Too Afraid To Say Goodbye

Chapter 2

Shiryu was resting in the hospital room silently. However, his mind was far from peaceful. Shiryu grit his teeth as he remembered his fight against Argol.

"In order to defeat you and restore Seiya and Shun, it seems I have to make a sacrifice of my own!"

When Shiryu saw himself piercing his eyes out, his vision became blurrier and blurrier within seconds. The screams of his comrades became louder and more distressing as Shiryu's surroundings became engulfed in darkness. As Shiryu's vision was fading, he faintly saw Seiya running towards the surgeon, begging;

"Doc, you gotta find a way to make him see. Shiryu made this sacrifice just for us!"

The last thing Shiryu saw was Seiya clutching on the surgeon's coat, sobbing. Then Shiryu's eyesight faded to black. The only thing he could sense was Seiya's sorrowful tears.

"Seiya!"

Shiryu sat up from his bed and turned his head frantically. Although Shiryu felt that his eyes were wide open, he couldn't see anything. Shiryu stopped and recognized that something was wrapped around his eyes. He put his hands around the surrounding area, feeling the rough texture against his hands. Shiryu closed his eyelids, hoping that he could recreate the cosmo that guided him during his fight with Argol. However, Shiryu could only sense the darkness that surrounded him.

Just then, Shiryu filched violently as he felt a sharp pain in his eyes. He clutched his fingers around his bandages and let out a cry of intense pain. Shiryu looked up, as he could suddenly hear the conversation that the nurses were having in the hallway. Shiryu didn't want to eavesdrop, however, his heightened sense of hearing made it impossible to completely ignore them.

"That, young man... he's still in denial of his friend's condition, isn't he"

"Still thinking about the surgery aren't you?"

Shiryu's heart sank as he instinctively knew that the nurses were talking about Seiya. He tightly gripped the corners of his blanket that lay on his knees and then took a deep breath.

You were here Seiya? So your cries that I heard... It wasn't a dream?...

Shiryu turned his head towards the doorway. He could hear their conversation more clearly as he sensed that the nurses were approaching his dorm room.

"I'm starting to think that someday they will come back with injuries that are completely untreatable... What is the Gurade Foundation doing to these men?"

"Quiet down! Dr. Nakahara might hear us."

"Oh, sorry. it's just that the whole situation worries me. They always come back with worse and worse injuries."

"I know, I've been feeling the same way; but if they overhear us, we might get in trouble. We shouldn't talk about this while we're at work."

"Okay..."

The hallway became quieter as the conversation ended. From the sounds of the nurses' footsteps, it seemed like they took two separate paths that were away from Shiryu's room. Shiryu could still hear the sounds of the hospital equipment clearly to the point that it was hard to ignore. However, the other nurses were either whispering or were too far away from Shiryu's room. Any more words they said were muffled by the equipment.

Shiryu sat still for a minute, trying to process what he had heard. The room became uncomfortably silent, almost like time itself had stopped. Shiryu ran his fingers against the bandages that covered his eyes. When his fingers reached the edge of the bandages, he put his hands in front of his face.