Chapter Text
First the car, prepared just for us, then the reception desk at the hospital – everything went smoother than cutting butter with an oversharpened sword. Adults old enough to be our parents lowering their heads, exceptions being made as if we’d just come to dispose of some Vertex and not make company for a friend.
As long as we had a battle to fight we’d be shouldering the reverence that came with our titles. That’s something I noticed recently, and it seemed to hold up.
One thing was clear: the care that the Taisha had arranged for Yuuna was real.
“Ah! Wakaba-chan, Hina-chan!”
“Yuuna.” “Yuuna-san!”
I chuckled at myself. Why was she so surprised? It’s not like we didn’t see her every day since the last fight against the enemy. Hinata ran up to her bed, and even from the door I could already feel Yuuna’s anticipation, my shoulders relaxing at the sight.
“Wakaba-chan, what is that? Oh, don’t tell me it’s sweets?”
“Sharp as always, Yuuna. That’s what makes you a strong warrior.”
She’s even won against me in judo once. I would never say this out loud – and especially not now, given the timing, but seeing Yuuna fight with me side-by-side helped put my heart at ease before I gave out orders, no matter the enemy we’d be up against.
Yuuna laughed at me, maybe a little embarrassed, before confessing:
“It’s the same plastic bag Hinata brought three days ago…”
“But this time…” I raised one finger, walking inside and stopping next to the bed, Hinata sitting down on the only chair. “You’ll have quality, traditional sweets.”
“Healthy… Sweets?”
Hinata giggled.
“Yes. For example…” I reached with my hand inside the bag and pulled out one smaller paper bag. “Matcha mochi. Or… Taiyaki, if you’re really hungry. Though it’s best if you don’t eat both things tonight or that’ll throw off the balanced diet–”
The small bag was promptly stolen from my hand, and Yuuna chomped the Taiyaki right in the head, thanking the gods for the food with her mouth full.
“That’s Yuuna-san for you!”
She said something with her mouth full that neither one of us understood, but seeing her with so much energy like this was enough for me. The same was true for Hinata, and we smiled at each other.
“I wish Chikage…”
Hinata grabbed my hand and shook her head.
“She’ll be fine, Wakaba-chan. And we’ll be here for her.” She turned back to Yuuna and her tone changed in an instant, like a power that Shinjuu-sama didn’t give me. “Did you watch Wakaba-chan’s speech? Isn’t she so amazing?”
“Hm! M-hm hmm!”
“Hey, don’t speak with your mouth full. Do you… Actually think so?”
“M-hm!!!” Yuuna nodded, forcing herself to gulp down the excessive amount she’d taken in her mouth. “Even I was motivated to get off this bed and go fight. Swoosh, kapow – something like that.”
I pretended to ignore Yuuna flailing her arms in the air.
“Of course. I miss my training partner just as much, so you better eat well and rest.”
“Wakaba-chan is right. We miss you at the dorm.”
“Oh, by the way! Did you guys read the comments of the live stream?”
The conversation changed topics faster than we transformed into the hero outfits.
“The… Comments?”
I never thought about doing that before, but now that I did… Somehow that didn’t seem like a good idea to me.
“I started doing that, but then I thought: isn’t it more fun if we do it together?”
She had a point, the hospital room didn’t look particularly fun – there wasn’t much else for us to do together if we thought about it.
“How about you, Hinata? Do you read them?”
“Nope. I don’t want to risk seeing anyone saying bad things about my friends.”
Yuuna took another bite, this time the fins. Was she doing this on purpose so the taiyaki wouldn’t swim away, or something? Then, of course, she tried speaking with her mouth full.
“Hahuay huh… That’s okay, the people are just not as informed as we are, right? Everyone appreciates our hard work!”
“Yeah, I’d like to think so, Yuuna.”
I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of Yuuna’s unwavering heart and her kindness. It always put me at ease, so surely it would work on everyone else. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to feel that way, I wasn’t in a position of being so careless just yet, and the leadership the hero group needed should be strong and steady like the rock foundation of a castle.
But I had no doubt that Yuuna would be a great leader.
“Here, check this out, Hina-chan.”
Yuuna shoved her phone in Hinata’s face, and I couldn’t quite read it from here. But on the upper half of the screen I saw myself, fist raised to the sky and a weird expression.
“You could’ve paused at a better moment, you know…”
“You look so cool, though. Right, Hina-chan?”
“Agree. Wakaba-chan, we already know how cute you are when you’re flustered, or losing a game, or eating, or sleeping.”
“Hey, was it really necessary to make that into an exhaustive list?”
They both laughed at my distress, and I heard the crinkling of the bag when I clutched it.
“Oh, I see it now, Hina-chan. She really is cute when she’s flustered.”
“M-hm, m-hm.”
Why were they so proud of this, first of all?
“I’m still here…”
At least talk behind my back, or something… I sighed, and leaned down to read said comments, and Hinata held out her phone so all three of us could see it at the same time.
For some reason, Hinata unpaused the video, and I heard my own voice, almost yelling at the microphone. The fact was that at some point my body moved by itself and the words started coming out. I couldn’t remember much of it now beyond a blur of flashes and faces, and my heart beating fast.
“Hmmm… Let’s see… Oh, here’s one: ‘this chat is so crazy, is this a trick of the enemy’?”
“If only the enemy’s tricks were this simple.”
“How about… ‘shoot the nukes!’ or… ‘so chaotic that it’s funny’.”
“It’s definitely funny,” Yuuna laughed and I nodded in agreement.
“I do wonder if nukes would do anything…”
I never really thought about the Vertexes – or the gods, for that matter – in terms of weaknesses. Now we heroes easily damage them, but most of our power comes from Shinjuu-sama itself. When the invasion first started I was too young and scared to remember what people did, and whether or not anyone could fend them off, or even kill them.
Besides, I was already too preoccupied with being a hero even then.
“Wakaba-chaaan, hellooo?”
“Ah, uhm, it’s nothing.”
“Wakaba-chan, you need to stop zoning out when you’re spending time with your friends…”
This was Hinata’s way of scolding me in front of Yuuna.
“Hina-chan, why are you skipping so many comments?”
“They’re not good comments,” she shook her head.
“Can I try?”
Yuuna insisted, anyway, and Hinata gave her phone back. She did the same scrolling, furrowing her brows like she was taking exams at school without studyingl.
“‘Fabricating truths’, no, not this… ‘Give our normal lives back!’ Well, we are trying. Argh. Okay, okay, maybe this: ‘At least stream in a swimsuit–’.”
“W-what?!”
My fingers hurt from pressing them together while my neck and face became hot from the stupid commenter.
“I told you, Wakaba-chan, this is why I don’t read comments. This was a terrible idea!”
“A-and that commenter’s idea was even worse.”
“Agreed!” Yuuna raised a hand. “But now that we mentioned it… We could use a day off at the beach.”
Finally, an idea that I could get behind.
“A day at the beach sounds great, indeed. But I fear for when the enemy will attack next. We must be prepared in top condition, ready for it.”
Hinata giggled, stopping my train of thought.
“After all, we don’t want you two getting summoned by Shinjuu-sama while wearing swimsuits and goggles.”
“Can we move on from this?”
I wanted something, anything, to get away from this conversation. Shoving my hand in the bag, I grabbed a mochi and stuffed it in my mouth. It tasted alright.
“Wa-Wa-Wakaba-chan, I-I thought those were for me!”
Then don’t bring up such embarrassing things while we’re visiting you at the hospital, damn it.