To open, or not to open. That is the question.
I'd been standing in front of the hospital room door for about five minutes now, and I still hadn't worked up the courage to open it.
Nagisa, I was told, had fainted on the spot when she heard I'd stormed the Arius district alone. For me, it was something I had to do, something unavoidable… but from her perspective, she probably thought I'd lost my mind.
…Sigh. Just go in. This is my own mess to clean up, isn't it?
Knock, knock—
"Nagi-chan, I'm coming in~?"
Steeling myself, I knocked, but there was no answer. I wasn't sure if she hadn't woken up yet or had just fallen back asleep, but I decided to just go in and see.
Who knows? Maybe if I'm there when she wakes up, she'll go a little easier on me.
Man, a private hospital room. The Tea Party really lives in luxury. Not that it's strange, considering the social status of the three student presidents.
The room was empty, save for Nagisa, fast asleep in the patient bed. I quietly closed the door and walked over to her side. She had an IV drip in one arm, so I pulled a chair over and sat on the opposite side.
Honestly, I know I acted impulsively when I heard what Seia said, but I have my reasons. It's just that explaining them to Nagisa is the hard part. The kids who shouldn't have been in danger in the first place were in trouble because of my meddling. When Seia told me, all I could think about was fixing it myself. I couldn't bear the guilt if something went wrong, so I had to take responsibility and clean up my own mess.
In the end, it all worked out, so it's fine... except for the part where I almost actually died. I never imagined Golconde & Decalcomanie's Text would be so damn broken. If they weren't content to just be observers, they would be an unimaginably dangerous threat.
Anyway, does Nagisa know I almost died? If she hasn't heard from Seia...
Hmm, no. I shouldn't try to hide it. It's better to just come clean and take the scolding.
...That is, once she actually wakes up.
Sleeping soundly, Nagisa looked like a literal angel. She is an angel, technically, but she looked so pure and beautiful that the thought just popped into my head. Her usual headband was gone, which made her look oddly bare. I guess nothing suits her as well as that lily-like hair ornament.
Come to think of it, I wonder if Nagisa has a swimsuit for the upcoming festival. If not, it might be nice to go pick one out with her. And maybe find a replacement for that headband, too.
I stared blankly at Nagisa for a while before reaching out a hand. I gently straightened her messy hair and brushed away a few long strands that had somehow ended up on her face. After doing so, I felt a sudden wave of embarrassment and quickly pulled my hand back. Even if we're friends, girls don't usually do this for each other, right...?
After pulling my hand back, I just zoned out for a while. I've been so busy lately that I don't really play games on my phone, and I wasn't in the mood for news or social media. I haven't even touched any video streaming sites. Those things are a time-devouring abyss.
But doing nothing was getting really boring.
"Ahem. Nagi-chan~?"
I cleared my throat and called her name, but of course, there was no reply. A mischievous urge bubbled up.
"Ahaha, if you don't wake up soon, I'm gonna eat you up. I'm totally serious, so you'd better wake up. ☆"
I poked Nagisa's cheek. Her skin was soft, but it wasn't particularly squishy. I guess I'd have to look to girls like Hifumi or Hiyori for that.
This time, I took her hand and lifted it. If she's sleeping this soundly, indulging myself a little is fine, right? With that wicked thought, I placed our palms together.
Strangely, my fingers were a tiny bit longer than hers, even though she's slightly taller. The thought that I could take that extra finger length and add it to my height and still be shorter than her was kind of depressing.
Even Serina, whom I saw earlier, was about the same height as me. Why did Mika have to be so short? Would it have killed her to be a little taller...?
I gently traced a circle on her palm with my finger, then moved on to a triangle, a square, a pentagon, a star. I thought that might wake her up, but it seemed Nagisa wasn't very ticklish on her palms.
Hmm. What can I do to wake her up?
No, maybe I should just wait patiently. Nagisa has a busy life, too. I should let her rest as much as she can.
...But as I sat there quietly, just holding her hand, I realized that doing nothing really doesn't suit my personality. Not my original personality, but the one I have now, which has become more like Mika's.
In the end, I pulled out my phone. My hands are small, and one was occupied with a very important task, so typing was out of the question. I just swiped through my unread MomoTalk messages with my thumb.
As I was wondering how to reply, I remembered the voice input function. Well, that solves that problem.
[Sakurako-chan]
[We have weeded out most of the individuals with deep-seated sins, Mika-chan. The Chief of the Justice Task Force is currently escorting them back. Kikikikik!]
[However, it seems a great deal of preliminary work will be required for the Arius students to assimilate into Trinity, so the Sisterhood's return may be slightly delayed.]
[We will do our utmost to ensure the people of Arius can integrate into Trinity without issue. I pray for the well-being of both you and Nagisa-san. Kheh-he-huu! Kyaooo!]
[5:37 AM] [Okay, you do your best too, Sakurako-chan! But hey, are you trying to imitate Tsurugi-chan with that laugh and scream?]
A reply came less than three minutes later. Hey, Sakurako-san. Aren't you busy...?
[Sakurako-chan]
[Kihihihit. To guess it in one go, you truly are amazing, Mika-chan. The truth is, my conversations with the Chief of the Justice Task Force weren't going very well... This is my own solution to break through that barrier and understand her a little better. Though I still have a long way to go to truly understand her...]
For the record, the Justice Task Force and the Sisterhood were handling the cleanup in the Arius district. I'd asked the Squad to help weed out the instructors who had violently oppressed the students under Beatrice, and since they had their own grudges, they were very enthusiastic. Those with minor offenses would be assigned community service under the supervision of the Sisterhood. Those with major offenses, unfortunately, would be sent to the Valkyrie Police School's correctional facility. Frankly, seeing what they did to Azusa, it's obvious how they treated the other students. We couldn't just let them into Trinity, so the right call was to have the correctional facility determine if they were even capable of rehabilitation.
Anyway, Sakurako… let's just not talk about it. Her intentions are kind, but her methods are, as usual, a headache. Not that I'm not a little curious to see Tsurugi's reaction if Sakurako actually imitates her to her face.
Besides that, there was a MomoTalk from Haruna saying we were going to a popular new handmade burger joint for her club activities and that I had no right to refuse, and one from Hifumi asking if I could go with her to a Momo Friends parade at an amusement park in D.U.
Then there was another inappropriate photo from Hanako, and a message from Hina, of all people, asking if I was interested in seeing a horror movie with her.
...What is this weird feeling? It feels like one of those [Go to □□'s Bond Story] prompts is about to pop up. Of course, that's not actually going to happen.
I told Haruna "Hey!!!" and asked why I had no right to refuse when I wasn't even in her club, but since I was a little interested in the handmade burgers, I replied that I'd think about it. If it's that popular, it has to be good... That's the only reason I'm interested. It's not like it's so infamous that it's destined for the Gourmet Research Society's demolition treatment, right?
I replied to Hifumi that going to an amusement park with just the two of us might be a little lonely and suggested we go as a group of four. If she agrees, I'm thinking of bringing Nagisa and Azusa. Nagisa and Hifumi already get along well, as you'd expect from future friends, and I really want Azusa to get to know them, so I figured I'd introduce them then.
As for Hanako... sigh. All I could say was to please not get caught and get into trouble. I just wanted her to be happy, but maybe I made a huge mistake. Still, if she's happy, then that's all that matters, right?
And Hina...
"Whoa..."
I really, really hate horror movies... but I can't just coldly turn Hina down when she asked me to go with her.
I'm pretty sure that the last time we hung out, she said she wasn't a fan of horror, so I wonder what changed her mind. This is more agonizing than trying to choose between two possible answers on a test when you have no idea which is correct.
Honestly, I feel like I'll spend half the movie watching with my eyes half-closed or through my fingers, but since Hina was the one who reached out... hmm...
I don't know. I'll put this on hold for now. I sent her a message saying I'd think about it and give her an answer this week.
After clearing out my backlog of messages, I looked at my friends list and felt a strange sense of wonder. Is this what it feels like to be popular? A life with this many messages from other people... maybe it's not so bad...
But after I finished reading them all, I had nothing to do again. Back on Earth, I was practically addicted to my phone, but here, things are different. It's strange.
What should I do? Maybe I'll look for a web novel to read. If I find something good, I could share it with Hiyori.
As I was entertaining myself, my eyes started to feel heavy. The fatigue from fighting all night was telling me to go to sleep right now. And reading a novel was only making me sleepier.
I nodded off for a while. At some point, my phone screen went dark. Then, my eyes closed...
"Did you sleep well, Mika-san?"
When I opened my eyes again, Nagisa's smiling face was right in front of mine, and I was lying next to her in the bed.
...But why?