Vengeance Upon Fate - Chapter 36

As soon as he left the room, Kurogane closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He had forgotten for a moment that Ayumi was still there. She quietly got up from her seat and placed her hand on Kurogane’s forehead.

“Hmm.”

Kurogane’s eyes grew out of surprise, causing him to blush a little.

“H-Hey..”

…

“Making moves already I see.” Wuxiaworld for visiting.

Ayumi’s eyes widened. Her face was as good as red as she slowly turned her head around to see her dad still poking his head through the nearly closed door.

“Shouldn’t you be somewhere..?”

“Hehe, I couldn’t resist seeing what you’d do if I left for a bit”

“I was just checking if he had a fever. It would truly be a shame to mess the floor over something like this…” Ayumi chuckled, clenching her fist.

“Ohoho right, better make… a run.. for it.”

Kurogane could hear the shuffling of Yukito’s footsteps as he dashed through the front door.

Ayumi, on the other hand, was so carried away in the conversation that she didn’t realize that she had her hand on Kurogane’s forehead the entire time.

Kurogane looked away, his face now just as red. Ayumi quickly moved her hand and apologized.

“Eek?! Ohh… so sorry about that. I-I’ll go and get dinner ready.”

“A-Alright. Sounds good.”

Ayumi swiftly walked out and closed the door halfway behind her.

Kurogane sighed and looked at the picture on the table once again.

“What a kind and happy family. I hope the rest of the city isn’t as bad as Varsilis.”

A few minutes later, Ayumi returned with a bowl of Kenchin-Jiru and a plate of bread.

“Ah, so it’s vegetable soup and bread eh? Alrighty!” said Yukito, who was standing by the bedroom door.

“I have some prepared in the kitchen if you need any.” replied Ayumi, who seemingly forced a smile on her face.

“Ooh, time to dig in then.”

Yukito left quickly to the kitchen, leaving the door shut behind him.

Kurogane looked at the steamy bowl beside Ayumi and realized that he was in no position to eat by himself.

Ayumi noticed the odd look on his face as soon as she turned towards him.

“What’s with that expression?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“So uhm.. Do you want me to feed you?”

“No need.”

Kurogane’s pride was unwavering as he floundered to hold the spoon in his bandaged hands.

“To me it doesn’t look like you have a choice.”

“I suppose you have a point. Go ahead, then.”

“Move back and sit up a little. It’ll make the process easier.”

“R-Right.”

Ayumi held the soup spoon and scooped up a bit, lightly blowing the steamy portion since it was still very hot.

“You can take some bread while you’re a-”

She noticed that the bread was gone, then saw Kurogane munching and swallowing the very last piece. He had a lot of crumbs on his face as a result from eating so fast and gazed at Ayumi’s surprised face.

“What?”

“Are you-”

“And what do we have here?”

Yuktio’s excited face appeared right next to Ayumi’s out of nowhere, startling her and causing her to spill the hot soup on the spoon onto Kurogane’s chest.

{Ack..!}

“Dad, just why did you have to do that!”

Yukito simply grinned and laughed, while Ayumi blushed and ranted, knocking on his chest repeatedly out of frustration.

All Kurogane could do was watch as the flustered Ayumi tried to clean up the spilled soup of his chest.

(As different as they seem, they aren’t so bad.)

After having dinner and cleaning up, the three went to sleep for the night.

Five days passed, and Kurogane still hadn’t recovered enough, though he got closer to being able to sit up properly. Yukito would assist him on exercising and stretching when Ayumi didn’t have customers coming in, which assisted in speeding up his recovery.

By the seventh day, he was finally able to get up without assistance. Yukito and Ayumi cheered in delight, happy that Kurogane was a lot better.

He no longer had to wear any bandages, though he did have light scars on his abdomen.

“I’ll be heading out soon then.”

“W-Wait.. You need at least a day longer!”

“I guess my daughter has a point. You’re a lot better but to ensure you don’t go around with any loose ends, you should rest for a day or two so our medications finish doing their thing, ya feel me?”

Kurogane looked down and thought to himself.

(I already wasted a week.. I can’t afford to lose much more.)

He took a deep breath then looked at Yukito and Ayumi.

Seeing their concerned faces softened Kurogane’s heart; for the first time in forever, he truly felt a part of a family and could not bring himself to let them down.

“Alright then, I’ll take your word for it.”

“Wise choice my friend.”

“Thank God!”

“You seem a little too relieved there, hehe.”

“Where are you going with that statement exactly…?”

The two continued to squabble with Kurogane being the lone audience as usual.

(I should try and get back in shape while I’m still here.)

The next day, Kurogane trained hard with push-ups, sit-ups, leg raises and various other exercises and stretches. He would overly exhaust himself, worrying Ayumi and Yukito to the point they had to physically hold him back at times. During meals he would fiercely eat the food they gave him and made the best use of his energy as time passed.