In a secluded corner of Itogami Island, inside a hospital room belonging to the MAR Group, Nagisa Akatsuki sat blankly on a chair beside the bed.
Completely unlike her usual lively self, she looked drained and gloomy. Without saying a word, she handed the boxed meal in her hands to Kojou Akatsuki, who sat on the bed.
"Um… Nagisa?"
Kojou Akatsuki swallowed and called out to her cautiously.
"Kojou, do you need something?"
Nagisa Akatsuki glanced at him and replied flatly.
"No, it's nothing."
Frightened by her current mood, Kojou Akatsuki hurriedly denied it.
He backed down, but Nagisa Akatsuki clearly had no intention of letting it go.
Like a lit powder keg, all the frustration she'd built up from being stuck inside the MAR Group for three days without going out burst out at once.
For a lively teenage girl in the prime of her youth, being trapped in such a lifeless, prison-like place for three days was nothing short of torture.
"I can't take this anymore! Why is it that you're the one going out and messing around, but I'm the one who has to suffer for it?!"
Nagisa Akatsuki shouted at the top of her lungs. If this had been a normal hospital, someone would've rushed in to throw her out by now.
But not only did she already want to leave, the room's doors and walls were so well soundproofed that no matter how loud she yelled, it wouldn't reach the next room.
"Um… I'm really sorry, Nagisa."
Seeing her on the verge of breaking down, Kojou Akatsuki could only apologize. After all, her current situation was entirely his fault.
"Sorry? Do you think saying sorry fixes anything?"
Still fuming, Nagisa Akatsuki snapped back immediately.
"Kojou, when are you going to get better? I want to go outside. I want fresh air, warm sunlight, to go back to school and see my friends… I want to see Cid-nii-san."
After venting for a while, she seemed to realize complaining wouldn't change anything and finally asked the question that mattered.
"Well… probably a few days."
After sensing the state of the Beast Vassal inside his body, Kojou Akatsuki gave a vague answer.
"One day?"
Faced with Nagisa Akatsuki's hopeful gaze, Kojou Akatsuki awkwardly looked away.
Seeing that, Nagisa Akatsuki understood her wishful thinking wasn't going to come true. She was about to say more when she suddenly sneezed.
"Ah-choo! No, this won't do. Kojou, it's way too cold in here. I'm going back to put on another layer."
With that, Nagisa Akatsuki left the room. A few minutes later, she returned, already wearing a padded jacket with two coats on top of it, and now she had added an extra down jacket as well.
"Alright, let's continue."
After sitting back down, Nagisa Akatsuki's voice came out muffled, buried under layers of thick clothing.
"Kojou, it looks like you're not going to fully recover by tomorrow. So can you talk to Mimori or Gajou and ask them to let me go out for a bit? If I stay here any longer, I'm seriously going to lose it."
"I… I don't think that's possible."
Kojou Akatsuki gave another hesitant, guilty-sounding refusal.
"Why not? What Mimori said about siblings staying together helping you recover faster is obviously a lie. We grew up together, so how would I not know something like that?"
Nagisa Akatsuki's voice was already tinged with tears. She was truly on the verge of breaking down.
Over the past three days, she had to sleep alone at night in this lifeless place with no sign of anyone around. During the day, she stayed in Kojou Akatsuki's hospital room, which felt like a freezer, helping him recover faster.
She had no idea whether Kojou Akatsuki actually needed treatment, but she definitely felt like she was the one about to fall ill.
Right now, all she felt was regret. Why had she come to visit Kojou out of boredom three days ago? If she had not come, no one would have realized that staying by his side could help with his recovery.
She had originally planned to force her way out. Staying for a short time was fine, but being trapped in a place like this for days, no different from a prison, would really kill her.
But after her parents, Gajou Akatsuki and Mimori Akatsuki, learned about it, they called her and specifically told her to stay by Kojou Akatsuki's side for the next few days and not leave MAR.
In Nagisa Akatsuki's view, what that doctor said about her helping Kojou Akatsuki recover was complete nonsense. They were siblings. If that were true, they would have known about it since childhood.
"Isn't it possible that the doctor and Mimori weren't lying?"
Watching the nine Beast Vassals inside him gradually calm down because of Nagisa Akatsuki, Kojou Akatsuki replied with rare confidence.
Even though he did not understand why his Beast Vassals settled down in her presence, it was still a good thing. At least he did not have to worry about suddenly losing control and destroying Itogami Island. There was no guarantee that another Shadow would show up to stop him next time.
"I don't care whether they lied or not. I'm already at my limit. The only silver lining is that I don't have to help you wash your clothes, sheets, and blankets, Kojou."
Nagisa Akatsuki glanced at the mattress and bedding, a hint of relief flashing in her eyes.
The sheets and blankets Kojou Akatsuki was using now were already the twenty-fifth set.
According to him, when he woke up three days ago, something was wrong. Certain sensations in his lower body were completely out of his control.
"When am I ever going to be able to lea…"
"Ding-dong, ding-dong…"
The ringing of her phone cut her off. Nagisa Akatsuki took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen.
For the first time since coming here, her previously gloomy face lit up again with her usual bright and cheerful smile.
"Ah… Kojou, look, it's a call from Cid-nii-san. I'll leave you for now. I'm going outside the ward to talk with Cid-nii-san."
Without waiting for a response, Nagisa Akatsuki hurried out of the room.
"Ah… Cid, yeah, it's me. Right now I'm…"
Lying on the hospital bed, Kojou Akatsuki used his keen hearing as a Progenitor to barely catch fragments of Nagisa Akatsuki's voice and Cid's faint reply through the door. Even so, it was only scattered bits and pieces, nowhere near enough to figure out what they were talking about.
All Kojou Akatsuki knew was that when his sister came back, she was smiling.