Kana woke up the next morning expecting to feel better.
She didn't.
Even after sleeping through the entire day before, her body felt heavier than stone, every muscle sluggish, her head hazy as if wrapped in thick fog.
She dragged herself out of bed anyway, willing her legs to carry her through the motions.
By the time dinner rolled around, her exhaustion had worsened.
Sitting at the long dining table, Kana struggled to hold her spoon steady. Her eyelids drooped, the steam from the warm meal blurring her already unfocused vision.
She barely heard Irielle chatting about patrol schedules, barely registered Lysera sipping her tea across the table.
Then, without warning, her forehead tilted forward—
Thud!
Her head almost landed straight in the bowl. She caught herself at the last second, fingers gripping the table's edge, her chest rising and falling as she tried to steady her breathing.
"Kana?"
