Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

A man walked out of a toilet station and staggered to the sink. He took his hands in the sink and water sprayed over out of nowhere. Tears were flowing from his eyes, his hands were shaking as he washed them clean.

His child, his little kid-- the only girl-- was cursed with a non-curable disease that was going to take her away from him at any moment. His wife had died due to the same illness during their child\'s delivery.

He wanted his child to live, he used all of his money, savings, and treasures from his guild on his child. He had just one wish, just one single request. He worked hard so that his child could not meet the same fate as her mother and his wife.

But. You can not change your fate. He learned that. He had only a few days-- he was not even sure if he had days or hours, surely not months-- to spend with his dying daughter.

While everybody was celebrating New Year, where he was with his dying daughter, grieving.

He rubbed his hands clean against his robes when he heard a bang from the last toilet counter. His tears went back and he stared at the counter with pulsing anger.

Anger that he could not help his daughter and the anger that other people were fucking in the toilet. He pitied himself, and that pity led him to hate others who were happy.

The toilet door budged with another bang, this time, the man heard a man\'s moan from the toilet. "Fuck," he grunted, as he bit his lip.

The man strode and knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again with more strength than before.

Then he heard someone on the other side. "What? I am busy!"

"Do not make out in the hospital, fucking teens! People die here and you are making out. Fuck you!"

The man took his anger, then stepped back from the door. He heard a click. A man with blonde hair and yellow eyes stepped out. His chest heaved and a blade slid out of his sleeve.

"What is your problem?" Kuzu tilted his head, and his earrings bounced.

"Find a fucking room," the man said. He was satisfied tonight. He stepped towards the exit door.

Besides, the man saw anger in Kuzu\'s eyes (because he failed to kill and had to retreat) because he interrupted their session. He drew his blade (ready for another of Hitori\'s spy-- or whatever he was ready to kill anyone who interrupted them.

Kuzu looked over his shoulder. "Come out, to the sink," Kuzu called.

The man glanced at the toilet, then he jumped around as Gigi stepped out. The man\'s eyes widened as Gigi limped over to the sink.

"Wash your wounds," Kuzu ordered, then he glared at the man staring at them.

Then Gigi said something he should not have: "Ah, Kuzu... it damn hurts."

The man\'s eyes trembled in disbelief. "Fuck..." He gulped. "You are fucked up!" he shouted and bolted out of the washroom.

Kuzu stared before returning to Gigi. "Did the curse get you?" Kuzu asked as he prepared a kit from his dimensional storage and spread it on the washroom\'s floor.

"I would not be breathing right now if the curse had got it."

"Nah..." Kuzu opened the kit, "some of their spells are from the school of Necromancy," he said and looked at Gigi, "damage over time. Ever heard of it?"

Gigi raised his eyes. "You mean---"

"Yeah. The same shit a necromancer does in the game. Poison, plague, polluting a part of our body, etc."

"Fuck..." Gigi covered his mouth. Kuzu grabbed Gigi\'s foot and inspected it, there was no mark of any kind on Gigi\'s foot. "N-no, maybe I twisted my ankle."

Kuzu still did not let go of Gigi\'s foot. "It is fine," he said, twisting Gigi\'s foot.

"Y-yeah. Thanks."

"Still, take this painkiller." Kuzu got up with a tube in his hand. "We are Masao-san\'s last hope, as much as he could not let me die, I can not let you die."

Gigi and Kuzu slapped the door. "And next?" Gigi asked as he strode to the staircase.

Kuzu looked at the staircase in front of him, and he stepped forward. "Akemi," he replied.

"Do you know the pattern?" Gigi glanced at Kuzu. Kuzu did not look at him and climbed the stairs.

They both approached room 303. Kuzu glanced around, then he stepped closer to Akemi\'s door.

Kuzu lifted his hand and looked at Gigi. "There will be no need to draw the pattern." He knocked.

Akemi opened her eyes. She opened her mouth to call her Jigo-Jigo, she remembered what Kamiya had told her three days before:

\'I will never knock on the door. I will always draw the pattern and enter the room. Listen, nee-chan, if anyone knocks on the door, make sure you do not open the door. No matter what you do not press that button and open the door for them.\'

She asked him why.

\'Onogi\'s men and Kuzu would be loose, looking for me or you, we can not risk falling into their... hands. We need to evolve our defense strategy while I cultivate my attack strategy.\'

Eya gulped and did not open the door. Kamiya had told her, they will knock and knock, but till when? One time will come when they will either have to break the door or draw the pattern. Or simply, give up and leave.

Kuzu closed his fist. He glanced at Gigi, he had a strange grin on his face-- you lose, Kuzu-- sort of. Kuzu sighed.

"Maybe," he shrugged, "I will get it right."

Kuzu touched the pad and it lit up, he then drew an A on the pad and joined J from A\'s middle line. Then Kuzu rounded the two letters inside a circle.

The door clicked. Kuzu glanced at Gigi, and his grin fell. Akemi\'s tension faded only to rise even higher than before.

"Ready?" Kuzu whispered, Gigi, nodded. They both equipped themselves with blades and guns.

Akemi\'s heart was beating harder than usual. "Ji---" she swallowed her words back.

Her hands dropped on the bed from her thighs and started trembling nervously. And she saw the sight of blonde hair, yellow eyes, and piercings, tears formed in her eyes.

Then slipped down her cheeks bead by bead. Kuzu shook his blade into his hand. Akemi\'s whole went out of her control, she was trembling like a wet dog in the snow.

Kuzu met eyes with Akemi. "Akemi." He grinned.

She turned her eyes, covered her eyes with her hands, and dug them to her right side.

It was the first time Gigi was seeing Akemi after the incident in which he was not involved. "What have you made of that girl, Kuzu."

Kuzu pulled back his blade and gestured for Gigi to pull back the gun and close the door.

"Yeah. I wonder about the same thing at night. Just what we have done."

Kuzu walked closer to Akemi. Her whole body was so trembling in fear that she could not even bring herself to cast elemental spells, which she could use without a wand.

Kuzu took a stool and sat next to Akemi\'s bed. "We are here to talk."

She remained trembling. Go-go-go... le-le-leave... p-p-please...."

"We have found where you hide. I do not know if you know, but your brother has messed with us big this time, just because of his pitiful revenge thing."

Akemi pulled down her hands. She hesitantly moved her eyes.

"He may kill us in the game as many times as he likes, but in real life, even you know he can not do shit to us."

She glanced at Kuzu. Her heart skipped a beat, she still remembered the earrings Kuzu wore.

"I want you to tell your brother, who stays with Hitori, we are here. Now he and his little friend can not hide or run anymore, anywhere."

Akemi\'s eyes fidgeted in the sockets. Hitori\'s cold face flashed in front of her, his words, his voice, his calm eyes. She heard Kamiya say:

\'I have made friends!\'

And she wanted to say: \'Why?! Just to pull them into this mess and kill them?\'

"If you do not and Kamiya runs... tell him we know where his sister lives. Not like you can run anymore, can you?"

Akemi looked at her legs covered under a black blanket.

"You can not leave the hospital either. So you will be our hostage." Kuzu got up and turned. "If you do tell them, then know that Masao-san has planned to keep you for the last."

Kuzu saluted Akemi with two fingers, he held eye contact till the door closed in front of him.

Akemi was left on her bed alone, chills ran down her spine. She was jittering anxiously. She wondered what she should do? Protect Hitori and Kamiya, or just sit and watch as things happened-- what she had always done.

She rubbed off the sweat from over her face, cold sweat ran down her neck next. She suddenly started panting, she pulled on the blanket but that was not enough.

Akemi reached for a glass. She stretched her hand, the water shivered as Akemi grabbed the glass. She spilled a little water on her chest and inside as she drank half of the water.

That was enough. She again spilled some water on the floor as she reached for the table on her right to keep the glass. She released her fingers, and the glass balanced itself on the table\'s corner, she grabbed the glass again, and water fell on her hand.

Then she heard a loud shout, "Fucking Kamiya!" she glared at the door with her wide eyes, and the glass fell and shattered on the floor. And chaos broke on the other side.

Her chest bounced as she jumped in her seat. Akemi pushed herself, her legs wiggled but she could not lift them. Akemi tried again but failed again. She reached for her bell, she tapped it once, she was about to tap it again when she slapped the bell and it fell on the broken glasses.

She glanced around her room, dug her hand under her blankets, threw it to the floor, she grabbed her thighs, and grunted as she tried to put them down.

"Aargh!" she let out a loud groan in pain and gave up. She frantically tried to get something, she tried to get up but her legs would not support her.

And in the middle of it, she heard a crack. It was from her hip. She felt a surge of pain run down her pelvis and her spine. Akemi lifted her hands and then banged them on the bed.

"Why?!" she shrieked. "Why? Why? Why? Why?!! Why me?!" she punched the mattress again. "No, I do not want this!"

She threw her head into the pillow, she banged her head a couple of times against the pillow. She kept her voice low as she went through her breakdown.

She moved her eyes to the door, she heard a click, and the door slid open. She stretched her hand and aimed it, then dropped it back on her bed.

She dropped her head. She knew it was Kamiya. She knew it was HIM.

Kamiya\'s glass was sliding down his nose, he was panting, and he was carrying two cans. Akemi broke again. She threw her arms and cried, "Jigo-Jigo!"

Kamiya strode, he dropped the cans on the bed and leaped forward, he squeezed Akemi in his arms, into his chest. Their sweat mixed but none of them cared.

"Shh. I am here, I can hear you, do not talk, Akemi-nee-chan. It is alright. I am here."

She hugged back and wetted his T-shirt. "Jigo-Jigo! I-I-I was so---"

"Shh!" He pushed her head into his chest, silencing her.

"You are safe. We are safe, I am here."