Chapter 47: A More Serious Injury

After bidding Flock farewell, the group returned to Nobita's room using the Anywhere Door, where a round blue robot was quietly reading.

Seeing the door appear suddenly, Future Doraemon wasn't fazed at all. He even greeted them cheerfully, "Hey, you're finally back! The trip went well, right?"

Everyone nodded. "Yeah, it was an amazing adventure!" Future Doraemon smiled and opened the drawer, where the Time Machine was waiting silently for them.

They all jumped in, nearly sinking the Time Machine in the sea of time. With two extra passengers, the burden was definitely heavier.

Once seated, the moment they began traveling, the sigils in Daichi's sea of consciousness started absorbing temporal energy again, though at a much slower rate—likely because they hadn't traveled far from their original point in time.

The machine eventually returned them to the afternoon they had first departed, and everyone stepped out.

Daichi checked the sigils—there had been some minor changes, but nothing significant.

After saying goodbye at Nobita's front door, everyone headed home. After all, they hadn't seen their parents in four days, and each was starting to miss them.

Walking partway home with Dekisugi, Daichi suddenly said, "You go ahead. I've got something I need to do."

He expected Dekisugi to simply nod and leave like always—but instead, he stopped him. "Wait. I need to ask you something."

His tone was so serious that Daichi panicked for a moment, thinking his killing of the pirates had somehow been exposed. He felt like time froze.

Turning back slowly, he tried to deflect, "What is it? Why the dramatic mood?"

Dekisugi stared straight at him. "You said before you could cast Sleep, right?"

Caught off guard, Daichi instinctively answered, "Yeah, I can use that spell."

"Then when I saw you covered in blood standing in front of me and then suddenly fall asleep—was that you?"

Relieved it wasn't about the pirates, Daichi nodded. "Yeah, that was me."

"Then why didn't you tell me? Don't you trust me?" Dekisugi stepped forward and grabbed his hand—and then it snapped.

The crackling sound of shattering bones echoed in the silence. Pain exploded through Daichi's arm. His vision darkened, and he nearly passed out.

He quickly forced himself to regulate his breathing. Good thing his strengthened spiritual power also improved his pain tolerance—otherwise, he would've collapsed on the spot.

Dekisugi stared, stunned, at the grotesque way Daichi's hand twisted unnaturally. As Daichi doubled over, breathing heavily, Dekisugi finally released his grip in horror.

"What happened? When did you get hurt?"

Still fighting the pain, Daichi muttered, "Doesn't matter. I need to get to a hospital…"

Dekisugi snapped out of it and reached for Daichi's other hand to help him.

"Wait—!" Too late.

Daichi really wanted to look up at the sky at that moment. He imagined it must be grey and bleak—perfectly matching his mood.

But he couldn't even lift his head. The pain had rendered his body unresponsive. Dekisugi tried to sling Daichi's arm over his shoulder for support—only to realize that Daichi's left arm was in no better shape than the right.

His mana reserves were too low, making both arms dangerously fragile.

Physically and mentally exhausted, Daichi had never been this badly injured since he started his journey.

Dekisugi stood frozen, staring at the mangled arms he had unintentionally made worse.

Daichi forced his breath into rhythm again, pulling his mind from the brink of collapse. "You go home. I'll walk to the hospital myself." Then he turned and began staggering toward the clinic.

He used the last of his mana to stabilize his arms enough to keep them from worsening on the way. But doing so left his reserves nearly depleted.

Just then, Dekisugi sprinted up and stopped in front of him. Without asking, he crouched and hoisted Daichi onto his back.

"Sorry! This is all my fault. I'm taking you to the hospital, no matter what!" he declared and started running.

Sensing that Dekisugi needed to do this as a form of atonement, Daichi didn't stop him—even though the bouncing was murder on his arms.

Luckily, the hospital wasn't far—about an hour's walk. One of the town's perks was that nothing was too far away.

After ten minutes of running while carrying someone roughly his own weight, Dekisugi was clearly reaching his limit.

Good thing he was naturally athletic. If it were Nobita, he'd have collapsed by now.

As his stamina declined, Dekisugi had to slow down. Twenty minutes of walking still remained.

Seeing his condition, Daichi said gently, "Okay, you can put me down here."

Dekisugi shook his head stubbornly. Once he made up his mind, he rarely gave up.

Daichi had no choice. "Seriously, it hurts more when you carry me like this. Just let me walk."

Only then did Dekisugi stop and gently set him down by the roadside.

"Sorry… I didn't realize…" he said in a low voice.

Daichi turned to find his face streaked with tears.

You're the one crying? I'm the one who's broken here! And I haven't even blamed you!

Sighing, he tried to lighten the mood. "Come on, cheer up. We just saved the world, remember? No time for tears. How about a smile?"

No use. Dekisugi just stood there, crying. Nearby, people stopped and whispered, assuming Daichi had bullied the poor boy.

Daichi felt like the color had drained from his soul. What happened to you being smart? How are you so hard to console?

"Can we just go to the hospital already? Kinda urgent here," he pleaded, relying solely on words since his body was out of commission.

Dekisugi finally wiped his eyes and resumed walking. Daichi sighed in relief and followed.

They said nothing for the rest of the way.

At the hospital, Dekisugi helped with the paperwork since Daichi couldn't use his hands. A middle-aged doctor was waiting in the exam room.

He sat at a spotless desk, face behind a surgical mask, glasses glinting.

Two children entered. "You two again? If it's just a minor injury, you don't need to register for orthopedics next time."

Daichi stepped forward. "I'm the one hurt. My arms… small injuries, I suppose. Please fix them quickly!"

The doctor motioned for him to raise his arm.

"Sorry, I can't lift them."

Without mana, even standing still was excruciating.

The doctor's demeanor changed. He walked over, gently pressed Daichi's hand—and immediately let go. He lowered his mask, face grim.

He carefully examined the arms. His lips twitched.

This is what you call a "small" injury? I haven't seen someone this lightly broken in months!

He ordered Daichi onto the bed and began resetting the fractures one by one.

The process was excruciating, but nothing compared to Dekisugi snapping both his arms.

Daichi didn't make a sound the entire time, leaving the doctor doubting whether this was really a child.

After nearly an hour, Daichi emerged with both arms wrapped in thick bandages and splints.

"You'll need to come in daily for dressing changes," the doctor instructed.

Daichi nodded, then had the Devouring Soul Slate wipe the man's memory.

No need for follow-ups—he'd be healed by tonight. Besides, returning again would only raise suspicions.

He and Dekisugi went to pay the bill.

"That'll be 9,500 yen. After insurance, 2,850 yen. How would you boys like to pay?" the smiling lady asked.

Dekisugi instinctively reached for his wallet—but realized he'd left it behind for the adventure.

Daichi, expression flat but heart bleeding, pulled out his first paycheck and handed it over.

Should've pocketed a few jewels on the way out…

The clerk gave him 150 yen in change, which he took with his bandaged hands. He had just enough mana to mimic normal function.

Dekisugi didn't say anything. Once the change was secured, the two of them left.

The sun shone bright. No clouds, no shadows. It was already October—only a month until early winter.

On the way home, Dekisugi remained silent. Daichi, depleted in both mind and mana, meditated as he walked to restore just enough spirit to stay conscious.

And so, they walked side by side in complete silence.

(End of Chapter)