An Old Flame

Around 2 p. m. that day, after having a hearty lunch at the hospital with Shota Aizawa, Jilan Jiyu ended her visit and was on her way back.

Of course, Shota Aizawa still couldn't eat, and could only watch Jilan Jiyu devour their food. Jilan was indeed very hungry, having not eaten anything for so long, and didn't care about the stares of the other people in the restaurant, simply stuffing food into her mouth elegantly and in large bites.

There was a little incident during this time. Jilan Jiyu saw Shota Aizawa's class monitor, Hizashi Yamada, who was wearing a hospital gown and carrying a tray, talking and laughing loudly with a nurse. The nurse looked helpless but just smiled and agreed with him.

When he saw Shota Aizawa, his expression changed drastically, as if he had stuffed something indescribable into his mouth. His voice stopped abruptly, and his entire face turned green. He got his food with a gloomy face and sat in the corner furthest away from the two of them.

Are all the heroes receiving treatment here just lazy bums waiting to die?

No, that's not true.

As Jilan Jiyu pushed Shota Aizawa, several people dressed in hospital gowns greeted him. Of course, most of them couldn't recognize the mummy in the wheelchair; they simply paid their respects to this severely injured hero.

One of the women seemed to be visiting a friend. As she passed by, she glanced at the mummy unconsciously, then suddenly stopped, turned around, and began to examine the mummy with a suspicious smile.

Aizawa didn't respond when the others greeted him, only thanking them through Jilan Jiyu. But this time, he impatiently said after the woman hadn't looked at him for long, "Stop looking, you're blocking my way."

The woman wasn't angry; instead, she straightened up, put her hands on her hips, and burst into laughter. "I knew it! It was you, Aizawa!"

After she finished laughing, she leaned down again. The other person was wearing a cool short-sleeved shirt, exposing their stomach. Jilan Jiyu realized that the other person seemed to be an old acquaintance of Mr. Aizawa, and with great tact, she turned her head away and silently became a background figure.

"Hey, are you having a really tough time at U.A. High School.?" The other person touched the bandages on Aizawa's face, their fingers trembling almost imperceptibly, and said with a smile, "If you can't make it at U.A. High School., how about coming to my Shiketsu?"

Stop talking nonsense.

The other person seemed to have misunderstood Shota Aizawa's meaning. They looked up, pondering, and said, "Hmm... if you don't want to be a teacher, then how about you be a full-time househusband? After we get married, I can work, and you can stay home and take care of the kids. I'm okay with that."

"Nonsense, talking to you is a waste of time." Aizawa seemed to have run out of patience and instructed Jilan Jiyu, "Jilan, ignore her. Push me back, I want to rest."

The other person didn't persist, smiling as they stepped back to the right to make way, muttering to themselves, "Aizawa, no one will like you treating girls like this. Only a woman with a maternal heart and a broad mind like me would indulge you like this. Don't you really want to consider being with me...?"

As Jilan Jiyu pushed the wheelchair past her, she suddenly said to him, "You're Aizawa's student, Jilan? Let me tell you, although Aizawa has a bit of a temper, your class absolutely must not bully him!"

Jilan gave a wry smile, turned her head, and said helplessly, "Yes, I will obey Master's orders." No matter how you look at it, the other person is Aizawa's old flame...

"Jilan!!"×

One was Aizawa's angry roar, and the other was a woman's joyful cry.

"Good eye! If you need anything, just come to Shiketsu High School and mention my name!" Amidst Aizawa's now palpable killing intent, the woman laughed loudly and dashed off, "I'm off now, Aizawa, I'll come see you again later!"

"At least leave me a name..." Jilan Jiyu turned around and faced the mummy, whose anger level was at its peak.

"Jilan, you..." Aizawa sighed, sitting up straight again, "Never mind, you don't know anything... Let's go."

The woman ignored the nurse's warning that "running is prohibited in the hospital" and ran until she reached the corner before stopping. She leaned against the wall, stretched out her hand, looked at the bandage she had torn off, and clenched it tightly in her fist.

"The League of Villains... You've really done something bold."

Ding-dong--

When Jilan Jiyu were halfway there, their phones suddenly rang. They checked the caller ID, turned around, and took another path.

Before long, a somewhat dilapidated rental house appeared in front of Jilan Jiyu.

Although it is a two-story building, the exterior walls are covered with green ivy, as if they have not been renovated for a long time. The green Vines crawl in and out of the cracks in the walls, growing wildly here.

Although this is a castle town, the surrounding desolate place makes it hard to imagine that this is in a city, and even harder to imagine that someone still lives in this dilapidated house.

"Da da--"

Jilan Jiyu tapped on the old wooden planks, and after a series of rhythmic sounds, they patiently waited in place.

"Yay, yay--"

After the crows' cawing repeated several times, and ten minutes had passed, the footsteps gradually grew louder, and the door was finally opened.

The door opened to reveal a beautiful girl dressed in white. She had long, green hair that cascaded down her shoulders, thick and sturdy like tough Vines with tiny thorns. Her appearance easily reminded one of a thorny rose, but to Jilan Jiyu, she was more like Enkidu, devoid of any emotion.

"Ah... it's you..." the girl said in an Ecto, ethereal voice, "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Jilan Jiyu raised an eyebrow. "Then why didn't you open the door earlier...?"

"I was taking care of the flowers and plants and didn't have a moment to stop." The girl turned and went inside. "Come in, your things have arrived."

"Then I'll be bothering you." Jilan Jiyu followed her, took off their shoes in the entryway, and naturally put on the shoes that she had prepared for them.

Unlike the desolate exterior, the interior of the room is full of lush greenery. This is not apparent from the front, but the middle of the eaves has actually been completely hollowed out, allowing sunlight to stream in unobstructed, creating a composition of light and shadow within the room.

Bathed in the sunlight was a young girl in white, surrounded by several Hua Hua. In this room, the tables, the floor, the cabinets, and almost every corner were filled with flowers and plants of different colors and sizes. The only thing they had in common was that they were all well cared for and radiated a dazzling luster.

The girl picked up the kettle from the low table and poured water evenly into a flower bed, seemingly continuing what she had been doing earlier.

"I've retrieved your things; they're in your room," the girl said, almost as if she were murmuring.

Jilan Jiyu were already used to her nonchalant attitude. They bent down and took out a bunch of keys from under the Invisibility table, walked to the end of the corridor, found the room key from the bunch of keys, and opened the door.

There was no light source or objects in the room, except for a large box, about the length of a person, placed in the center. The coffin-like object seemed to seal something away, allowing the creature within to slumber peacefully.