First Stone Goal Met.
___
The two day break was less of a recovery period and more of a house arrest ordeal.
For two straight days, Yuta wasn't allowed to do any form of heavy duty, exercise, or training in the house. Aiko patrolled the living room like a hawk, and Eri, bless her heart, had taken it upon herself to be his "nurse," which mostly involved bringing him lukewarm water and making sure he didn't move from the couch. 'They're making this harder than it needs to be ...'
Hence leading to his current state where he looked to be reading a book on the couch while in reality, he was examining the interior of his body with his quirk.
'Well, that didn't work either.'
He clicked his tongue and turned the page of his book, though his eyes hadn't processed a single word on the paper.
Internally, Yuta was staring at a wreckage his biology textbooks hadn't prepared him for. When Overhaul had deconstructed him, the villain hadn't just shredded muscle and bone; he had unraveled the very "circuits" that carried Yuta's energy.
While he had indeed healed on the outside, the damage done inside wasn't so quickly fixed. 'That's attempt number .. what now? ..'
Ever since leaving his discharge from the hospital, Yuta had tried nearly everything he could think of.
His quirk, while potent in the physical aspects, carried less weight in the spiritual aspects.
He could command cells to knit together, force blood to clot, and reinforce bone density with a thought. But the chakra pathways weren't entirely "physical" in the traditional sense. They were a secondary circulatory system that existed within the meat of his body but didn't follow the same rules as nerves or veins.
A ghost network.
He had tried to apply his usual regeneration method to them, focusing his intent on "repairing" the frayed edges of the pathways. The best it had done was push everything back into place, however mending the cracks was beyond him.
Of course, he wasn't entirely out of ideas.
'Yang release could probably work.'
He just didn't dare to use them.
From what he remembered, Yang release was a nature transformation best associated with Hagoromo Otsutsuki and six paths power.
Using vitality to grant life to forms that had none and creating the Tailed Beasts as a result.
An explanation that was honestly of no help to him right now.
What he was sure of however was that it was the cornerstone of medical ninjutsu and what powered Hashirama Senju's instant auto regeneration
'If I had Hashirama's cells, or a decade of experience as a Medical-nin, maybe I'd take the risk,' Yuta mused, shifting his weight slightly. 'But right now? Using Yang release to "breathe life" into a damaged circuit ... It'd probably be like trying to fix a motherboard with a flamethrower, wouldn't it?'
Healing wasn't an easy task.
His ability to repair his scorched skin from the sports festival, aside from the intuitive feeling brought about by his quirk was also because he had studied enough biology to know what was needed to be done.
One wrong slip up, and you might just give yourself cancer or accidentally cause a localized tumor.
Compared to that, Chakra pathways were a whole new territory, and the risk far outweighed the reward.
Based on his internal scans, the pathways were knitting back together, just at a glacial, natural pace. The cracks were smoothing over, the frayed ends seeking each other out like magnets. It would heal. It just needed time. Time he hadn't given it during the Sports Festival. Every time he revitalised his entire being with chakra for a body flicker, he was essentially stepping on a fresh wound.
'If it isn't broken, don't fix it. And if it is broken but healing itself, don't touch it.'
That was the conclusion he had reached. The only logical one.
Perhaps if he had a fight to the death tomorrow, he might have been desperate enough to start playing with the fundamental building blocks of his life force. But right now? He was sitting in a warm living room with a plate of fruit on the table.
He would let nature take the wheel. Given his body's high-speed metabolism and the ridiculous uzumaki vitality that currently made him a lot of stamina with nowhere to spend it, he estimated another week or two before the "static" in his system cleared out completely. He just had to be patient. A trait that was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain while confined to a sofa.
A soft tug at the hem of his hoodie pulled him out of the depths of his own anatomy.
He blinked, refocusing his eyes on the physical world. Eri was standing by the side of the couch, her small fingers curled into the fabric of his sleeve. She was looking at him with that same wide-eyed, tentative expression she wore whenever she wasn't quite sure if she was allowed to ask for something.
"Yuta?" she whispered. He sat up slowly, giving her his full attention. "What's up, snowball? Nurse duties finished already?"
She shifted her body, looking down at her bare toes on the rug. Her hand tightened slightly on his hoodie.
"I... I'm sorry. I... I think I'm hungry." The words coming out in a nervous rush.
Anyone who looked at her would think she was confessing to doing something wrong.
Yuta's heart softened.
It was a simple request, but for Eri, expressing a personal need was still a monumental hurdle. It meant she trusted him enough to admit she was lacking something.
"Hungry, huh?" Yuta closed his book and set it on the coffee table. "Well, we can't have the assistant nurse fading away from malnutrition. What are you feeling? Apples? Or should we see if Mom left any of those sweet buns in the kitchen?"
Eri looked up, a tiny, almost imperceptible spark of hope in her eyes. "The... the yellow bread? And some soup?"
"Hmm. Sweet and savory huh? Alright. Let's see if we can raid the kitchen before the Head Nurse catches us, okay?"
He started to stand up, but a sharp thwack of wood hitting the doorframe echoed through the hallway.
"Sit. Down." Aiko's voice was firm as she wheeled herself into the room. "I heard 'hungry' from the hallway. I've got this."
Yuta slumped back into the cushions with a dramatic sigh. "Mom, I'm just walking to the kitchen. It's ten steps."
"It's too many," Aiko countered, though her eyes were sparkling with a bit of amusement. She looked down at Eri. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's leave the patient to his 'reading' and let's go get that bread."
Eri hesitated, looking at Yuta as if asking for permission to leave his side.
"Go on," Yuta encouraged with a grin. "Bring me back a crumb if you're feeling merciful."
Aiko gave him a slight glare while Eri nodded.
She let go of his hoodie and trotted after Aiko.
As they disappeared into the kitchen, the silence returned to the living room. Yuta leaned his head back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling.
'Well, I guess it's not so bad.'
__
The kitchen was small but well-organized. Aiko wheeled herself toward the pantry with practiced ease, reaching for the shelf where she kept the sweet bread Eri liked.
"Let's see... I think there are two left," she murmured, pulling down a plastic container. "Perfect."
Eri stood near the doorway, hands clasped in front of her, watching quietly.
Aiko glanced at her and smiled. "Come here, sweetheart. You can help me get the soup ready."
Eri took a few small steps forward, then stopped.
"Aiko-san?"
"Yes?"
Eri clasped her hands together, fingers twisting nervously.
"I— I'm sorry," she blurted out. "Yuta didn't mean to. He wasn't trying to be bad." Aiko was stunned.
Eri shrank a little under the attention but pressed on.
"He just wanted to help. He didn't go to the kitchen because he wanted to break rules or anything. I asked him and— and I shouldn't have. So if someone has to be punished, it should be me."
The room went quiet.
Aiko paused, setting the container on the counter. She turned her wheelchair to face Eri fully
"Oh, Eri," she said softly, crouching down to her level. "No one is being punished."
Eri blinked. "But… you said—"
"I said 'sit down'," Aiko corrected gently. "That's not a punishment. That's me being worried."
She placed a hand over Eri's small ones, still fidgeting.
"Yuta didn't do anything wrong. And neither did you."
Eri's brows knit together, confused. "Then… why did you sound angry?"
Aiko smiled faintly. "Because sometimes adults sound like that when we're scared."
"Scared?"
"Of losing people," Aiko said simply.
Eri absorbed that in silence.
"…So he's not in trouble?"
"No," Aiko said firmly. "And neither are you."
Eri nodded, relief washing over her features.
"Okay," Aiko turned back to the stove. "Now. Since our patient is forbidden from wandering around, how about you help me instead?"
Eri's eyes widened. "Help?"
"Mm-hm. You can stir. Slowly."
Later, Yuta sat at the small dining table, chin resting on his palm, watching the two of them move around the kitchen.
Eri was focused as she stirred the pot, tongue peeking out slightly in concentration. Aiko supervised from beside her, offering quiet instructions rather than corrections.
"Not too fast," she said. "Soup doesn't like being rushed."
"Hmm"
Eri nodded solemnly and slowed down.
"There you go."
Yuta smiled.
The smell of miso soup and grilled fish soon filled the dining.
When dinner was finally served, it was simple — soup, rice, bread — but Eri looked at it like she'd helped create something far greater.
She sat across from Yuta, hands folded neatly in her lap.
"Good job, snowball." Yuta said with mock seriousness. "You cooked. That means you get first bite."
Her eyes widened. "I do?"
"Head chef privilege."
She hesitated, then carefully picked up her spoon and tasted the soup.
Her face lit up.
"It tastes good!"
Aiko smirked. "Of course it is. You made it."
Eri beamed. And just Like that, two days passed in the blink of an eye.
___
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