Hello my dear readers! How was the prologue? Bet you guys didn't see that coming, did you? XD
Anyways, let me know about your thoughts! If you wanna scream at the characters, LET'S SCREAM TOGETHER, OKAY? Cos I'm forever Ren Hakuyuu and Ren Hakuren's simp uwu. Or if you have anything to comment about this chapter, then please do say it! It might provide me with more inspirations I could use in further chapters!I accept constructive criticism, but please be gentle with me _
Alright, that's enough ranting for now, so let's move on to the story!
Year 8 of Hakutoku's Reign, Kou Empire (10 years ago)
Ran hadn't expected to get herself caught in the middle of a life-and-death situation.
Earlier today, the raven head had went up the mountains to collect some herbs under her masters orders; summers were the peak season for cases such as heat strokes and food poisonings, and they were running out of magnolia barks, which was an essential component to the medicines- thus warranting her a trip to the mountains, which was a one-hour-walk from her master's house. Her master had originally ordered one of his servants to go run the errand, but Ran had volunteered, not wanting to be stuck in her master's study room reading medical scrolls in the written Kou (which she barely understood thanks to living so long outside of the country), or getting cooped up in the infirmary concocting salves for sunburns. The young physician had finished gathering the necessary herb within an hour of foraging the leafy terrains near her master's abode, yet avoided returning early lest her master would task her with another reading material as a means to improve her understanding of the Kou language. As a result, she made her way down from the mountain just as the sun had set, the sky growing darker as the moon slowly made its way up from the horizon.
Ran wasn't afraid of walking by herself in the dark. Bandits were rarely found around Ji-An town, and there wasn't much large game within the forest and mountains, thus making the area relatively safe to travel even during nightfall. Even though her master had always warned her about wandering by herself late at night, Ran would also without fail remind him of the fact she was an adult and was capable of defending herself, in addition to assuring the elderly physician that she always has her acupuncture needles on her person, in the case of dire situations. Still, it never stopped her master from constantly nagging at her to be careful. And maybe, she really should have listened to him for once.
Bandits and wild animals, she had anticipated. She was adept at fending them off.
But this, she did not expect all.
Or them, to be exact.
So this was why the rukh were being so noisy a while ago. She mentally commented as she sucked a breath at the gruesome sight that lied in front of her eyes.
On the ground were two severely injured men, both unconscious and barely alive. The one with spiky hair was lying on top of the man with burns on his body, his breathing shallow and quick. As she detected the iron tang of blood in the air, her medically-trained eyes instantly zeroed on the dark red patch around his middle. One look at his body told her it was a recent wound by a sharp object, judging by the way the man was profusely bleeding with no signs of stopping.
Which idiot thought it was a good idea to pull out the sharp object from his wound?! He'd just die faster that way-! Her first instinct, as a doctor, was of course to step closer in order to inspect the two men's injuries, but she suppressed it in favour of the suspicion brewing in her gut.
In the past year, she had made herself familiar to the area surrounding her master's home, be it the small town of Ji-An or the back mountains and forest nearby. As she herself often visited the mountains to collect herbs, she was well-aware of the lack of bandits and passerbys in the forest; which made these two strangers' presence an absolute abnormality in the tranquil forest. Plus, she didn't know of their origins, or how they ended up lying unconscious in the middle of the forest. It would be stupid to save them if they turned out to be fugitives with bounties on their head, wouldn't it?
She had the right to doubt whether or not to save them, didn't she?
Just as soon as the question appeared in her mind, a painfully familiar voice rang in her ears, as if chastising her for even considering to save them.
Haven't I told you countless times already? Never involve yourself with shady people, child. Who knows what kind of trouble they will cause you.
But just as quickly as the voice appeared, her master's words immediately drowned out the previous voice's reprimand, and reminded her of her responsibility as a physician.
As physicians, we have the right to choose whose life we will save. But as a doctor under my tutelage, as long as the disease is curable and the injuries are treatable, you must do your best to help your patients. People come to us to seek aid, entrusting their lives in our hands in hopes that they could be free of the condition they are suffering from. It is your fate that leads you to your patients. Do not let your own personal feelings cloud your mind, my disciple. It is heaven's will that determines whether or not our patients survive after the treatment, but before that, we have the obligation of preserving their lives, understand? No matter what you feel towards them, it is still your responsibility to save them regardless of who they are to the best of our abilities. Didn't you say that was why you wanted to learn traditional Kou medicine? So you can cure your loved ones in the future? Now imagine that the patient in front of you is someone you treasure dearly, will you still be able to just stand still and watch them die?
That's right. She shouldn't have hesitated at all. Why did she even think of abandoning these two? Her master would so ashamed of her if he knew.
"P-Pl...Plea...se-" The sudden plea startled the maiden out of her thoughts as she swiftly directed her gaze to the source of the voice.
It was the man sprawled underneath the spiky-haired male. As he lifted his head in Ran's direction, she noticed he also sustained burns not only on his body, but also on the left side of his face. She hastened her steps and quickly approached the two men, and crouched in front of the wounded man.
"P-Ple.. ease.. s-sa..ve.. my... youn..ger.. bro-brother.." He managed to spit out between pants, barely audible in even the quiet forest. His plea struck a chord within her and brought forth emotions she didn't wish to name. The disciple immediately squashed them down in favour of keeping her rationality. This wasn't time for nostalgia.
"He's your younger brother?" She asked, and received a weak nod in response.
"Alright sir, I'm a physician, and I promise I will do my best to save him. But I'll have to move his body to the ground to have a closer look at him. May I do that?" The burned man nodded once again as he did his best to remove himself from underneath's his brother's body, and attempted to help Ran situate his unconscious brother on the dirt ground. With another grunt, he fell to the ground beside his spiky-haired brother, his breathing rapid from performing such a herculean task.
As soon as the younger brother was lying flat on the ground, Ran promptly placed her hands on her patient, eyes scanning for any abnormalities on his body. In terms of injuries, he had less burns compared to his older brother but he was still bleeding profusely, the rags that served as makeshift bandages around his stomach now dyed in dark red.
Judging from his wound, even if I insert needles into his body now, it won't be able to staunch the bleeding. And I don't have my medical supplies with me. What do I do now? In an attempt to stop the bleeding, Ran tore the sleeve of her robe and placed it on top of the bloodied rags, applying pressure to the area. The rukh, which hadn't ceased their chirping, began swarming the wounded area, as if reminding her that with every passing second was crucial to her patient's survival.
Are you telling me to use that? The rukh's chirping grew louder at her inquiry.
Alright, I'll have to use it. There's no other possible way to save him right now. As she made her decision, she placed her hands on top of the injured man's stomach and summoned the magoi inside her body, feeling it heeding her call. She willed her magoi to gather on her two palms, which glowed purple as her energy transformed into healing magic. The light then rapidly travelled to the bleeding wound, enveloping it in a warm shade of purple. Unwilling to settle with just closing the wound, the disciple ordered her magic to dive deeper into the man's body, and repair the wounds that his internal organs sustained.
His ribs seemed to be aligning back into their positions, and the wound on his stomach is already healed. Good. For now, she only needed to heal the critical injuries; she could deal with the rest of them back at her master's house. With one last sweep of her energy across his body, the purple light in her palms instantly disappeared the moment she lifted her palms from the younger brother's stomach.
Heaving a sigh of relief at her success, she felt her body turn rigid once again at the realization of having just used her magic in front of an ordinary person. She had completely forgotten about the older brother's presence while she was focusing on saving the younger.
"Ah.. I can explain-" She slowly turned around, preparing herself to face the repercussions of her actions while trying to come up with a valid excuse, only for her eyes to catch sight of the open wound on the blue-haired man's torso. It was bleeding, though albeit shallower than his so-called brother. In a slight rush of panic, Ran immediately situated herself beside the burnt man, her eyes focused on the injured area.
"You're hurt, let me-" Before she could finish her sentence, a hand slapped away her palm, as the male shot her a fierce glare.
"D-Don't t-touch... me..." He venomously spat, panting heavily due to the injury and his sudden shift in mood.
If I don't touch you, then how will I heal your wounds? She sarcastically thought to herself as she watched the man sit up from the ground, albeit slowly due to his yet-to-be-healed wounds.
"You're... You're a..."
"I told you I'm a doctor. And just so you know, you can heal wounds through qi manipulation." Well, that wasn't a complete lie. "Now you have two options: either you let me heal you, or you can die pathetically in the middle of nowhere like this. The choice is yours,"
"I.. don't know... y-you. Why.. should I.. trust you?" The man was relentless in his glare, his two blue orbs were filled with suspicion to the brim.
Ran felt her left eye twitch at the stranger's statement as she felt her patience wearing thin. "You just asked me to save your brother, and I did. Isn't that enough for you to trust me?"
"Y-You.. u-u...sed..."
Sighing in annoyance, she stealthily stabbed some needles onto his accupoints, causing the man to immediately lose consciousness, his head lolling freely as she did so. "Alright, that's enough. I don't need you to agitate yourself to a premature death."
Once she was assured that the man was completely out cold, the young physician commanded the rukh to help her lift his body and lay it upright, immediately noticing the dark black skin covering half of his face and some other parts of his body.
I can't do much about his burns right now. I'll need some disinfectants to clean his wounds and I don't have them on me. I'll have to take them back to master's house- At the thought of her master, she once again casted a doubtful glance at her two new patients.
Should she bring them along with her? But what if they were fugitives and rescuing them would involve her master in whatever problems they have? But she couldn't just leave them out here to die, right?
Right?
No, no. Stop that, your patients are your main priority right now. Treat them first, worry later. She chastised herself for overthinking once again, directing her attention into thinking how to carry the two men back with her.
Seeing as they were still injured, it wasn't possible to leave either one of the brothers here while she carried one of them back to her master's abode. Plus, distance aside, she wasn't sure if her physique could handle carrying a heavy, grown man all the way to the edge of the forest. Coming to the realization of her current situation's limitations, she heaved a heavy sigh as she plucked a thin branch from a nearby tree.
"...I'll have to use that spell then."
Strength magic[1] was never her forte, although flying had came naturally to her. As a purple magician[2] whose specialty is in the healing arts, she never had much chance to learn about other types of magic spells unrelated to her occupation, let alone practice them. But that didn't mean she never tried casting some spells under the direction of the rukh, a natural ability she possessed for as long as she could remember.
"Just a bit more... and there we have it." The black-haired teen wiped her forehead as she finally completed the runes necessary for her transportation spell. It took her a surprisingly short time to draw an array that would three people in it. She wasn't sure, however, if she could successfully activate it, seeing as most of the magoi in her body had been used to heal the younger of the two siblings.
"Oh well, there's no going back now, so let's try it anyway." She muttered to herself, summoning what was left of her magoi in order to command the rukh to teleport the three of them.
As the runes began to glow, she imagined her master's shocked expression at her sudden appearance in his home. With two injured strangers at that.
She'll have a lot of explaining to do.
Ren Hakuren was supposed to be dead. He got his stomach stabbed while trying to protect both his older and younger brother and lost his consciousness -he definitely lost a lot of blood in the process too- and the spiky-haired male absolutely swore he had been standing in front of his corporeal body, surrounded by some white-colored birds. That was a truly weird to see his own body like that, unmoving and stiff as the birds had urged him to walk away from it. The second imperial prince was well on his way to what he assumed was the underworld too, being escorted by a pair of black-and-white hell officers[3]. He remembered exchanging jokes with the one dressed in white, and the official had even laughed at his joke! So it was safe to assume he was dead.
Or was he?
The constant rise and fall of his chest proved him otherwise. Blinking his bleary eyes open, he was met with the sight of a wooden ceiling, dimly lit by the warm glow of the fire in the hearth. How did he knew there was fire? Easy, his ears perceived the sound way before his eyes managed to focus on the roof. Plus, he could feel warmth of the fire had radiated in the room, warming up his extremely sore and heavy limbs.
So I'm still alive, huh? He had heard of people saying the dead were no longer able to use their five senses, but the thick blanket covering his body felt soft and warm, and he could identify the smell of herbs and medical salves in the air, so yes, he was definitely alive.
But how did I get here? The last thing I remember was the room collapsing from fire... His train of thought came to an abrupt stop as the cogs in his brain began revolving, causing him to suddenly jolt up from the bed.
"You're not supposed to sit up yet, lie back down," Just as quick as he sat up, Hakuren found himself pressed down back onto the bed, albeit gently and skillfully as if the person did not wish his to further aggravate his wounds.
"How dare you lay your hands on me?! Who the hell do you think you are?!" The blue-haired man instinctively blurted out as he wildly thrashed against the stranger's grip, who was bent on keeping him flat on his back.
"How dare I? For your information, I saved you and patched you up. You wouldn't have survived back in the forest if I hadn't treated your injuries then and there. You owe me your life. Now stay still, won't you? Or else I'll need to knock you out again." The figure breathed out as they struggled to keep him down, clicking their tongue in the progress. "And before you ask me who I am, who the hell do you think you are acting all high and mighty like that, young master[4]?"
Wait, what? Back in the forest? But I thought brother and I were still trapped in the fire when I lost consciousness... How did we even end up in the forest? Where exactly are we? And my brother, what happened to him Hakuren wracked his mind for any memory of escaping the burnt wing of the imperial palace, but came up with none. A hand in front of his face, followed by several pinpricks on his body pulled him back to reality.
"Hello? Anybody there? So you're just all bark and no bite, huh? I guess that's all there is to you then, young master." The figure sarcastically remarked as they finally removed their hands from his body, patting them on the hem of their robes.
"Why you-" The lotus prince gritted his teeth as he struggled to sit up once again, only to find his body rendered immobile. He couldn't move his body except for his head. Panic filled his chest as he turned his head to face the stranger, who he now identified as a young man with black hair, sneering at his unmoving figure. "Hey! What did you do to me?!"
The youth even had the gall to sigh and shake his head, as if dealing with Hakuren was a chore. "I told you to stop moving, but you didn't listen. So I used my needles to stop you from moving too much. And look at what you've done, the wound's reopening again! And it's been healing quite nicely too," Was that accusation in his tone? The disrespect! Did this person even know who he was? He was the second prince of Kou, for goodness sake!
"What?! What if I'm paralyzed for good? How would you take responsibility for that?!" The blue head screeched, wishing he could just move his arms to punch this insolent fellow.
"Oh, I forgot to mention it earlier, didn't I? It's temporary, so relax, you won't be a disabled person for the rest of your life." The boy's golden orbs were filled with derision as he stared down at his patient, who despite his weak limbs glared at the youth with all the contempt one could muster after just regaining his consciousness.
"Why you-"
"That's enough, Ran. The poor young master just woke up; you know better than to provoke patients like that, don't you?" Another voice suddenly interrupted their squabble, causing the black-haired brat (as Hakuren has mentally dubbed the boy) to turn towards the elderly man in plain green robes. Hakuren knew him.
It was Doctor Song, the royal physician who served his grandfather, Emperor Ren Shuutoku, and Song Chenyu's grandfather. He had occasionally seen him when he visited the Song manor when he was younger to play with his best friend-turned-bodyguard, Song Chenyu. A few years ago, he heard that the man had retired to the countryside to enjoy his retirement life. This was the first time Hakuren had seen him since then.
But what drew his attention the most was how the savage brat referred to Doctor Song.
"Master[5]." Ran, as referred to by his master, immediately bowed at the sight of the man, moving slightly to the side as he made space for Doctor Song to sit on the stool beside the bed.
Wait, what? 'Master'? This brat is Doctor Song's apprentice?! He can't believe it! The extremely kind and gentle Doctor Song had an apprentice this barbaric? Hakuren's mental cogs went straight to work, trying to recall if he had ever seen the youth before. But apparently his brain could not conjure up any memories related to the black-haired bastard.
So he must be new, then? But aren't former imperial doctors forbidden from having apprentices outside of the palace? Or maybe this brat would be sent to the palace one day, and that's why he's here right now? I sincerely hope he'll fail the imperial exam then! I 'd rather die than be treated by a savage doctor like him. He unconsciously let out a groan at the thought, which instantly caught Doctor Song's attention.
"Are you alright, second young master? Are you still in pain?" The older male warmly inquired as he sat down, his eyes slowly sweeping across the blue-haired prince's body, occasionally stopping to pluck thin, silver needles off his body. So those were the things the brat had stuck into his body earlier.
"I've been better, I guess? I don't know," He pitifully groaned as the physician gently pressed the bleeding area on his stomach, involuntarily shutting his eyes at the sensation. Weird. Physical pain has always been a common occurrence in his life: be it small accidents like tripping over stones while chasing his younger brother, or that one time he had fallen from a tree in his childhood and broken his arm, or the scars he sported from the war campaigns he joined, all of them had desensitized him from feeling pain. But now, just one stab to his stomach and he was whining like a baby. Did the almost-death experience made him turned him into a weakling?
After a while of poking and prodding his body, Ran's master finally ceased to do so, turning to the disciple behind him. "It seems like the wounds will need restitching. Ran, please go and fetch some fresh bandages, along with the needles and some warm water."
"Right away, master." Heeding his master's orders, the disciple immediately bowed. Then, he turned towards Hakuren and opened his mouth. "Please forgive my insolence earlier, young master." With another bow, Ran swiftly left the room.
He acted so rude towards me earlier, and yet he dare pretend to be respectful in front of his master? Hakuren scoffed at the obviously insincere apology, still glaring daggers at the retreating youth's back. The rustle of clothing beside him caused him to redirect his attention towards the old physician, who was now on his knees on the ground, his body deeply bent as his hands came together in front of him.
"Doctor Song-"
"You'll have to forgive this lowly doctor's pupil's insolence, your highness. He hasn't been in Kou for a long time, thus his lack of knowledge regarding his highness's royal status. Although the circumstances aren't ideal in the slightest, this humble subject is overjoyed to see your highness once again."
Before Hakuren managed to form a reply, an extremely familiar voice rang in the air, followed the shadow of his brother's figure. "Please rise, Doctor Song. There's no need to stand on ceremony here,"
"Greetings to his highness the crown prince." The doctor humbly muttered, still remaining in his kneeling position, not once raising his head to look at either princes.
"Brother!" Hakuren exclaimed, relief instantly flooding his veins at the sight of his brother being alive and well. He did, however, let out an involuntary gasp at the bandages that were covering almost half of his brother's face, earning himself a snort from the latter.
Ignoring his younger brother, Hakuyuu immediately walked towards the elderly doctor and held him by the arms. "At ease, doctor. Please stand up now, you'll strain your knees if you continue to kneel like that,"
"This lowly subject has failed the imperial family for not realizing that his highnesses were in danger. This old man does not deserve forgiveness and is too ashamed to look at his highnesses," Seeing that the physician still refused to lift his head, Hakuyuu heaved a long sigh before shaking his head.
"Enough, Doctor Song. What happened to us had nothing to do with you. If anything, Hakuren and I owe you our lives for treating our injuries and sheltering us in your home. On behalf of Hakuren and myself, please accept this gesture of gratitude," At his brother's statement, the physician finally dared to raise his head, shock and panic plainly written across his face at the sight of Hakuyuu bowing at him.
"Your highness, you must not bow to this lowly subject! Please rise!" The old man cried as he caught the crown prince by his arms, attempting to stop him from bowing even lower.
"Then you should rise from your bow too, Doctor Song. And better yet, it's best if you continue to refer to us 'young masters' now." Despite the grave situation, Hakuren had to suppress a laugh at how the doctor's eyebrows rose all the way to his hairline, his eyes looking as if they wanted to bulge out of their sockets.
"I assume it is related to your highnesses' injuries?"
"That's correct. It seems that his majesty's death wasn't enough to satisfy the empress. She wanted to eliminate all of her sons as well," Almost instinctively, Hakuren's hand came up to his neck, slowly rubbing it as he did his best to quell the nausea that was making its way to his throat.
"She burned a completely fine wing for that too," Hakuren couldn't help but add, snorting as he shook his head.
"...Even the young prince Hakuryuu?" The doctor quietly inquired, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yes, even him. Thankfully, Kouen managed to get him out in time, and we somehow... found a way to escape." There was hesitation in Hakuyuu's voice, something his brother rarely showed. "We'll leave once Hakuren's fully-recovered. We'll be in your care until then, Doctor Song."
"This humble servant is honored to be of service to his highnesses. Will you be needing further assistance once you leave, your highness? I could ask my grandson to-"
"No." Hakuren immediately interrupted, determination flashing in his eyes. "Song Chenyu must not know we're here. He will not be involved in this." He couldn't let his best friend get dragged into his family's mess. Look what it did to him. His brothers. He would never forgive himself if his friend got caught in the crossfire.
"Understood, your highness." And that was the end of their conversation, as Ran had finally returned with the needles and bandages.
"Master, here are the things you requested. Will you be needing my help in changing dressing his injuries?" The raven head politely asked, standing against the wall once his master took the items and placed it on the table beside the bed.
"Oh yes, can you help this old man lift the second young master's body? And do it gently, this time, alright?"
"Yes, master." Now it was Hakuren's turn to smirk.
Ha! take that, you brat. At his silent gloating, Ran said nothing. He merely glared at the lotus prince while making sure to insert the needle extra slowly and albeit painfully into his skin afterwards.
"Ow!"
Look who's laughing now. The disciple's golden eyes seemed to say.
[1] strength magic: magic that allows magicians to use pure physical force as a form of offense or defense.
[2] purple magician: a magician who specializes in using life magic. The complete explanation about the types of magicians can be found here: wiki/Magicians
[3] Heibai Wuchang: according to Wikipedia, they are two deities responsible for escorting the dead into the underworld in Chinese mythology. One is dressed in black (黑= hei) and the other one in white (白= bai), thus their names. These deities are King Yama's (the supreme judge of the underworld) subordinates.
[4] Young master: In Ancient China, "young master" (公子 gōng zǐ) refers to the sons of noble families and also sons of officials. The legitimate daughters of noble families were also sometimes referred to as "young master". Here, Ran uses this term to refer to Hakuren sarcastically, as he was acting like a prissy noble lady who was being harassed by a thug (which he actually isn't, but cut him some slack, okay? The poor guy just woke up and got body-slammed back into the mattress).
[5] Master: "Master" here means teacher (师傅 shī fù), who usually possesses a specific skill or a buddhist monk, not a "master" who owns an army of slaves and servants at his beck-and-call. Not to be confused with 师父(shī fu), which is used to refer to one's martial arts teacher.
If you came here after reading "A Different Future", then you'll probably notice some of the differences I made~ Btw am I the only one who thinks Ran and the Ren siblings' first meeting is more realistic here than in the first version? XD Anyways, before I end this chapter, I have some things to clarify:
1. The "present time" in the last chapter is equivalent to the original timeline in Magi, where Aladdin and co. are already a part of the story. Re:written will cover events 10 years prior to the original timeline, and as you already know, Ren Hakuyuu and Ren Hakuren are basically the stars of this story (cause' they didn't get much spotlight in the original series (ಥಥ)) I'll be adding the time inside a bracket whenever we enter a past timeline so you guys won't be confused. Furthermore, as most of the main characters in Magi are still kids around this time, they probably won't appear much in this story until a later date. Also, Re:written will mostly follow Sinbad no Bouken (Magi's spinoff manga)'s timeline, but since the manga doesn't describe much about the years after Sinbad rebuilt Sindria, more creative space for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I should warn you though, there might be Magi and SnB spoilers as the story progresses, so if you haven't finished reading the series yet, I suggest you do so before continuing to read this story~ But if you don't really care about being spoiled, then feel free to keep reading (just don't say that I didn't warn you!( ಠ益ಠ)) And as many of you have expressed concerns regarding Ran's age in ADF, I have decided to change her age to 18 at the beginning of this story, which makes her 28 in the prologue. Yes, she gave birth to her kids at 23- which is considered pretty young in our modern era, but quite late during ancient times. Women used to get married at around 13 years old and gave birth to their first child at around 15-16, so yeah :/ Not gonna elaborate on that one hahahahah
2. I'll be using a traditional Chinese setting in this story instead of Japanese, as Ohtaka Shinobu-san had modeled Kou after China. To avoid inconsistencies in the story, I'll be using either Chinese or English honorifics for the characters; such as sister (jiejie), brother (gege), etc. I'll try my best to avoid using "-chan" or "-san" as much as possible. It might feel strange since the author uses Japanese honorifics, but I want to make this story as culturally authentic as possible, hence my decision to change the honorifics. In addition, my OCs from Kou will also have Chinese names, which will follow the format of [family name] [given name]. For example, one of my OC's name is "Song Zi Lang", so "Song" is his family name, and "Zi Lang" is his given name. I hope this explanation will help you understand the story better!
3. The jade pendant in the last chapter is a love token (定情之物). In ancient China, when a couple confirms their relationship with a promise to marry each other, they would exchange tokens as proof of their commitment and love. Ran's jade pendant was given to her by the father of her children as a promise they would wed someday in the future.
4. This book will have slow updates- I'm currently aiming for one chapter every two to three weeks... probably :'))) Please do understand that as much as I want to write everyday, life always gets in the way of that nowadays HAHA :)))) I'm currently juggling this story between college, teaching, and finding a job that most days I end up feeling so exhausted I don't even have the energy left to write in the evening (ಥ͜ʖಥ)
And in order to avoid any future confusions and violent reactions, I'd like to clarify that Ran is a girl, but looks androgynous enough to pass off as a guy. Hence Hakuren's misgendering of Ran (don't blame the poor guy, he really didn't know Ran is a 'she'). And please forgive his use of "b*stard", he won't do it again! *slaps Hakuren* Hakuren: Ow-!
Finally, I'd like to thank you for reading this chapter and please look forward to the next one! See you on the next update~
