Abyss met Hiroshi.

  It has done so for couple nights now, unable to dream, stuck in the void of nothing.

  With nothing else to do, he has walked in hopes to find or think of something to do, but so far nothing has appeared.

  "This is so annoying." He thought out loud, as he kept wandering, seeing nothing in field of view, other than darkness and his own body.

  "If only I could remember..." He muttered, as he did couple gentle hits against his head, hoping to get it working, even if he was in his mind currently.

  "Memory... I need a memory... Something strong, something impactful."

  "Nata is no help, even with the rescue, Olivia while sweet hasn't had much stuff... what to think, what to think."

  "Lets start simple, today's activity, something, someone... Ingy, no... Kat, no..." he wispered, as he focused harder and harder, hoping to find a some kind of path to follow. "Julia?..."

  "Yeah, Julia... She rescued me after all, after that slash." he spoke clearly, feeling his chest that previously held the wound, and as if his mind finally came clear enough, he noticed an outline of an door appear, not sure if it was shadow or highlight, but it was the path he wanted.

  Approaching the door, and warily opening it, he saw stairs that slowly went from outlining to wooden, with walls going into concrete, as the steps lead to familiar basement.

  And as expected, he found the similar cabinets, decor, and most notably the cell which was holding wounded him with Julia crouched by him, around the time before he passed out, frozen in time.

  "Pretty hard to forget that moment." He commented, as he slowly approached, able to see all of the spots his memory and sight couldn't reach, with the void outlined the empty spots, as rest were in color and detail.

  Getting near the barred door, putting his hand on it, and without moving or saying anything, it slowly faded into fog of memory, as he got close look at the brutal scene of last week.

  Taking a moment to dismay over the situation and pain he could remember, he took light interest in Julia on the scene, and slowly went to touch her shoulder, but she was only just a motionless statue.

  "But still nothing much." He muttered in annoyance of trying to find something to spend the time, as he put his hand away from her.

  Waiting couple seconds before trying to consider digging into his memories even more, he instead returned to inspect himself, with the wound being outlined, as thankfully he didn't get to see how it properly looked, easing his view from the possible gore that would have been there for real.

  With light sigh at the sight of the past misery, he went to put his hand upon his wounded frozen figure, and once focusing, he finally started to get some memories become clear, many of them emotional high and low points of his life.

  Digging through them like searching a file in the cabinet, he finally found something he was interested in, and as the environment around him transformed into fog, obscuring his vision, before appearing upon a familiar bridge to him.

  Looking to the ends, he could notice familiar neighborhood, back from his hometown, as the sound of river filled his ear, setting the calm mood, and to his joy and sadness, saw himself leaning against the railing, with a were-fox next to him. both in school uniform, and being teens. Smiling, and enjoying the view.

  He sat down onto the opposite side of the bridge's railing, taking in the sight of his memory, as he decided to spend some time thinking.

  His eyes captivated in the fox girl, Hair being black with blue tints, tail being bushy yet cleanly kept, and had an air of mysticism around her.

  The things that he remembered catching his eyes the first day they met, and last thing he hoped to see again after her leaving.

  "Still griefing, it seems." Familiar voice spoke, breaking the peace of the moment.

  Hiroshi turned his head, as he saw familiar cloaked figure appear into the fog of the memory, before she calmly pushed her hood off, showing skinny face, blue eyes with soul-piercing eyes, and the void-colored hair, that draped down just like her own cloak.

  "Hard not to." Hiroshi noted, as he let her join him, as she took seat by the railing as well.

  "Yet nothing will bring her back, Yasuda. Especially as she chose to do so." Oiwa noted, with grim smile on her lips, which made Hiroshi shiver.

  "I know. No need to remind me. It's just... things are slowly turning in a same way as with her." He noted, his head hanging low.

  "I Wouldn't say that-" Oiwa started to speak, but quickly got interrupted by him. "It isn't exactly the same... I didn't meet them before their incidents, and they like to hide it, but all of them are damaged in their own ways, and I can't do nothing but watch."

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  Oiwa's smile wained, hearing his self-doubt creeping in.

  "Everything just seems like fate will come around onto me, especially with this... luck of mine bringing me nothing but trouble. Only reason I am sticking around is because I want to prove myself wrong... but that feels impossible. I may have been thinking at the moment week ago, but I have had a lot of time thinking. Especially when I was stuck in that void for couple nights now. And this... this is too complex for a single man like me."

  She sighed, letting Hiroshi rant. "Just stop crying about it, and consider your current predicament. You have help just call away. It won't be same way as before, and you aren't only one they have to rely on." She brought up, as she got up.

  "You even nearly cried to Sophia because she was willing to comfort you on a emotionally charged moment." She added, as Hiroshi couldn't argue much against it, even if she noted it in a rude way.

  "And let's be honest, you are distancing yourself from the girls. You are afraid. I know you see Edith as your main goal for a good relationship, but why not make friends with the girls you know now? You haven't been willing to talk with them much more than moments you feel secure. This is your third chance at life, so don't go wasting it." she noted, as she shoved her finger against his chest, taking him by surprise, but he couldn't deny anything she said.

  "Y-yeah... Maybe I should speak more with them... Olivia especially. She clearly isn't happy about Julia." Hiroshi noted, which Oiwa nodded to in agreement.

  "That's good. anyways, I will leave you be with your memories. Your dreams should return to normal when your will's and vessel's bond gets strong enough." she noted with a smile.

  "Right... Thanks for the help... again." He noted, as Oiwa calmly started to walk away, before disappearing into the fogs of his dream.

  Leaving him look at the old memory, he was left to contemplate on his situation. He knew he wasn't used to it, he just had to do better.

  He always had to do better, and he knew it.

  Morning was active, Nata happily rushing onto the sofa, where Julia had already stirred up awake, wearing baggy pants with sport top, doing some stretching and workout, while Olivia was starting to stir awake when coming into the living room, as Hiroshi was in the kitchen, working up a meal, as recovered enough to be finally able to partly walk, even if still with some amount of struggle.

  While morning was calm and Hiroshi more than enjoyed it, but today, he had to dive into deep end and advance with the girls, and also try to figure Julia out, as even if she wasn't official foster, he could tell there was plenty she was hiding as well.

  "Breakfast is ready." He shouted, and it didn't take long until the girls came in, happily digging into their own foods, as Hiroshi relaxed on his wheelchair, as he ate his own meal, before daring to speak up.

  "I was considering I could go return the wheelchair. I'd like you, Nata, with Julia staying home." He noted, as he looked at Nata before taking in the whole group.

  "Why?" Nata asked, clearly not happy on being left behind, while Julia didn't seem to mind and Olivia was curious.

  "Well, you are the biggest risk in our group, and it would be better to have Julia to keep guard of home and you at the same time, as we won't be gone for too long anyways." He informed, before looking at Olivia. "I hope you don't mind accompanying me?"

  Olivia took the question with surprise, before shaking her head. "N-not at all." She muttered under her breath, but there was clear amount of appreciation for it.

  "I was considering staying behind anyways. I have some stuff I want to do." Julia affirmed on the plan, leaving Nata with lowered tail, but accepting the resolve everyone had. "Fine, but when you get better, you best keep that promise as your priority." She noted with light anger.

  Hiroshi couldn't help but chuckle at the short cloud's enthusiasm. "Of course, I could never consider forgetting it."

  After the meal and making sure the place was in tiptop condition and Olivia was ready, they headed out into town.

  Taking the calm walk, they could note the train-station that wasn't too far away seemed to be finally running.

  "So, want to try it out properly?" Hiroshi asked, making sure Olivia felt comfortable going for it, as she gave nod in response.

  With it, making their way towards it, Hiroshi made sure to get an annual family ticket just in case for future trips not only on train, but when busses might be coming into Elmspring.

  With scanner reading QR code on his phone, they got on, surrounded by plenty of people. Thanks to last week's activity making them essentially micro-celebrities in the city, the passengers checking on them made their situation slightly awkward, but Hiroshi kept calm, while Olivia tried to keep straight face, but stressing a lot.

  Before they knew it, doors closed on the train cart, and slowly it started to move, as Olivia took nervous grip onto his chair, that was parked against the wall.

  "Sorry for troubling you a lot." He calmly said, as with train moving, they had slightly more privacy.

  "I-it's nothing... You care for us, so I care for you." Olivia muttered, as she hid her face in her bushy mane

  "I know, but I feel I could do better... so I wanted to take this trip together so we can talk alone. So after we are done at the hospital, we can take as long as you want to talk on the way home." He noted with a comforting smile, as she gave a long unsure stare at him, thinking through her thoughts, before accepting it.

  "Fine." She muttered, as their focus returned on the trip, enjoying the train ride, and before they knew it, they arrived at their station, and not that long distance away, they reached the hospital in record time.

  During the visit, he returned the wheelchair as asked, and considering for future, decided to purchase a medical walking cane, and thanks to his condition and profession background, he got a good discount on it.

  While at it, Hiroshi decided to check up on Olivia's conditions, just in case they needed extra checkup. "How are the wings feeling? it has been over two weeks now." he commented, as he took note of the fluffy wings behind her, having to had gotten their form back.

  "They... they are alright," Olivia commented. "But still pretty weak feeling. I doubt I could even glide." She noted, as he was left to wonder.

  "Maybe we should consider asking Sophia or Kat on some training, don't you think? I mean, they are amazing what they can do in the air, so imagine what you could do. No need to worry about taking a train or something like that." He noted with a humorous smile, which she couldn't help but share in. "Sure... some day."

  To his luck, the discussion was getting on good flow, but as they take their steps out of the hospital, letting the sliding doors close behind them, Hiroshi knew the worst would come on the way home.

  He has to dig into troublesome past, that he is unsure if he can handle.