The Blind Bandit (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 37: Hope. God. And Toriko's sweet house.

"I wonder if the children in Match's city are happy?" Komatsu wondered aloud, the train going at a nice speed as it crossed the bridge. "Of course they are, Komatsu. You put everything you had into that soup." Sarafina told him, reassuring him as the giant hunter added, "Sure, they've gotta be. They got a taste of soup celebrities are lining up for." Sarafina made a 'tsk' sound as she muttered, "The children will no doubt appreciate it MORE than some stuck-up celebrity." She narrowed her eyes as Kururu let out a small growl and nodded her head.

"But then there's Takimaru-San. He didn't take any soup back." Komatsu commented. Guess that threw him off a bit. Given the impression she got the meal didn't fit in really well with a Gourmet Knight's diet. Toriko confirmed that as he responded to the chef, "Gourmet knights have a simple diet. They wouldn't have any interest in a decadent soup." The blind woman thought as much. "I wonder what happened to that sick person Takimaru-San said he wanted the medicine for?" The small chef inquired a bit.

"He got better, of course. I'm sure he was really thankful for Takimaru getting that for him." Sarafina told him and gave a reassuring smile. "Right Kururu?" The little kitty, who was sitting beside her let out a soft mew. Her eyes turned to Toriko who gave a slight chuckle. "Right. Well, you see.. The person he wanted to heal...was a Gourmet Knight leader, Aimaru. He's an old friend of mine." Oh. Well that explained the chuckle then. If he was a friend of Toriko's then he would know how he would've reacted to Takimaru.

"In the age of gourmet, there are omnivores and vegetarians. And pescatarians and insectatarians. But of all the diets out there, Aimaru has the strangest of all. He's a sicktarian." Toriko finished explaining. "That's quite a surprise to me. I haven't heard of something like that, let alone anyone who practices it." Sarafina said as Komatsu yelped, "Sicktarian?! Wha?!"

"Okay, okay. That's an exaggeration. But...Aimaru has a unique constitution that allows him to eat sickness causing bacteria and viruses. By eating the cause of the disease, he cures the illness." Toriko explained. "Th..that's incredible! I know there are people who only eat medical herbs, but I never thought...there was someone who ate diseases."

"That constitution, coupled with the Gourmet Faith's views on charity...has led Aimaru to treat all sorts of sick people." Toriko continued explaining but this was fascinating. The hunter, who rarely talked about anything but food, rarely talked the most about a person. Whoever this man was must certainly mean a lot to him. Sarafina hoped that one day she'll be lucky enough to meet him. "Apparently Takimaru was one of his patients. Since childhood, Takimaru has been afflicted with a strange disease. It progressed until he had one month left to live. His ailment was beyond human understanding. ...And every doctor gave up on him. No one would come near him. They called his mysterious disease a "curse"... And since people were scared of catching it... Takimaru was abandoned. The sad thing wasn't that he was going to die. It was that he would have to spend his last days alone. As Takimaru wept alone....Aimaru came to his side."

The boys nearly jumped out of their skin when Sarafina punched the steel wall hard with all her might, creating a huge dent in it. "Bastards...! Giving up on someone then leaving them to die alone? They're the ones who should suffer. Giving up on someone is the worst thing possible." Sarafina growled very angrily, outrage and sympathy practically poured out of her. Kururu shared in her emotions as she was growling lowly and was beginning to freeze a part of the seat. "Calm down, Fina. Sometimes that's how the world works..." Toriko started and nearly froze when she turned to face him.

He wondered briefly for a moment of anyone told her how adorable she looked when she got passionate about something and the way her eyes light up when anger before she growled more (which were more cute in the hunter's opinion) and retorted, "No matter what, no matter how desperate or grim things become there is ALWAYS hope! Even if it's slim to none chance there is always hope! Never give that up!"