In Sugawara's home, Sugawara focuses on a little machine he is currently constructing while Haru watches excitedly.
Sugawara "Pliers."
Haru "Pliers."
Sugawara puts his hand out as Haru quickly hands him the tool he asked for.
Sugawara "Flathead."
Haru "Flathead!"
He repeats the action with a smile on his face as Sugawara screws something in its back before closing the panel on the small machine and sitting it upright.
Sugawara "There we go! I finished it. A little guy to pass the butter to everyone at the table."
The machine turns on as it looks around. It is small, has one wheel for a means of transportation and a square body with a camera lens on the front to see.
Haru "Hey little guy! Could you pass me the tray of butter?"
He asks politely as the machine looks over to the butter dish in the center of the table. It rolls over and puts its hands under the tray and pushes it forward towards Haru. He laughs as Sugawara smiles proudly. It stops once the dish is in front of Haru before falling over.
Sugawara "I guess he only had enough energy for that task."
Haru "He's earned a rest."
Suddenly, Shiori comes rushing into the room with the vile in hand. They both look concerned and get up.
Haru "Shiori! How's Hikigaya doing? Is he better?"
Shiori shakes her head. Haru looks worried as Sugawara notices the vile.
Sugawara "What's that?"
Shiori "It might just be the cure to Hikigaya's condition."
She says with a slight smile as Sugawara stares at it.
Sugawara "Wait, you want me to make it?"
He asks, worried after Shiori explained what she needed to for him to understand the situation.
Sugawara "No way! This is way beyond my field of expertise."
Shiori "You're the only one I know who's capable of doing this! I know this is asking a lot but you have to at least try."
She asks with begging eyes. Sugawara sweats and looks worried as Haru takes his hand.
Haru "Suga, our friend needs your help right now. I've seen what you can do. I know you can do it."
He gives him a soft yet still worried smile.
Shiori "Whatever you need, I can get it. Just please, save Hikigaya."
Sugawara exhales, concerned.
Sugawara "I'll try my best."
He says with a slight smile.
Shiori "Thank you."
Over the next few days, Sugawara works restlessly as Hikigaya worsens in the hospital. Sugawara spins a vile while checking a test cure on his blood under a microscope. It sets for a moment before the blood cells begin to break down. Sugawara falls back in his chair with a frustrated look as the computer next to him reads 'Failure.' Shiori sits next to Hikigaya as he coughs up more blood and strains to catch his breath. Sugawara reads a computer with a breakdown of the serum before applying different compounds via the computer and an external machine adds the amount to the serum before spinning it. The bright green serum changes to a purple color before he adds it to a blood sample. The test runs before the cells once again break down and the computer reads 'Failure.' He gets angry before trying a different set. Again, failure. He tries again before getting another failure. Over and over again his tests come back as failures. Sugawara stares at the screen for a moment, hopelessly, before standing up. He steps away and looks at the machine he made for the butter dish. He stares at it before getting angry and grabbing a chair from the table and smashing it against the wall. He then drops to his knees and punches the ground until it breaks beneath his fist and blood drips from his hand. He stops after a moment as tears begin to fall.
Sugawara "I can't do it… The one time in my life my friends need me and I can't do it… Hikigaya is going to die because of me…"
He leans back on his knees and leans his head back while catching his breath.
Sugawara "What am I missing? I've broken it all down and built it back up again over and over. I've tried every possible configuration, the structure should work. It should reset the cells back to their original state while removing the mutation effect so why doesn't it complete the cycle?.."
He asks himself with a frustrated look. He then looks over at the butter machine once again. He stares for a moment before his eyes grow wide. He sits back in his chair, a bandage now over his injured hand, and quickly gets to work. He creates a simulation run with the configuration of the manipulated serum he made and runs one final test. The computer calculates before reaching 100% and flashing success. He stands up with a surprised look.
Sugawara "I did it…"
He smiles before grabbing the turquoise colored serum from the stand and rushing out of the building. In the hospital, Shiori lays her head on Hikigaya's lap as tears fall from her eyes. Hikigaya looks worse than ever but is still barely holding on.
Shiori "Hikigaya… please… don't die… I… I love you…"
She says softly as Hamasaki steps into the room with a worried look.
Hamasaki "Shiori… Why don't you go get some air? I'll watch him, just for a little bit."
She says with a soft hand on her back. Shiori gets up and nods softly while wiping her tears away. She puts on her jacket and steps outside. It's currently late at night as she walks into the park area of the hospital. She walks a bit away from the building with her head lowered before stopping on the sidewalk. She clenches her fists a bit before crouching down and crying into her hands. She cries for a moment as Sugawara rushes up the path. He stops and looks at Shiori in the park before running her way.
Sugawara "Shiori! Shiori!"
He calls to her. Shiori turns around quickly with a surprised look.
Shiori "Sugawara?"
Sugawara "Shiori, I got it! I figured it out!"
She looks shocked before smiling.
Shiori "You did? Let's go give it to him then!"
Sugawara "We can't. It's not finished."
She stops and looks at him, confused.
Shiori "What do you mean?"
Sugawara "Well, at first, I was looking at the modified serum as a cure, a vaccine or sorts. Something that must be compositional, it must've been the construct which would fix him but I was wrong. What it really is, is a power source! I don't think the scientists who made it realized they made a form of biological power but in order to achieve the threshold needed to be self sufficient, it needed more so it sucked the life out of the body's cells to give it more, the mutations and such were only byproducts of the serum activating. It's quite-"
Shiori "Sugawara. Just tell me what you need."
She says with a frustrated tone as he smiles, worn out and tired.
Sugawara "Power. I need lots of power, more than a human body would produce in its lifetime. The cure serum needs to be powered up to achieve its goal."
Shiori "If that's all it'll take then stand back."
Her eyes start to glow as she gets a determined look. Sugawara quickly puts the vile on the grass and rushes back as Shiori lifts her arms into the air. Clouds swirl in the sky as smaller bolts of lightning spurt out. She yells before swinging her arms down as a tremendously large lightning bolt blasts from the sky and into the vile on the ground. Sugawara covers his eyes and closes one eye from the loud boom and bright light. The vile filled with a turquoise liquid begins to change to a blue color. After a moment, Shiori stops and pants before stumbling back a bit, worn out from the technique. Sugawara slowly approaches the burned area where the vile was. He looks at it as it glows a bright color with the blue liquid inside. He smiles satisfactorily.
Sugawara "It's ready."
Shiori smiles warmly as they rush their way back inside. Asami, Takanou, and Riku look at them concerned as they rush to his room. Hamasaki even steps outside with them.
Takanou "What was that noise?"
Hamasaki "It sounded like super close thunder."
Shiori "Everything's okay."
She says with a smile as the two of them rush past the family and into Hikigaya's room. They look confused as Shiori and Sugawara rush to Hikigaya's side.
Shiori "What do we do? Does he drink it?"
Sugawara "No, it needs to be injected into him."
Shiori quickly looks through the drawers in the room and finds an empty syringe. She rushes back and Sugawara takes it before filling it with the cure serum. Shiori takes the now almost empty vile as Sugawara injects the cure into Hikigaya's arm. The family comes in with concerned and confused looks. Sugawara steps back once the cure is completely injected. He stands next to Shiori as they both stare, waiting.
Shiori "How long until the cure takes effect?"
Sugawara "It should start working now."
He says softly as the black veins along Hikigaya's neck and arms begin to fade. Shiori smiles as he begins to open his eyes.
Shiori "Hikigaya?.."
She asks softly. He looks over at her a bit before smiling.
Hikigaya "Oh, hey you guys."
Shiori begins crying as the others cry too with joy filled eyes.
Hikigaya "I hope I didn't cause you all too much trouble."
He says softly. Shiori cries while laughing a bit.
Shiori "You idiot…"
He smiles as Sugawara collapses to his knees in relief.
Sugawara "It really worked…"
He says with a sigh before suddenly being grabbed into a hug. Asami hugs him tightly on her knees while crying.
Asami "Thank you…"
Sugawara is surprised but blushes a bit and nods.
Riku "Big bro!"
He says while rushing to the bed and jumping on him. Hikigaya winces in pain before smiling a bit.
Riku "You made me so scared! I didn't want to lose another one!"
Hikigaya "I'm sorry for scaring you."
Takanou "Okay Riku, let's give him some time to recover."
He says while taking him off of Hikigaya. Takanou looks at Hikigaya with relieved eyes.
Takanou "We're so glad you're okay."
The others step back as Shiori approaches him. Her head is lowered as she blushes a bit. Hikigaya smiles.
Hikigaya "Tears for me?"
Shiori "Shut up."
She says softly while smiling a bit and taking his hand in hers. They all gather around as they finally find the chance to relax as Hikigaya recovers back to normal.