Back at the hospital, Hiroshi felt like he couldn't even more an inch or speak a word.

  His body was at it's limit, even the pain was numbed from his slowly degrading state.

  Nata was sitting near him, worried sick, as Olivia kept comforting near her.

  Kat and Sophia were trying to think what was going on, especially since he seemed to know his trouble, not to mention what they should do when Edith hears about the situation.

  Their quiet worry was broken, as a doctor came in with hurry, and one Olivia, Kat and Sophia knew to be specialized with monsters.

  A demi-raccoon, fluffy tail with hairnet on, and glasses on as he was focused on a chart, before raising his attention on the guests as he went to inspect Hiroshi.

  "Will he be alright?" Nata asked with worry, but he seemed to already know the answer, while the trio who knew him were left to question why he came to check on him.

  "Well, I don't work with humans often, but thanks to recent blood-samplings getting some better results, he has been infected by undead blood. Origin of it or why may not be known right now, but to put it simply, by the time he would have come to our care, it would have been too late by then as well." he declared ominously, and the implication of undead blood put Sophia partly in spot of questioning if she had role on the trouble, before shaking it off, knowing better than that.

  "So he will die?" Nata noted, almost ready to start to cry from the news, but the raccoon was quick to counter it. "Well, not exactly."

  The news slightly cheered her up, but it got Sophia and Kat worrying, as it held massive implications.

  "Zombies as monsters are an unique case, as with many classified as undead. The hosts by themself may not have side-effects on their condition, however, infected humans are as you'd expect them to be. Mindless, and rotting." Raccoon clarified, which only made Nata more horrified, as Olivia went to try quickly bring better news "But can it be cured, Ricky?"

  "Well, theoretically, yes. But even with advanced research into axolotl's regeneration doesn't seem to have much help with these kind of 'unnatural' forces, so with our current knowledge, there is nothing we can do." He noted, as he calmly did final checks on his vitals, before sitting by nearby, clearly seeing the worry with the two.

  The palpable worry in the room was cut slightly short, as Kat's phone started to ring. "Damn, most likely will be Edith. Don't worry, I will take care of things on my front." she noted before getting up and heading out of the room to deal with the phone call.

  Sophia decided to speak up, as Nata and Olivia were frozen by themself on having heard there was no other option. "He did seem to know something, wanting us to restrain him if his condition gets worse." to which Ricky was quick to answer "Well, I doubt he will regain enough functionality to tell us at this time. I can't promise anything lasting, but in old records, he still has some amount of time before he is beyond help when he turns, I will let you until tomorrow to him have this room. After that, he should be cremated before he can trouble the hospital as a whole."

  The time limit left them to question what they should do in silence, Nata couldn't help but keeping thinking on 'Why?', before remembering what Julia told her.

  "So, time has finally come." familiar voice spoke from the darkness, as Hiroshi laid in the void of his mind.

  'seems so, yet I have no regrets.'

  "But is it the truth, or a lie."

  'Nata is safe, Olivia has people to care for her, Julia is free from the mafia, Tamers got utility from me, and I am coming to rest with those who actually cared for me.'

  "That is the truth, but you must not forget."

  'But Nata wanted me not to leave her.'

  "You must not forget the lie."

  'I cannot break a promise... I can't let someone down... not again...'

  Meanwhile at the the station, clock hasn't hit 10, and everyone was running in a hurry to resolve the news, Officers on possible continuation on mafia stuff, Tamers on possible monster connections with Julia being reported, and Edith in her office, working harder than ever to respond to news media and city officials through mail, and most importantly, get more information as she was currently trying to get contact of Kat.

  "Come on, pick up you turkey." Edith muttered with next level of worry and fury.

  After multiple rings of no answer, the call finally connected.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Katari-"

  "EXPLAIN EVERYTHING THAT YOU KNOW, OR MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL!"

  "Everything is mostly fine. one civilian death with conductor, minor injuries to passengers, and we had some insider help, who caused most casualties against mafia members."

  "I already know that, but everything is leaking and I have trouble getting more specific details. Did you catch Vaska?"

  "Vaska used a decoy, one of the local mafia ringleaders named Victor, after he lost the day business. The racehorse incident seemed to be the ringleader's last plan, which caused Vaska to take lead. Nata trade seemed to be just a coincidence. That is all we were able to obtain."

  "I see, thankfully it was pretty minor in what it could have been. At least everyone made it out fine."

  "Oh, yeah. Maybe I should inform you that Yasuda is slowly turning into a zombie."

  "..."

  "..."

  "Tell me you are joking."

  "It was a surprise to me as well."

  As the talk went, Edith slowly started to hear some activity on the other side, and hearing kat say "Hey, wha- Stop it! AGH!" before familiar voice of Nata came on.

  "Edith, is that you?!"

  "Yes, what is it now?"

  "We need to visit Julia, fast!"

  "Wait, why?"

  "It may be only way to safe Hiro!"

  And as fight returned on the phone line, before the call got cut off, Edith was left baffled by the news, and in shock that she couldn't even comprehend it in full what was going on.

  Unsure on how Nata is so sure on Julia having answers, she decides to concede and head the interrogation sect of the building, preparing a time for them.

  meanwhile Nata was laying down onto the hallway floor after a smack down by Kat, with the broken phone nearby. "That will be coming off his pay for sure." She muttered in anger.

  "Could you not?" Olivia muttered from the Hiroshi's room door, before Nata got up, determination in her eyes, as she went off with a rush.

  "Hey, don't run away!" Kat noted with fury, as she chased after, as Olivia was left to watch as they went off, before walking back into Hiroshi's room, noting Sophia silently pondering by herself.

  "Are you happy?" Voice echoed from the abyss, as Hiroshi laid in nothing.

  'No. The pain, the responsibility, the worry.'

  "Then why not give up? Freedom is just second away."

  'Freedom of my life and freedom of my problems are different things.'

  "Yet in both, you are not sure which one it is."

  'That is why I must keep going.'

  "Persistent as usual, I see. You know, that is why I care for you."

  'You care for me?'

  "Why else do you think I let you keep living?"

  'Pity, shame, revenge?'

  "I guess there is plenty for you to learn in this world. Especially about yourself."

  '...I guess, but will it bring me the happiness I need?'

  "It will be a long road, but I will assure you. Yes, yes it will. Don't do it for yourself, do it for Aki."

  Edith was calmly chatting with the chief of police by the interrogation room, before getting interrupted as panting Nata came crashing in, with exhausted Kat following in suit.

  "Alright, just calm down." Edith noted, gently putting hand on Nata's shoulder, her tail wagging hard.

  "Anyways, as I was saying, she has been silent this whole time, so if you can get any info out of her, we would appreciate it." The chief informed, before leaving them be as he left the room.

  "So, what makes you think she is able to help with Hiroshi?" Edith decided to ask, as she was unsure how Nata could be so sure.

  "Well... I don't know in full, but she seemed to know something." Nata noted, as she only knew what she said to her.

  "well, i guess better to try than not." Edith muttered, as when Kat was able to catch her breath, they entered the room, seeing it was well lit, with Julia sitting by the desk, handcuffed onto the spot, still wounded, but clearly healing from her injuries wasn't much of an issue. Her tomboyish appearance making her have strong presence in the room, which Nata couldn't help but get discomfortable about.

  "Well, if it isn't the dire wolf and it's tamers." Julia noted with a smug grin. "So, I guess you are here about Hiroshi?"

  "So you know what is going on with him?!" Nata was quick to note, as she went to the desk, slamming her hands on it, clearly wanting answers, as Edith calmly approached while Kat kept her spot by the door, keeping guard.

  "Let's not be hasty." Edith noted, trying to calm Nata, but it was clear to all it would be impossible task. "Let's start from the beginning."

  Julia calmly explained what she did to Hiroshi, her disobeying orders getting both of them locked up, and how he ended up with zombie-blood in him.

  Nata started to growl in anger, "So it's your fault." she noted with anger, as Julia only gave a laugh at her response

  "Now don't go pointing fingers. If I didn't give him my blood, he would have died on that cell floor otherwise." Julia declared clearly, not easing Nata's anger, but made her back down for now.

  "Thank you for assistance and rethinking your alliances." Edith said calmly, seeing the value she brought to them. "However, it would help if you told us if there was a way to rescue Hiro."

  "There is no cure. With undead infection, his vessel and Will, will be split apart." Julia informed, making the duo look in worry and wonder what she meant with the words, as Kat kept with her skepticism from the door.

  "It is important that you do not intervene with him during that time. It is up to his will if he returns or not." Julia made it clear, they had no control over this.

  Meanwhile at the hospital, as Sophia and Olivia were sitting by themself as Ricky had left them there, listening to the silent beeps of the machinery and calm breathing, things quickly turned bad as they noticed Hiroshi's body convulse tiny bit, and as the doomed time came, the heart monitor confirmed that his spirit has finally left his body.

  Olivia looked in horror, as Sophia quickly went into action, taking out some rope she had prepared on the way over, and tie him down onto the bed.

  "His dead." Olivia noted in sorrow, as if trying to convince herself of the fact, while Sophia couldn't help but mutter "This feels so wrong." as before short, she finished tying him up, and in good time, as she saw his haze-glazed eyes staring at her, just inches apart.

  "JESUS!" She noted, stepping back as the gaze followed. monitors stated he was dead, but body still moved, as his breathing became ragged.

  Olivia couldn't help but shiver on her seat, even if she was in a save spot, as Sophia was unsure how to take his situation.

  "I hope they know what to do." Sophia muttered, as she returned next to Olivia, to ease her feelings.

  He had finally awoken on the hospital bed, away from the abyss he was locked away in.

  But he knew he shouldn't stay too optimistic, especially with the blue glow coming outside of the window.

  Taking painless steady steps, opening the window and looking outside, it is as he suspected.

  Eclipsed moon, with streets full of those unable to pass on.

  "Welcome back, Hiro." familiar voice spoke right behind him. "It has been a long time since we last met."