Sard stared at his silhouette reflected in the window, wiped away the slight hesitation on his face, and squared his shoulders as he slowly turned toward his friends.
"No," Sard said with a clear, firm voice. Fast and Lena were shaken by this absolute rejection. However, Sard added: "But, if you can defeat me, I will agree to train you."
Fast blinked in surprise at first. As he processed what Sard meant, a confident, slight smile appeared on his face. The excited glint in his eyes had returned.
"All right then," Fast said determinedly. "Consider it done."
Lena smiled too. Just then, the door opened, and a nurse walked in. She turned toward Fast.
"Fast, you can be discharged today," she said. As Fast rejoiced, Lena immediately interjected: "What about me? When will I be discharged?"
The nurse asked, "What was your name?" "Lena." The nurse checked her list: "You need to stay here for two more nights, Lena. There might be head trauma. We can't take any risks."
Lena's mood soured, and she muttered, "Hmmmm..." Fast, wanting to tease her, said: "You'd better listen to the nurse." Hearing this, Lena stuck her tongue out at him.
Just as the nurse was about to leave, she turned back to Lena: "By the way, Lena, you should be in your room right now. It's time for the doctors' rounds; they'll be waiting for you there."
Fast asked: "So, how long am I staying here today?"
The nurse replied: "Some people from the Hero League will be coming today. Once they're finished questioning you, you can be discharged."
The nurse left the room. Fast muttered to himself: "I should have guessed that..."
Immediately after, Sard headed for the door. Fast asked: "Where are you going?"
"To get some fresh air," Sard replied as he walked out.
After Sard left, Fast turned to Lena: "Go on, get to your room. You wouldn't want to keep the doctors waiting," he said with a grin.
Lena rolled her eyes. "I see you can't sit still because you're finally getting back to the streets. Lucky boy!" she said, turning away irritably as she walked out of the room.
The moment Lena closed the door behind her, she saw the nurse looking at her list. The nurse was walking toward her as if she were heading to their room. Seeing Lena, she stopped, lifted her head from the list, and caressed Lena's cheek. "What a sweet face..."
Lena couldn't make sense of it. "Thank you... But you just saw me a moment ago," she said.
The nurse replied, "Yes, that's right," and continued walking down the hallway. Lena watched her walk away, thinking, "That was very strange..." before heading to her own room.
A vehicle pulled up in front of the hospital, and two people from the Hero League stepped out. One was a veteran D-Rank hero, and the other was a younger field officer.
The D-Rank hero said, "I'll ask the reception for the room number." The other added: "Could you also ask where the restroom is? I really need to go." The D-Rank hero grunted: "Every single time?"
They went inside. There was only one person at the reception desk: that nurse. The D-Rank hero asked, "We're from the Hero League. Which room is Fast in?" The nurse looked at the list calmly: "5th floor, room 400."
The young officer chimed in: "And could I find out where the restroom is?" The nurse replied: "At the end of the hallway, on the right."
The D-Rank hero turned to his partner: "I'll be waiting on the upper floor. Hurry up!" The young officer said, "Got it, I'll be quick," as he left the reception area and hurried down the hallway in the direction she indicated. The D-Rank hero began heading up the stairs.
Inside the restroom, while the young officer was at the urinal, he heard the door open. At first, he didn't think much of it, but the sound of footsteps approaching from behind was very close. They were right behind him.
"What's going on?" he muttered. Just as he turned his head to the side, his vision went black from a heavy blow to the back of his neck. As he collapsed to the floor, the last thing he saw was the expressionless face of that nurse.