Thanks to the medical technology and treatment in Haruna Adam only needs to use the sling for a week and has been told that he needs rehabilitation for his shoulder for 2 to 3 months. The normal treatment available for those that could afford care back in the other continents could be for several months and even up to a year in more severe cases.
One important step taken in his healing is therapy, several times a week he reunites with Rozen and discusses several important events regarding his past. Rozen is not a certified mental health worker but Adam doesn't trust anyone besides Vicious and Xiang with this matter. However being the good doctor and avid learner he had delved in the topic of mental health to offer the best care he possibly could. And it doesn't hurt that he is also in charge of Vicious and some of his kids therapy.
Another major issue that has been addressed is his lung, the one that got stabbed twice, the previous surgery that Rozen had performed helped heal a lot of damage.
As he regained more independence and health back, Rozen had advised him on what exercises he could perform to slowly regain his normal stamina or even more, including practicing with Blush and Wilt. He had noticed slightly on his short spar with Vicious that his breath shortened somewhat and then the panic attack hit him before he could analyze the situation.
It would have been impossible for him that he would come out unscathed from getting stabbed twice in the same place. But Rozen had also assured him that he would heal and he could go back or even get stronger than before.
Adam cannot abandon the castle but he has been allowed to exit his room and take a walk inside certain areas within its walls. He has taken this newfound freedom to explore more gardens, libraries (he even borrowed a couple of books), some of the training areas among other things.
More importantly he met other people, but that it's not all. He learned more things about Vicious and of his family drama. Like he isn't the king of Haruna, the king or future king is Yamato, which is Xiang's son but he is also son to a cousin of Vicious, a guy named Blaze meaning Yamato would be Vicious nephew or cousin? He isn't so sure.
He met Yamato himself a couple of days ago, the same Yamato that apparently in the past held a sword to Vicious' head, the one that Vicious tried to kill. And now they are thick as thieves.
Despite that Vicious is still a king because he had gone and conquered a couple of kingdoms that had been making the life of Haruna and several others difficult. He united them under one and christened it Baikal, straightened things up (a few idiots ended dead after trying to challenge him and the remaining one were smart enough not to try anything funny at that time) and promoted (forced) changes to customs that would be considered barbaric. Every now and then he went to his kingdom to oversee some matters (including handling idiots that craved to make things go back as they were) but mostly he lets one of his offspring run things.
Adam ponders all this as he stretches then he breaks into a light jog intent on arriving at one of the training arenas after warming up. His arm is free from the confines of the sling and he plans on getting fit again. He doesn't know what he will do in the future but so far he has concluded that what is best for him is to take one day at a time.
Three quarters to his destination he hears some noise and looks behind him, to find the girl called Ghost running behind him.
"Mister Adam", she greets him in a relaxed voice.
"Miss Ghost", he acknowledges her, once he does she speeds up a little to match his speed.
"Are you going to train today at one of the arenas?", she says while looking at the weapons strapped to his hip.
"Yes", he answers after a moment of deliberation and mostly out of curiosity.
Ghost looks at him directly before speaking again. "Could I please join you sir?" The girl has an odachi sword hanging on each hip, the scabbards are lilac and silver.
Adam nods before asking."And what do you hope to gain by tagging along?"
Ghost gives him a small smile while blushing a little. "Well maybe a mentor… and I have heard that you practice Iaido and none of my family practices it... so…"
Her words make him remember when Blake made the same request, when she asked him to teach her how to fight. And for a moment he is transported to the past. He shakes his head to rid of the memories, the past is no more, he needs to focus in the future.
The duo arrives at the arena and Adam turns to face her. "What do you know about Iaido?"
"I found a book in the library that explains some of the basic movements but it doesn't go further into detail, so I am not sure if I am doing it correctly".
"Alright I am going to show you some basic kata and I want you to follow".
The girl nods enthusiastically and does her best to follow his lead. He stops every now and then to correct her. Once they are done and at Ghost's insistence Adam agrees to spar with her.
Walking to the opposites of the arena they take their respective battle stances and then they launch at each other at the same time. Ghost has to roll to the side to avoid a fast slash from Wilt, following the movement she draws Lux (the blade of this sword is white) and Ombra (the blade of this sword is black) and slashes them aiming to Adam's side.
He is quick to parry using blush and wilt in a x form before pushing her back. She staggers and he slams the pommel of Wilt on her stomach, Ghost lessens the blow using the pommel of Ombra to absorb part of the impact. Still she is left gasping for breath, Adam thinks of giving her a moment to recover, she is still young and there is no reason to push her too hard.
He is surprised however that Ghost doesn't take the moment to catch her breath but she is back to attacking. Now he is the one that has to dodge as she moves in a flurry of swipes and slashes. "I am not made out of glass Mr. Adam", she says grinning.
Adam smirks at her. "If you say so".
The faunus decides to be more aggressive with his attacks and Ghost responds. Soon their fight moves to complex footwork, stabs and slashes one trying to make the other stumble.
Adam pushes her more and more due to his age and experience he causes her to commit an error, she makes swipes both swords at him too wide for her to parry back quickly.
Using the opening he fires Wilt using Blush, the pommel hitting the pit of her stomach making her lose focus and cough for breath. He follows by using the butt of Blush and hitting her right shoulder making Ghost let go of Ombre and Ghost tries to attack with Lux to make him back off, but he slaps the weapon aside with Wilt and suddenly steps close to her, swiping her foot at her legs fast and hard, causing her to lose balance and fall on her back.
Ghost falls with a yelp and quickly feels the cold tip of Wilt on her throat. She looks up and sees Adam looking down at her with a small smirk but not one of mockery. "You win Mr. Adam".
He sheats Wilt and once more restis his weapons on his hip before he offers his right hand to help Ghost up. "You have a lot of potential, miss Ghost". He is feeling a bit winded due to the past injuries to his lung.
"Please just Ghost".
"Then you can call me Adam".
"Alright Adam, can we train again tomorrow?", she asks expectantly.
Adam nods, it would be good for him to have a sparring partner closer to the level he is right now and slowly build himself back up.
Hiding in one of the roofs not so far away Vicious, Xiang, Mizer, Rosso, and Sinner are looking. They have been betting on who would win that fight, Vicious and Rosso won the round, sharing the loot while hearing the disappointed groans and complaints from the others. The next bet to take place is how long it would take for Vex and Hex to join their younger sister and Adam. Vicious said a week, Xiang 2 weeks, Mizer a week and a half, Sinner took a gamble and signed tomorrow, Rosso said a month.
To everyone's surprise the bet has to be forfeit since right then and there. The two teens arrive running to the arena with all types of questions since they had been observing the fight too and they finally ask Adam to let them join him and Ghost next time. Adam remains in stunned silence for almost 2 minutes until he recovers, he gives them a nod as an answer, not believing the situation yet.
A movement made him look up towards the roof, where he spotted the group of people looking down at them, Rosso and Sinner grin and give him the thumbs up. He fights the blush that threatened to overtake him, how long had they been watching, he dares not to ask.
The kids turn to the direction he is looking at before waving, Adam feels mortified.
(Important note, they are not flirting with each other, I repeat they are not flirting with each other, they become good friends and Adam becomes her mentor, so no Adam/Ghost please.
Saying this just for clarification. Also since there will be several important events happening, it's taking me longer trying to organize them. The updates might be slow.
Also my main language is Spanish so there could be some errors I apologize in advance).
