Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior – Chapter 85

The next morning, Zion woke up as expected, completely unable to move his body.

What had started as a lighthearted two-day expedition turned into a bust due to Zion’s seizure.

Now, Hanamana led the way while I had no choice but to follow along carrying Zion.

It was a relief to have Hanamana with us to ensure a safe return, but I just hoped Zion wasn’t feeling too down about this whole incident.

– Knock, knock

The cheerful sound of someone tapping on the wooden door brought me back, and before long, Serin peeked her head in.

“You’re here, Teacher.”

“How is Zion?”

Following Serin, who naturally opened the door and ushered me inside, I stepped into the house.

It was evening, after the workday, and seeing the array of ingredients laid out in the kitchen, it seemed Serin was preparing dinner.

“He can’t move at all, and while he says he’s okay, it seems he’s in quite a bit of pain.”

“That’s more serious than I expected. He’s still in that state?”

“Is it really that bad?”

Serin asked with a worried expression.

Based on my optimistic viewpoint, thinking Zion’s condition had improved significantly, I had mentioned it was more serious than I thought. But maybe calling it serious sounded heavy to Serin?

“Serin, there were times before the rehabilitation when Zion couldn’t move and was bedridden due to his abilities, right?”

“Yes. It wasn’t frequent, but it happened quite a bit.”

“How long did it take for him to recover then?”

“The first couple of days, he kept crying out in agony or thrashing about… After about 3 to 4 days, he’d be almost fine.”

Crying out in pain and thrashing around, no wonder Serin was so worried!

Still, he could at least say he was okay now without any distress, so perhaps that was an improvement…

“Compared to then, Zion is incredibly healthy now; I think he could get up as soon as tomorrow. But we should keep an eye on him for now, so try not to worry too much.”

“Thank you, Teacher.”

I nodded at a bowing Serin and headed towards Zion’s room.

“It’s me, Zion. I’m coming in.”

As I opened the door, I saw Zion turned towards me, quietly lying down.

He didn’t seem to be in pain or suffering, which relieved me a bit.

“Hop, Teacher…”

“Are you okay?”

“Thanks to your concern. It’s hard to move due to the pain, but I can manage.”

When I asked about his condition, Zion managed a somewhat strained smile as he replied.

I pulled a chair over and sat at the head of Zion’s bed; he looked at me, grinning like he was having the time of his life.

“It feels like going back to the beginning.”

“Back to the beginning?”

“To the time I decided to start rehabilitation and entered your home.”

Zion gazed at the ceiling for a moment, lost in memory.

“I was lying in bed unable to move, and you were always looking down at me, taking care of me. Do you remember?”

“Of course. How could I forget?”

“I showed you a lot of embarrassing moments back then.”

“True, forgetting those would definitely be a loss.”

“Ugh. There are some memories I wish you could forget.”

Zion’s claim brought back memories of when I had to attend to him while he couldn’t move. I never imagined we’d end up in such a relationship back then…

“But is it really something to be embarrassed about now? I feel like I’ve seen Zion in far more compromising situations.”

“That’s different! Back then, I was desperately trying to fight through shame just to look better.”

“‘To look better’… come to think of it, Zion would do anything I wanted, right?”

When I smiled down at Zion, he flinched back, making a face like he wanted to escape.

“Ah, Hanamana was right! I swore I’d devote everything to this pervert, so now all that’s left for me is to be toyed with according to the Teacher’s preferences!”

“I don’t do stuff like that.”

“You definitely did it back then, claiming it was appropriate medical practice while doing all sorts of things to my body!”

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘all sorts of things,’ but since it’s a medical procedure… should I do it again since you are bedridden now?”

“Huh?”

As I yanked the blanket off, Zion yelped.

“Hyuck!”

Zion’s pajama-clad body laid on the bed, fully exposed.

He seemed taken aback, clutching his chest and twisting his legs in embarrassment.

“W-Well, it seems like the moment I can’t move, you’re getting all bold again!”

“You’re sounding just like Hanamana… Do you want to just leave it at that? After all, it’s you.”

“What do you mean by ‘just like that!?’ Do you think I’m easy to handle, Hop?”

“Well…”

Even though Zion was talking like he loathed it, the moment I reached out for him, he curled up and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Of course, you’re easy to handle! Because you’re mine…”

– Click

“Teacher, Teacher, dinner…”

“?!”

Suddenly, the door swung open, and I quickly turned around, locking eyes with Serin.

“……”

Serin glanced back and forth between Zion, who was curled up without his blanket, and my reaching hand.

– Click

Without doing anything, she quietly stepped back and closed the door.

Not a trace of surprise or panic showed on her face—she remained calm and collected.

“……”

“……”

Silence filled the room.

Zion, who had been tightly shutting his eyes, opened them, blinking at me after realizing nothing had happened.

“Are we not going to do it?”

“I can save it for later.”

After covering Zion with the blanket again, I gently stroked his face and leaned down to give him a kiss.

Just as I pulled away after a light peck, I felt Zion’s hand on the back of my head, preventing me from rising too high.

“Do it again.”

“Should I?”

“I mean, I can do anything at any time, but it’d be a shame to waste it like this.”

“It’s not lust or anything.”

“Still, you’ll do it, right? You like it.”

Zion tempted me with a teasing smile.

Zion trying to portray me as a weirdo was something I had encountered shortly after we met.

But things are definitely different now.

“Just covering your mouth seems like the quickest solution.”

Now I could do that.

“Hmmph, heh…”

With intense breaths, we exchanged salivas, a process of eagerly devouring each other.

“Haah…”

After several short and intense exchanges, we finally released each other and could look face to face once more.

“Honestly, the reason I kept living here was that I enjoyed being with Serin, but for the first time today, I’m regretting that decision.”

“Why suddenly?”

“Because it’s disappointing that it has to end here. Sneaking in without realizing.”

“Can’t you just move to my house?”

“Shall we go now?”

While I’d been accused of being a pervert, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Zion had way more lust than I did, wanting to offer himself up at any chance.

Considering Zion had lived his life as a hero, perhaps it was only natural that he’d develop such an attachment to his first lover.

Given the impending arrival of the Demon King made it impossible for Zion to have children right now, I shuddered at the thought of where I might end up otherwise.

“I don’t have a hobby of playing with dolls. As soon as you can move again, come visit anytime.”

“Hehe, keep waiting for me~”

“Well, I’ll be stepping out for a moment. I need to ask Serin to prepare my share of dinner.”

“Ah! That’s what Serin came to ask about!”

Having seen that earlier scene, it was likely Serin would stay away until I left the room.

So, I had to step out and request dinner preparation.

As I exited Zion’s room…

‘What’s that smell?’

There was nothing in the living room or kitchen except Serin, but there was a scent like meat cooking wafting in the air.

Stepping outside into the yard, I found Serin tending a fire and grilling something on a spit.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be skewers placed between grill slats.

“You’re done pretty quickly, Teacher.”

“I don’t know what you think you’re done with, but… I’ll be having dinner as well, so please make sure to set it up.”

“Almost finished! Can you wait with Zion in the living room? Of course, I have something prepared for you too, Teacher.”

Was it just ready even without me saying a word?

As Zion indicated, living with Serin was certainly nice and convenient.

She was knowledgeable, capable, and always prepared for anything.

“Thank you, Serin. But why bring the skewers outside when we could have eaten inside?”

“I heard Zion’s illness was related to his muscle mass. So, I’m feeding him mainly meat.”

“Oh… I see?”

Serin was considerate enough to make sure Zion got proper nutrition.

She likely chose skewers to make it easier for Zion to eat since he couldn’t move.

Her attention to detail and care always amazed me.

“And you need protein too, Teacher.”

“That’s not something you need to worry about.”

Sometimes her over-caring tendencies were a bit much, but this was no different.

Anyway, I returned to Zion…

“Zion, it’s time to eat.”

“Already?”

I lifted the blanket off again and scooped Zion up in a princess carry under his shoulders and behind his knees.

“Whoa!”

“We’re going to the dining table like this.”

For some reason, Zion was all smiles, cuddled up in my arms.

“It feels pretty nostalgic.”

“I guess so. I used to carry you around like this all the time.”

Once in the living room, I set Zion down in a chair at the table, and before long, Serin returned with a tray piled high with skewers, kicking off dinner with some light chatter.

How wonderful it would be if these days continued forever.

Meeting because we wanted to see each other,


Confirming and sharing our love,


Eating together or laughing and chatting on ordinary days.

The ordinary days of unremarkable people.

But regardless of whether we enjoyed the present or prepared for the future,


Time was steadily approaching Zion and me.

Time, indifferent to all, came equally to everyone.


That’s just how time works…