“I finished preparing earlier than I thought,” Aya says, presenting her bag. Undoubtedly, it contained powdered magic stones.
The elevator envelops us in silence.
Awkward.
The sensation is akin to singing loudly when there’s no one around, only for someone to appear out of nowhere.
Overwhelmed by embarrassment, I continue to hum under my breath.
So I…
“Hmm, seems like your injury is all healed up now…”
I make a gesture as if checking my wound in a mirror.
Although I sound emotionless, I try to behave as if nothing had happened.
“Oh good, that’s a relief. Yeah, there were some scratches, but they aren’t deep, they aren’t deep!”
“Kai-san, do you like working out? You seemed to be posing in front of the mirror.”
“Arghh!!”
My HP hits zero in an instant.
Was she watching and waiting? What a terrifying girl.
My shame doubles for every secret I try to hide, slicing into my heart.
But I’ve survived countless life-endangering situations, I won’t give up that easily.
“Well, I’ve been building muscle lately. I wonder if there’s a connection between magic power and muscle…”
“We don’t know of a direct connection, but by performing actions that exceed human limits using magic power, muscle fibers are damaged. This has the same effect as working out, according to research results. So, it’s not that your muscles have grown due to magic power, but likely because you’ve been using your muscles excessively in battle with magic power.”
A much firmer answer than I expected came back.
Good, it seems I managed to divert the conversation.
“Oh, I see… I’ve got some pretty impressive abs, see?”
I show my abs to Aya through the glass.
She blushes slightly but seems genuinely interested.
“…Amazing… Can I touch it?”
“Eh? Sure…”
Aya’s gentle hand touches me.
Her delicate, slender fingers trace the contours of my abs.
“Ah…”
I can’t help but let out a sound, but more importantly.
Aya’s breathing becomes heavy, and she whispers something I can’t quite make out.
“Hah…hah… it’s… hard… What is this feeling… It’s making my heart pound. Ah–”
ย
Plunk
(Plunk?)
I heard something drop. Something stringy fell from Aya’s mouth… it might have been saliva…
Just as I tried to look, Aya quickly takes out a handkerchief and wipes the floor.
She moves so quickly, even the Eye of God wouldn’t have caught it.
This is the speed of an S-Rank with nearly 100,000 agility.
“Excuse me. I think youโre very well developed.”
“Really? Good. I feel like I’ve had a popular phase lately.”
“What!? Has someone been flirting with you!?”
“No, just a feeling? Maybe I’m mistaken…”
“Yes! You’re mistaken!”
“Eh…”
ย
Ding
While this was happening, the elevator reached the top floor.
We call Ijuin-sensei and head to Nagi’s room. Ijuin-sensei, who came right away, had already prepared for the blood transfusion.
The chairman had to return to the association headquarters because he was busy.
He said he would report the progress later. Apparently, he had to leave a meeting to come here, I could hear him apologizing to his subordinate over the phone.
Though he’s an important person, I can tell he’s well-liked by his subordinates from this conversation alone.
He apologized frankly to his subordinate, who was scolding him, leaving the image of a kind old man.
“Well then, Ijuin-sensei, please go ahead.”
“You’re early, but everything is ready.”
Ijuin-sensei, who brought what looked like scientific equipment into the room, set up a tent like in an operating room to keep it clean.
Then, with gloves and a mask on both hands, as if performing surgery, he mixed the blood and powdered magic stones.
Aya and I watch the situation from outside the transparent tent.
“From Nagi-chan’s weight, we need four liters of blood. We’ll transfuse a mixture equivalent to 1% of this, or 40ml.”
Ijuin-sensei explained each step to us as he performed it.
“Iโve mixed blood and magic stone in equal mass corresponding to 1% of Nagi-chan’s total blood volume. Now, we’ll warm it up to… 37 degrees… then start the transfusion.”
Nagi’s red blood and the blue E-Rank magic stone mixed together, creating a shiny liquid of an indescribable color.
The warmed blood then flowed through a tube into Nagi.
“…The procedure is over… well, it was just mixing and transfusing. By the way, what should we call this? Should we call it Aya-method?”
Ijuin-sensei, who came out of the tent, asked Aya with a laugh.
“It should be called Ash-method. The powder looks just like ash…”[1]
“Ash… understood. I feel there’s more to that, but I won’t pry. The transfusion will be over in about 30 minutes. I want to monitor the progress, so I’ll stay here…”
“We’ll stay.”
“Me too!”
“That was a foolish question, wasn’t it? Let’s continue. I heard Nagi-chan’s magic power is A-Rank. Kai-kun, is that correct?”
“Yes! Nagi’s magic power is 18,750, which is a low A-Rank. Therefore, we need to do five transfusions, from E-Rank to A-Rank.”
“Alright, it will take a while but let’s do our best.”
And so, we waited. I was holding Nagi’s hand the entire time.
The cold sensation hadn’t gone away. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the Eye of God, though I wasn’t sure who bestowed it upon me.
But right now, it was all we had to rely on.
I entrusted Nagi to this eye, which has saved us countless times.
“Nagi…”
30 minutes passed and the next transfusion started. I kept looking down, holding Nagi’s hand.
Twitch
“Huh?”
I was sure I felt Nagi’s hand move.
“Ijuin-sensei! Nagi’s hand moved! Her hand moved a bit! Nagi! Can you hear me?”
Aya and I stood up in shock. The same was true for Ijuin-sensei, who stood up in surprise while looking at the heart monitor.
“Ah! I can’t believe it, her heartbeat, which was so low, isn’t normal yet but it’s definitely getting closer to the normal range! This treatment is working, Kai!!”
“Yes!”
Then, just like before, we started the transfusion with the next level of magic stone. I held her hand again, for what felt like an eternity during the 30-minute transfusion. Gradually, Nagi’s hand regained warmth.
All I could do was shake and pray.
“Nagi… just a little more…”
I don’t believe in God, but I do believe in this Eye of God. I still don’t know the meaning of this power granted to me, but there must be a reason.
I gripped Nagi’s hand tightly. The transfusion with the magic stones went on one after another, those two hours felt like an eternity.
“Next, we have the A-Rank magic stone. Let’s do this!”
And then, the last magic stone was transfused. If she doesn’t wake up after this, it would be a failure. I would have no more options. And probably, Nagi would die.
I was anxious.
If she didn’t wake up after this. If Nagi’s hand remained cold. If I had to say goodbye to Nagi without being able to exchange any more words.
I…
“Nagi… please wake up. I have something I want to tell you. Words I couldn’t say that day, I have words I want to say to you…”
I remembered the night before Nagi collapsed.
I’ve regretted it ever since that day.
It was just a tantrum. Due to lack of sleep, fatigue, and impatience, I said terrible things to Nagi.
*
“All you can do is sleep, so go to sleep!!”
*
If there is a God, this might be a punishment for me. It might be a punishment for me for taking my anger out on Nagi by telling her to sleep. Even though it wasn’t Nagi’s fault, she was suffering and yet she smiled for me.
Despite the fact that she must have been scared.
Our last conversation wasn’t even a conversation.
I’ve regretted it ever since.
*
“I’m… I’m sorry. Always… thank you.”
*
And yet, Nagi thanked me.
*
“I love you, big brother. Good night.”
*
Nagi told me she loved me.
I didn’t give her anything in return.
So, this must be a punishment for me. It was a test given by God, but I overcame it. In order to save Nagi, even at the cost of my life.
So…
“Nagi, when you get better, you’ll be a middle school student, right? You’re 14 now, so second year of middle school? You’ll have to study hard to make up for lost time, right? As for becoming a clearer… I’d rather you didn’t but… After all, Nagi is A-Rank…”
I talked to Nagi desperately until she woke up. There are so many things I want to do when Nagi gets better. My sister, who has been toddling behind me since elementary school, I haven’t even been able to see her in a school uniform.
It only feels like a few months ago, but it seems like a distant past.
Every time I remember Nagi in her pajamas, smiling despite her pain, it hurts.
I remember Nagi trying her best to greet me when I came home, even though she could barely walk. It was codependency, but it meant everything to me. She was my one and only support, to the point where I could even say she was my reason to live.
Even though she was always forcing a smile, Nagi, who always smiled for me, was everything to me.
So, when she wakes up, I’ll make her laugh a lot this time.
This time, with all my heart, not a fake smile.
I want her to eat a lot of delicious food, to travel to many places and have fun, to be so happy that she’s full of smiles.
Nagi, who I couldn’t do anything for, still supported me. Even though it was painful, tough, and she wanted to die, my sister gave me a reason to live.
If she wakes up…
This time, with all my love.
“Ah, ahhhhh!! I was so scared!!”
“It’s alright now, Nagi.”
I will hug her as tightly as I can.
[1] In Japanese, Kaiโs name is spelled with kanji, ็ฐ (gray). While in this work the main characterโs name uses the reading โKaiโ, the most common reading of this character is โhaiโ which is used as the reading for gray. Aya purposefully uses the English word in this scene to link Kai and the AMS cure together while still keeping the Kaiโs secret.
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