ATOS Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Hospital Visit

Novel Title: 跨越千万星辰 (Across Thousands of Stars)

Author：御小凡 (Yu Xiaofan)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 泽田纲吉 (Sawada Tsunayoshi -MC), 六道骸 (Rokudo Mukuro -ML)

*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

֍֍֍

He thought that Mukuro would rush to the hospital directly. But Tsuna saw him with his school bag slanting on his shoulder in front of the bus stand, sucking on his straw boredly. One of his hands was in his trouser pocket and the other was holding a drink. He didn’t stand very straight. But because of his tall stature and slender hands and feet, his standing posture still made him look unexpectedly beautiful.

When Tsuna got closer, he said hello to him. Mukuro turned his head and saw him. He pulled off the earphones in his ears and rolled them up casually. He put the ipod pinned on his shoulder bag strap back into his bag.

“Did you come here directly after school?”

“Yes. Let’s go eat together.” Mukuro sucked up the last sip of his chocolate milk vigorously. He then squeezed the carton into a ball and threw it away with one hand. The trash was successfully sent into the trashcan three metres away.

“Then, let’s go eat ramen?” Tsuna suggested. The reason for making such a proposal is entirely because there is a good ramen shop near Namimori Hospital. The foreign waiters in it once left a deep impression on Tsuna. Although the food price is irresistibly high due to its location, considering the rich content of ramen, it is still acceptable.

There is no objection to this proposal. After casually saying a few words about his work today, Tsuna suddenly thought of Uni, “Have you met our team lea-…our vice director?”

He mentioned it purely out of curiosity. Tsuna has long made it a habit to tell Mukuro everything that happened around him at work so that he can make the kid feel more secure when in fact, it won’t exactly make any difference.

“Oh, I saw her. She’s called Uni, right?” Mukuro responded indifferently.

“Isn’t she cute?” Tsuna asked casually with a smile.

“Oh? You think she’s cute?” Mukuro asked him back with an unclear intention. Mukuro straightened the straps of his bag unconsciously. He saw the bus slowly approaching so he took a step forward. He got off the curb. Tsuna also walked down with him, “Hey, she is the flower of our marketing department after all.”

Even if Uni has a ring on her ring finger, it won’t affect her popularity among her male colleagues in the slightest.

Mukuro got on the bus. He put the coin in and found a seat by the window. Tsuna sat next to him. Mukuro was quite cold as he said, “It was too dark that night. So I didn’t see her clearly.”

Tsuna was slightly aware that Mukuro didn’t want to go deeper on this topic. He was puzzled by that but he just changed the topic graciously.

It takes only 6 minutes to walk to the hospital after they get off the bus. The ramen shop that Tsuna mentioned requires them to detour from the route. Now is the peak time for eating dinner so the two waited for their turn to get a seat in this lively small shop.

“Welcome~” A crisp female voice with thin penetrating power was heard by them. A girl with long braids in a Chinese-style slanted skirt put some teacups in front of the two of them and smiled at their table while holding the menu in her hands, “What do you want to order, Sir?”

“Chashu ramen and seaweed ramen.”

“There are a lot of people now. So it may take a while.” The girl did not leave immediately after jotting down their order. She explained to them with slight embarrassment.

“Hmm, that’s okay. Take your time.” Tsuna then picked up the plastic cup and took a sip of the hot tea. The handphone in Tsuna’s pocket suddenly rang, “Hello, who is this?”

It was Ryo-nii who called.. He was asking them where they were. Tsuna briefly told him that he is eating dinner at the moment and that it may take a while. The background sound can be heard through the phone. It sounds like he was at a restaurant. He glanced at the clock on the wall of the lobby. It was 6:30, which was indeed meal time.

“Eh…is that so?” Tsuna’s voice raised, “Kyoko is coming too? Eh? That’s right. I haven’t seen her for a long time. Will your child be there too? Oh oh… Then, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Tsuna has not forgotten about the child adopted by the Sasagawa family. She has a name with complicated Kanji characters.

“I’ll meet someone unexpected in a while.” After hanging up the phone, Tsuna looked at Mukuro in a good mood.

“Is it Kyoko?” Mukuro raised an eyebrow. The fluorescent lamp above his head cast a neat shadow on his face. His beautiful face revealed his anxiousness.

He didn’t miss to catch Tsuna’s excitement when he mentioned this name. He understood that this is a woman’s name. Mukuro knew very well that Ryo-nii and Tsuna had a good relationship. Or else, he would not have entrusted himself to Tsuna from the beginning. So it can be inferred that this person named Kyoko must also have a very good relationship with Tsuna.

His slender fingers gripped his teacup tightly.

“Kyoko is Ryo-nii’s younger sister. You don’t seem to have met her before.” When Mukuro was at Ryo-nii’s house, the siblings had already lived separately. They only eat together occasionally.

“Do you know her well?” He let go of the teacup. His palms were a little red from the heat of the hot tea.

Tsuna did not expect that Mukuro would be so interested in Kyoko. So he was slightly surprised, “We were alumni from the same school. I have been classmates with Kyoko for three years in middle school.”

Oh…classmate… Mukuro thought.

Mukuro was already paying attention to Tsuna’s interpersonal relationship. He thought that he knew the people around Tsuna well. But he didn’t expect to hear such a person suddenly.

Mukuro tapped the table lightly with his fingers. He raised his eyes and looked at Tsuna. His eyes shone like wet stones, “You never told me about her.”

The flat tone hides a trace of grievance and accusation that is not easy to detect. Although this kind of emotion is unreasonable, Tsuna still feels a little uncomfortable when he hears it. He already has developed the habit of telling every little thing to Mukuro. This makes him feel like he had accidentally concealed something from the other party, “Huh? I haven’t contacted her for a long time. So I don’t have a chance to tell you about her.”

This is true. When he was abroad, they still exchanged emails with one another. But after returning to the country, each of them stepped into the society and started to be busy. Once there was no contact for a long period of time, Tsuna was too embarrassed to contact this former crush.

The fingers tapping on the table stopped. Mukuro had completely started to hate this woman named Kyoko. Since she is Tsuna’s classmate, she must be 27 years old this year as well.

A 27-year-old woman. Mukuro thought.

“You will see her later?”

“That’s right. I haven’t seen her for so many years. I don’t know what she looks like now.” Tsuna said with emotions. He couldn’t help imagining the image of matured Kyoko. In a blink of an eye, they are both now 27 years old…they should have gotten married by now at this age and have children, right?

With a soft snort, Mukuro twitched the corners of his mouth and didn’t say anything anymore. Tsuna started to talk about another person, “Do you remember the child in Ryo-nii’s house? The one who was with you while you were in their house?”

“That girl?”  Mukuro’s memory is very good. As soon as Tsuna told him about the girl, a timid face clearly appeared in front of his eyes. It was the girl who came from the research institute with him at that time, “What’s the matter with her?”

“She’ll be there too.” Tsuna saw the slightly complicated look on Mukuro’s face. His thin eyebrows were furrowed, revealing a thoughtful expression. He became quiet as if infected by Mukuro’s emotions.

“Both Chashu ramen and seaweed ramen are here~” Grasping the tray firmly with both hands, the waiter finally brought their food over. The steaming hot ramen and the rich soup make it look appetising. The two finished their ramen noodles faster than usual. It was already 7:30 when they checked out of the restaurant and went to the hospital.

“Ward no. 503.” Tsuna muttered Ryo-nii’s ward number and pressed the button to the fifth floor on the elevator.

There was a strong smell of disinfectant in the hospital. It made Mukuro frown. Large patches of white were the colour he hated the most. And when he saw the so-called Kyoko in the ward, his unhappiness was about to reach its peak.

“Tsuna-kun.” The woman who was sitting by the hospital bed and peeling apples stood up happily when she saw them. After a moment of being stunned, Tsuna also quickened his pace and walked over, “Kyoko, It’s been a while.”

They have really not met for a long time.

The once short hair has now turned into long curly hair. She was wearing light makeup on her face. It makes her look very delicate. She was wearing a small white mid-sleeve suit, a beige knee-length pleated skirt underneath, and a thin chain watch on the wrist. She exudes a mature yet lovely temperament from the inside out.

“How have you been doing lately?” Kyoko put the almost completely peeled apple on the plate on the bedside table.After feeling a strong sense of being watched, she shifted her gaze from Tsuna to the boy behind him.

There was strong repulsion in his cold gaze. It made Kyoko wonder if she had done something to offend this strange boy before. If not, why would he be looking at her like this?

“This is…” she asked suspiciously. Tsuna hurriedly stepped aside to introduce him, “This is the kid that Ryo-nii…you know, at that time…”

“Hello, Auntie.” Mukuro smiled without warning. He tilted his head to the side with a pure and innocent expression, “Auntie’s skin looks very beautiful. You are almost thirty years old but you look well maintained.”

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.

Tsuna was stunned. How could this child’s first line be like this? Even if one can assume his intention was towards a better direction, this greeting from Mukuro cannot be regarded as ‘goodwill’ at all. After all, he is not as slow as Tsuna. He should understand that talking about their age to women is very offensive.

“Uh, I didn’t use any special skin products…” Kyoko said as she subconsciously caressed her cheek. Kyoko was also a little surprised at the boy’s aggressiveness towards her. She then pulled someone over, “By the way, do you know Dokuro?”

“Huh? Is that the little girl from that time?”

The girl’s fair skin and dark purple hair formed a vivid contrast. It seems that, similarly to Mukuro, their hair colour can’t return to normal colour at all.

“How long are you going to stand? Sit down first.” The protagonist, who had been neglected for a long time, finally spoke up. He even had a cast on one foot. It was hung high. There were also some scars on his face.

“Ryo-nii, what happened to you?” Pulling up a chair and sitting by the bed, Tsuna saw that Ryo-nii’s condition was not good at all.

Ryo-nii had not started to answer yet when Kyoko, who was sitting on the other side of the bed, explained to Tsuna, “It was a bank robbery. My brother’s leg was shot by three bullets.”

He’s so tough! Tsuna thought.

“…Can you handle such an injury?” Tsuna couldn’t help looking at Ryo-nii in amazement.

“Yeah, big brother. Do you know that this will make people feel very worried?” Kyoko sighed. She then took the apple, peeled the rest of the skin, and cut it into small pieces. She put it on the plate, “You have to worry about her too. Think of the child. She is also very worried about you.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on Dokuro, who had slightly buried her head down, “Is Dokuro the same age as Muku this year?”

“Dokuro is 15 years old.” Kyoko took the fruit fork box from the wooden cabinet. She inserted a delicate fruit fork on each white and tender apple piece and handed it to Dokuro next to her. She motioned for her to hand it to the person opposite of her; Tsuna and Mukuro.

“Then he is two years younger than Muku. Where did she go to school?” Tsuna couldn’t help but think of Ryo-nii’s initial evaluation of Dokuro. But yes, she was indeed an overly shy child.

“Namimori Middle School. She’s about to graduate.”

“Isn’t that our alumni?” At this point, the memories of those middle school days flooded up. Tsuna looked at Kyoko with nostalgic eyes while Kyoko looked back at him as if recalling the memories of that time too.

In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed.

They were too childish back then.

֍֍֍

*GLOSSARY: 

• Chinese slang: Flower of [place]. It means the most beautiful/popular girl of that [place]. For men, it is called grass of [place].

• Chinese people call others unrelated by blood to them as ‘auntie’ or ‘uncle’ as well. It was done out of respect. But in this chapter, it doesn’t look like Mukuro done it out of respect hahahaha

Next update: 2023.07.31

֍֍֍