Chapter Text
Sirens blare. An ambulance has arrived with a victim of a car accident. He’s in critical condition and needs immediate help. He’s been stabilized so far thanks to the paramedics on the scene, but there’s no telling when the victim will no longer be able hold on.
Fortunately, he’s been rushed to one of the best hospitals in Japan and has been placed in the best care. Though it may just be rumors, it’s said that this hospital has gained national renown thanks to the work of a single doctor. This doctor is said to be a miracle surgeon who has been able to resuscitate patients from the brink of death. Those in-the-know know him as “The Phoenix of Kyoto”.
However, he didn’t get that moniker because of his amazing skills or expertise as a doctor. He got it because he himself has been a repeat victim of stroke, probably due to overwork as no particular cause has been identified. And yet, one way or another he has always managed to hang onto life and return anew. Once he was interviewed on TV about his success and perseverance, and he humbly admitted that there is no particular secret to them. He always treats each of his patients with the utmost care and attention as if they may be his last. But he insists he simply maintains a healthy balance and lifestyle not unlike his fellow doctors and asserts that it is thanks to everyone’s hard work and diligence that they manage to help so many lives.
However, there is a side to the hospital that no one on staff is willing to publicize. While this doctor is very well respected by everyone, many of his fellow doctors and nurses have begun to worry for his health. It’s certainly amazing that one man can manage to outlive through so many potentially fatal strokes over the course of his career. It’s miraculous, even, that he’s still managing to stay alive. But these strokes of his have begun to pile up and they’ve been happening more and more frequently. They’ve repeatedly asked him to relax, take a short leave, or even retire since he’s already hit his late 50s. And yet, he’s repeatedly refused to take up those well-intentioned offers because he doesn’t want to stop just yet.
The accident victim has been moved into the emergency room, attended to by a team of diligent workers who are trying to keep his vitals stable. Then, the legendary surgeon arrives.
It’s a very tense situation for the next several hours. The patient’s condition is still terrible. Though all the open wounds have been temporarily treated, there’s still a high risk of internal hemorrhages. However, no one in the room panics. Everyone is either actively working or on standby as needed. And frankly, with the expertise of this almighty surgeon, he makes good progress, albeit very carefully and deliberately.
The victim’s family have been told to wait in the hallway outside the emergency unit, and they’re understandably worried. The wife has been hugging her two young children close, almost as if afraid that they’ll be in danger if she lets them out of her sights. They can do nothing but wait for results.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the light above the doors to the emergency unit turns off. Some of the staff on standby begin to walk out. Everyone looks relieved. They reassure the wife that her husband will be fine and the kids begin to cheer.
Shortly, the primary surgeon also comes out to greet them and nods assuredly to them. The patient will live, but unfortunately, his wounds are still quite serious and will need time to heal completely. It may take him several weeks to a couple months under hospital supervision, but he will be okay. Nevertheless, the wife is very grateful and thanks him profusely. It actually takes a nearby nurse to convince her to let go of his hand because she holds onto it so tightly.
With a job well done, the surgeon deserves a break. Though there are still other patients to be tended in the emergency unit, none are in dire need at the moment to be sent to the operating room. He, along with an apprentice surgeon, return to his office to attend to the paperwork. Normally, he would just have his apprentice tend to the paperwork, but for now, he doesn’t mind getting an overview report of today’s work.
As his apprentice lists it off, he takes a seat at his desk and takes a deep breath. Even now, his brow is still a little wet from sweat, even after one of his nurses had been helping dry his forehead. He practically slumps in his seat from exhaustion.
Finally, the apprentice finishes his report and turns to the good doctor for any final thoughts. But the doctor doesn’t respond. The apprentice approaches him to check on him, wondering if he’d somehow fallen asleep from all the exhaustion. A simple pat on the shoulder is enough to shake the doctor off-center and he slumps even further in his seat. Now, the apprentice is alarmed. He gives him a quick lookover and a firm shake, but the doctor still doesn’t respond. He checks the man’s forehead – quite hot, but not quite a fever – and the man’s pulse by his neck. It’s still there, but it’s weak.
And as if an ugly irony has reared its head, the once amazing surgeon who just came back from saving yet another life, has now been the one to return to the emergency room on a bed of his own. Unfortunately, by the time he is rushed there and another doctor arrives on the scene, it is already too late. The good doctor has flat-lined.
And yet, the staff remain nervous, rather than defeated. They pass each other worried looks, and though no one says a word, it seems like everyone has an idea of what they’re all thinking. They don’t take the doctor off the oxygen just yet. Instead, the attending doctor asks one of the staff to make a quick call.
The female nurse in question hurries out the room into a currently empty office and pulls out her phone. She makes a call to the doctor’s wife, who so happens to be a former miko – in particular, a shamaness.
~
The doctor who had passed out from exhaustion suddenly stirs awake, but something’s a bit off. He finds himself back in his office where he last remembered being, but when he looks around, it’s empty and dark. He looks down and realizes that his body is no longer here either. In fact, he’s become but a lone soul flame that still retains memory of his recent death.
“…Hey.”
Actually, there is someone else who is here with him: a young woman with long black hair, dressed in a casual hoodie and khakis, but for some reason bears a very worn wooden staff on her back. She doesn’t look like anyone from this hospital and certainly doesn’t seem to be a patient here either. In fact, she has her hand out as if she were holding his soul flame and keeping it from disappearing. Her eyes are so sharp they could pierce him even in this state, but she doesn’t seem angry or upset in the least – probably just disappointed.
Kisegawa gasps and wastes no time to bow before her. “R-Ruby-sama! I didn’t expect to see you here.”
She glances idly aside. “You don’t say? Even though this is the third time this half-year.”
“…” He slowly stands back up with a grim look. “Yes. It is, isn’t it?”
She turns back to him with a sneer. “At this rate, the Guinness World Records may start considering a category just for you as ‘the man who escaped the most deaths’.”
He makes a nervous chuckle, but can’t help but sigh anyway. “…So, um, what brings you here tonight?”
Her sneer fades and she returns to disappointment. “Well, I thought I was going to pick up your kids at the airport off in the States, but I got a call from Maeko about you again and here I am.”
“Ah…”
With her free hand, she taps at her temple and muses to herself. “Let’s see. After repairs this round… you have three more days.”
“What? Only three days!?”
“Yes. I suggest you file for retirement and spend those three days with Maeko. She’s been lonely at home, you know.”
“Oh… but last time you offered me as much as two more months…”
She shrugs. “Sorry, but things can always change. I haven’t been on the best terms with my Underworld coworkers anyway. Just the other day – like all the other days, really – I got chewed out by Ol’ Yama for ‘unscrupulous wanton resurrections’ or whatever. He thinks just because I’m Asian, he gets to be my dad or something, the sore prude! Hades is the only one who’s still cool with me doing whatever, and even he’s been under pressure by his peers to prod at me. But they’re all too scared to actually do anything about me…”
Kisegawa doesn’t respond because he doesn’t know how to respond to that.
“…It’s nothing. The point is, them’s the breaks.” She turns for the door with her hand out as if leading the way for him. “It’s ready. Go back to your body.”
“Yes, of course…” He hesitates to move, though, as he means to ask something else. “Um…?”
“Hm?”
“I… don’t mean to overstep any bounds or anything, but are you certain that there’s no other choice?”
“…”
“I-I understand if you’ve been under some sort of pressure, but this timing is…”
“Not the best?”
“Y-yes. After all, I was expecting to tell my children the truth sometime. It just seems so sudden…”
“Yeah, I’m sure. But I’ve already overextended your life for the past 4 years. Once the body hits its official expiration, it can deteriorate pretty fast even with one’s own soul still inhabiting it. ‘Three days’ is with my blessing; without, it’d be ‘overdue’.”
“Oh. I-I see…” He makes a nervous gulp and nods back. “In that case, thank you for your generosity.”
“Don’t mention it. As usual, all your debt is forgiven and you can enter the Underworld as if it never existed.”
“I understand.”
With a wave of her hand, his soul flame swirls to the motion and just like that, he’s freed of her grasp and can drift along on his own. He begins to move for the door, but stops short. Despite only being a faceless soul flame, he still glows a little brighter as if giving her a genuine smile.
“I leave Iyori and Susumu in your good hands, Ruby.”
And with that, he vanishes into thin air, as if he were somehow whisked away to his destination. Now left alone in his office, she takes one last nostalgic look around the place and lets off a sigh.
“…So, that’s one bet I won’t be reaping. That old dog has to win sometimes, I guess.”
And as soon as she brings up the word “dog”, suddenly a chipper bark of a littler dog breaks the silence. The pup is a miniature beagle that is completely blue, especially the patches around his eyes, from his tongue down to his paw’s pads. He pants and wags his tail, happy as always to see her.
She frowns back, looking like she’s rapidly being drained of her energy. “What are you doing here?”
“Rarf!”
“You don’t even have a purpose at this point in the story, you silly bean! Go back to your post.”
“Rarf! Blueberry!”
“No blueberry until you finish your job.”
“…?”
“…” She frowns again. “We have guests over, remember? Go welcome them. I’ll catch up later.”
“! Ayr-ayrf!”
Despite openly defying her previous orders, this one is at least obedient enough to listen now. He runs around her until he starts making a silly dance and vanishes in an instant even before completing his dance. She simply snaps her fingers and she’s gone too.