Chapter 307: Let Me Temporarily Take Care of Her
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
Apart from Hinako Tachibana, another rather eye-catching issue was the Honey Candy Girl army. Seiji suspected that something had possessed them from within.
Hinako claimed to have "received help from many good people." Were those "good people" she referred to other dead souls just like her?
If that was really the case, apart from the fact that this mysterious power was incredible, it was quite moving. For so many now deceased souls to fight for the sake of a mother and daughter... this was something which would move anyone.
They were all heroes. At least that was what Seiji believed.
He would remember that battle forever, especially the scene where angel-Seiji self-destructed and sacrificed himself.
Angel-Seiji said something at that time which he didn't hear clearly. He felt this was truly regrettable.
Just who were they? And what was the world of the dead like? Seiji was quite curious, but he decided not to think too much about this topic.
The next morning, Seiji and Shika took Reo to the hospital where Shouhei Hirai was recuperating.
Mayuzumi and Saki returned to Mayuzumi's apartment. Mai also accompanied them just in case. Although this incident was likely over with, it was always better to be cautious.
There was still one mystery left, after all. Who exactly defeated Shouhei Hirai?
Judging from what they knew now, perhaps that person really was just a passer-by with a sense of justice. However, other possibilities existed as well.
Seiji, Shika, and Reo hailed a taxi to the hospital that Mai had told them about. They located Shouhei Hirai's hospital room and saw that he had already woken up.
"Uncle," Reo called happily.
"Reo!" Hirai had a relieved expression when he saw his niece. Then, he turned around to look at the two people beside her.
"You were with Amami-san." He recognized Seiji.
"Hello, Hirai-san." Seiji looked back at him. "My name is Seigo Harano. I'm Mayuzumi Amami's friend and a high school student at Genhana High School."
"Hello. Why is Reo together with you?" Hirai seemed bewildered by this.
"Before I explain, I'd like to ask you something first: Hirai-san, do you remember what happened to you recently?"
Hirai furrowed his brows. "I can't remember. I've been trying to recall what happened to me ever since I woke up, but I have no idea why I'm so heavily injured and lying in a hospital bed. I don't know if I was caught up in a car accident or something similar.
"The last thing that I can remember is that I was sleeping on my bed at home. Then, I can't remember anything after that, most likely because I got injured. I really wanted to know what happened. I was also really worried about Reo, but you guys arrived." He looked straight at Seiji. "Do you know what happened?"
Seiji observed him closely and felt that he wasn't lying. "I don't know how you got injured to this extent either. In fact, I was going to ask you about this as well. But I do know what you did before you were injured and just what happened to you. When I tell you, you may find it difficult to believe, but it's all true."
Then, Seiji approached the hospital bed and gave Hirai a basic rundown of what had happened to him.
Shouhei Hirai was astonished to learn that his niece was a Spiritual Ability user who lost control of her powers, causing him to ambush and attack Mayuzumi Amami.
'What the hell is this!? It must be made up!' That was his first impression. His face completely revealed his thoughts.
"As expected, it's difficult for you to believe. Unfortunately, I don't have any hard evidence that you did what I just said you did, but I can immediately prove that there are Spiritual Ability users in this world." Seiji took out a coin from his wallet and showed it to Hirai. "Look closely. This is just an ordinary coin. There are no strings or any other mechanisms manipulating it."
Then, he casually tossed the coin away, before activating [Telekinesis]. The coin flew in an arc and was about to land on the ground when it suddenly turned around in midair and flew to Seiji's hand.
Hirai's eyes widened in surprise at this.
"This is a Spiritual Power, and I'm a Spiritual Ability user. I was the one who stopped you from harming Mayuzumi Amami," Seiji informed him calmly.
"This must be nothing more than some stage magic, although I don't know the trick behind what you just did." Hirai was still doubtful.
"If you could move, I'd take you to an appropriate place and show you something more ridiculous, like punching through a wall with my bare fist." Seiji shrugged nonchalantly. "By the way, that's exactly what you did before under the influence of Reo's power. The hole in Amami-sensei's home still hasn't been fixed yet. Should I call her and ask for a picture to show you?"
Hirai was rendered speechless.
Seiji really did take out his cell phone and called Mayuzumi Amami. He put the call on speakerphone so Hirai could hear as well.
The call connected.
"Sensei, I'm currently here in front of Shouhei Hirai." He explained the situation and asked for a picture of the hole in the wall. Mayuzumi agreed to send him the picture.
"Would you like to talk to Sensei?" Seiji asked, offering Hirai his cell phone.
After some hesitation, Hirai took the cell phone. "Amami-san."
"Hirai-san," a female voice said from the other side. "You must be confused right now, but please believe me. Everything that this boy is telling you is true."
Hirai remained silent. Then he hung up the call and handed the phone back to Seiji. Moments later, Seiji received a picture from Mayuzumi and opened it to show Hirai.
"Hirai-san, I know that it's difficult for you to accept, but this is indeed the truth. There's no need to deceive you. I'm not trying to get money from you or make you join some strange cult, as these are simply the facts," he told Hirai honestly. "This is how the situation unfolded: you were obviously being controlled by something and attacked Amami-sensei. I just happened to be present, so I stopped you.
"Afterwards, you ran off, and I had Amami-sensei hire a professional to investigate you. The result was that we discovered you were seriously injured and hospitalized. In order to find out the truth, that professional went to your residence and found that your niece, Reo, had vanished.
"We guessed that Reo had something to do with this incident. Afterwards, Reo attacked Amami-sensei, again in an abnormal state. We prevented her from harming Sensei and came up with a method to help her return to normal.
"As for why all these things happened, we're not very clear on that either. I came here in order to tell you what happened. I also wanted to know who it was that injured you to such an extent, but it seems that you don't know the answer to that.
"I still have one more question. What do you intend to do with Reo-chan, since you're too heavily injured to take care of her?"
Hirai remained silent for a long while before he looked towards his niece.
"Uncle, I'm sorry." The little girl lowered her head.
Hirai looked at Reo for a while.
"I still don't quite believe all this," he muttered, "but if it's real... the only relative who can take care of Reo now is my father, Reo's grandfather. But he's already quite old, and even taking care of a normal child would be difficult for him. If Reo really is a Spiritual Ability user, then..."
Seiji furrowed his brows.
The hospital room was silent for a moment.
Reo's head lowered even more.
"I understand." Seiji broke the silence and patted the little girl's head. Reo perked up as she felt Seiji's hand. "Allow me to temporarily take care of Reo-chan."
Hirai looked back towards Seiji.
"Hirai-san, just rest and work on recovering from your injuries. After you can get up and move again, we can have another discussion about the damage you caused during your attack. I'll talk to Amami-sensei about it and have her explain things to the police. Don't worry; you won't have to take responsibility for the damages."
Hirai remained silent; he gave Seiji a deep look that spoke volumes.
Seiji smiled. "Relax, I'll take good care of Reo-chan."
Actually, in her dream world, he had taken care of her for a long time already.
In order to retrieve Reo's clothes and other personal belongings, he asked Hirai to loan him the key to their residence.
After considering Seiji's request in silence, Hirai handed the key to him.
Seiji left his cell phone number with Hirai. He also cautioned Hirai in a serious voice to not tell anyone about the contents of their conversation. Otherwise, trouble may come looking for him. Hirai nodded slightly and agreed to this.
Seiji expressed that he hoped Hirai would make a full recovery soon before he took Shika and Reo with him and left the hospital.
After leaving the hospital, Reo started tearing up.
"Uncle hates me now!"