Chapter 38 - 36 : Alice Noguchi's Sickness

"Grandma fainted! "

Without asking for an explanation, Old Juro rushed out of the dojo, heading towards the house. Sato followed close though he was far slower than Old Juro. Hayami was the last, trailing behind Sato though the difference wasn't that big.

It took less than 9 seconds for Sato to arrive at the guest room that held a fainted Mrs Noguchi on a bed. Sato also saw his uncle who was sitting on the bed beside her while holding her hand. 4 seconds later, Hayami arrived.

"What happened?" Old Juro asked calmly though Sato could sense the tension in his voice.

"We were chatting in the Sitting room and she just suddenly collapsed. I brought her here and called the hospital. They said they would be here soon."

*waaah* *waah* (AN : Siren imitations and yeah, it sounds weird.)

As she concluded, a siren sounded out signifying the arrival of the Public hospital's ambulance.

Picking her up in a princess carry style, Old Juro took a step and flashed out of the room at an incredible speed with only his voice sounding out.

"Apologies Sato but practice would have to wait."

"I understand." Sato replied despite Old Juro being nowhere to be seen. Facing Hayami, he said "I'm heading to the hospital with Grandpa. What about you?"

"I'm coming too." Hayami nodded cutely.

. . . . .

Shinjuku General Hospital was located in the common area of Shinjuku city. It was one of the 3 public hospitals in the entirety of Shinjuku city and was rated highly due to its competent and professional staff together with it's state-of-the-art equipment and scanners.

Dr. Ranvir, who had been attending to the Noguchi household for years, walked out of Room 114 and was quickly approached by a middle aged man but Dr. Ranvir knew he was far older than he looked. Beside the middle aged man was a young man of about 21 years or thereabout and a young girl. All their facial features were above standard, even for a society currently ruled by science.

"How is she?" Old Juro asked hurriedly.

"Well, there's good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" Ranvir nudged his glasses.

"...the good news." After hesitating for awhile, Old Juro replied.

"The good news is that she's alright for now. It was nothing so serious, so she's awake now. You can go see her."

"For now?" While Hayami let out a sigh of relief, Old Juro and Sato caught onto those words.

Taking a deep breath, Dr. Ranvir continued "That's the bad news. From the scan, it seems Mrs. Noguchi is affected with a case of Milio-Schripolises. On the good side it's still in the early stages but she has to begin receiving treatment within a month or else…"

The damage the Great Reparation wasn't just the loss of lives and properties, but also included an irreparable damage to the Earth. One of such was the almost total destruction of Antarctica. This ended up releasing a couple new viruses and disease, that mankind has never encountered, into the atmosphere.

One of such diseases was Schripolises which was both a cardiovascular disease, meaning it had adverse effects on both the respiratory system and the heart. The Schripolises was caused by a strange virus known as Schripoliods, that couldn't survive easily nor for long in the atmosphere as such, it wasn't taken seriously initially. However, a research conducted a few years after it's first appearance showed that the virus wasn't your average one as some of them had actually mutated from the excess radiation it was exposed to. This gave a rise to a new version, the Milio-Schripolises. This specie was far worse than it's ancestor. Even though it still wasn't that contagious, it couldn't easily be treated like the other one, needing expensive therapies and advance treatments to cure.

"But she's still fine for now?" Old Juro asked worriedly.

"Yes, she is. We will administer her simple treatments today before we will discharge her."

"The payment-"

"Don't worry about it; I got it covered." Dr. Ranvir smiled.

"No, I refuse." Old Juro replied almost immediately.

"Please don't. If you feel like you'd owe me, you won't. Instead I'm the one who owes your family, so let me do this." Dr. Ranvir said with with solemn face.

"...fine but I will pay you back soon."

"Don't worry about it; just go meet your wife."

Old Juro nodded and walked into the ward with Sato and Hayami.

Opening the room, they saw Alice lying on a high tech futuristic bed with a few white patches placed on her body.

"Alice-chan." Old Juro's eyes watered, though he held himself from tearing at the spot, and hugged her.

"Don't worry, honey. The doctor said I'm fine." Alice smiled even though it looked like a sad one.

"Grandma." Hayami walked forward and hugged her with tears in her eyes. Not being able to resist any longer, Sato joined in the hug.

Sometimes, a hug is all it takes to transmit ones feelings and that's what took place here. Noguchi Alice, being hugged by all those she knew as family, felt their sorrow for her, their love for her and their determination for her.

'I promise you, you will get better.'

. . . . .

Akiyama Yato could be identified as your average human being. Apart from knowing a few handy martial arts, he wasn't talented in any category be it sports, academics or business. Yato was the only child of his parents. To make things worse, his mother had left them earlier on, for a rich man while his dad had died due to an over-dose on his drugs. In other words, he committed suicide due to his depression over his wife leaving him and the heavy debts he had.

Yato eventually moved to Shinjuku to stay with his aunt however life wasn't so easy as he always got harassed by the debt-collectors. Despite being aware of this, Yato's aunt didn't do much; only paying for a portion of the debts and charging Yato to handle the rest. Ever since then, Yato had taken up various part-time jobs, hoping to make up for the debts and take care of himself, after his aunt chased him away with the excuse that she couldn't afford to take care of him and her family despite being quite wealthy.

Even still, Yato never blamed them and he still lived a somewhat fulfilling life. A girlfriend, an 'okay' apartment and with a spot in college, one could only say Yato was living a somewhat convenient life.

Today happened to be the 3 year anniversary for his relationship with Kazuki Mia. Yato had met her previously a couple years back at their after-exams celebration party (AN : Chapter 22). A couple of months later and they became official. Being the day of their 3 year anniversary, Yato decided to push his shift onto a close friend of his at work, while he planned on surprising Mia. The gift he had decided on was a high tech expensive phone that Mia always wanted but never told him because she knew his current state. Yato had been saving for a while now so he spent it on the gadget.

Walking through the streets of Block 17, Yato admired the view while thinking of Mia's surprised but happy look if she were to see him. As he approached her home, his footsteps began to slow down.

This wasn't due to nervousness as he had visited her a couple other times. Rather this was because he just saw her making out with another guy in front of a car parked beside her home. The guy happened to be a rich 2nd generation that had different girls under his belt. Originally, the guy had eyes on Mia but didn't succeed as Yato got her first but now Yato was shocked to see the very girl who promised him 'together forever' mashing lips with his rival.

In the end, only tear drop and a bouquet of flowers, with a letter attached to it, was left behind.

AN :

I rushed it *sigh*

I hope with this chapter, I have addressed the Indian part of naming, reminded you all about the aftereffects of global warming and showed you that love can be fragile sometimes. Truth be told, Yato's story was slightly influenced by my feelings and experience.

I also addressed the kindness of doctors or how I hope they could be. I'm not saying to pay for every patients treatment but once in a month wouldn't hurt.. Let's make the world a better place or close to that.