Chapter 21: The Sister’s Turmoil
「*sigh*」
Mana exhaled gloomily as she diligently attended to her bedridden friend.
*tick* *tick*
The ticking of the clock hands drowned out the eerie silence that had filled the infirmary.
-3:56-
This was the time the clock face read.
It has been approximately 2 hours since Shiori has been brought here.
Roughly an hour has passed since Rin appeared carrying the girl drenched in blood.
And about half an hour has passed since her brother and the rest entered, what Mana presumed to be, the emergency room.
During these two hours, Mana has had a lot of time to think.
About Shiori.
About Isayama-kun.
About her brother.
*Clack*
Suddenly, the door that Junichi disappeared behind opened.
「Onii-chan?!」
However, the figure that left the room was not that of a lazy teenager.
It was the figure of a woman with hair the colour of tangerines.
「Shi-Shizuka-sensei?!」
The witch doctor gently lobbed a glass vial with purple liquid towards the unsuspecting Mana.
Thanks to her reflexes, Mana managed to prevent the container from shattering.
「Make Hitomi-san drink that. After a half-hour or so, her wounds should be healed.」
Shizuka-sensei tells Mana as she gathers her belongings from her desk.
「Also, Saito-kun will be late tonight so he said to tell you to stay at Hitomi-san’s house.」
「H-hey! Wait a minute!」
Mana exclaimed as she stood on her feet.
「What’s going on? Where are you going?」
「I’ll be borrowing your big brother for a bit.」
The doctor robed in white simply replied to the confused Mana as she jumped out of the 2nd-storey window.
「…Onii-chan, just what’s happening with you?」
The befuddled Mana mumbled as she stared at the doctor’s after image.
「*groan*…Mana…chan?」
「Shiori!」
Mana turned towards the weakened voice.
「Are you feeling any better?」
「It…hurts…」
Shiori feebly replied.
「Everything will be fine. Can you drink this?」
Mana spoke softly in an attempt to not harm Shiori’s ears as she brought the vial in front of Shiori’s mouth.
「O-Ok…」
Shiori nodded weakly as she let Mana gently place the rim of the vial against her lips.
「How is it?」
Mana asked after emptying the vial of its contents.
「Bitter…」
Shiori’s face furrowed.
「It is medicine after all.」
Mana chided Shiori.
Shiori started glancing around the room.
「If you’re looking for Shizuka-sensei, she just left.」
Mana explained to Shiori.
However, that wasn’t who Shiori was looking for.
「…Junichi-kun…?」
This time, it was Mana’s turn to frown.
「…If it’s Aniki you want, then he left with Shizuka-sensei…」
Being Mana’s best friend, Shiori didn’t miss Mana’s pained expression.
「…something…wrong…?」
Shiori asked, using minimal words in order to lessen the strain on her body.
「…I can’t hide anything from you, huh?」
Mana gave a wry smile as she explained.
「Aniki told me that he’s going to be late tonight, and that I should stay at your place. Is that okay?」
「I don’t mind…」
Shiori instantly replied before noticing her vision getting blurry.
「I feel…drowsy…」
「You can rest for now…I don’t mind waiting a bit longer.」
Mana said, out of consideration for Shiori’s physical state.
「Ok…thank you…」
Shiori’s eyelids closed.
The sound of her soft breathing filled the infirmary.
Seeing the sleeping Shiori, Mana continued her inner reflection.
(…I feel like Onii-chan is going somewhere far away…)
(…what’s wrong with me?)
(…Onii-chan…)
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