Magical Boy ~ English version

Chapter 26

Kotaro opened his eyes, wincing. His back was sore and the light from the lamp above him assaulted his retina. However, it was immediately extinguished.

"You are finally waking up." Phen-X's voice called out. "You've been damn stunned."

"Tch... tell me that freak was fired..."

"For a month. He admitted his wrongs, apologized and wisely accepted his punishment."

"Only a month? He could have killed Nanaya!"

"The rules of S.D.A. advocate the right to make mistakes, no matter how dangerous. This is the first time he's broken the rules, he's got a second chance. His cousin, Futaki Amaya, had been harassing many students for three years and had already had a warning. If he does something like this again, he will be permanently fired with the inability to re-enroll, not even to Darkeas. Without counting a file mentioning the incidents which will prevent him from joining a hero school, even in another country."

"Who wrote these rules?"

"Certainly not me. "

Kotaro straightened up with a grimace as he sat up in bed. He immediately saw, through the window, that the sun was setting.

"... how long have I slept?" He asked.

"The exercise was this morning." The nurse simply replied. "And the curfew has just sounded. If you had woken up a few minutes earlier, you could have seen your friends."

"...my friends..."

"Uchiri-san, Hase-san, the twins and the two girls. Yanase Miiko and Kashiwa Ita, in your class, also came to see you."

"The shark is not my friend."

"Of course. In the meantime, he was worried about you. You will sleep here tonight. Tomorrow I will give you a vial of my blood for your treatment."

"My treatment?"

"You had your back in pieces."

"... How is Nanaya?"

"Fine. It's almost a miracle, his leg was only fractured. His treatment will only last a week. You, on the other hand, it will take you a month and a half."

Kotaro grimaced. Drinking blood was more Kashiwa Ita's thing. The girl in his class had a so-called "vampire" power. She regenerated and could even increase her strength tenfold as long as she drank blood. Drinking that of a person with power allowed her to copy it for a fixed period of time. He thought back to the time she'd asked him, most normally, if she could taste his. Phen-X handed him a bag at this point.

"Whether or not you think of them as your friends," the nurse said. "Each of them brought you a little something from the dispenser, in case you wake up too late. You must be hungry. And you have to regain your strength. You will sleep afterwards."

"I've spent most of the day sleeping, do you think it will be that easy?"

"I'll give you sleeping pills. You have to sleep. "

Kotaro sighed and unwrapped the treats to eat some of them. Phen-X left him alone, going to fill out some papers, disappearing into another room that appeared to be his bedroom, then coming back to close the curtains. He then came over to place a glass of water and a pill on the table next to the student's bed, telling him to take his sleeping pill whenever he felt like sleeping. He was heading back to his room when Kotaro called out to him after swallowing the sleeping pill.

"What was that reaction?" He simply said. "You have totally lost your calm there ..."

"... I was reprimanded for that." Assured the nurse. "No need to talk about it again."

"I know what happened between you and Nanaya's father."

"How could you?"

"I have my ways."

"And nosy with that ..."

"... do you consider Nanaya a son, because he's Uchiri Nakamara's?"

"Heh. We can't hide anything from you, can we?"

"You know his address. Can't you just go talk to him?"

"We're talking about Experion. Do you really think he would sit there and wait for my explanation? Rather, I think he blasted me before I even reached his gate."

"Not wrong... Nana-chan is lucky. "

Phen-X raised an eyebrow. He saw Kotaro prick up his nose as the medicine kicked in. It was an alcohol-like effect. He was more inclined to speak frankly.

"Why, lucky?" The nurse asked. "Your parents are both heroes, it seems to me. You mustn't have to complain ..."

"His father is gay." Kotaro muttered, half stunned by the medics. "The one he considers his second father is gay. And you, who think of him as your son, are gay too. If one day he announces that he is too ... everyone will support him."

"... Shime-san... are you having problems with your family?"

"Heh... the only reason my dad would let me go to Darkeas... is because he thinks a villain can't be a fucking homo ..."

"Did... you tell him?"

"Yeah... the first time when I was six... he hadn't taken it seriously. 'Thought I didn't know what I was saying... it made him laugh. Heh. He laughed less when I kept saying that I liked men growing up ... "

Kotaro smirked, which disappeared as he closed his eyes.

"Hey..." he mumbled as he fell asleep softly. "I admired him and finally he hates me... I would have had to... pretend, to look like him...?"

"No." Phen-X hissed, resting a reassuring hand on his forehead. "You don't have to justify yourself or try to please him. Children don't have to become perfect copies of their parents. Be yourself. Love whoever you want. A loving father should wish his son happiness, even if it is not the way he hoped."

"Hm... you too, eh?"

"...Yes. I had the same problem."

Kotaro smirked before finally surrendering himself to Morpheus' arms.

Phen-X sighed. He knew the situation Kotaro was in all too well. His father had apologized only on his deathbed just two years ago. He had no contact with his mother, who didn't forgive him who he was.

He rubbed his head and finally got up to go to his room. It had been a rough day. He must have treated many of the first years injured during the exercise, although none had been so dangerously affected as Nanaya or Kotaro. He had almost finished his stock of vials and had therefore filled a few. These repeated blood take had exhausted him. But it had been years since he cried, and blood was the easiest fluid to obtain, especially for healing the students.

He almost collapsed on his bed, regretting his impulsiveness at the time. Hitting a student had caused him to lose all the bounties planned until the end of the year. Luckily, Tomeo had assured him that he would not even mention it to his parents, to avoid them demanding his immediate dismissal.

What if Starlight hadn't needed his care? Would he have let this fault pass? Friends or not, he remained the headmaster of the complex and had to be impartial. All these thoughts gave him a headache. He finally turned off the light to sleep, although he struggled to fall asleep.