Chapter 31

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“It’s pretty dark now. Yozakura General Hospital, huh.”

Ritsu had arrived at the Yozakura General Hospital, the address of which was written on the memo handed to him by his grandfather, Ryugen.

(A hospital huh. Is a friend of mine admitted here? Guess they would be pretty old now)

“Room 1105. Seems pretty far.”

Ritsu went to the ward specified on the memo.

“You there~! Don’t go in without writing down your name here~!”

As Ritsu tried going towards the ward, a nurse-like person stopped him.

“Ah, sorry.”

“Please fill out this visiting slip.”

Ritsu started filling out the visiting slip, but he couldn’t fill out the patient’s name, and stopped writing.

“I had a delivery at room 1105, but I’m not sure of their name.”

“Eh~? You don’t you the name?”

The nurse looked at Ritsu suspiciously.

“Yes, sorry. I’ve come here on behalf of my grandfather.”

“Fuu~… I see, your grandfather.”

“Fine. Then keep this on your neck at all times till you leave the premises.”

Ritsu received the neck strap, and started climbing the stairs.

“Yes, I understand.”

Arriving in front of the room, Ritsu opened his eyes wide at the name he saw on the nameplate.

“Takiya, Kenji. So it was Kenji.”

Ritsu knocked on the door and awaited a reply from the inside.

“Yes, come in.”

“Kenji…”

Ritsu was at a loss for words, seeing Kenji sitting on top of his bed gazing outside.

“…It can’t be, Ritsu?”

Kenji stared at Ritsu’s face for a long period, before saying his name.

“I see, so you came back…finally, huh.”

Kenji kindly smiled at Ritsu, and gently tapped the seat next to him, indicating him to sit down.

“Yeah, I’ve been out for too long, it seems. Even though it only felt like four years. It’s a stupid story.”

Ritsu told Kenji as he sat down.

“I see. I knew a training-freak like you could make it on the outside, but you haven’t even aged at all. As expected. I(watashi), no, I(ore) was swept away by the the waves of passing years. As you can see, I’m a full-fledged grandpa now.”

Kenji laughed, with a face that had traces of the features Ritsu remembered him by.

“Who’s a freak, huh? Even that handsome guy turns into just another grandpa like this.”

Ritsu looked at Kenji with a softened expression.

“But, being called a grandpa isn’t a bad feeling at all, Ritsu. Sometimes I regret, not being able to stand side by side with your grandfather, Ryugen, but getting old isn’t a bad feeling in the least.”

“That so. Do you also have a grandkid…? It feels like you went ahead all by yourself.”

Ritsu shrugged his shoulder and laughed.

“Yeah. Born about 7 year ago. The moment I held it in my arms, it felt like all my worries were blown away instantly… It feels like I went too far on my own.”

Kenji took out a photo from his drawer, and showed it to Ritsu as he said that.

“I see. Congratulations.”

Ritsu looked at the photo, and laughed as he said so.

“Thanks. At first, I also wanted to greet you looking young, just like how you remember me by, so I worked desperately at raising my level, but I(watashi)… I(ore) found my special person. So I moved away from the front-lines. The people we knew from the previous world who are still at the front-lines, have all become genuinely strong. Both physically, and mentally.”

Kenji spoke with a lonely expression, as he remembered something.

“I see. So you were thinking of something like that. Thank you.”

Ritsu spoke while staring out of the window.

“The people we knew from our previous world, are now few… This beautiful cityscape, was built on top of countless sacrifices.”

Kenji continued.

“I feel anxious. With how the chiefs of the four great clans have been constantly fighting, without rest. Will it all fall apart someday?”

“……….”

“I believe this will be a new era. Promising young talents will pop up all over the place. The only one who can guide them, is you.”

Kenji looked at the puzzled Ritsu.

“It’s not that difficult. You just have to stay the way you are, and they will surely learn a lot by seeing your back.”

“………..”

Ritsu continued looking at Kenji wordlessly.

“I still plan on sticking around, but in case something happens, I leave my grandchild to you.”

Kenji spoke, half-jokingly.

“Yeah, leave it to me. Introduce us the next time.”

Ritsu also laughs back at him.

“That’s reassuring. Yeah I’ll do that. It’s late now. Though I hate to say it, we must end our talk here. Come visit again.”

“You got it. I’ll come again.”

Ritsu left the room.

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