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Himiko had to bite back a yawn when she crossed the room to go check on Shinguuji. It was exhausting so far, being their caretaker all on her own when she had no relevant experience to help her, but it wasn’t their fault. She didn’t want to let it show and cause them any guilt. After all, her current sleeplessness was entirely her own fault. Nobody else had asked her to do something as foolish as performing a resurrection ritual in secret, only days after getting settled in her new place. Maybe the fatigue was the penance she had to pay for choosing to use the necronomicon without telling Saihara and Harukawa what she was doing.
“Hello,” Shinguuji croaked, blinking at her with hazy eyes. If not for that greeting, she might have questioned their lucidity. “Checkup time again? I have to say, I’ve never been the recipient of such dutiful nursing.”
“Mm,” she replied wordlessly. She had to press her lips more firmly together to stop herself from saying something she shouldn’t. Nothing good would come of dredging up their memories of tending to their sister. She wasn’t sure they remembered her halting, convoluted explanation of Danganronpa’s Ultimate Real Fiction, and to avoid going through all those revelations again, she’d mostly been trying not to speak of the past at all. “Your throat sounds dry. You should drink some more water after I take your temperature. You need to stay hydrated.”
“As you wish, Yumeno-san.”
She proffered the thermometer. With no visible signs of shame over being tended to in such a manner, they parted their lips and allowed her to place it under their tongue. There was a brief wait, during which Himiko laid the back of her hand against their forehead as a reference point. It was hot. Very hot. Then the thermometer beeped, its tiny screen confirming what she already knew: Shinguuji’s fever was still alive and well.
“How bad is it?” they asked as soon as she’d taken the thermometer back.
“Pretty bad.” She angled it to show them the 39.5 C displayed there. “Why are you still burning up? Er, no pun intended. Just… forget I said that. I’ll use an amnesia spell on you if I need to.”
“That’s unnecessary,” Shinguuji mumbled, waving a hand dismissively. They did sit up a little straighter and reach over to grab the half empty bottle of water on the side table without needing to be prompted. “I’m beyond taking offense to such things. As for your question… it’s only speculation, as I never encountered evidence of successful resurrections before, but perhaps it’s all part of the process. A final purging of the impurities of death, or something of the sort.”
“Or you’re just dying all over again from all those unhealed burns. How are we supposed to know which it is? Can’t exactly take you to the hospital without having to answer a whole bunch of really uncomfortable questions…” The hospital staff were probably familiar with Danganronpa, just like everyone was, but somehow she doubted that the necronomicon being real was common knowledge. If it had been used during the killing game, who knew what kind of false explanation would have been concocted for it.
“Please, don’t waste your limited energy fretting over such things. I do not think I’m anywhere near death. And I certainly don’t intend to let the reaper take me again without a fight. Why don’t you sit down and take a rest to recharge your mana, Yumeno-san? I know it can’t be easy, feeling like you need to be available to me day and night on the off-chance I might need something.”
Himiko shrugged, mumbling something that she intended to be a dismissal of their worries. But her eyelids were heavy and her legs were begging for an opportunity to sit down. So she sank into the armchair beside the couch where Shinguuji had been resting. She was pretty sure she’d doze off if she closed her eyes for even a few seconds.
“Okay. Mana recharging now. Finish your water though. You,” she mumbled, interrupted by a wide yawn, “still sound hoarse.”
“I wouldn’t dare disappoint you. In this new chapter of my life, I daresay your saddened face is something I’m aiming not to see. That may now be one of my greatest goals.” Shinguuji’s voice sounded almost too sincere. When she peered over at them, their impassive face offered equally few hints as to whether they were being serious or messing with her. Either way, her body had taken the bait, heat rising to her face that might very well have rivaled their own fever.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s a pain if you start talking like that about it. It’s just a matter of regaining your health so I can sleep through the night again. I didn’t think it would be such a big job to bring you back.” Himiko tucked her legs up under herself, curling up in the wide seat of the chair, then reached back to pull down the blanket draped over the back of it.
“Never fear. I intend to wash up and replace my bandages, or rather, as many of them as I can manage on my own. You can rest here for a while. Surely if anything sufficiently horrible were to befall me, you would hear the crash of me collapsing and awaken.” It wasn’t the style of reassurance that most people would go for, Himiko didn’t think, but it got her to crack a smile.
“If you insist, then this mage will grant your wish and take just a short nap… And when you’re finished, I’ll brush your hair for you. Maybe I can do a nice braid or something so it won’t get tangled with so much lying around.” She scrunched her nose up thoughtfully, watching until Shinguuji had downed every last drop of their water. Neither one of them liked it when she had to battle her way through snarls in those dark, perfect locks.
“I think that would be lovely. I’m truly lucky to have someone so invested in my well being. I promise I shall wake you when I’m through with my ablutions, yes?”
“Mhm. You’d better.”
“Alright then.” They rose from the couch with visible effort, maskless face contorted into a grimace of exertion, but they took the long way around the coffee table so they could run their fingers through Himiko’s hair on the way to the bathroom.