Previously:
"What… What are you guys doing?" Nishikiori yelled at his men. "Go for the women again..."
"No… No good… We can't get close!" the dark-skinned man said. "They're careful… It's like a line of spears!"
"Akira-kun! Everyone!" Rion said, running over to join the other girls, who handed her a spear. "We're fine now! So fight! Bring down Nishikiori!" she yelled determinedly with tears in her eyes.
"Ehh!? This damned bitch…!" Nishikiori yelled.
"Nishikiori!" Akira yelled, punching him with all his might.
"Guaaaa!" Nishikiori grunted as he fell.
"Let's end this… Nishikiori!" Akira said, glaring down at him.
Chapter 19: Truth
"Let's settle this already, Nishikiori…!" Akira said.
"H-Hey, someone stop that kid," Igarashi said.
"Eh?" Tooru said.
"Otherwise, we won't get what we want: the treatment for the female teacher! You just can't beat up the doctor!"
"Don't interfere, Igarashi-san," Seigou said.
"!" Igarashi said. He saw now that the monk, Kokonoe, and Yashiro had also been freed.
"Nishikiori's denial for treatment is the greatest threat on this island," Seigou said. "His threat is backed by the 'fear of death'. One of the basic human emotions." '… But normal methods won't convince him. What are you going to do, Sengoku-kun…!'
Sengoku stood before Nishikiori, who had pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Hah. Hah." Sengoku breathed hard. It was clear he was worn out.
"..." Nishikiori smirked. "You guys stay out of this… I'll handle him personally!" he told his followers.
"Eh, Nishikiori-san…?" the middle-aged man in glasses said, concerned.
"Kukuku..." Nishikiori laughed. 'What's with him. He can barely stand anymore. Even his last punch didn't have any strength in it—' "For something like this, I alone am more than enough!!!" He charged at Akira.
"! Fine by me…" Akira said. "Bring it on, Nishikiori!!" Akira got ready to throw a punch, moving forward.
"Fuh!" Nishikiori grinned darkly. 'That's why you're an idiot!!' "Kukuku." He dug his hand into the ground and threw dirt in Akira's eyes.
"!?" Akira exclaimed. "Guah!" It burned his eyes, and he couldn't see. 'Sand!?'
"Wh… What's he… Playing dirty!!" Suzuki said.
"Hahahaha!!" Nishikiori laughed, grabbing a stick someone had dropped. "What do you mean, playing dirty!?" he whacked Akira upside the head with the stick, repeatedly swinging at him. Akira managed to bring an arm up to protect his head, but Nishikiori was relentless. "You guys are just too naive!! This is a fight!! This is what it means to survive!! You should have figured that out, too, after coming onto this island!! Only the smart ones survive here!! Those standing up to a beast all alone for the sake of others… and those panicking from the fear—the idiots all die!! You don't need friends here, but a hierarchy amongst the survivors!! Idiots don't have to think!!" Akira grabbed the stick, stopping his last attack.
"No…! That's not right…!" Akira said.
"… Huh?" Nishikiori said.
"We're alive because we have friends," Akira said. "We survived this far by combining our strength…!" Shirashi was astonished. Nishikiori ripped the stick from Akira's hand.
"D-Don't be a smartass now. You guys are no different!! In the end, all you guys are just obeying Sengoku Akira… How's that any different from us!? Huh—?"
"Stop kidding me!!" Suzuki said.
"!" Nishikiori said.
"I'm not obeying Sengoku at all! I only act of my own will!!" Suzuki declared strongly.
"..." The girls all stared at him with hard to read expressions.
'… Huh?' Suzuki thought, sweat-dropping.
"… It's like Suzuki said," Mariya said, adjusting his glasses.
"Mariya!" Suzuki said.
"It's not like we have a hierarchy between us," Mariya said. "Everyone's here of their own free will. We came together because we have the same goal… That's why we were able to survive until now..."
"Right! We… were saved by our friends numerous times," Rion said. "Even with the attack of the giant condor, we survived that by combining our strength. And when our friends one after another collapse at the mountain, we didn't leave behind a single one. We overcame all kinds of problematic situations together…!"
"That's how it is, Nishikiori!!" Akira said, aiming another punch at him. "The reason we're alive is… that we have the help of our precious friends!!" His punch made contact and knocked Nishikiori backward. "Hah. Hah."
"Akira-kun," Rion said happily.
"Sengoku," Mariya said.
"Nishikirori…!" the middle-aged man in glasses said as he and another man came over to check on him.
"Guh… ku… kukuku… Hahaha!!" Nishikiori laughed. "Precious friends, my ass!!" He stood up again. "Stop pouting pretty words. Have you forgotten already!? Those foolish girls wrote it! The name of those two girls on the execution papers! You're all proud of your friends, but in the end you betray—"
"Rion wrote that herself," Akira said.
"—Huh?" Nishikiori said, looking blank.
"Isn't that right, Rion..." Akira said. Rion nodded.
"Nishikiori… There isn't a single traitor like you think," Rion said. "When you changed your dirty rules, I knew that no one would write down a name. Even I wouldn't be able to. And it's only obvious… but if all the papers were blank, you were going to blame us like this: 'See, you all chose Akagami.'… That's why I wrote my name. I thought it would make you happy. And also, I believed that Akira and co would come..."
"… That explains your name, but what about the other girl's!?" Nishikiori challenged.
"Fukui-chan wrote her own name, too, right?" Rion said, looking at her. Torako nodded.
"I came to the same conclusion as you did," Torako said. "I figured everyone either wouldn't be able to write a name, or they'd write their own name. In case it was the former, I put my own name, rather than 'choose' a friend."
"..." Nishikiori was sickened by them. He glared. "Grar. What trouble," he growled angrily. "The Game is over! Everyone get them!!" he yelled.
"Eh!?" some of the bystanders said.
"You can do whatever you want with the girls! Kill them all!!"
"Kuh..." Akira said, hurrying to stand with his friends, getting ready for the next attack.
"O-Okay, Nishikiori-san spoke," the dark-skinned man said. "Let's go, guys—"
"I… I can't anymore..." Shiraishi said.
"Eh?" the other men who had picked up their weapons said.
"B-Boy? What are you saying..." the man in the black tank-top asked.
"I understood… that this is just wrong," Shiraishi said.
"..." Katsuragi, Aikawa, and the other man who'd helped clean up after the previous battle stared at him.
"I obeyed Nishikiori because I was too scared… I think that can't be helped… You should all be the same as me..." Shiraishi said. "B-But, by looking at them, I understood… that this is wrong. We have forgotten something very precious… I… I can't do this anymore… I can't go on betraying my friends or killing each other anymore..."
"W-What are you saying? What's up!?" Nishikiori said, looking around when no one moved to carry out his order. "Get them already!!" Not even the dark-skinned man or the man in the black tank-top moved. "I'm giving you an order here!! Hey!! You all— Are you sure!? If you don't listen to me—hey!!"
"… It's over, Nishikiori..." Akira said.
"!?" Nishikiori gasped. He glared at Akira. "Sengoku Akira..."
"No one will listen to you anymore," Akira said. "It's already… over..."
"..." Nishikiori glared hatefully at him.
"Treat our teacher, Nishikiori!!" Akira said.
"Huh?… Treat…?" Nishikiori was dumbfounded.
"Yes, treat her!" Akira said. "You can't survive on this island alone… You should know that best. Then you don't have any other choices. From now on, you'll obey us!"
"..." Nishikiori stared at him.
"Get on it quickly," Akira said. "We don't have much time— Hey, Nishikiori! What are you staying quiet for! Say something!"
"… You think you have won…?" Nishikiori said.
"Eh…?" Akira said.
"It's your loss… in the end… Kukuku..." Nishikiori said.
"…? What are you saying…?" Akira asked.
"… That woman will die," Nishikiori said. "She can't be saved."
"Wh-What!? You still refuse to treat her at this point!?" Akira said, outraged.
"..." Torako was about ready to deck the psycho doctor.
"Hahaha… Just how much of nice guy can you be! At least doubt people a bit…!" Nishikiori said.
'What… What's he going on about!?' Akira wondered.
"..." Nishikiori wore a nasty smirk. "I'm not a doctor."
"!?" everyone gasped, staring at him in shock and disbelief.
"Wh-What did he say…?" several people asked incredulously.
"C-Can't be…!" Yarai said. "When he's no doctor, why is he knowledgable about illnesses..."
"… That's not strange at all," Nishikiori said. "Because I work at a Kazuka Medicine Industry."
"Kazuka Medicines…?" Akira asked.
"It's a large medicament company," Mariya said.
"I was doing business there… ever heard of MR? The ones going around selling medicines to the doctors..." Nishikiori said. "Thanks to that, I got a certain knowledge of medicines. And obviously about illnesses, too."
"B-But, even so..." Akira said.
"… Fufufu. It came to me back then..." Nishikiori said. "When the guys from the pyramid all collapsed… from the symptoms, I immediately knew the cause. I got the stuff to make medicine. I'm the only one who can save them…! That's when I had the idea. What if I told them that I'm a doctor…? On an island without a doctor, a doctor will get the most influence…! And when I get that influence… I get fifty loyal slaves. My own slaves—"
"..." Akira stared at him, appalled.
"Did you know? A doctor is nothing but a buildup of special consciousness… They are treating us MRs like slaves. That's why I treated these guys as slaves now. It felt really good! Hahahaha!!" Nishikiori ranted. "That's why, I'm afraid to tell you: I have no clue about the operation for her!!"
"!!" Yarai, Torako, and Segawa gasped. Yarai's eyes were wide, filled with shock and despair.
"What a shame. All that's left for her is death!!" Nishikiori declared without remorse. He was thoroughly enjoying the looks on all their faces. "Hahaha!! Hahahahaha..." Matsumoto and Shigeno began to cry, glaring at him.
"W-Wait a moment..." Oomori said.
"…? Oomori-san!?" Akira said.
"That sounds weird," Oomori said. "True, he might not be a doctor… but in the plane we rode, there was definitely a doctor on board."
"Th-There was a doctor on the plane…?" Akira asked.
"Yes..." Oomori said.
"Wh-What do you mean, Oomori-san…?" Akira asked.
"There's a reason why I didn't have any doubts that Nishikiori would be a doctor," Oomori said.
"Reason…?" Akira asked.
"It happened right before our take-off in Guam..." Oomori said.
««« Flashback «««
"Uwaa—" Oomori cried when she messed up and all of the oxygen masks dropped down inside the plane. She paled and started to tremble. "I… I did something… terrible… Awawa, what now… There isn't much time until we take off..." She fumbled with one of the masks, trying to put it back.
"What a mess, Kanako..." her sempai said, standing there with a hand on her hip.
"Towa-sempai," Oomori cried with tears in her eyes.
"C'mon, don't cry," Towa said, moving the corners of Oomori's mouth up with her fingers to make her smile. "I'll help you, so let's fix this quickly." They started putting the masks back up. "You know, you're always overdoing it. You made mistakes on the outward flight, too. Like tripping and spilling beer on the customer… Or you got vomited on by a crying baby with a fever when you tried to calm it..."
"B-But there wasn't a doctor. I couldn't leave it alone..." Oomori said.
"Ah, you don't need to worry about that on the return flight," Towa said.
"Eh?" Oomori said.
"Seems we'll have a doctor with us… I just heard it from the staff here," Towa said.
"I-Is that so. That's assuring for when we have a case of sickness!" Oomori said.
"Guess so," Towa said.
»»» End Flashback »»»
"Are you really sure…?" Akira asked.
"Yes..." Oomori said.
"Reminds me, the CA was desperately looking for a doctor when we crashed..." Morita said. "But I don't remember it well, since it was so chaotic. She was running around the passengers."
"Ah, I remember that, too!" Takahashi said. "She was really desperate, shouting "Where's the doctor?"… I didn't pay it much attention at the time..."
"But she knew there was a doctor amongst them, so she was that desperate to find him..." the vice president said.
"Huh…? But what happened to him, then…?" Segawa asked.
"Isn't it obvious. Or have you forgotten the danger of this island..." Miyauchi said. "That we haven't found him so far means that he already died..."
"..." The others' expressions were grim.
—∞—
"Hahaha..." people laughed as they sat around a fire eating. It seemed like a weight had been lifted from the shoulders of Nishikiori's followers.
"… Geez, Akira-kun is just too soft!" Rion complained to her own group. "To let them roam around so freely." She put her hands on her butt. "They touched my butt before! They should all just be locked up! Together with Nishikiori!"
"We can't do that," Mariya said, peeling a banana.
"Mariya-kun…?" Rion said.
"Assuming we do lock then up… What then? Do we kill them off?" Mariya asked.
"Th-That's..." Rion said. That would be taking it too far…
"If we don't kill them, we ought to release them at some time," Mairya said. "And then they're holding a grudge against us for locking them up. Then we'll be fighting again, this time out of a grudge and not hate… Well, isn't that right, Sengoku."
"… Yeah," Akira agreed. "Even if they were used by Nishikiori, what they did to us can't be forgotten nor forgiven… But we still have to get along. Because… we now have more than eighty people to move around with..."
"..." Rion crossed her arms, but didn't argue.
"Well, for a while, we should be a bit alert. Especially the girls..." Akira said.
"Sengoku-kun," Seigou said.
"!" Akira looked in his direction. It wasn't just the monk. "… Seigou-san! Igarashi-san!"
"Aw~ I'm so tired!" Seigou said as the two adults sat down with them.
"It was my first time interrogating someone..." Igarashi said.
"Got some food?" Seigou asked.
"If fruits are fine..." Akira said, holding one out to him. "So, did Nishikiori say something…?"
"Yeah. Looks like he wasn't lying," Seigou said as he and Igarashi started to eat.
"He's without a doubt an employee from that pharmacy company," Igarashi said.
"We threw him some questions he would only know as an employee," Seigou said. "But he answered them all perfectly… I don't think an outsider would know about the positions of the toilets and meeting rooms of the company..."
"… I see," Akira said, clenching his fists. "Then he really isn't a doctor..." 'Damn!!' he thought, horrified that there was nothing they could do for Kurusu-sensei.
Inside the hut Yarai's group had been given before, they were tending to Kurusu-sensei, trying to ease her pain.
"Hah. Hah. Hah," Kurusu-sensei panted.
"H-How is she doing…?" Segawa asked as Torako put a cool cloth on their teacher's forehead.
"Isn't it getting worse…?" Matsumoto said, worried.
"Y-Yeah..." Shigeno agreed reluctantly. "H-Hey, if Nishikiori wasn't a doctor… then her 'internal bleeding in the abdominal cavity' was just made up, wasn't it..."
"M-Might be..." Segawa agreed.
"Then, what's she suffering from…?" Torako asked, watching their teacher with ever increasing concern.
"Just what… will happen to her…!?" Matsumoto asked.
"… But, you know..." Torako said, holding her chin as something occurred to her. "The doctor should have been with us when we first got off the plane, when the CA was looking for him… So why didn't he identify himself then? People were hurt..."
"Maybe it was too troublesome for him?" Segawa said.
"Though there was someone faking to be one..." Matsumoto said.
"… For some reason, the doctor hid from everyone..." Torako said, frowning.
"He hid it…?" Akira said, coming to the same conclusion by the fire. He and the others had been having a similar discussion.
"What do you mean?" Rion asked.
"Well… It just came to me," Akira said. "That doctor might have had a reason not to reveal himself…" 'If he's a doctor, he graduated university… So he isn't all that young.' He looked around. 'Seigou-san is a monk. So not him. And Igarashi-san showed me his business card. No reason to doubt him on that… The man is hiding the fact that he's a doctor to begin with. Then he should take an attitude that was farthest away from a doctor—' "Mutou-san…?"
"… Eh?" Mutou said, appearing surprised as he looked at Akira.
"..." Akira stared at him with wide eyes.
"Huh? The old man…? Can't be..." Suzuki said.
"Wh-What are you saying, Akira-kun," Rion said.
"… What's going on?" Mutou asked.
"Well, you know, our Akira here thought you might be the doctor..." Suzuki said, expecting him to laugh it off. But Mutou's eyes were wide with shock, and he staggered back away from them.
"Eh?" Suzuki and the president said.
"… Ah… O-Oh my~ M-Me a doctor!? That came out of nowhere, so I was surprised," Mutou said, trying to play it off.
"See, Akira-kun," Rion said. "Someone as insecure as him can't be a doctor..."
"But if you consider that he's hiding it… He should be acting the opposite of a doctor," Akira said. "Like showing off that he's extremely weak to blood or shy..."
"Whahaha. Just stop it," Yashiro said, patting Mutou on the head. "I guarantee that's he just a perfect good-for-nothing. His weakness for blood isn't an act either..."
"Yeah. The only reason he knows about injuries is because he's a bonesetter doctor," Kirino said. Akira's eyes widened again.
"That's it…! I knew it was strange!" he said. "I mean, no one would call himself a 'bonesetter doctor'!"
"Eh…?" Rion said.
"Wh-What do you mean…?" Yuki asked.
"You know I'm in the volleyball club, right? I suck at it, so I sprain my finger or get other sprains. So I always visit a bonesetter. Once, when I twisted my leg, it hurt so much that I said to him 'at least roentgen it'. And then… he answered 'We bonesetters aren't doctors, we can't take roentgens.'"
"!?" everyone else said.
"They can't officially call themselves doctors… I think the correct term is 'judo physiotherapist'…"
"Judo… physiotherapist…?" Kirino said.
"Yeah," Akira said. "In other words… the term bonesetter 'doctor' shouldn't exist. Mutou-san…!"
"..." Mutou was sweating nervously now.
"There's no way you can mistake your own occupation… Why would you lie?" Akira asked.
"Ah… No… I didn't lie..." Mutou said nervously. "I-I mean, that term is long isn't it… So it became a habit just to call it 'bonesetter doctor'. It's easier to understand, too..."
"Does that sound logical?" Yamato asked.
"Well… he has a point..." Murayama said.
"..." Kirino stared at Mutou.
"Something happened, didn't it?" Torako said, stepping into their midst. She couldn't just sit still once the idea had occurred to her. She looked directly at Mutou. "That's the reason you're afraid of blood, right? Something went wrong during a surgery? If that's the case, then it wouldn't be strange for you to be afraid of being put on the spot again. You're afraid you'll fail again, right?"
"W-What are you talking about?" Mutou said tensely, turning a little pale. "That's—that's just…!"
'She hit the nail on the head, huh?' Akira thought. But Mutou was still denying it. He remembered what Seigou had said about interrogating Nishikori, about throwing questions at him only an employee of the company would know. "Mutou-san! How did you get that job…?"
"Eh?" Mutou said.
"You need a license for a bonesetter… That means there's an exam for it. What kind of exam is it?"
"…!" Mutou looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment, then he started looking for a lie. "…"
"I wonder what kind of exam… Does anyone know?" Takahashi asked.
"No..." Yamato said.
"!" When Mutou heard that he regained some confidence. "Y-Yeah! Of course I know that." Akira looked at Rei.
'Rei-san,' he thought.
"!" Rei looked surprised for a moment. He scratched her cheek and looked at Mutou. "..."
"That exam was..." Mutou began.
"Ah, old man," Rei said, doing a sexy pose. "I can tell if you're lying. Because I'm studying sports science."
"Eh!?" Mutou said.
'Eh!?' Tooru thought. That was news to him.
"I know a lot about that exam," Rei said. 'Aw, that surprised my. He suddenly looked at me, so I thought he was into me. That should do it, right, Akira-kun.' She struck another sexy pose. "My specialty is the 100m run..." This was a lie. "They call me the 'Florence Joyner of Jounan Uni'..." That was another lie. "My record is 9.5 seconds..."
'That's a new world record!' Tooru thought jadedly. She was clearly starting to get too carried away.
"… Ugg… Ah… I… I'm…. Uhm..." Mutou said anxiously, faltering.
"Eh…?" Yuki gasped.
"D-Don't tell me, he really… is the doctor…!?" Miyauchi said.
"N-No… I… can't do it..." Mutou said. "I just can't do it!!"
"…!?" Akira said.
Inside Yarai's group's hut, Yarai sat next to Kurusu-sensei with his head bowed.
'Sensei… I'll save you!' Yarai thought desperately. 'By whatever means possible!!'
"Eh…? He's… a doctor…!?" everyone in Akira's group exclaimed.
"N-No… I… I'm… I can't..." Mutou said anxiously.
"Answer us clearly, Mutou-san!" Akira said. "Were you the one and only doctor on that plane?"
"…!!" Mutou said. "..." he looked away.
"… !!" Akira gasped. "Th-Then you really are… a doctor!?"
"B-But didn't he vomit upon seeing blood?" Suzuki said. "That wasn't an act. Are there any doctors like that?"
"Is it like Fukui said? Did something happen to traumatize you?" Akira asked Mutou.
"Th-That..." Mutou said hesitantly, then he clammed up.
"Who cares about that," Yarai said, coming over to them.
"!" Akira said. "Yarai…!" Segawa, Matsumoto, and Shigeno were with him. Yarai walked up to Mutou.
"It doesn't matter if you're an internist or a surgeon," Yarai said. "If you're a doctor, you know about anatomy, right?"
"..." Mutou avoided looking at him.
"You know, right? Can you operate?" Yarai asked.
"I-I can't… I'm just..." Mutou said.
"Look here—" Akira said, but Yarai held a hand out to stop him.
"You only need to tell us," Yarai said.
"Eh?" Akira said.
"You just need to tell us your knowledge..." Yarai told Mutou.
"…? My knowledge…?" Mutou said, furrowing his brow.
"I'll do the operation," Yarai said, determined to save Kurusu-sensei.
"…!!" Akira gasped. "Wh-What are you saying!! Th-That's reckless!! M-Mutou-san! You're the only one—"
"..." Mutou said nothing.
"He won't do it..." Yarai said. "You know about it, too, right? About how Nishikiori let the previous group leader and his kid die. And he just watched silently. There's no way he'll act now, just because a single teacher is dying."
"..." Torako looked down. She knew Yarai was right.
"B-But it's impossible even for you!" Akira said. "There's no way amateur can do the operation! Besides, it's too reckless to do here without the proper tools! That's like you're going to kill—"
"Sensei agreed to it..." Yarai said.
"Eh!?" Akira said, shocked.
"She left it to me if there's no other way," Yarai said.
"…!" Akira and Rion gasped.
"Ahh, I thought this might happen..." Torako said, deeply concerned. "If there's no other way, then… I'll help you… I've had to give my father stitches before."
"W-We have to work together… She doesn't have much longer… Only Yarai can do it!" Segawa said anxiously.
"W-Well, if she agreed to it..." Yuki said.
"I have to stay by her side," Yarai said. "You guys go get the needed tools. Fukui, you help them."
"Right," Torako said.
"O-Okay..." Akira said.
"Nishikiori told me the tools we needed at least… scalpel, needle, thread, forceps, and an electric scalpel. These five," Yarai said.
"H-How are we going to get these..." Akira asked.
"We can make a scalpel by breaking some glass. We have needle and thread from the first-aid kit. The electric scalpel will be a fired piece of steel and the forceps can be made out of makeup tools," Torako said.
"… That should do, right, old man?" Yarai said, looking at Mutou.
"..." Mutou didn't say no, but he didn't say yes either. They began making their preparations for the surgery.
"Will this do…?" the vice president asked Torako, pulling out her eyelash curlers.
"That should be fine," Torako said.
"What about narcosis..." the vice president asked.
"Seems there's a plant with a soothing effect, right?" Yuki said, looking at Torako.
"Yes, but I don't think it's enough to put her under..." Torako said.
"Yeah, that can't be all too effective," Murayama said.
"Will this really go well..." Yamato wondered.
"The possibility isn't zero, which is a better chance than she'll have if we leave her alone..." Torako said, furrowing her brow with concern.
While the others went through their supplies, Mariya and Akira stood on either side of Mutou, who sat on a rock some distance away. The other girls from Yarai's group, Kirino, and Rion were with them.
"… Do you think it will go well?" Akira asked Mariya.
"… Possible," Mariya said.
"Eh?" Akira said.
"Five hundred years ago there was an often used operation called 'trepanation' in the Inca kingdom," Mariya said. "It was a primitive operation of cutting into the scalp and opening a hole into the skull. But it's survival rate was pretty high, and even after the operation people lived quite long. There are others, like an architect who learned the anatomy by studying art. He then operated on soldiers with appendicitis… But still..."
"It's no good," Mutou said. "There's no way it will go well…"
"Eh? Mutou-san…?" Akira said as they looked at him.
"She isn't suffering from 'inner bleedings from a hit'. I'm afraid it's a 'perforation ulcer of the duodenum'," Mutou said grimly.
"Perforations… of the duodenum…? What's that..." Akira asked.
"A digestion ulcer," Mutou said. "The symptoms for 'inner bleedings' are a swelled stomach from all the blood. But that isn't the case for her… She often had pains in the night and when she was hungry, right?" he asked the girls.
"C-Certainly..." Segawa said.
"That's a common symptom for 'perforation ulcer of the duodenum.' At worst it might also be a peritonitis," Mutou said.
"What are you staying quiet for..." Yashiro said, coming up to them.
"Yashiro-san…!!" Akira said.
"These boys don't even have pubic hair growing, but they're desperately trying to save a life," Yashiro said to Mutou. "And we adults are just watching… Are you fine with that? You don't think anything of it!? Don't you feel any shame!?"
"…." Mutou gritted his teeth, frustrated. "Shut up…!! What do you know…!! It's impossible for me…!! I… I have… I have killed a human… with these hands…!" he said, distraught.
"!?" Akira and the others gasped.
"K-Killed…!? Wh-What do you mean..." Akira asked, startled.
"… It was five years ago..." Mutou said, holding his head. "One day, a ten-year-old boy was brought in by the ambulance. He was run over by a truck. He had six broken bones and various damaged organs— His wounds were terrible, but it was possible to rescue him."
««« Flashback «««
"Hurry!! Bring him into the operation room!! And prepare some blood transfusions!!" Mutou ordered as he rushed through the hospital with the nurses who were pushing the bed that the boy was lying on. "H-Hang in there!" he told the boy. "I'll definitely save you!!"
They prepped for surgery, but as they were going into the operating room…
"Doctor are you okay!? You haven't slept at all because of the emergencies tonight..." one of the nurses said.
"I'm okay! I'll… do this operation!" Mutou said, desperate to save the boy.
They tried to operate to the best of their abilities, but…
"But—heartbeat stopped!" one of the nurses said.
"Prepare electric shocks…" another said.
"Doctor, you orders. Doctor!" another nurse yelled, but Mutou stood there with his eyes wide, horrified by what he had done.
»»» End Flashback »»»
"B-But that's not your fault..." Akira said.
"… It was my mistake," Mutou said.
"Eh?" Akira said.
"A mistake of treatment… in my haste I mistook the artery for a vein. It was such a rookie mistake… I killed him…!" Mutou said, hating himself for it. "What's more, I wasn't even blamed..."
"Wh-What do you mean?" Akira asked.
"The hospital covered it up. It's nothing uncommon..." Mutou said grimly.
"..." The others all stared at him.
"B-But that's in the past now—" Kirino said.
"Why do you think I was in such a haste…?" Mutou said.
"Eh…?" Kirino said. Mutou looked up at them.
"That boy was my son," he said with a pained expression.
"Eh…?" Kirino said. They were all shocked.
"… You see. I have killed my own son. With my own hands..." Mutou said. "With my own hands..."
««« Flashback «««
"Papa! I took first place with my picture today!" Mutou's son said as the two of them walked along a path above a river bank at sunset.
"Oh! What did you paint?" Mutou asked proudly.
"You! I painted you wearing a white robe!" his son said. "When I told them you're the best doctor in the world, the teacher was praising me with 'that's amazing' and 'you must be proud of him'. When I grow up, I want to be an amazing doctor like you! … You think I can…?"
"Yeah… You can do it!" Mutou told him with a smile, placing a hand on his head. His son smiled so brightly.
»»» End Flashback »»»
"He was kind and smart. I was so proud of him," Mutou said as tears fell from his eyes. "And with my own hands, I killed him— And since then, every time I went into the operation room… I remembered my son's dead face…! My hands started to shake and I couldn't hold the scalpel… and I even started to vomit upon seeing blood…! It's impossible. I can no longer be… a doctor..." Mutou hid his face in his hands. Everyone stared at him, feeling bad for him.
"… Mutou-san," Akira said. He suddenly grabbed the older man by his shirt.
"Eh!?" Kirino gasped.
"Akira-kun!?" Rion said.
"… Indeed, I sympathize with you, but… that doesn't justify everything," Akira said. "I'm sick of seeing people die. It should be the same for you!! So stop clinging to the past— You're going to save a life!!"
