"Hi, Inoue. Can I call you that, right?"
In front of Caleb, sitting on the chair across from him around a wooden table, Inoue nods in agreement.
"Feel free to just call me Caleb," he said.
"Mm." She nodded.
"Actually, I didn't want to resort to this," Caleb said. "I believe we have to face things and overcome them. But, if you want, I can make you forget about how you died and who killed you."
"I don't know..." She replied with some uncertainty.
"From what I know about you, you said before that the one who killed you was your brother who turned into a monster and got upset because you were happy even though he had died, right?" Caleb asked.
She confirmed: "Yes, he became a big, ugly monster. At first, I didn't recognize him, but then, I heard his voice and when his mask cracked a little, I recognized his face."
"I imagine you've already thought about this, but let me ask you," Caleb asked. "Knowing your brother, do you really think he would want you not to move on and keep mourning his death, or did this happen due to external influence?"
"Of course he would want the best for me!" She exclaimed, surprised by her own shout, apologizing and continuing to speak more quietly: "But, but... I was selfish... I should've thought more about him..."
She began to cry with her hands over her face.
Baymax, behind Inoue, rubbed her back saying: "Let it all out. It'll do you good to cry."
Inoue's shoulders trembled as her crying grew louder.
She turned and hugged Baymax.
Baymax, like a big marshmallow, was a well of comfort.
He hugged Inoue, rubbing her back.
...
It took quite a while, but Inoue finally calmed down.
Although Caleb's words were enough to make her cry and feel a little better, that alone had no magical effect.
It wasn't as if after that she would say something like: Oh, now I'm fine, thank you~
In the end, cases like this take time and, as Caleb himself said, if she so wishes, he could erase the memories that were troubling her.
However, doing that might not be the best choice. But, it's up to her to decide.
After much hesitation, she made her choice: "Caleb-san, I... want to keep my memories intact. Sorry, I know I'm being a bother, I..."
"It's okay," Caleb said. "I chose to summon you. And I'll take responsibility. Just focus on recovering. As Baymax suggested, talk more, interact with the girls, go out a bit... If even that doesn't work, I can still help you forget what's hurting you."
"Thank you." She gave a weak smile.
**
As Caleb said he needed to talk to Inoue alone, only she and Baymax stayed.
While the rest went for a walk.
This time, even Alice went with them.
"This can be used." Alice suddenly stopped.
She crouched down and began cutting a strong-smelling plant.
The girls waited.
It wasn't the first time Alice had done this.
Along the way, Alice constantly stopped whenever she saw something that could be used in her cooking.
Although not all the knowledge she had could be used, since there are things in this world that didn't exist in her original world, thanks to some books Caleb gave her and she studied them—mostly about botany and some cookbooks.
Through the books, she was able to recognize various plants and trees.
"She's really dedicated." Helena commented, adding: "Although she really likes to tease others to the point of being quite annoying sometimes."
On that, they agreed.
Even Erza, whom Alice didn't dare to tease at first, after getting to know her, ended up being one of Alice's targets.
The only one who was never really teased was Harribel.
But it's not like Alice was particularly wanting to tease everyone, she simply couldn't resist when she had the chance to tease someone and stay silent. It's like an itch that won't stop itching until it's scratched.
After gathering the plants and storing them in a Backpack, Alice murmured: "I'm happy to be able to recognize some, but there are many I don't know. Caleb really could give me more books..."
"Maybe he'll do that when we go to the next island." Saeko said.
Looking at her surprised, Alice asked: "Did I say that out loud? Yes, you're right, I can't expect too much, since we're on an island that's stuck in the time of the dinosaurs, but precisely because of that, I wished I could recognize even more things and..."
She went back to talking to herself while placing her index finger near her mouth.
"There she goes again~" Helena laughed a little.
**
It's amazing the miracle a big marshmallow can do.
After comforting Inoue, she fell asleep while hugging him.
Her sleeping face, although she sometimes furrowed her brow, between her eyebrows was no longer so wrinkled.
"Baymax, bring her with me to the room." Caleb whispered.
Baymax nodded, picking Inoue up in his arms.
The room he was going to leave Inoue in was the same room as Helena and Erza.
The room was designed with three single-bed divisions.
Although there were no doors separating them, there were walls that at least gave them a bit of privacy.
Baymax tried to place Inoue on the bed as he sat down, but she clung to him and didn't want to let go.
"Baymax, stay with her here." Caleb said in a low voice.
With one hand, he gave a signal of "Okay."
**
In the forest, Helena was the one who attacked this time when a Sabertooth Tiger attacked them.
With her incredibly flexible body, she moved in a way that would make a snake jealous.
When she dodged the Sabertooth that charged at her with a roar and its sharp claw, Helena simply stretched out her hand and a powerful punch struck the Sabertooth's face, sending it spinning through the air.
"Boom!"
The Sabertooth's body crashed into a tree, breaking the tree in the process and continued moving forward until its body hit a rocky boulder.
With a stretchy sound, her arm returned to normal and Helena looked at her own fist.
'My strength has increased a lot.' She thought.
Before, she already had superhuman strength, but since she arrived and started training Haki, especially in the Gravity Machine, her physical strength improved greatly.
"What do we do with this Sabertooth?" She asked.
"I want to turn it into a coat." Alice replied, her eyes sparkling a little.
"No, a rug might be better." Erza responded thoughtfully.
"Its teeth are tough, they didn't even break with Helena's punch, maybe they could be turned into scalpels?" Shizuka asked.
"Well, Caleb-sama has a convenient ability that can shape whatever he touches." Saeko commented.
"So, scalpel and rug?" Helena asked.
Meanwhile, the Sabertooth that hadn't died yet struggled to get up while its entire body trembled violently.
If the Sabertooth could speak, maybe it would say something like: 'I want my mommy! These women are scary!'
**
Caleb, who was in the Gravity Machine, made a great effort to walk while using Conqueror's Haki to surround his body.
The gravity at 20 times was too much for him, and he felt it in his bones.
After a few minutes, he couldn't take it anymore and reduced it to 15.
Although it was still hard, it was manageable.
His strikes were slow, but precise.
With every strike he made in the air, he imagined someone in front of him.
As he got used to it, the 15-times gravity began to affect him less than before, though he still couldn't move very fast.
...
Minutes later, he was drenched in sweat as he returned the machine's gravity back to gravity level 1.
Coming out, he looked at the ship that was surrounded by wooden logs to keep it balanced.
Seeing no more reason to keep the ship outside, since the mansion he created had everything they needed, after confirming no one was inside, he stored it in his D-Dial.
The tree trunks that were once used to keep the ship balanced, he simply took and began to cut into firewood for their baths.
While he did this, he opened his status and saw that he still had 25 GP left.
'I don't plan on pulling gacha for a while.' He thought: 'At the moment, I'll prioritize the evolution and coordination of this team.'
Basically, he had everything he needed—whether doctor, cook—and even though he wasn't a genius in navigation, he could manage.
Before wanting to pull more gacha, he would first prioritize teaching Haki to them, even Baymax if possible... And staying on this island until he completely assimilated Jigoro Kuwajima.
In Progress:
[Jigoro Kuwajima 91%]
[Aquaman 69%]
[Shirai Kuroko 61%]
'Almost there.' He thought.