Chapter 3
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 3. Is there... Hope? (3)
In my past life, my body was quite sturdy, so I had never been admitted to a hospital or anything like that.
Perhaps that's why. The sight of adults making a fuss next to me in a large hospital room felt somewhat embarrassing and awkward.
"There were no abnormalities with the child's body, but..."
"There is inevitably the possibility of trauma..."
"What about a foster family..."
They had drawn the curtain and were conversing while lowering their voices in their own way, but how much could a single layer of curtain really block the sound?
It had been about 10 minutes since I regained consciousness, but it felt a bit inappropriate to just interject, so I simply kept my eyes blankly open.
I was curious about this and that. Whether the mister was okay, whether the orphanage kids were okay. Whether the teacher was okay.
Chaeyi. Is Chaeyi okay?
Thinking about it rationally, she is probably fine. Because she's a heroine. It's a given that she survives to appear as a heroine in the main story's timeline.
But perhaps because I experienced such a situation directly, even while thinking that to myself, I couldn't be certain.
As I was waiting blankly, feeling my mouth itching to speak, the doctor soon opened the curtain carefully and came in.
"Ah, you were awake."
Saying that with a slightly surprised expression, he quickly came to my side. A nurse followed him in, and beyond the slightly parted curtain, I could see people wearing black suits. They were all sneaking glances at my face through the curtain.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay."
"Does it hurt anywhere?"
"No, it doesn't hurt anywhere."
"I see. We ran various tests while Lua was sleeping, and there were no particular injuries found in the tests either. You'll probably be able to be discharged tomorrow."
For some reason, there wasn't even an IV in my arm.
Well, it makes sense since I didn't have any wounds at all.
And the blood I was covered in wasn't even mine.
"..."
I am trembling a little.
I didn't realize it at the time because it was so urgent, but looking back on it belatedly, I was essentially right in front of a murderer.
The reason I couldn't properly see the villain was because the mister had held me in his arms and protected me.
When I was being held, I only thought he was fighting while holding me with one arm, but thinking about it again, is it really possible to fight while holding a child and not let them get a single scratch?
It would be more reasonable to assume he got hurt more because he was actively protecting me.
"A-Are you okay, mister?"
I asked with a trembling voice.
At my words, the doctor blinked and looked at the nurse. The nurse did the same.
"Yes. He is fine."
"Really?"
Wasn't that reaction just now too meaningful? Like telling a white lie to a young child.
"He really is fine. He is hospitalized here in this same hospital."
I don't know if I should call it 'fine' considering he is hospitalized.
Then again, they say the 'fine' a doctor thinks of is quite far removed from the 'fine' an ordinary person thinks of. Even if that isn't the case, comparing being alive to being dead, it also means he's fine simply because he's alive.
"Wh-what about my friends?"
"Your friends are fine too."
This time, the answer came out immediately. Seeing them smile as if they were actually relieved, they must really be fine.
I let out a light breath.
"Then, get some rest. You want to see your teacher, right? I'll go call her."
As I nodded my head, the doctor went back outside the curtain. For a very brief moment, I locked eyes with the person in the suit outside again. That person, who had been standing there looking a bit nervous, smiled somewhat awkwardly and waved at me when our eyes met.
Hmm.
They are probably government officials.
Because a child who has awakened a superpower can't stay in a regular orphanage.
Barely 30 seconds had passed after the doctor left before the teacher came in.
"Lua, are you okay?"
"I'm okay."
The teacher quickly grabbed my hand and asked, so I nodded my head.
The teacher held my hand tightly, deliberating over what to say, and then just nodded her head.
"Yeah. Let's get plenty of rest. I will stay here today."
The expression of a person who needs to say something but can't.
Because the one in front of her is a child who doesn't know anything.
"Is Chaeyi okay?"
"Chaeyi is fine."
At my question, the teacher's eyes grew wet.
And after moving her lips hesitantly, the teacher finally spoke in a whisper.
"I'm sorry."
Is it an apology for letting go of my hand?
It was an unavoidable situation.
That expression feels awkward and embarrassing. She's a teacher who might even be younger than my past self.
So I just awkwardly lowered my gaze.
The next day.
I had various conversations with the teacher in front of the doctor and went through the discharge procedures.
I considered asking if I could go see how the mister was doing, but ultimately kept my mouth shut. It felt a bit inappropriate to make someone who was severely injured continue to worry.
All the way back to the orphanage in the car, the teacher constantly had an expression of deliberating whether to bring something up or not.
Though in the end, I didn't hear anything until we arrived at the orphanage.
"Lua!"
A pink head of hair the color of cotton candy popped out and tackled me the moment we entered the building.
It was Chaeyi.
If I were an adult, it would have been a weight I could easily catch, but unfortunately, I am a pipsqueak of the same age and size as Chaeyi.
Naturally, I ended up falling flat on my back.
"Lua, are you okay!?"
Tears were welling up in Chaeyi's eyes as she said that.
How long have we even known each other, and how nicely could I have possibly treated her for her to act like this?
"I'm okay."
I patted Chaeyi's back soothingly.
"..."
And the teacher looked at the two of us with an incredibly guilty expression.
...Hmm.
I don't really care much about being fostered by another family.
But, still, I'm a little worried about Chaeyi.
They say she's a kid who will also awaken her powers later and come to the academy, but it will take a little time until then.
...Will she be okay?
A few days later.
The teacher called me separately, sat me down in the counseling room, and leaned down to meet my eyes.
"Um, Lua."
"Yes."
"Listen, I have something important to tell you. Will you listen without getting too surprised?"
As I nodded, the teacher carefully held my hand. An adult's hand was much larger than my young hand, and a little cold.
"Lua, you showed a superpower this time, right?"
I showed it in front of the doctor and the people in suits at the hospital. They said once you awaken, there's a way to find out even if you purposely try to hide it.
I had no reason to purposely hide it anyway.
"Yes. And, they say a person with a superpower has many separate things they need to learn."
"Yes."
Did she think I didn't understand well after hearing me answer so calmly? The teacher continued speaking with a trembling voice.
"So, I think Lua will have to stay and learn at a different place, not here."
"..."
How should I answer?
Should I have just calmly answered 'yes' like I had been doing up until now?
From the teacher's perspective, I am a child who has already been abandoned once.
Although no one says it like that, all the children here feel it.
And how would such a child feel about being sent to another family once again?
Wouldn't she feel like she's being abandoned one more time?
"...Can I come over to play later?"
After deliberating this and that, I answered, and the teacher cried.
Did I choose the wrong words?
But before I could even correct what I said, my vision was completely blocked, and I lost the chance.
"Yes. Of course. It's fine for Lua to keep coming over to play. No, please do come over to play. I'll be here."
I wasn't even some incredible kid.
I don't know why the teacher is acting like this either.
Sniffling my somehow slightly tingling nose, I remained hugged in that warm embrace for a while.
The teacher tried to reassure me that the people coming to pick me up were good people, and that they would definitely treat me incredibly well.
And, the 'woman who came to pick me up' sitting in front of me was definitely a good person.
Because she was that hero I had seen.
"Hello, Lua."
The pretty woman sitting in front of me spoke with a trembling voice, looking somehow extremely nervous.
"I'm Yujin. Seo Yujin. We have the same last name, right?"
"Yes."
But for some reason, I answered half-heartedly.
It's truly a strange thing.
If I'm the protagonist of a possession story, shouldn't this be a good thing? She's the heroine's mom, isn't she? Going into that house is definitely a good thing. It's also an opportunity to get close to the heroine.
Well, it's probably not because Chaeyi, who is at the orphanage, is also a heroine. Since I only recalled the work extremely recently in the first place, it wasn't like I specifically liked the heroine named Chaeyi more or anything.
It's just, something.
Something... a certain feeling that's hard to put into words.
"The thing is, Lua awakened a superpower, right? So you came to need someone to protect you separately. Would it be okay if I stay together with Lua? Oh, right!"
The woman who introduced herself as Seo Yujin quickly pulled a smartphone out of her pocket, manipulated it, and pulled up a picture of an incredibly cute child to show me.
"This is the child who will be living together with Lua from now on. How is it? Cute, right? You're the same age, so I'm sure you can become best friends."
Is the reason she isn't specifically bringing up the story of her husband or what happened back then because she received some kind of advice?
Seeing as they were discussing trauma and whatnot, she might have judged that it wouldn't be appropriate to purposely bring up that story when not much time has passed.
"...Yes."
I deliberated my answer before just saying that while nodding my head.
Best friends, huh.
Probably so. Since they were always sticking together in the original work. I don't know if that was because they were truly best friends, or if she was just unilaterally being swayed by Seo Lua.
But, if it's a friend, I already have one.
The kids I made friends with while staying here can be called friends too.
Especially if it's Chaeyi, who always sticks around with me.
"...Yeah."
In the end, our conversation ended rather ambiguously like that.
"Lua!"
The day I was leaving the orphanage.
Even though we had exchanged goodbyes several times since the day before and promised to meet again later, Chaeyi clung to me and hung on.
Pouring out all her tears and snot, Chaeyi said.
"Lua, don't gooo."
"I'm sorry."
I stroked the head of Chaeyi, who was hanging onto my chest.
"Ughh."
But Chaeyi must know too.
Because the children at the orphanage are all children placed in 'unavoidable' situations.
Children whose short lives up to this point have simply been placed in unavoidable situations.
So, she must know that it's unavoidable for me to leave like this too.
And yet she liked me enough to cling to me anyway.
"...School."
So, ultimately, I said the words I had been thinking of.
The reason I hadn't said it until the end was because I thought Chaeyi might end up forgetting me.
Hardly anyone grows up keeping their memories from their kindergarten days completely intact. Usually, as you graduate from elementary school and become a middle schooler and a high schooler, the memories of those days almost entirely volatilize and fly away.
So, I thought any promise we made here would probably be meaningless.
"Let's meet at the same school."
The academy is a high school curriculum.
I'll probably go to an ordinary school nearby for elementary school.
If I pester the adults hard enough, wouldn't I be able to go to the school Chaeyi attends?
"At school?"
"Yeah!"
I purposely spoke with a confident expression.
Putting both hands on my hips and stiffly raising my head.
"Because, I'll have become a popular person by then."
"Popular?"
"Yeah. Chaeyi, all you have to do is come and ask where Lua is! Because I'm sure all the kids in the school will know!"
Chaeyi's face, which had been looking up at me with a blank expression for a moment, brightened.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really."
"Really really?"
"Really really really."
Because, well, don't I have an appearance that has no choice but to be popular? Not just boys, but girls fundamentally flock around pretty kids too.
Besides, a superhuman who already awakened a superpower at a young age.
Furthermore, if the person in charge of my foster family is a tremendously famous hero, then it's a given.
So there's absolutely nothing to worry about.
"Here, promise."
As I held out my pinky finger and spoke, Chaeyi also hooked her finger around mine and nodded her head.
"See you at school?"
"Yeah. See you at school."
Looking at Chaeyi who finally smiled again, I nodded my head vigorously.
Because we will definitely meet.
Even if we can't meet in elementary school, definitely.