It was another day later around mid-afternoon, that Gado & Hiro stood over Eiji's bed, their arms crossed in front of them. "The doctor said he can't stay in these clothes," Hiro said sternly, "I'm aware," Gado replied with just as much seriousness as they loomed over Eiji's body. "Are you two kidding me?! Just change his clothes already!" Kyuen yelled at the two of them as she craned her head into the doorway while standing outside Eiji's bedroom with Hikari. "Shut up! We're getting to it!" Hiro shouted as he shut the door in her face. "Okay Hiro, we just have to do this… we both changed Eiji's diaper when he was a baby so this is just like that, right?" Gado said, trying to reassure himself more so than his brother. "Saying that just made it so much weirder," Hiro replied with the sound of nothing but disappointment in his voice. "Okay, you get his change of clothes ready… I'll uhh just get started I guess," Gado said. He pulled back the blanket covering Eiji, "He wouldn't be mad at me for this. I'm his dad and he needs to be attended to, he would totally understand," He thought to himself as he tried to figure out the best way to go about the situation. There was no good way about it, Gado slowly and carefully reached down, placing his fingers into the waistband of Eiji's pants, "Forgive me Eiji, but we gotta get you changed," he said to his unconscious son as he started to close his eyes and pull… suddenly a hand grabbed Gado's wrist, "Dad… I appreciate it but I think I'm old enough to change myself," Eiji muttered softly, still not fully conscious. "Eiji?! Eiji are you awake?!" Gado asked frantically as he grabbed Eiji by the shoulders. Hiro spun around from the closet where he was grabbing clothes. "Was that him?! Did he just talk?!" It's me dad, I'm awake," Eiji whispered softly as he tried to rub his eyes, "He's awake!" Hiro yelled, rushing for the bedroom door, only for it to swing open as Hikari and Kyuen trampled over him to get to Eiji. The two of them fell to their knees next to Gado grabbing Eiji's hands and crying in joy, "Look who's finally awake!" Gado said to them through the flood of tears. Hiro slowly stood up from getting knocked over, only for Ren to come barreling into the room seconds later, knocking him over onto the floor once more as they all crowded around his bed. Hugging and celebrating Eiji's health. The Umitasora family was finally past this ordeal.
"So Eiji do you remember what happened at all? Hiro asked his nephew "I know you've just woken up but we need to understand what went down at those ruins." "I..I don't remember much," Eiji replied as he tried to recover the memory of what had landed him in bed. "I remember getting to the ruins, but that's the last thing that comes to mind… I don't remember going in or what happened after that." His uncle looked dissatisfied with his answer. "Listen Hiro I know we need to figure out what happened the other night but how about we let my son get a change of clothes and a meal before we start your interrogation? I'd like the doctor to look him over again as well," Gado interjected before his brother could continue on. "Sorry, Eiji. I have a lot of people who are looking for answers… but your Father's right. Let's get you back on your feet before I ask my questions." Eiji winced as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed, his body still incredibly stiff and sore from the incident. "Wait…" Eiji paused and looked to his Uncle to ask before trying to stand up the rest of the way, "Why are people asking for answers? Just cause' I passed out in the ruins?" He looked to his father next, "And what do you mean by the other night? How long have I been asleep? Did something happen?" Eiji's heart started racing as he panicked in his confusion. "Eiji… it's okay," his father said softly as he placed his hand on his son's shoulder "Comon', get dressed and meet us downstairs. We'll explain as much as we can."
"Three Days?!" Eiji exclaimed to his family and Rei as they broke the news about his condition. "I found you lying in a strange room. It was attached to the main chamber, but it looked like part of the floor had caved in in order to expose it," Rei said to him. Eiji's eyes widened, "There's more…" Rei continued. "The only reason we even knew you were in trouble was because of this crazy storm of Ki that erupted from the ruins… it was unbelievable Eiji, I imagine half the country was able to see it in the sky, I've never seen anything like it," Rei added. Eiji slumped back into his chair in dismay, "I'm trying to remember but I can't…" Everybody in the room looked around at each other, unsure whether or not to give Eiji the rest of the details about what they had discovered. "Let's get you over to the doctor's and get you checked up before we go any further," Hiro said, trying to relieve the pressure in the room. "We can get some food afterwards, whatever Eiji wants to eat, on me!" He said as he made his way to the door. The rest of them shuffled out behind him and as they all headed to get Eiji looked at.
"Wait, why aren't we taking the road up to the city?" Eiji asked as Hiro led the group down the path that led toward Kaika temple. "The doctor who saw you originally is stationed here at the school," His uncle replied, the rest of the group staying silent. "That's odd," Eiji thought to himself as they kept going. "The hospital is inside the city, the only medical offices in the Temple are for Sentoki… But maybe that was just the closest doctor around, they're just as trained as a regular doctor if not more so." he tried to rationalize. The family and Eiji made their way through the Temple grounds and arrived at the doctor's office shortly after, only to be greeted by Sumiko Harabani who attended to Eiji immediately upon hearing he had woken up and arrived.
"How do you feel, Eiji?" Sumiko asked inquisitively, "I mean… I'm pretty sore all over my body. I have a bit of a headache and I can't seem to remember what happened at the ruins… but really I just feel like I spent three days in bed," Eiji said to her as she checked his vitals and took a few readings. "As I suspected you were out for about two or three days, but the swelling should have come down a bit by now," Sumiko said. "Swelling?" Eiji asked, confused. Sumiko took a look around at the rest of the family, "Did you not tell him?" she asked, looking at Hiro and Gado. "We thought it best for us to come here first, so you could explain things correctly," Hiro replied. "Hmm, well let me perform my exam and we can go from there. It'll be much faster since I know what I'm looking for this time,"she said. "What's going on?!" Eiji asked, getting frustrated with the lack of answers. "Sit Still Eiji. I'll explain everything in a minute. Sumiko raised up her hands and hovered them over Eiji's body as he sat on the examination table. Her Ki extending out and enveloping Eiji in a gold-ish yellow aura. The entire procedure lasted only a few minutes. The rest of the room waited quietly for the results while Eiji racked his brains as to what was going on. "What is she doing?? How is a Ki procedure gonna tell her anything about someone without a Mesukiro?" Eiji thought to himself, but he could feel something was off while the procedure was underway, "What is this feeling though… is it the Ki? I shouldn't be able to feel anything from the Ki… but it feels warm… it feels familiar…" Eiji's mind flashed at the same moment the procedure had finished. He quickly sat up straight and alert, his face blank like he was in a trance. "Eiji, are you okay?!" Gado asked as he stepped towards his son sitting on the table. Eiji shook his head and came to. "Yeah, I'm fine… I just… remembered something."
Hiro pushed off from the wall he was leaning against in the doctor's office, "What? What did you remember?" he asked with a bit of desperation. "Sorry Uncle Hiro, I don't think it's gonna give you many answers but… I remember being somewhere completely dark… and feeling like I was floating, but mostly I remember this warm feeling… it was weird but it almost felt good..." Eiji said as he stretched out his hand in front of him, examining it against the light. Hiro sighed, "I'm glad you remember something Eiji but you're right that doesn't help much," he said. "Mhhmm," Sumiko cleared her throat loudly, as a way to say she'd like to continue on with her explanation. "Sorry," Hiro said in apology as he leaned back against the wall. "Eiji… from what I've been told you're a well-studied student, more so than most. I actually looked into this a bit while you were asleep and I was impressed with your academic achievements, so I'm going to say this without watering it down too much for you." Eiji's stomach knotted in anticipation that some sort of bad news was about to get dropped on him, "Whatever happened to you down in those ruins, affected you in a way that seemingly forced open your Ki system, leaving it expanded in a sort of way but-" Eiji interjected before the doctor could finish. "How is that possible? The Ki system is only active when someone has opened their eyes and has a Mesukiro?? I would know if something like that happened and I don't feel any different!" He blurted out in his impatience. The room looked at each other unsure of what to say. "I can explain that Eiji," Sumiko said calmly, "Let me continue, your Ki system was forced open in both your mind and your body but it seems as if it was done separately… I could give a long explanation about this part but in layman's terms… You have all the parts and pieces to awaken your Mesukiro, but the pieces aren't connected for some reason, which is why you don't feel any differently."
Eiji was distraught, he didn't know how to process this information, "What happened in those ruins? Are my eyes open now? Is something wrong with me?" His head filled with questions that he wanted answers to. "There is good news though," Sumiko added to her spiel. "While you were asleep I did some research, and while it was hard to find, I was able to find some very old medical literature that talked about a condition similar to this, although it gave no information as to what could cause it." "So what's the good news?" Eiji asked bluntly. "The good news is it has a very simple fix, it's something any half-assed medical Shishogan user should be able to fix for you by connecting the Ki in your body to the Ki in your mind… but there is one part you might not like… The writings I found regarding your condition were very clear about not doing so before your Ki network has returned to normal, and while you may be able to get up and move around now, it's gonna be another few days before the inflammation comes all the way down." The room was silent after Sumiko finished giving Eiji her diagnosis, unsure of how he might react. Eiji's head was held low as he stared at the ground in front of him. "So… are you telling me in a few days… I'll have my Mesukiro…?" He asked quietly, his hands trembling as he looked down at them. "Yes Eiji, but you mustn't push yourself or try to rush the process-" She tried to say but was interrupted as Eiji jumped off the table. "A few days is nothing!" He exclaimed, grabbing Sumiko by her coat sleeve. "I've waited for years now, so a few more days is nothing!" he added as he jumped up and down in excitement. "While it may have been quite the scary spectacle the other night, surprisingly I can say Eiji should be just fine," Sumiko said with a laugh, as she pulled Eiji's hands away and got ready to head to her next patient. "Two days Eiji, Make sure you wait a full two days before you try anything," She repeated to make her point. "I can arrange for myself or one of the Medical teachers at the school to do the operation after that," was the last thing she said before leaving the family all together in the room.
"Before anybody goes making any plans, I already have this all figured out," Hiro said to the room after the door closed behind the doctor. "What do you mean?" asked Gado, while Eiji was still reeling from the good news. "As Headmaster it's my responsibility to deal with Eiji's situation. While I'm incredibly happy for him, there is no denying the fact that he's starting out late, he's going to need some special attention if wants to have any hopes of catching up to his peers," Hiro said without trying to sound like he was being negative. Hikari stepped in to try to defend her brother, "Hey he may be behind but you don't need to make it sound like-," "Stop." Eiji cut his Sister off, "Thank you, Uncle Hiro, I'm more than willing to do whatever you think is necessary for me to catch up," He said as he bowed his head to his Uncle. It was as if his entire position had changed now that he stood on the precipice of finally being able to follow along with his family in his journey toward becoming a Sentoki. For the next two days, the family did their best to get things back to normal. Hikari returned to her classes and training for the upcoming exams which were now only three days away. Meanwhile, Eiji rested at the house with Gado. Ren & Rei both chose to continue to stay at the house with Eiji while he recovered. Continuously running back and forth to the library in order to get him new books to pass the time. Eiji spent the next two days studying and reading up as much as he could before he would get the chance to grasp what he had been working towards for so many years…