"Man... Sleeping is sooo good. I wish I'd never wake up again", a mumble.
"I can help you with that if you want. I will make sure it doesn't hurt", someone quipped.
Hayato opened his eyes immediately as his heart throbbed. Just then did he realize that he was talking while sleeping. He was half-conscious when he did so, probably going to fall asleep again as soon as he turned to the side while mumbling comfortably. Unfortunately for him, someone disturbed his sleeping.
This someone was Hina, of course.
For some reason, as the months went by and Hayato began to spend more and more time lying on his bed to recover from his injuries, Hina created the habit of staying there with him frequently. Hayato had accepted that it was only because she did not have anything better to do, so it was more productive to kill time taking care of him or just keep him company. So, waking up and seeing Hina was not an unusual sight for him.
However, what really pulled him out of his sleep was the fact that this mute girl just talked!
"H-How did you do that!?" he exclaimed, only to moan in pain while holding his sides. He couldn't talk so loud or breathe so heavily due to his injuries.
'Damn it... I forgot that I just got out of intense sparring.'
Anyway, that still didn't make Hayato's shock vanish. His heart slammed his chest like a demolition ball. He stared at Hina expectantly, eyes sparkling.
Hina seemed troubled and agitated after being inquired like that. She expected to see a lot of different reactions from Hayato about it, but not one as excited.
"C-Can you talk again!? I would like to see it with my own eyes... I-I mean, hear with own ears."
Hina blushed and shook her head while waving both hands in front of her body. She was clearly flustered.
"Ok, ok. No need to be shy! I will turn to the other side, then. You can talk when..."
Hayato turned his head, looking toward the door of his bedroom, only to see Daichi standing there with a smirk on his face.
The boy's dizzy mind connected the dots and reproduced the voice he heard in his sleep again. Since he was half-conscious before, the only thing he remembered once waking up was the phrase said to him, but not the person's voice. However, on second thought...
"You were the one who said that, weren't you?" Hayato said, half-heartedly.
"Of course not. This mute girl was so worried about you that, with the power of friendship and love, she suddenly became able to speak! What a miracle! That's surely one of those things that happens in beautiful stories such as ours, right? You should have heard it when she screamed your name desperately once you fell to the ground unconscious. It was moving, man."
Hayato sighed and hid his face with both hands, feeling embarrassed.
"Quit the bullshit, old man. Really."
Daichi laughed at Hayato's face for some seconds before leaving the bedroom with no more. Apparently, he just went upstairs to pester him and improve his own mood. Nothing really important.
Hayato shook his head, but didn't pursue the matter. Daichi was like that, after all. During the few months that Hayato spent with him, many similar episodes happened. The old man was a cunning fox and always knew the right time to act and fool others. That seemed to be his hobby or something.
Now, his heart was beating normally again. The adrenaline causing his excitement and driving his body to act had faded away, leaving now only the exhaustion and soreness of his muscles and broken bones.
Hayato fell to the bed again, still feeling uncomfortable due to the pain. He would only feel better once he got to fall asleep, but that was a very hard task to do when you couldn't move at all, and even at rest his body throbbed in pain.
"Sorry for getting so excited over nothing", he chuckled at himself. "Sometimes I overreact to things I shouldn't. But, you know, I got truly happy just by thinking that your voice somehow returned. Not that there is something wrong with you being mute, but I thought you would be happy too."
Hina stared at him for a few seconds with a slight frown. Then, she pursed her lips as she lowered her head to hide her now reddish face.
Hayato was not looking at her as he didn't expect a response. Hina had been avoiding talking to him too much during the past few months.
The boy had in mind that, despite getting stronger and being in another world, he couldn't change the fact that he was not too charming and couldn't keep a conversation interesting enough to interact with others for long periods of time. So, it wouldn't be a surprise if Hina was just tired of his presence.
Thus, he stopped waiting for answers to his comments as she often just ignored him.
However, Hayato felt her touch his left hand. He turned at breakneck speed, only to face a blushed Hina holding his hand with both her small hands and bringing it toward her face. She leaned her head forward and touched Hayato's hand on her forehead, her face getting redder every second.
Then, she looked at him as if waiting for something, probably the confirmation that he comprehended.
"T-That must be the way you show your gratitude, right? I don't know what did I do to deserve this, but... You are welcome. It's my pleasure."
'I didn't know whether I should just say "You are welcome" or "It's my pleasure" so I said both. Is that unbecoming or strange?'
Contrary to his pessimistic thoughts, Hina smiled sweetly and nodded her head.
"Hm!" she moaned happily.
Before letting go of his hand, she caressed it for a moment, still holding her smile. Now, Hayato's hands were way rougher. When she noticed what she was doing, though, she quickly let go of it.
Hayato understood to some extent why she got so happy when he figured out easily what she had to say, but he found it rather intense.
'Well, I will hold onto the thought of not being charming enough to keep her around... but sometimes I might do it right. I don't really know.'
A minute of awkward silence followed after their short exchange. Hayato was happy with only that, though. They hadn't been able to talk casually, after all. She would only try to communicate with him when necessary.
"You know, I began to fear that I might have done something wrong. I-I mean, only because I could talk casually with you now doesn't mean I didn't do... What I want to say is, if I messed up, I apologize. I am no good at interacting with others. I might have said something wrong."
Hina pursed her lips and moved both hands as if she was about to gesture in some way. However, she interrupted herself. Her eyes darted around and her brows furrowed in a slightly sad expression.
Finally, she shook her head, denying it.
"So... I didn't do anything wrong?"
"Hm."
"Something else is keeping you away, then... Am I boring or something?"
"Hm-hmm..." she shook her head negatively again.
'It's kinda cute how she only can articulate these small sounds. I wonder what happened with her vocal cords.'
Suddenly, something came up in his mind. He gulped.
'It's been a while since I don't think about our situation this way, but...'
"Hmm, is this... Daichi? Is he part of the reason, somehow? Or the reason itself?"
For some reason, Hayato felt rather uneasy about bringing up the subject. It was a mix of guilt with hesitation. Maybe, after all these months sparring and interacting with others directly, Hayato grew used to Daichi's presence, as long as it was the funny and sarcastic Daichi.
Nonetheless, Hayato knew that Daichi had another side to his personality that was completely different from the one he showed to them. At times, the boy would notice him acting in such a way, but it was so rare that he assumed that said side was not the real Daichi, but a rather distorted version.
Hayato was not the only one that felt hesitant when talking about Daichi. Hina also stiffened and avoided looking at his eyes.
'Damn it, I made the conversation awkward again. I wish I could just go back in time and stay with my mouth shut!'
Hayato sighed.
"You don't need to tell me if it is really something so serious. I have in mind that you and Daichi have your own business to take care of. It's not like we are friends or anything, so I have nothing to do with your secrets."
When Hayato stated that they were not friends, Hina seemed to get quite flustered. She shook her head sharply, looking around.
She often would dart her eyes around nervously when she didn't know how to communicate about something. She got anxious and ended up grumpy and sulking around the house. Hayato always tried to help her when that was the case.
"What is it?"
Hina pouted, finally staring into his eyes. Then, she leaned and kissed him on the cheek.
Quickly, she left the room with a beetroot face.
Hayato's cheeks slowly reddened and his heart throbbed.
'Does that mean that... we are friends, after all? Is that it?'
Hayato couldn't fall asleep as fast as before anymore.