The next morning, Hachiman awoke to find Asuna's face right before his eyes.
"…Ah, I must have drifted off without realizing it," Hachiman murmured, gently rising so as not to wake her.
On closer inspection, Asuna's face was slack and relaxed, and she was even drooling slightly.
"Hmm, this is a rare sight. It'd be a waste to just leave it."
Hachiman picked up his smartphone from beside the bed, activated the camera, snapped a photo of Asuna's sleeping face, and set it as his lock screen.
"Alright, that's a really good shot," he mumbled, nodding with satisfaction before heading to run a bath for his morning soak. While waiting for the tub to fill, he decided to look at Asuna's face a little longer and slipped back into bed.
Sensing Hachiman's presence, despite being asleep, Asuna hugged him tightly. Hachiman, filled with affection, gently hugged her back, basking in her warmth for a while.
After some time, he heard the distant sound of the bath filling, so Hachiman decided it was time for Asuna to wake up and gently nudged her.
"Asuna, it's morning. Hey, Asuna."
"Mmm… Hachiman-kun, good morning."
Asuna seemed to have woken up properly today, without her usual morning grogginess.
"I'm going to take a morning bath, what about you, Asuna?"
"Oh, yeah, since you're going, I guess I will too."
"Then let's go."
As they both settled into the hot tub, they let out a simultaneous, deep sigh.
"Haaah~"
Relaxed, they gazed up at the sky, where a beautiful blue expanse stretched out before them.
"It looks like it's going to be a nice day again, Hachiman-kun."
"Yep."
"I wonder what our plans are for today."
"First, we'll meet up with Rinko-san, set up the MediCuboid in the Sleeping Forest, and then probably head straight to this Kunitomo-san's house."
"Do you think we can convince them?"
"Yeah, probably."
Hachiman had a feeling that the meaning of Kikuoka's prophetic words would become clear either during their visit to the Kunitomo family or at some related point. Before they came here, Kikuoka had told Hachiman:
"If Hachiman-kun is there, I don't think we'll need to come up with any special strategy; things will probably just work out."
It seemed those words were correct, as Hachiman had managed to proceed smoothly so far.
(Well, I have a few predictions, but I wonder what awaits us here.)
After getting out of the bath, the two of them lingered, idly flirting. Hachiman wasn't a saint; he couldn't see Asuna naked so many times and feel nothing. However, with a major problem looming, his mind was preoccupied, causing their physical intimacy to be somewhat restrained. Still, Asuna seemed quite satisfied being able to dote on Hachiman. Feeling this, Hachiman once again cherished the happiness of having Asuna by his side. Just then, Hachiman's smartphone rang. Seeing the name "Idiot Sister" displayed, Hachiman casually picked it up, thinking Rinko must have arrived. The moment he saw it, Asuna let out a strange sound.
"Hyoh-!"
(Ah, crap…)
The call from Haruno was indeed to announce Rinko's arrival. By the way, Shouzo and Kyoko apparently had business at Rect's Kansai branch and had already headed there. Since Rinko was there, they decided to have breakfast together. After ending the call, Hachiman relayed this to Asuna.
"Oh, okay, got it. By the way, this is a bit of a strange question, but your phone's lock screen…"
"Hm, this?"
"Huh…?"
"Of course, my lock screen is you, Asuna."
"U-uh, yeah, that's right."
The screen displayed Asuna's beaming smile. Asuna tilted her head, certain she'd seen her own silly face there just a moment ago. Hachiman, relieved internally that Asuna had quietly backed down, swiftly changed his lock screen back to Asuna's disheveled sleeping face. The next instant, a flash filled the room, accompanied by Asuna's shout.
"Liniar!"
Hachiman, completely off guard, had his hand slapped away with that cry. His smartphone flew through the air and landed perfectly in Asuna's hand. The moment Asuna touched Hachiman's phone, the screen lit up, and she stared blankly, trembling.
"W-w-w-what…"
To the stunned Asuna, Hachiman said in a outwardly calm tone:
"No, think about it, Asuna. You usually only show such a defenseless and happy face to me. So, this is a proof of your love for me. That means I can always look at this screen and be happy, you understand?"
"U-uh, yeah, that's right… This is a proof of love, right, this is a proof of our love!"
"Exactly. This is a testament to our love."
"Well, in that case, I'll just delete this image."
"I knew it…"
With that, Asuna mercilessly deleted the image, and Hachiman slumped his shoulders. Asuna probably thought she had won, even throwing in a mock "Liniar." However, Hachiman had already sent the image to his home PC. And sure enough, when Asuna later saw Hachiman's phone, she would tremble again.
The two then got ready to go out and headed to the hotel's cafe.
"Rinko-san, thank you so much for coming."
Rinko shook her head at Hachiman's thanks.
"It's fine, I couldn't just leave you alone, could I?"
Then, Asuna smiled and said to Rinko:
"You're so kind, Rinko-san."
"The truly kind one is your Hachiman-kun, isn't he, Asuna-chan?"
"Yes!"
"By the way, you two had fun yesterday, of course?"
"Well, Hachiman-kun seemed really tired and fell asleep while I was drying my hair."
"Huh?"
Then, Haruno, Rinko, and Asuna all looked at Hachiman with narrowed eyes and said:
" " "You good-for-nothing!" " "
"Why Asuna too…?"
After breakfast, the group headed straight to the 'Sleeping Forest.' The moment they arrived, staff rapidly began setting things up. All preparations were quickly completed, and Keiko led Kaede into the room. Kaede looked around curiously, but upon seeing Hachiman and the others, she called out happily.
"Oh, big brother, big sister, you came to see Kaede again today!"
"Yeah, just as promised, we're going to play a lot today."
"Okay!"
Kaede nodded cheerfully. But perhaps expecting to go outside, Kaede, who was then laid on the bed, asked Hachiman nervously:
"Big brother, what is this…?"
"It's okay. When I give the signal, just say 'Link Start,' okay? Then you'll be in an amusement park, and big brother and big sister will be waiting for you there."
"O-okay."
Hachiman and Asuna then put on the Amuspheres attached to the MediCuboid and logged into the specially created VR amusement park ahead of time. Their consciousnesses flickered for an instant before reawakening. Before them stretched the landscape of an amusement park, with numerous NPCs strolling about to create the illusion of other guests.
"It's incredibly realistic."
"Just like my sister, I guess."
"Seeing something like this really shows the true power of Soleil."
"Yeah… Oh, Kaede-chan!"
Then, Kaede's figure appeared before them. Kaede blinked, looking around with wide eyes, then they sparkled.
"Wow, wow! It's really an amusement park! And my body feels so light, big brother, big sister!"
"Is that so? That's good, Kaede."
"Yeah!"
"Come on, Kaede-chan, what do you want to ride first?"
"Um, um, a roller coaster!"
The moment she said that, the line of NPCs waiting for the roller coaster subtly vanished.
"They really have thought of everything…"
"Did you say something, big brother?"
"No, nothing. Look, Kaede, it seems pretty empty, so we can ride right away. Let's go!"
"Yay! Let's go, let's go!"
"Kaede-chan, you'll be in the middle, between me and Hachiman-kun."
"Okay!"
Meanwhile, outside, Keiko was monitoring the internal video feed and checking various data.
"Everything seems to be fine. Thank you so much, Rinko-san. It's been years since I've seen her look so happy…"
True to Keiko's words, the monitor showed Kaede, sandwiched between Hachiman and Asuna, joyfully frolicking, and Keiko's eyes welled up with tears as she watched. Around them, Soleil medical staff, likely gathered from Yukinoshita-affiliated hospitals, were conveying various information to the staff of the Sleeping Forest. After they finished explaining the usage instructions, Haruno spoke to Keiko.
"Then, Keiko-san, you can leave the rest to us and go inside."
"But I…"
"It's alright. If any problem arises, we'll shut down the Amusphere without hesitation and bring you back."
Haruno winked at Keiko as she said this. Keiko gave a wry smile but gratefully accepted the offer.
"Alright, then I'll take you up on that kind offer and go visit Kaede for a bit."
"That's a good idea. A child needs her mother, after all. Though, it wasn't until very recently that we properly got a mother ourselves. This might be thanks to Hachiman-kun, too…"
The latter part of Haruno's sentence was not heard by Keiko.
"Mommy!"
Kaede spotted Keiko approaching from a distance and happily ran towards her.
"Sorry, Kaede, I got a little delayed," Keiko said, stooping to meet Kaede's eye level.
"It's okay because big brother and big sister were with me, Mommy!"
"Is that so? Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, it feels like a dream!"
"That's good then."
And Keiko played with Kaede as much as she wanted, just as Kaede asked. Since Kaede had been physically weak due to illness since she was young, this was truly Keiko's first experience playing with Kaede like this.
"Mommy, it's almost lunchtime! Kaede wants to eat all sorts of things!"
Normally, Kaede had dietary restrictions, so she couldn't freely eat whatever she wanted. Thus, Kaede's eyes sparkled as she spoke, standing in front of the samples at the park's restaurant. Kaede then ate a little bit of various foods and was very satisfied. This kind of thing was only possible in VR. And perhaps Kaede got sleepy after eating… well, she hadn't actually eaten… she drowsily said to Keiko:
"Mommy, Kaede feels a little sleepy."
"Is that so? Did you have fun today?"
"Yeah, a lot!"
"Mommy had a lot of fun too, Kaede."
"Mommy, next time I want to play with Grandpa! Then I'll have no regrets left."
"Eh…?"
Kaede, who probably vaguely understood her illness, said that and then fell asleep in Keiko's arms. At the same time, the surrounding scenery changed to that of Kaede's room, which had likely been researched beforehand. Keiko picked up Kaede and carried her to the bed, silently sobbing. Hachiman and Asuna stood speechless, unsure what to say to Keiko.
To them, Keiko, still crying, managed a smile and said:
"Thank you so much today. This is the first time I've seen Kaede look so happy."
"No, there's not much I can do besides this…"
"Um, Keiko-san, Kaede-chan's illness is called…?"
The name of the illness Keiko revealed in response to Hachiman's question was completely unfamiliar.
After logging out, Hachiman and the others were scheduled to head to the Kunitomo family's house as planned.
However, Hachiman asked them to wait a bit before departing, then contacted Argo and asked her to gather as much information as possible about Kaede's illness.
Although it would probably be futile, Hachiman simply couldn't stand by and do nothing.
And so, the group began their journey and eventually knocked on the Kunitomo family's door.
-------------------------------
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