"Mr. Weber?"
"He's awake!"
When Klaus opened his eyes, a doctor and two nurses stood next to his bed. They had a worried expression on their face as if they thought he wasn't going to wake up ever again.
In his mind, Klaus admitted that his sleep cycle was nowhere near consistent in the past few days, but even then—
"Ow, ow, ow!" Klaus winced as he tried to sit up straight, but the doctor and nurses warned him from doing so.
"Please don't move your body," said the doctor as amicably as possible. "Your wound is far from being healed. You need to rest."
The doctor insisted that Klaus should lay down, and he complied. Seeing the confused expression on the boy's face, the doctor proceeded to explain.
"You're in a hospital, Mr. Weber."
"...Huh?"
Based on the doctor's explanation, his grandmother found him groaning from pain in his room. She called for an ambulance immediately when she saw that his shirt was soaked in blood. Hearing this, Klaus could not help but wonder if anyone else he knew had heard of his condition.
And, since it was past eight o'clock already, Aoi would've gone to school without him.
"Mr. Weber, we'll check on you again in a few hours," said the doctor after he talked to the nurses. "Feel free to ask the nurses if you need anything, okay?"
"Thank you, doctor."
"Your grandmother is waiting outside. I'll talk with her for a bit and then she can visit you, alright? I just need to clarify the information she'd given me."
Klaus watched as the doctor left the room with a solemn expression. He examined the bandages wrapped around his abdomen and ran a hand over it. It was just as he had expected.
Injuries caused by a Draugr would be carried over to reality. With this information, it went without saying that he should think twice before fighting Draugrs without Brynhildr at his side.
The fact that he could get himself injured again outweighed his goal. Klaus started to doubt himself. What if his next encounter with a strong Draugr would be his last?
Why should he be risking his life like this?
Freda.
He wanted her to spill the truth about their connection in the past life.
Then again, he should just forget everything about her, right?
Freda didn't want to be involved with him, so he should stop what he was doing up until this point in his life. Why bother? His everyday life was enough for this person called Klaus Weber. Seeking excitement and sating his curiosity would only threaten to destroy it.
He relished this thought, and an awkward smile crept across his face.
"...I should go back to my normal life while I still can," he uttered softly.
A familiar, old hand touched his shoulder, and he turned to look at his right. His grandmother had a worried expression on her face as she eased the boy into a conversation.
"Thank you, Grandma. Once again, I can't express how grateful I am for being in your care."
"I don't suppose you mind telling me what happened back then?"
"...It's complicated."
"How so?" Grandma narrowed her eyes and squeezed her grandson's hand. "We don't keep secrets from each other, Klaus. We are a family."
"...I just don't know if you'll believe me."
"How can I believe you if you haven't told me anything? I'll decide if I believe your story or not."
"...Alright."
Klaus sorted his thoughts thoroughly and tried to choose the correct words when explaining to Grandma. To make the elderly believe him, he began his lengthy explanation from the first time he was pulled into the Personal Dimension. He tried wording his sentences so that Grandma could understand it, and at the end of it, she nodded.
"...It's quite an adventure for you," Grandma said after a few moments of silence.
It was apparent that Grandma was struggling to comprehend what Klaus had said. The creases on her forehead and the gesture of shaking her head were more than enough proof. Then again, Klaus didn't expect her to believe him.
If he could at least prevented her from asking how he got injured in the first place, then he had nothing to worry about afterward.
"Grandma, I have a question."
"...Is it about Aoi? If that's the case, I already left a letter on the dining table. She might come here anytime soon."
Klaus shook his head, and a faint smile appeared on his face. "I've been thinking, Grandma. If I stop trying to improve myself, then I won't end up like this again. I mean, fighting the Draugrs to get to Freda would require me to put my life on the line. I'd never thought about it much before, but I don't want to experience that pain again."
"..."
"Returning to normalcy is the best option, isn't it?" Klaus added at the end.
Grandma bit her lip and brushed her hand over Klaus's cheek. She let out a soft sigh and looked at the window. "I don't quite understand your circumstances, Klaus. If you don't want to tell me the truth, then I can't ascertain the best method for you to overcome your problem."
"Grandma, I—"
"But I can say this to you. If you don't want to do something that will hurt you, then you don't have to do it. You have the choice to turn back."
"...But if I turn back, that means I'll not be able to glean the truth."
"Is the truth worth the sacrifice you must make to get it?"
"..."
"You can weigh the means and the outcome yourself, Klaus. Is it worth it to pour so much effort into something where you're not sure whether you can get the reward or not? Think about it carefully."
"Grandma..."
"I'm sure if you gain more experience in what you're trying to do, then you can get a better grasp of what choice you want to take moving forward."
○ ○ ○
Outside Klaus's room in the hospital, Akeno Aoi bowed to the nurse who showed the way. She had hoped to come to visit Klaus sooner, but she had to wait until school had ended before she could do so. Her line of thoughts was that she was afraid that her classmates would start talking about them if she was absent as well.
After all, everyone knew how close she was to Klaus. The outcome she had predicted was inevitable.
Turning back time a bit, Nishihara Ryota was waiting for the last class to end before he entreated Aoi with a question in mind. Aoi was startled at first when she saw him approach her desk, but she managed to calm herself afterward.
"Akeno, do you where Klaus is?" asked Kitabayashi Arisu, who approached Aoi at the same time.
"Yeah, is he sick or something of the sort?" added Ryo.
Aoi looked at them with an indifferent expression and shook her head slightly. She arranged the words she wanted to say and answered their questions with a soft voice.
"He's sick, yes. I assume he won't be coming to school for the rest of the week."
Ryo and Arisu looked at each other, somewhat worried about Klaus's condition. They asked Aoi if she could tell them the specifics of Klaus's sickness, but her explanation was vague at best. Of course, they weren't satisfied with Aoi trying to keep it a secret.
"Akeno, can you please tell us about Klaus's condition? We want to know what happened to him," asked Arisu.
"I don't know much about it except for the fact that he's in the hospital. I only said what I know so far."
"Why don't we all visit him then?" proposed Arisu.
"I'll bring along a few others as well. What do you say, Akeno?"
Ryo seemed adamant in wanting to invite the others, but Aoi immediately stopped him from doing so. Confused, Ryo asked why she rejected the idea.
"If you want to visit him, you shouldn't tell the others about it," Aoi said monotonously. "I'm sure he would be bothered if everyone knows what happened to him. We should keep it a secret for now."
"I suppose that is the best course of action," agreed Arisu.
"Huh? The rest of the class should know about this."
However, Ryo didn't seem to agree with Aoi's suggestion. He thought it was unfair for the rest of the class if they kept it a secret from them. After all, they were Klaus's classmates as well. If their friend was ill, they should rush to his side and provide the necessary support for him.
This was common sense, right?
Helping a friend in need should be the option they take.
"Nishihara, I know what you're trying to say, but we ought to think about Klaus's opinion on this as well," said Arisu. "There's no one in this class that knows him more than Aoi. So, if she said that Klaus wouldn't want anyone to know about his condition, then we should respect that and go along with it."
Ryo crossed his arms and tilted his head at Arisu. "Are you sure about this? Fuyu and Mitsuko could help with his homework, you know. They helped me a bunch of times before. Those two copied notes for me when I was absent last time. How about we tell only a certain people about—"
"If that's what you're worried about, I can copy the notes while he's absent," interjected Aoi. "I've been helping him a lot of times before when we were in elementary and middle schools. There should be no problem if I do his part on his behalf."
"That's... true."
Arisu watched as Aoi singlehandedly force Ryo to accept her terms. For someone who didn't talk much in class, Aoi was quite skilled in making others feel helpless when trying to argue with her. When Ryo and Aoi had done arguing, Arisu let out a giggle, which attracted their attention.
"This is the first time I've seen you like this, Akeno," said Arisu. "When it's for Klaus's sake, you don't hold anything back."
"...He would do the same for me if I was in his place."
Hearing this, Arisu smiled a warm smile. These two were that close to each other that she somewhat felt envious of such a friendship.
"I don't doubt that one bit," Arisu said, as a part of herself believed she should befriend Aoi to get to know her better.