Chapter 5: Life is like that…

In the middle of the lobby of a towering hospital, stood the group of professional Heroes known as the Wild Wild Pussycats. Pixie-Bob, Ragdoll, and Tiger were sitting in chairs in silence, with flat and contemplative expressions, while Mandalay spoke with two police officers.

Suddenly, into the hospital lobby ran a woman with long, curly dark blue hair and blue eyes. She was dressed simply in a large khaki sweater, black shorts, and glasses, and she began to look around with an anxious and worried expression on her face.

"Mandalay!! What happened to Alisa-san and little Kai? I came running as soon as you called me!!!"

When the blue-haired woman noticed Mandalay, she quickly approached and asked, almost in a panic, which caused the beautiful woman with bob-cut brown hair and a voluptuous figure, dressed in her iconic red Hero costume, to respond with a complicated expression on her face.

"It's better if you sit down."

Mandalay's words only worsened the anxiety of the blue-haired woman, who quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and asked in a panic-stricken voice,

"What happened?!! Answer me!!!"

"Better sit down…"

The serious tone of Mandalay, along with the dark expression on her face, made the dark blue-haired woman, Nemuri, feel like her heart was going to jump out of her mouth. Completely panic-stricken, she asked.

"Don't mess with me, Mandalay, what happened to Alisa-san and Kai?!!!!"

After a sigh, Mandalay spoke with a grave expression, almost as if she was weighing each word she said.

"… Alisa-san… died in what is believed to be an attack on Iron Palm in the middle of the mountain while they were camping. Iron Palm is currently missing, while his son is being attended to right now."

As Mandalay recounted the events, Nemuri Kayama, also known as Midnight, a professional Hero, fell to her knees on the ground with her hands covering her mouth, tears streaming down her face, completely devastated and unable to believe what she was hearing.

Alisa-san was what she could consider the closest thing to an older sister she never had. With a difference of about five years between them, Alisa-san, or Alisa-onechan as she used to call her in her youth, was her closest friend, from whom she learned a lot and someone she loved from the bottom of her heart. But now, that great friend had suddenly and unexpectedly died.

An endless stream of memories began to flood Nemuri's mind: when she would come to eat with Alisa, when they went shopping together, when they watched movies as a family, etc. Moments that, when they lived them, didn't seem like much, but now seemed to become the epitome of her happiness, a happiness she didn't know how to value enough and had now lost forever.

"Why?!! Why did it have to be her of all people?!! WHY?!!!"

After a while of crying inconsolably on the ground and cursing the world for its injustice, asking why something like this had to happen, and swearing revenge, among other things, while Mandalay hugged her and helped her up, an image arose in Nemuri's mind and she asked,

"Where is Kai? I want to see him."

"At this moment, he is under observation, and in a couple of hours, short visits will be allowed."

"How serious is his condition?"

"So far, the doctors haven't said anything, but according to Ragdoll, his injuries aren't too severe and his life shouldn't be in danger."

"What happened to Jir... Iron Palm, where is he after all this?"

Nemuri's question put a bitter expression on Mandalay's face, who, after a sigh, responded in a low voice,

"... Although his status is currently missing, it's most likely that he also passed away. It's well known by all the participants of the raid against BioBlast that he would go on vacation with his family, and Ragdoll couldn't find his location with her quirk."

"..."

"..."

After getting up from the floor, Mandalay guided Nemuri to a more private area to talk. Meanwhile, Midnight's gaze turned dangerous, and she gritted her teeth before letting out a question loaded with hatred,

"Who is responsible for this?"

"We don't know. No trace of anyone else was found at the site besides Alisa-san and her son, but the search and rescue teams are combing the area for any clues. We're also waiting for little Kai to wake up so he can give us any hint of what happened."

"YOU WANT A CHILD TO REMEMBER THAT TRAUMATIC EVENT FOR SIMPLE CLUES?!!!"

(CALM DOWN MIDNIGHT!!!)

Mandalay 'shouted' through a telepathic message, momentarily halting Nemuri's uncontrolled anger, so she quickly took the opportunity to keep talking and calm Nemuri down.

"You're a professional hero, don't let your emotions blind you! You know it's necessary to do this!"

"..."

"..."

After looking deeply into Mandalay's eyes, Nemuri took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm her turbulent emotions, and then spoke in a calmer tone, although the furious emotional turmoil she felt was still evident.

"I'm sorry, I'm not in the best mental state right now. I'll stay here until the visits for Kai are allowed. Please leave me alone for a while."

"... All right, stay a little longer at the hospital. In the meantime, I'll finish informing the authorities. You can count on me for anything you need. Alisa-san was also my dear friend and therapist; you're not alone in your pain."

After Mandalay walked away, Nemuri sat on a bench and began to reflect on the whole situation, what she should do from now on, and how she should face it. After all, Kai was left alone. As far as she knew, neither Jiro-san nor Alisa-san had any other family.

Therefore, Kai's fate was to end up in an orphanage until he was old enough to receive his parents' inheritance, if something didn't happen in the meantime and the inheritance 'mysteriously' disappeared over time, as has been seen in other cases.

Another option was for someone to want to adopt the little one, but it was difficult for someone to take on such a responsibility right away, no matter how close they were to his parents. As for her, she was very aware of her situation; it wasn't the best idea in the world for the R-18 rated hero to adopt a small child, besides the fact that she had no idea how to raise a child. Damn, she was still single at her age.

So that leaves two possibilities: either find someone trustworthy enough to take care of Kai or abandon him to his fate in an orphanage, something she could never forgive herself for. Therefore, there was only one path to follow, finding a safe family for Kai.

When Kai's clinical studies were completed, the results showed that he had no serious injuries, leaving only his superficial wounds to be treated. So, after a few days in the hospital to make sure, he would be discharged.

Seeing Nemuri's state, the doctors recommended that she rest at home since the boy had been sedated to facilitate the sampling and wouldn't wake up until the next day. After making sure Kai was transferred to the best room in the hospital, Nemuri headed home with her mind in turmoil.

…

The next day, Nemuri arrived at the hospital where Kai was staying first thing in the morning, intending to be by his side before he woke up. After such a traumatic event, it would be devastating for the boy to wake up alone in an unfamiliar place. But upon entering the room, she realized that going home the previous day had been a terrible mistake.

In the hospital's white bed, connected to an intravenous drip and several medical devices, was Kai, with his eyes open and staring blankly at the ceiling, his eyes red and swollen with dark circles so large they made him look like a panda.

Seeing that scene, Nemuri instantly understood everything that had happened the previous night. Kai had woken up scared in the middle of the night and, finding himself alone in a dark, gloomy hospital, had been tormented by the memories of the tragedy he had just experienced, which had overwhelmed and broken him.

With tears streaming from her eyes, Nemuri ran to Kai and hugged him tightly, begging for forgiveness in a voice full of pain and regret for not being there for him, for leaving him alone and to his fate.

"Sorry Kai, I'm so sorry. Please forgive this fool who left you alone when you needed her most. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"Mmm?"

Kai turned to look at the beautiful woman with a confused expression, studying her intently for several minutes, which stopped Nemuri's tears in their tracks. At the same time, a terrible premonition grew in her heart—amnesia.

But fortunately or perhaps unfortunately, that premonition changed to a terrible pain in her heart as the tears flowed like a waterfall again when, after a few minutes, Kai's expression changed to a kind smile, and he spoke in a calm and flat voice.

"Oh, Onee-chan, don't worry, I'm fine, just a little distracted."

In Kai, the affectionate and hyperactive boy from her memories was nowhere to be seen. To the point where Nemuri could almost see a reflection of Alisa-san when she tried to hide her pain under that kind smile, the boy was broken beyond what she had imagined, causing an infinite regret to invade her.

"Kai, don't worry, you can trust Nemuri Onee-chan. Cry if you want. It's all your Onee-chan's fault for leaving you alone, but that won't happen again. Kai, Onee-chan will always be there for you from now on."

"Mmm? No, I don't want to cry anymore, and don't blame yourself, Onee-chan. You are not at fault for anything. After all, [life is like that, sometimes it likes to mess with people]."

When Nemuri heard that iconic phrase of Alisa-san come out of Kai's mouth, her already aching heart felt an even stronger squeeze. After all, in Kai's voice, there was a sense of weariness, resignation, and exhaustion, something she would never expect from a five-year-old child. But the final blow came with what came out of Kai's mouth next.

"So don't worry about me, Onee-chan. I'm very happy you came to visit me. Thank you very much. And as you can see, I'm fine and will be able to leave the hospital in a few days. So, if you have some free time and are nearby, don't forget to bring me some Teriyaki."

In a single sentence and perhaps unconsciously, Kai had given her a lot of information, to the point where Nemuri believed the real message Kai wanted to convey was something like:

[Don't worry, Nemuri. My well-being was never your responsibility, so there's no reason to feel guilty. In fact, I didn't even expect anything from you, so the simple fact that you came to visit me makes me very happy.

I'm physically fine, and since you're a busy person, I don't think you have time for a long visit, so I make it easier for you by saying goodbye.

But before you go, don't forget that I'll be leaving the hospital in a few days, and I don't know where I'll end up, so don't waste your time trying to find me after a few days].

Nemuri wasn't sure how much of her 'translation' was correct, but what she was sure of was that Kai's feelings when saying that phrase shouldn't be far from it. He felt alone, helpless, and maybe guilty for what happened.

Moreover, it was very likely that he felt his existence had no value. Therefore, he expected nothing from anyone, pretended to build walls around himself, and pushed away anyone who wanted to get close, maybe in an attempt to distance himself from the suffering and memory of what happened, believing that if he had no one around, he wouldn't have to suffer again.

It was incredible how even at a moment like this, it was so evident that Kai was the son of Jiro-san and Alisa-san. He was just like them, hiding his pain like a wounded animal that runs to hide in its cave to lick its wounds, distancing himself from the pack, choosing to suffer alone rather than involve others.

But Nemuri couldn't allow that to happen. Kai was in a dangerous mental state, and although she never studied psychology, she learned a lot during her time with Alisa-san. She could easily spot the signs of dangerous mental illnesses, and at this moment, Kai was showing all the symptoms of depression, quite severe and self-destructive.

Knowing that she could never forgive herself if, one day in the future, she found out that the only son of her "older sister", one of the best therapists in the world, fell victim to a mental illness, Nemuri gathered the courage and determination necessary to overcome all the obstacles that would come.

Staring intently at Kai, Nemuri spoke with a determined expression and tone, almost as if she were a soldier ready to go to battle, while the boy could only respond with a confused look on his innocent face.

"Kai, from now on, you will live with me."