A tight smell of perfume pounded on my nose, eyes fluttering open to the blank, overused ceiling opposite me.
The humming from machines came steady, low and slow in my ears. The beat of my heart was ready like an open book, the drips from some medicinal bag kept sharpening my focus.
'Is this...My first time being in a hospital since I was a kid?'
I didn't know, I had always usually died, getting sent to the hospital was rare for me in a way.
Memories of what happened dulled, delaying until the inevitable moment where—!
Clack—!
The door slid wide open, a man in a neat suit stepped in as if it were the most natural of things happening in this world.
In his calloused hand was a tablet, from a cheap brand at that.
'Budget cuts?'
It was the first thing that wanted to escape my lips since waking up, but I held my chatter together.
"Eliot Parmassioan?"
"...."
'It's Permassian!' I wished to refute with those words, but feeling like absolute tacos inside my stomach...I let it go like a gentleman would.
"I would like to ask a few—"
"Is the girl alright?"
Instead, as a nice form of revenge entered me, I intercepted his fancy tone, it cut the man by surprise by how I didn't care for my situation, but I already had a rough idea.
Thoughtful eyes rested over me before closing, afraid of going in a trance.
"Yes, she is more than fine. But enough about her."
The topic shifted, growing more personal as perfume sat still in the room. Stale air replaced with fragrant scented flowers.
'Is putting perfume in a room medically okay?'
It was of genuine concern to me. But oh well, whatever. I wouldn't die from perfume right?
The man made himself at home, sitting next to me as if he were my lover or something.
His gestures....Amplified those thoughts of mine more.
With his hand on top of mine, it felt uncomfortable...
'Come on man, little privacy? Why are you holding my hand like I'm your deceased lover?'
"Eliot. We have already asked and talked with the girl."
Weren't you the one that said 'enough of her'?
"But I need to confirm it specifically from you, who stayed conscious the longest."
To his words, I shift myself into a more comfortable position, which required me to wiggle out my hand through the man's tight grasp.
"Haaa. What do you want to confirm then?"
The man's eyes sharpened like knives to a sharpener. Around, the sweet lingering perfume dissipated, cold it was now, bland and icy on the tongue.
"Did you truly encounter the Thieves Troupe?"
"...."
A pause, long and overstretched followed by the brain still in delay ensued.
"Do not worry for your safety Eliot, the association would provide the best protection they can to safeguard your life."
"...."
To his soft, innocent exterior I gaze upon.
The chirps of birds reverberated loudly in my ears as I empathized on the words 'Can' in my mind.
Finally, anticipation boiling in the room. I answer disappointingly to his face.
"Sir. It's not my safety I worry about, it's the fact that those people were mere posers."
Wrong, they were as real as one can be.
"In the first place, how could I, a single awakener be capable of defeating that famous troupe? When the association has sent so many after them? It doesn't make much sense as to how a C-rank awakener could even hope to fight them on equal ground, now does it?"
Breathing steady, mind cooler than the breeze hitting my face. The man, clearly disappointed moved his face away from me.
"I see...Sorry then...I can't force you to speak after all."
As if my use had expired right in front of his eyes, his demeanor changed, with an expression full of sorrow he got up. Leaving, deliberately slowing down along the way.
Thud!
The door slammed shut.
A sigh of relief left me as I was left all alone with myself and a few fruits inside a basket.
A note of appreciation from my coworkers apparently.
Not thinking much of their show of kindness. I peel a banana. Thoughts still lingering over that investigator.
It seemed he wanted to score some sympathy points in case I changed my mind and spoke.
'He's confident that I know something and am just too afraid to say anything.'
He had a good reason to do so, the association wasn't really praised for its uncorrupt nature, they didn't have the greatest reputation when it came to guard duty.
Their forces were just stretched that thin.
Not like I disliked it or anything, I felt more neutral towards it than I originally thought previously.
Anyway...There was a good reason as to why I didn't want to tell him anything.
One of them being...
'I'd fucking die.'
The Thieves Troupe weren't dumbasses that'd risk being seen, if a witness were to shut their trap, they'll let them go scot free.
Visibility was far riskier than altercation to that organization.
'I'm not worried about myself in that regard...But what about Aegis?'
Aegis was a problem, they clearly wanted her ability.
'Would they go after her despite the association probably sending a few guards?'
I couldn't say...They might or might not. It was purely their choice in that matter.
However, if Aegis always survived the runs before, it didn't really make sense that they'd go for her now.
I mean, technically, the core event of 'Aegis surviving' never changed, it was the process that changed.
'Unless?'
Unless the person in the previous runs was never Aegis to begin with, the troupe had successfully extracted her ability from her corpse and the receiver took on her name.
That could always be a possibility.
'Well, it's nothing more than a possibility.'
Shaking my head a couple of times, I plop down on my bed, closing my eyes for some shut-eye.
Clack!
"...."
The door, closed before slid open again.
'No rest for the wicked? Is that the saying?'
A neat figure lazily made his way in, popping a cigarette from his pockets.
'Do none of them have the concept of hygiene? Because what the hell is wrong with all of them?!'
If I wasn't sure before, I was sure now, lighting a cigarette inside a patient's room sure as hell wasn't allowed.
"Weren't visiting hours closed?"
I ignored the obvious careless attitude that should've been corrected first, but the figure before me obviously wouldn't care, so I simply let it go and asked another question.
The figure soon replied, his hand flicking through his long charred hair. Opening a window where he chipped the tip of his cigarette.
"Visiting hours are always open for family. Eliot."
At the informal and almost familial greeting I freeze.
"What? Have you no words for your older brother?"
"...."
"No?"
My brother...
Honestly, I was certain I had met the family of this body in past resets, that I interacted with them at least once but...
'It seems past me didn't think of them as important enough to document.'
And since past me never explicitly interacted with them, I also never did.
At some point however, curiosity had gotten a good grasp around my nape.
So I tried meeting them of course, but.
'They were dead.'
I didn't know how, but it quite messed me up in the head.
I was addicted to saving people after all, if people, especially my so called family died under my nose.
It'd sting.....A fucking lot.
So, after that run had gone, and I regressed, I forgot about them.
20 years or more is a lot of time you know? Plus, there weren't even my real family!
"Hahaha."
My brother chuckled as his cigarette kissed him. His voice, muffled and low as his lighter rose and lit another jutting cigarette along with his other one. Just so the other didn't feel lonely.
"You wouldn't know how much all of us laughed, I mean, we give you a one way ticket to paradise and you mess that up? It's utterly stupid. Even more so when we found out you became an elementary school teach. Hmph!"
A beam of smoke flew out from his nose as he sucked on the cigarettes harder.
'From the nose? Really?'
Taking off his hat and propping it on some flowers next to me, he spoke in a more serious tone.
"So? What made you want to be a teach? Did you want to be a teacher for the Academy of Talent? And because you failed, you wanted to pursue its inferior version?"
His words cut deep. The air around me turned sharp with nicotine.
I couldn't tell him exactly that I purposefully failed to not save the world. That I quit saving the world when it wouldn't even make any sense to his ears.
He wanted a different answer, not the truth, but a lie so good it seemed like the undistinguishable truth.
'It seemed interesting! No that's too stupid sounding, what about a speech where I want to teach the uneducated? Nah, that's even worse I think. What about "Does a reason matter?" would that work?'
I tried to string up a good lie that'd stay afloat, but no matter how much I thought about it, all of my bullet points where either just dumb, too novel-like and too nonchalant wanting.
'Damn it. I'm shallower than a small pool.'
Never did I once think that I was that shallow of a person, a regressor who technically regressed over 2000 times can't think of one good lie to convince his brother.
"...."
Okay, I can see why it took me 2249 tries just to give up now.
Just like the shallow water I was, I opted for an answer just as shallow.
"Who knows."
I shrug.
"Maybe its always been my dream?"
The old 'it's my dream to do this!' embarrassingly left me.
"...."
Ah, that face. That pause and deadpan look marred on him.
He's not buying it, is he?
'Is he maybe thinking that I'm adopted? It genuinely looks like he is to me...He's not going to search the papers in his house is he? No, no, I'm thinking too optimistic, he must be thinking of how he can maul a patient to death and get away with it. Yeah, that must be it.'
Nodding to my delusions.
Clack!
The door closed.
Like a spotlight shone brightly on the stage, my eyes drift toward it. Surprise eminent on my features.
"...He...Left?"
He left...No he actually did fucking leave?!
My answer was so stupid he left?