Give Life a Chance

Chapter 50 - Confessions of a Damaged Heart

Earlier with Shinobu

"So how did the training go?" Shinobu asked.

"It went well, his mobility is increasing and he can walk by himself thanks to the hand rails you installed." Aoi answered.

The two were currently standing and talking in Shinobu's lab, they wore coats over their uniforms and protection for their eyes as Shinobu continued to experiment with poisons.

"Good. He's ahead of schedule then." Shinobu replied.

"He's still going to have to be here for a while." Aoi said.

"You almost sound happy at that fact." Shinobu said, mixing two vials together.

"What... no. Of course I'm not happy that he's hurt... it's just, we barely spend any time together so it's been nice talking to him." Aoi said.

"Relax. I'm only teasing." Shinobu said.

"I understand how close the two of you are, you don't have to pretend you're not happy to see him." Shinobu added.

"I guess I am a little happy. It's been nice talking to him again, but he's a bit different now." Aoi said.

"Different how?" Shinobu asked.

"He's quieter than before. I think he feels guilty about the mission, I don't know what about it specifically though, he hasn't mentioned anything." Aoi answered.

"I see." Shinobu said.

"Maybe... you could talk to him. I'm sure he'd like that." Aoi proposed.

"Now, watch what happens when I add the mixture to the demon blood." Shinobu instructed, ignoring her student.

Aoi watched as Shinobu slowly poured the mixture into a dish of dark red blood. After a few seconds of nothing the blood began to bubble and steam rose from the liquid. Within a few more seconds the poison had completely consumed the blood leaving nothing behind.

"Incredible." Aoi proclaimed.

"It still works too slow, I need something that will work immediately on impact." Shinobu complained.

"But it completely dissolved the blood, surely that would be enough to kill a demon." Aoi guessed.

"It's not good enough." Shinobu said sadly.

"What are you talking about? It did exactly what it was supposed to do." Aoi said confused.

"IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Shinobu yelled, catching Aoi off guard.

Shinobu noticed this and quickly calmed down.

"I'm sorry. It's just... that's twice now that he's fought an upper rank demon and twice he's come back almost dead." Shinobu said sadly.

Aoi saw Shinobu's unusually sad expression and realised the woman didn't mean to yell at her.

"He's so powerful, and this time he even had Rengoku-san with him, yet he came back like that. I can't compete with them physically, so I have to make the poison stronger." Shinobu explained, her voice still clearly sad.

"I get it." Aoi said.

"I'm sorry for yelling." Shinobu said

"Don't worry, you have a lot to worry about at the moment." Aoi replied.

"Speaking of what were the results of your last examination?" Shinobu asked.

"Not good. His arm has begun the healing process but it's still about 5 weeks away from being completely healed." Aoi reported.