He had hoped that introductions would make things more clear to him, but they had only made these three men more confusing and painful. Judging by the complete and utter shocked silence in the room as well, he suspected that his words had caused their own measure of discord. Had he said too much? It had been a very long time since he could remember having a conversation with a Hero.

Yet, as the grey image came forward to the bedside, he managed to squint up a better view of the man who had uttered a single confirming but damning word as well. He was unable to move, and his breath came to him painfully as he desperately attempted to reasonably accept the information in his brain.

Finally, he managed to get his thickened tongue to stop adhering to the roof of his healing mouth. His shock made his voice gruff and wheezy. "You're all... far older then I recall," he mumbled, staring pointedly at the man directly in front of him, his son. "How is... this possible? You..." he stared at the grey outline, "were fifteen... Kotetsu was surely no older than twelve. Barnaby... I'm sorry, but you were probably also a boy when I heard of you last."