It had already been a day since Rhodes Island's sudden emergency mobilization.
In the end, there was only a brief period of unrest on the ship. Soon after, thanks to the efforts of Amiya, Kal'tsit, and other operators, the situation quickly settled down.
People were forgetful. Before long, they had already moved on from the incident.
As for Shirou, when he woke up and found Rosmontis sleeping while holding his head, he initially felt a bit strange. But since it was somewhat healing in its own way, he let it be.
If there was really a problem… it was that his left hand was covered in saliva. He woke up because of the stinging sensation from it.
As for whether cats bite people while sleeping… Shirou did not know. He had never raised a cat before.
After helping Rosmontis cover herself with the blanket and freeing his left hand, which had been "held hostage" for most of the day, Shirou briefly felt that his own hand was unfamiliar. But it was still his hand, and he quickly got used to it again.
Maybe his right hand had gone through something similar back then?
He walked toward the cafeteria while yawning.
It was just a passing thought, his mind was still a mess.
Stiff shoulders and neck from sleeping in an awkward position, back pain from the height difference between chair and bed, and a left hand that had been gnawed on for who knows how long.
It could be said that he was more injured now than after yesterday's mission.
In a way, the biggest enemy really was his own allies.
After eating and drinking his fill, Shirou did not forget Rosmontis and brought her a portion back.
When he returned, he saw Rosmontis still a bit dazed, while Blaze was feeding her with a tray of food.
"Shirou, you are back? I thought you abandoned Rosmontis and ran off!"
After finishing the last bite in her hand, Blaze turned around and flashed a big smile at him.
Overnight, the red mark on her head had mostly faded. Unless looked at closely, it was barely noticeable.
Still, Shirou felt that Blaze seemed slightly different compared to yesterday.
He was a bit envious. She could always maintain that kind of positive and cheerful attitude.
"I stayed here and slept overnight. I went to the cafeteria in the morning to get some food, and I did not expect you to be here first."
Shirou placed what he was carrying aside, then turned to look at Blaze and asked:
"Has a doctor come to check on her?"
"Not yet," Blaze shook her head.
"Then I will go inform the doctor first. You stay here and take care of Rosmontis. These are all meals brought for her; if you want to eat some, that is fine too."
After learning that Blaze had not yet gone to get a doctor for diagnosis, Shirou decided to notify medical staff first.
Health was the most important thing. Besides, he did not want to interrupt the two of them.
Blaze and Rosmontis felt a bit like sisters, only the "older sister" was extremely clingy, while the younger one was a bit more reserved.
It was a rather strange combination.
"Got it! Thanks for the help!"
Blaze waved at Shirou as he left, only putting her hand down after he disappeared from view.
"Little kitty, you are really well taken care of. I heard Shirou stayed here with you all night yesterday?"
Blaze picked up the food again and continued feeding Rosmontis, asking with a faint smile.
"…?"
Rosmontis took a bite of the food in Blaze's hand, then tilted her head in confusion.
She understood what Blaze meant by "well taken care of," but what exactly was that referring to?
She did not understand.
"Nothing, nothing. I just got a little jealous after seeing some photos sent by the rotating medical staff this morning."
Seeing Rosmontis's confused expression, Blaze did not explain further and simply continued feeding her.
Ahhh, the little kitty was just too cute.
While Blaze was immersed in the cuteness of her "cat-like patient," Shirou had already gone to the medical department duty station to explain Rosmontis's situation.
The person on duty was not someone he was very familiar with, but the name tag reading "Anto" was enough for him to recognize the operator.
"Operator Rosmontis has already woken up? May I ask what her mental state is like? Is she fully conscious or still a bit confused?"
After confirming Rosmontis had awakened, Anto typed on the keyboard and looked at the information displayed on the screen while asking.
"She has just woken up, but Blaze is with her. Is something wrong?"
Shirou did not understand why the other party was so cautious. These questions did not seem directly related to her condition.
"I am sorry. Rosmontis… is quite well known in the medical department, so we need to be a bit careful."
Seeing Shirou frown, Anto briefly explained, then picked up a phone and dialed a number.
"Operator Rosmontis has awakened. Please remove your white coat before coming to check on her."
"The diagnosis records show it was an unconsciousness caused by excessive Originium Arts usage. No additional equipment is needed, but we are not certain whether she is fully conscious. Even though Blaze is there, please still be careful."
After saying that, Anto put the phone back down, only to realize Shirou was still standing in front of her.
He was an unfamiliar person, and she did not know what his relationship with Rosmontis was.
She had seen many people like this—approaching with goodwill, then backing away once they saw reality.
Rubbing her temples, she thought about how to explain the situation and convince him to return to Rosmontis.
"Mr. Shirou, is it? How is Rosmontis doing?"
A slightly shorter Vulpo operator carrying a stack of documents walked over and placed them on the desk.
Shirou recognized her. It was Operator Sussurro, the one who had examined Rosmontis the previous night.
"Sussurro, you are here!"
Seeing that Sussurro seemed to know Shirou and was familiar with Rosmontis's situation, Antho felt as if her earlier worries had been unnecessary.
So embarrassing.
Watching Antho suddenly blush and start hammering the keyboard, Shirou and Susuro both tilted their heads in confusion.
Medical operators really do seem under a lot of pressure.
That was Shirou's thought.
"I will go take a look then. Please help cover for me."
Susuro did not think much about it. She removed her white coat, picked up her terminal and basic diagnostic tools, and left.
Shirou followed her.
Before leaving, he took out a small packaged snack from his pocket and placed it in front of Antho.
"Thank you for your hard work. This is a small snack from the cafeteria."
It seemed to be a limited early-morning benefit meant to encourage operators to eat breakfast, sleep early, and start the day energized.
By the time Shirou arrived, there were not many left. After Hibiscus mentioned his earlier contributions, the remaining snacks had all been given to him.
Except for the one he gave to Antho, the rest were packed into Rosmontis's meal.
Originally, he had planned to give them to Lappland, but he was sure she would not care much.
If she opened her coat, she probably had plenty of her own stock inside and would not care about such small snacks anyway.
"…Thank you."
Watching Shirou leave after casually placing the snack on her desk, that awkward feeling surfaced again.
But this time, no one was watching her, only the sound of rapid keyboard typing remained.
"Are medical operators always under this much pressure?"
Ordinary people might not hear it, but Shirou could clearly make out the sound, so he curiously asked Susuro walking ahead of him.
"It is very large," Susuro explained. "After all, there are too many injured people, and many of them are infected. Moreover, Oripathy is incurable. That means our number of patients will only increase, never decrease. On top of that, doctors can easily get caught up in disputes among infected individuals, and may themselves become infected… or lose their lives in the process."
As she spoke, Susuro slightly lowered the right side of her collar, revealing the Originium crystals beneath it.
She herself had become infected during a volunteer mission to treat infected patients.
"…Thank you for your hard work."
Listening to her, Shirou pressed his lips together and only spoke after a long pause.
"It is nothing. This is our duty. If it is convenient, please help talk more with Operator Rosmontis later to distract her. Even though I have removed my white coat, she still reacts very strongly to certain tools."
Susuro responded with a faint smile.
For her, that alone was already enough.
"Alright. By the way—"
Shirou agreed without hesitation after hearing her request.
It was not a difficult task, so there was no reason to refuse.
He was just curious why Rosmontis was treated in such a special way, but just as he was about to ask, he stopped himself.
It was not appropriate to ask such things now. He would find another opportunity later.
"You want to ask why we treat Operator Rosmontis that way, correct?"
Noticing that Shirou had started to speak but then swallowed his words, Susuro immediately understood what he wanted to ask.
"…Yes. I do not really understand these procedures."
After a brief silence, Shirou nodded.
"PTSD… post-traumatic stress disorder, you know about it, right? Operator Rosmontis had a very unfortunate past, which causes her to have extremely strong reactions to people in white coats or medical tools. The medical equipment used to examine her was once crushed into scrap metal."
Susuro explained while Shirou listened.
He did not know these details. He only knew Rosmontis had a difficult past, but not that it was this severe.
"However, things are much better now. But to avoid her forgetting us when she wakes up disoriented, we still need to take special precautions when treating her."
Susuro noticed Shirou's reaction. The cracking sound coming from his hands was not small.
Yet she continued speaking.
There were very few people Rosmontis trusted. Amiya, Blaze… and others were simply too busy.
"I remember this happened because of an experiment, right?"
Noticing Susuro looking at his hands, Shirou realized his reaction and quickly relaxed, forcing himself to calm down.
"Yes. But that laboratory has already been completely shut down. So if you were thinking of taking revenge for Rosmontis, there is no opportunity anymore."
"It is good that it is gone…"
Hearing that the lab had been destroyed and even the instigator had already died, Shirou finally relaxed.
As they got closer to Rosmontis's bedside, both of them tacitly stopped discussing the topic.
With Blaze's help, Susuro quickly completed a basic examination and concluded that Rosmontis was now well enough to get out of bed.
Blaze was very happy upon hearing this, it meant she could take the "little kitty" and Shirou to walk around Rhodes Island.
Today she was off duty. She had already submitted her report last night.
Nothing could stop her from resting now.
"…I want to see Amiya. Is that okay?"
After hearing she could get up, Rosmontis blinked and asked the three of them.
The result was predictable: all three agreed.
Shirou contacted Amiya first, while Blaze helped Rosmontis change back into her operator uniform.
She had originally been wearing a patient gown. While many people in Rhodes Island wandered around in such clothes, Blaze thought it was better for her to wear proper operator attire.
"Amiya is in her office. Do you know the way?"
After contacting Amiya and receiving confirmation that she was available, Shirou asked from outside.
"Of course!"
Blaze answered from inside. Susuro had already left earlier to attend another call for assistance.
"…I will head out first."
Shirou decided he needed some rest due to the poor quality of his sleep the night before.
He still had promised Kal'tsit to participate in an experiment. If his condition was too poor, it would become troublesome.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly felt something grabbing him.
He looked at his body, then around him but saw nothing.
Shirou: "?"
Confused, he took a small step forward and still felt something holding onto his left hand.
So it was going after his left hand again, was it?
The sensation felt familiar.
Rosmontis?
As he was thinking this, Rosmontis had already finished changing, walked out holding her terminal, and skillfully wrapped her tail around his left hand.
Her intention was very clear.
"…Sigh. I will go with you, so can you let go first?"
Shirou's face darkened as he felt his left hand lose its freedom again.
Rosmontis only tilted her head and looked at him with a confused expression, as if saying: "This way you will not get lost."
"…."
Fine. He admitted defeat.
Let it be wrapped, then.
After all, what harm could a little cat possibly have?
He gave up directly under her gaze.
In the end, he surrendered to the "cat's" silent pressure.