual, and his inner voice whispered silently:
'The second test is tomorrow… time to shine and steal more wallets.'