Heroes to Hunted

Agawa threw the bottle down on a nightstand and, like me, readied herself for a fight.

Roman clicked his tongue in frustration. "Too loud," he said, glaring at us.

"Don't…make me repeat myself, " the man glowered at Roman.

Intimidated by who I assumed was his father, Roman angled his gaze downwards to avoid eye contact while fidgeting his fingers. Though it wasn't remotely warm within the room, Roman profusely sweat with anxiety. It was as if the kid had just stepped out of a sweltering sauna.

Veins pulsating against his skin, the father stomped toward Roman and lifted his hand.

For me, seeing a grown man raising his hand to kin was all too familiar. It brought forth a spring of memories... Memories I would've rather left buried deep within the deepest depths of my mind.

Despite my efforts to contain it, I felt a geyser erupt within me. It contained a molten fury formed from years of regret, neglect, abuse, and hatred.

I saw 'him' within the father and myself within the son. My breathing quickened, and my mind raced with thoughts of extreme violence. Eventually, the boiling rage took over, and I instinctively leaped toward the father, readying a right hook of my own.

Astonishingly, a beating isn't what the father doled out. What he did instead shocked me to my core, so much so that I stopped in my tracks.

Rather than pummeling his son into submission, the father knelt down and wrapped Roman in a warm embrace. Rather than fury paired with cruelty, the distinct look of worry was painted over his face.

'What?' I stood there, dumbfounded. My anger evaporated, and my fists lost their grip.

"What have you done?" the father asked again, softly this time. "Who are these people, Roman?"

I knew the question was a difficult one.

By now, I felt I could trust the kid. Despite the danger it posed, he not only gave us a safe haven but even a strange medicine that'd save us from the brink of despair.

His dad, however? Who knew how he'd react upon hearing our identities.

I nodded to Agawa and Kamida; hopefully, they knew it was the signal to punch and run if things turned sour.

Roman uttered a light sigh and shrugged. "They're patients," he replied flatly.

The father's eyes lit up with renewed fury. "Don't lie to me!" he shouted, squeezing Roman's shoulders. "They're from the mansion, aren't they?! They're heroes!" his grip tightened even further, prompting Roman to wince in pain.

Roman clenched his small hands and gritted his teeth. He matched his father's gaze with one of fiery defiance. "So, what if they're heroes?! Aren't we supposed to help people?!"

The father widened his trembling eyes, revealing pure panic beneath his rage. "Not them!" he fiercely shook Roman out of desperation. "Anyone except for them!"

Kamida began to interject, as usual, but his services weren't necessary.

Roman pressed ahead and threw his father's hands off himself. "Who cares if they're heroes?! If we see people in need, we help them!" he pointed a hand toward his father in confrontation. "You told me that."

With his son's words, the father that once boiled with anger receded to a simmer. He slammed a fist against the floor, creating a deep vibration that echoed across the floorboards.

Pulling himself up from the floor, a puffy red swelling on his fist was revealed from the impact. After regaining his footing, the father glared at us like he'd been mentally piercing us with daggers.

"Get out," he ordered. "It's too dangerous for you to be here."

"No, dad, they're hurt!" Roman became frantic, grasping at his father to plead. "If we turn them away, that bandaged guy and the bearded guy could die!" he pointed at Sato and Nakamura.

The father glanced at the both of them before turning to me, Kamida, and Agawa. "Fine," he growled, "one hour. I'll treat them and give you one hour to rest, then you have to leave peaceably. That's the deal."

Honestly, it was a good one. He'd treat our wounds free of charge, give us a place to rest, and let us go? What else could you call it if not a good deal?

'This guy... He thinks he can threaten me?' I squeezed my fists into a ball. I hated ultimatums; they always made me feel so...powerless.

Getting ordered around was something I couldn't tolerate. Even so, I knew I shouldn't cause trouble with the guy, so I only returned his scowl in full force.

"Huh," the father noticed me, "if you don't like it, then I could just kick you out right now." His threat was accompanied by a grunt of intimidation.

Now he'd done it. I was about to let loose when Agawa grabbed me by my collar and yanked me backward. The cloth dug into the front of my neck, choking me momentarily.

"No, we definitely appreciate anything that you'd do for us! Right?" she asked me, though it seemed more like coercion than a request.

'Ugh...fine, I'll play along,' I thought, forcing an ugly, twitchy grin. "Y-Yeah," I replied, subduing my anger, "I REALLY appreciate it…."

"That's what I thought," the father said snarkily. Then, while keeping his hostile glare, he proceeded to finish what Roman had started.

His work was as efficient as it was speedy, captivating Nakamura in awe. Sato had been assessed in just a matter of moments, his wounds sterilized, and the clear tar from earlier applied onto them. As the gel dried, it hardened, forming what almost looked like a plastic scab.

The father finished by administering the red fluid and replaced Sato's musty bandages with pristine ones.

'So this is what a doctor is capable of?' I was genuinely impressed. Looking at Nakamura, I could only hope he was as competent a doctor as this one.

Next, the father leaped to Nakamura's side and analyzed his discolored leg. "Hmm," he rubbed his chin, "I won't even ask how you contracted Green Blight, but have you visited another doctor? The wound appears to have been cleaned and dressed, makeshift as it may be."

Nakamura embarrassedly rubbed his neck. "Yeah, I'm a doctor as well." His awkward reply was a far cry from the pride he'd exuded during our first meeting.

The father briefly hummed in intrigue while he pulled a metallic flask from a drawer nearby. Then, returning to Nakamura, he applied a smooth, transparent ointment to the bite.

Sighs of relief left Nakamura, and his agonized face soon softened, giving way to comfort. Soon after application, the blackened veins receded, and his leg regained a bit of its natural color.

Once he'd finished, the father tightly wrapped sterile white cloth bandages around the wound and stapled them together with a holding pin.

His work done, the father groaned and stood up. "That should do for a while," he affirmed, then threw a flask of more ointment to Nakamura. "Apply a dollop of that whenever the pain returns. By the time you empty it, you should be cured. You say you're a doctor, so I assume you're competent enough to apply some cream by yourself."

Nakamura smiled back and chuckled. "Yeah, I should be fine. Thanks, Doctor...?"

"You don't need my name," he snapped back. "We won't know each other long."

Finished with his task, the father took hold of a reluctant Roman and headed out the door. He stopped, just shy of opening it. "The deal. You all remember it, right?" he hadn't turned back, but I could tell his expression was that of intimidation by the subdued fury in his voice.

"Of course," Agawa said, "thank you very much!"

He grunted at her appreciation, like son like father, and motioned to Roman. "Thank him," he demanded, "If it weren't for him, I would've thrown you all out already."

Agawa and Kamida bowed to Roman, speaking in perfect sync. "Thank you very much!" She then nudged me and hissed. Though I mumbled it, I strung together a sentence vaguely resembling a 'thank you' too.

Roman recoiled with discomfort at their gratitude. Probably to avoid more embarrassment, he hurried out the door with his father and closed it.

Now alone, we four exchanged unsure glances on how to proceed. The first to move was Nakamura. "Well, let's check on Mr. Sato," he said, swaying to his feet.

"Wait," Agawa protested, "you shouldn't move yet!"

"I'm fine," he eased, then stamped his leg to the floor a few times, "I'm not sure what they did, but my wound feels a hundred times better." Finally, he smiled and paced up to Sato, excitedly studying the father's work with intrigue.

Assessing Sato myself, it was evident that his condition had already vastly improved.

Though slowly, the color of his skin was rebounding back to life from its deathly pale hue. Not only that, but his breathing became increasingly more stable with each passing second.

"So? What do you think?" I impatiently asked Nakamura. "He's going to be okay, right?"

At first, Nakamura sat in silence. He bowed his head, and his eyes hid beneath the locks of his hair.

We were all in suspense about what his following words would be. We hoped against hope he'd give us good news. 'That medicine worked, right?!' my thoughts became frantic from Nakamura's silence. 'Don't tell me he's still gonna...'

Interrupting me, Nakamura unsteadily brought a hand to fix his glasses to place and, again, itched the bridge of his nose underneath. "He'll be alright," he whispered.

"What?" Kamida asked. "Could you repeat th-"

Nakamura turned to us with a wide smile and eyes shimmering with joy. "I said he'll be alright!" he laughed rambunctiously.

Following Nakamura's declaration, we all shared his cheer as we celebrated Sato's survival. However, Agawa was the only one who took physical action with her excitement.

She bolted past Nakamura, launching herself into a hug and wrapping her arms around Sato's still unconscious body. "Thank god…" she paused. "Thank god you're okay!"

Nakamura laughed and cleaned his glasses using the cloth of his shirt. "Yep, I think he'll recover just fine with whatever that medicine was. I find it hard to believe such crude-looking ooze is more effective than what I had access to; I guess it should be expected, though," he shrugged. "We're in a new world, after all!"

What he said was a fact I had yet to accept. How could I? A new world? That was absolutely stupid! With everything we'd been through, however…I don't think I could argue it anymore.

I moved to a window and carefully peered beyond the sheets covering it, losing myself in the still starry sky. 'I guess it's true. Wherever we are, it's not Earth...'

The urgency of Sato's condition gone, we were ready for an official strategizing session to escape this hell. Not that planning was really my thing.

I preferred to hammer things out of the way with force; less complicated stuff could go wrong that way. Though we'd only have an hour before leaving, our determination to escape, like our bodies, was renewed with new vigor.

Given how the rest of that night went, we needed it.