Tachibana bowed her head deeply, tears dripping onto the floor. "Master… I'm sorry. I should have listened to you. I never wanted to cause Jack harm…"
Akane remained on her knees beside me, gently stroking my hair with trembling fingers. Through the telepathic link, her inner thoughts continued flooding into my mind without pause:
[You stupid, kind-hearted bastard… If you leave me now, I really will kill myself… Don't you dare die on me…]
Yuko leaned down and pressed her forehead against my chest, whispering softly, "Jack… please wake up soon. I still need to scold you… and then… I want to stay by your side forever."
I continued pretending to be unconscious for a long, agonizing time. Three and a half hours dragged by in heavy, suffocating silence. The tension in the room thickened like storm clouds, pressing down on everyone present.
Every shallow breath I took was carefully measured to seem natural, every slight twitch of my body controlled.
