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Evening in Nagasaki. The sun was crimson and it's light painted the city red. A pleasant and warm atmosphere extends all over the mainland of the Japanese Empire.
People getting out of work, students finishing their lessons, and the various restaurants were full of people, relaxing after the day.
The Nagasaki Central Hospital was a little bit more lively than usual. With people finishing with their jobs, some come to visit friends or family. Bringing gifts, stories about their daily lives, and warm feelings for those who are stuck to their beds.
Even if the patients cannot leave the hospital at this moment, as long as they have a connection to the world through someone, returning to it is always a possibility.
In one of the white rooms, Honoka awakens from a dream, a pleasant one at that. The girl's face carries a certain calm in it as if she has been reminiscing about a time long gone by. Something that she cannot return to, but that does not change, how nostalgic those times are for the girl.
But as soon as she realizes that what she has been seeing was just a very, very distant memory, her face becomes tired. The refreshing look she had completely gone from Honoka's visage. Some would wonder how can a memory an individual treasured become something despicable and despised.
Because the meaning changed. As all things do, even a pleasant memory can change.
Honoka's room was full of various gifts that the many people who visited her bought. Classmates, teachers, friends, admirers, and other people from very different walks of life visit the girl.
Many she knows personally, Honoka's large circle of acquaintances surprises many. Other visitors are people who know of the girl, some being influential individuals.
All of them came to wish her to recover from her wounds and defeat.
The girl was very well known and respected. There is nothing surprising that the masses would wish for Honoka to recover as quickly as possible.
It seems that the wishes of all those people will be granted, as Honoka made an impossible recovery. None of the supposedly damaged organs, that were putting the girl into a critical condition, were in a state as expected. All of them seemingly untouched. Just before they planned to perform the laser surgery, she was already in an impossibly good condition. Like her grave wounds have never happened.
Almost as if a miracle happened. A miracle that defied logic. Few knew the true nature of her recovery.
But it's still a recovery. And her release from the hospital will be much, much quicker than expected.
The door handle begins to turn as someone makes their way into the room.
Honoka already knew who had come to visit her. Out of the many visitors, he comes here every day.
"Hey, I came to visit you again." A familiar voice says as the door to the room opens. "I bought some fruits for you, can't imagine hospital food being very good, so some fruits should be tasty and healthy."
"That was quick Takeshi, you came sooner than I expected." The school was supposed to only end about an hour ago, and while Takashi was always coming to visit Honoka after school, this was a bit too quick.
He was still in his school uniform with his bag in one hand and groceries in the other. Making it apparent that the first thing he did was to buy something for Honoka. The Central Hospital was far away from the port to where the students are ferried from Gunkanjima Academy.
Which means Takeshi was very quick in how he got here.
This was nothing surprising to Honoka, Takeshi was like this since long ago. Always earnest and dedicated about whatever or whoever he took interest in.
Maybe a bit too dedicated. Especially when it relates to Honoka.
"I've finished up everything as quick as possible with the student council. So, don't worry about that, just keep resting." His voice sounded as fresh as always, no tiredness was within it.
A person who made his way to the hospital from the Nagasaki port should be much more tired. Even a Superhuman would be at least a bit more winded at running that distance.
Takeshi made his way to the side of Honoka's bed and sat down on a small chair. Reaching for the nearby cupboard Takeshi pulled out a plate and a knife.
"I'm coming back to school on Monday, you already know that. Honestly, why are you so insistent on visiting me every day."
"Because as of recent I don't get to see you in such a vulnerable state." Takeshi said as he reached into the bag and pulled out an apple. "Can't you just let me enjoy taking care of you for once in a while."
Takeshi started to peel the skin of the apple while talking. It was obvious that he was not used to doing this. Takeshi was holding both the apple and knife awkwardly, slicing off not only the skin but also the apple's interior. And being careful with his Superhuman strength was another necessity, otherwise, Takeshi would crush the apple with his fingers by accident.
Still, his enthusiasm was plain to see for Honoka, Takeshi was really into this whole 'taking care of someone' thing.
"So, you're probably going to visit me tomorrow again, even though that's my final day here?" Honoka never could understand how her friend was thinking.
Takeshi reacted as always, with complete determination and disregard for the opinion of others.
"Well visiting hours are longer on the weekend so I'm going to spend more time with you than usual. Plus…" He looked to the multiple flowers, get well cards and other presents. There was a huge amount of them all around the room. "…your fans visiting is probably wearing you out, more than me being here."
There was no denying that many people came to see how Honoka is doing. All came to give her the best encouragement they could. Without a doubt, most had good intentions in mind.
But the girl had to admit that it was tiring to constantly be visited, not only by her acquaintances but also people she was not familiar with at all.
"You don't need to go out of your way for me. The doctors said that there's nothing wrong with my body and you have better things to do than come to the hospital every day. Just do what you want, don't concern yourself with me."
It's not to say that she found it annoying. Honoka only wanted Takeshi to be more selfish from time to time.
"I am doing what I want, my friend is in the hospital so it's only natural that I'd visit you. Consider this as paying me back for taking care of all the student council stuff."
"Okay if you put it like that." Honoka had to wonder why Takeshi had stubborn about the most pointless of things.
He's been no different when both of them were kids. If Honoka did not know any better, she'd think Takeshi might have a crush on her, since he was really persistent about spending time together.
For a while they sat in pleasant silence, Honoka was looking into her phone while Takeshi did his best to clean the apple.
"Oh yeah, I saw Malan-san on my way here." As if remembering something the boy spoke up. "Looks like she came to visit you."
Both Takeshi and Honoka only met the other transfer student recently. So, they were not very familiar with her.
"Malan-san? Here?"
"Yeah in the hospital, she came to visit you too. Malan-san said you were asleep, so she didn't want to disturb you. Also, she's the one who actually bought all of this." Takeshi gestures to the grocery bag with the fruits.
So Elize was the one who bought the fruit, well that would somewhat explain why Takeshi got to the hospital so fast.
Now how did Elize get here so quickly was another question?
"It looks like she came to visit while I was still asleep. I'll have to thank her for the fruit later."
They don't really know each other well, but Elize was there to help Honoka after her duel with 'Harumi'. So, Takeshi seemed to take a liking to her.
Honoka appreciated the girl's help. Even if they were not very well acquainted, although Honoka and Takeshi hoped that they could become friends with Elize.
Now that Honoka was reminded of the duel, there was something she needed to confirm.
"Takeshi, I need you to tell me something."
"Hmmm?"
"What has happened since I've been hospitalized."
"What do you mean?"
Takeshi stopped pealing the apple, this was something he didn't want to talk about.
It probably came from a place of concern rather than discomfort.
"Takeshi." Honoka just needed to push a bit more.
"…Do you really need to be concerned with your duties as the student council president right now? You're in the hospital, so take a rest."
"Takeshi."
The boy sighs at Honoka's persistence.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to worry." He pauses for a bit. "You know about Yuta's… murder already."
"Yes, it was the talk of the net. All the news agencies were covering it from multiple angles. And the various net forums were speculating about the details of what happened." Honoka was confined to her bed. Even if she's completely healthy she still was not allowed to move from her spot. The doctors were still concerned about the girl, her recovery notwithstanding. "But I want to know what exactly the-"
"You want to know what this 'Harumi' was up to while you've been gone." Takeshi interrupts Honoka and pauses for a bit. She could tell that Takeshi did not take a liking to the transfer student, his tone was unusually cold and distant. "Surprisingly, nothing much or at the very least nothing comparable to Yuta's murder."
"Meaning."
"Exactly that, nothing major happened. She's been involved in a couple of 'minor' incidents while you were gone."
"Tell me everything you know."
"Everything I know. Well…" He paused for a second. "Yesterday this 'Harumi' broke one of her classmate's arms. No, not broke more like she twisted his shoulder. His muscle tissue has been ripped apart and his bone has been… disjointed." A pun, and bad joke on Takeshi's part. But after seeing Honoka's face he returned to being serious. "It looks like he lost that arm permanently. The student's name is Shigenobu Makoto. Since he can't use his arm anymore, Makoto-kun will drop out of school and go back home."
"Does he-"
"No." Takeshi already knew what she wanted to know. "He's family is wealthy, so you don't need to worry about him being in Gunkanjima due to a government-sponsored scholarship."
Hearing that Honoka relaxed, it looks like the student's family won't need to worry about losing an important source of income.
"Thank goodness."
That information really did help the girl to relax.
"Today there was another incident, but not as serious as the previous ones." Takeshi paused for a second and scratched his cheek. "There was a… panic in the cafeteria today."
… Something about that did not sound right.
"What do you mean?"
Honoka needed to be sure of what exactly happened.
"You know how the cafeteria is during the lunch breaks, how hard it's to actually get in there. With the sudden increase in enrolment this year it only got worse. Today was a bit different, the cafeteria was completely empty."
"That's strange." Honoka could only agree. "You know what happened?"
"I wasn't there myself but someone I know was."
"Was that Harumi's fault?" Honoka could not imagine her acting like that.
"Yes. According to my friend, Harumi was threatening everyone because she was hungry. That's something I have a hard time imagining." The situation sounded too unreal to actually happen.
"Anything else?"
"Just one more thing. I went to the cafeteria to ask around after everything died down. One of the cafeteria staff said she saw someone who matched Harumi's description with another student."
"…Another student…"
"Yeah, the other person was a male student. They bought two portions of something and then left. That's all she told."
"..." It didn't take long for Honoka to put two and two together. "…I see…"
That girl would never do something without someone pushing her to act.
Someone was egging her on, it had to be 'him'. No one would be insane enough to approach that girl.
Only 'him'.
"Honoka, your making that faces again…" Takeshi spoke up.
"Huh?"
He was staring at her with a very tired look.
Because the boy was not sure what was even making her act like this.
Takeshi understands 'who' was causing this but not 'why'. Even though Takeshi knew Honoka since they were kids, he did not understand why. There was not enough context for Takeshi to have a solid understanding. To him, Honoka's strange behavior just came out of nowhere.
Now he seemed to start connecting dots together.
"Can I ask something now?" Takeshi spoke up. "It's related to the transfer student and a friend of mine."
Honoka stayed frozen. She understood about who Takeshi was talking about, and disliked that he considered 'him' a friend.
"I remember how you reacted when we met Kaito-kun for the first time at the start of the school year. That wasn't like you, to react so violently as you did. And then there's the whole duel with that girl. I don't understand what's making you like this."
Honoka stayed quiet.
"Are those two somehow related to you. Ever since Kaito-kun transferred in you've been acting strange from time to time. When you heard that someone named Harumi was coming to our school, your face changed for a second. Even if no one else noticed, I could tell, you were panicked. Is there some kind of relation between the three of you? Could there be a relation to what happened back home?"
What could be making Honoka act as strange as she does. Takeshi wanted to know that. He didn't like being kept in the dark.
"…It's not related, it's just…" Honoka's voice was weak.
"Then if that's the case why did-" Takeshi was about to say something relating to the transfer student and the duel.
"…" Now her body began to shake, and she became pale.
Seeing her like this brought no pleasure to him so he stopped.
Takeshi only let out a small sigh, he did not intend to push Honoka into a corner, but it looked like that's what happened. He was curious, very curious but not so much that Takeshi wanted to hurt Honoka.
It's something that will have to wait. And Takeshi is very patient when he needs to be.
"Fine you don't need to tell me now. I can wait. But I expect you to tell me someday." With that, he finished the interrogation. "Here." He says as he gives the plate with the clumsily sliced apples. "Eat it and get healthy again, miss student council president."
"Sorry." Honoka did not take the plate and just spoke meekly.
Internally Takeshi cursed himself.
"Hmmm, for what?" He needed to get rid of this unpleasant atmosphere.
"Bringing down the mood."
Takeshi of course was prepared for this. Just in case.
"…" And grinned a little. "Then I guess some good news are in order."
Takeshi reached into his pocket pulling out two slips and handing one to Honoka.
"What's this."
The boy only laughed in response.
"You forgot? Even though you're the one who forced me to do this."
"What are you talking about?"
"Remember the contest I entered a couple of months ago? The one you really wanted to win." Takeshi was honestly a bit surprised. "You're the number one fan of the adventures Haruaki and his gang have."
"So, you mean…" She started to fidget excitedly.
"Yeah, I managed to win the tickets at from RabuRabu Rangers contest." Takeshi glanced at the hairpin in Honoka's hair.
"You really won?"
"You got the proof in your hands if you don't believe that, then there's nothing I can really do anymore."
"I see so you've won." Honoka was doing her best to contain the excitement. But her energetic leg wiggling did that poorly.
"Yep and we're going to go and watch it together next week. So, cheer up and stop blaming yourself for every little thing you 'think' might be your fault."
"Alright." At this point, it was difficult for her not to feel somewhat relieved, mostly thanks to Takeshi.
"Then we're good, so stop overthinking stuff. Here have an orange it's good for you."
Takeshi put the peeled orange on the girl's plate. It looks like he had much less difficulty removing the skin than with the apple.
Honoka started to eat the orange, enjoying the peace that surrounded her.
Takeshi turned towards the window, staring at the landscape while patiently waiting for the girl to finish eating. His thought probably concerned Honoka and the new arrival at the school. And what are the implications of all the recent events? But soon enough he was looking at the landscape without thinking anything.
Honoka continued to eat the fruit on the plate. Considering her situation.
For these pleasant times to continue she needs to make ready.
The girl enjoyed this peace and had hope for what future awaited her. Graduating school, serving her time in the military, finding a mundane job in civil society, and retiring to live a peaceful mundane life. And for this to become a reality, some things need to be done.
Thus, Honoka needs to go back as quickly as possible and make ready for what is to come. She can't do much, but she has to try.
Meeting that girl again reminded Honoka that some things are beyond any logic. That girl is a force of nature. Something that cannot be explained or justified.
To overcome her, she needs to steel her body.
Meeting 'him' again reminded of what he lacks. The person she knew does not exist anymore or maybe he never did. Meeting 'him' again also made her realize how twisted he has become in such a short amount of time, and how much lower he will fall.
To overcome him, she needs to steel her mind.
Even if she knows that nothing can be changed, Honoka at the very least needs to be there.
And maybe a miracle will happen.
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