Tatsuya and Miyuki returned to Tokyo from Miyaki Island very late in the afternoon. They stopped by their apartment only briefly before heading to visit Minami at the hospital. Along the way to her room, they passed several Juumonji family magicians outside and Yotsuba family magicians within the premises. They were all there for Minami’s protection, but Tatsuya pretended not to notice them. While making their presence obvious could have been beneficial to Minami’s protection, the magicians’ discreet behavior hinted that their top priority was to capture Minoru.
Tatsuya had no intention of compromising this strategy, but Miyuki was a different story.
“I wish they would keep a closer watch on Minami’s room,” Miyuki muttered with a frown.
But by the time Tatsuya knocked on Minami’s room door, Miyuki had completely suppressed her complaints.
“Mind if we come in, Minami?” Tatsuya asked.
“Not at all.”
“Please don’t.”
“Is Miyuki with you?!”
Tatsuya and Miyuki exchanged glances. The three voices that called out in response were all familiar, but only one belonged to Minami. Tatsuya opened the door to find two identical faces with opposing expressions at Minami’s bedside. The unabashedly upset face belonged to Kasumi Saegusa. The one with a joyful smile was Izumi Saegusa. The Saegusa twins—Tatsuya and Miyuki’s juniors at First High.
“Did you two come to visit Minami, too?” Miyuki asked.
“Yes.” Izumi nodded. “We’re her classmates, after all. It would be so cavalier to guard her without even visiting once.”
The Saegusa family had been assigned to intercept and capture Minoru Kudou. Technically speaking, their mission had nothing to do with protecting Minami. But Minami didn’t need to know that.
“That is very kind of you.” Miyuki smiled simply.
Perhaps their visit had nothing to do with their assigned roles. Maybe they were simply there as Minami’s friends. If so, Miyuki was truly grateful.
“Oh my gosh! I’m not worthy of your praise!” Izumi squealed with her hands over her heart.
It was an overdramatic reaction, but she was being serious in her own way. Neither Tatsuya nor Miyuki rolled their eyes. They simply looked on with a smile. Minami, sitting up on her bed, awkwardly averted her gaze. The only one who gave Izumi a cold look was Kasumi. The twins moved back to allow Tatsuya and Miyuki to take their spots at Minami’s bedside.
“How are you feeling, Minami?” Tatsuya asked.
Since there was only one stool at the head of Minami’s bed, both Tatsuya and Miyuki remained standing.
“I’m starting to feel like myself again, slowly but surely,” Minami replied.
She didn’t explicitly mention her sensory loss, since Kasumi and Izumi didn’t know about it. Physically, she was clearly regaining strength. She didn’t even need a medical exoskeleton anymore. Sensory issues, on the other hand, weren’t as apparent.
“What a relief.” Miyuki sighed with a reassured hand to her chest.
“That’s great to hear.” Tatsuya grinned. “I know I may sound like a broken record, but make sure you take all the time you need to recover.”
“Of course.” Minami nodded.
She didn’t seem to be in a rush—at least not visibly.
“What did the doctor say?” Miyuki asked.
“I should be able to leave the hospital in about two weeks,” Minami replied calmly.
“Does that include rehab?”
“I didn’t ask.”
Another two weeks would bring Minami’s total stay in the hospital to one month. As Tatsuya listened to Miyuki and Minami’s conversation, he wondered whether he should bring Pixie home to assist with Minami’s rehabilitation process.
“Oh, well, you won’t have to worry about that,” Miyuki said quickly. “We’re happy to help with your rehab at home.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that!” Minami gasped, her composure lost.
It was definitely not the time to bring this up but hearing Minami’s usual tone reassured Tatsuya of her gradual recovery.
“I want you to rely on us.” Miyuki pouted slightly, but this didn’t seem to help.
“It’s just…” Minami began awkwardly.
“Miyuki,” Izumi intervened in an uncharacteristically gentle manner. “If it’s all the same, I’d like to help with Minami’s rehab once she leaves the hospital.”
“You would?” Miyuki asked in surprise.
“Yes.” The twin nodded. “I’m not sure how helpful I’ll be, but I want to do what I can.”
Tatsuya knew that doubting Izumi’s true intentions wasn’t very nice. He convinced himself that Izumi was being driven by her concern for Minami as a classmate, not by her desire to intrude into Miyuki’s home. Kasumi, on the other hand, had no qualms about voicing similar suspicions.
“Izumi,” she scolded, “you better not be thinking of using Sakurai as an excuse to hang out at the student council president’s house.”
“H-how rude!” Izumi sputtered. “I would never have such awful thoughts!”
Unfortunately, her tone and expression completely gave her away. Although she didn’t turn away from her sister’s suspicious gaze, she avoided eye contact.
“Don’t worry, Miyuki,” Kasumi said. “I’ll be with Izumi when she visits.”
“Thank you. Both of you,” Miyuki replied with an awkward smile.
With that, Kasumi basically pulled Izumi out of the hospital room. Once the twins were gone, Minami, Tatsuya, and Miyuki exchanged knowing smiles. Izumi was a lot, but they couldn’t bring themselves to dislike her. In front of her classmates, she behaved like an elegant, demure class beauty. Among friends, however, she was simply endearing, despite her eccentricities.
Tatsuya brought a stool from the corner of the room and sat at Minami’s bedside. Miyuki took a seat on the stool already by the bed.
“No matter their reasons, I’m glad the twins came to visit,” Miyuki whispered.
Tatsuya agreed wholeheartedly. To most of the Saegusa family, Minami was nothing more than bait to catch Minoru. Not that anyone could blame them. They were simply following the Master Clans Council’s orders—there was no other reason for them to get involved. Kouichi Saegusa may have had his own reasons to willingly join the fray, but all the other Saegusa magicians saw Minami only as a pawn, no more and no less.
“Those two probably weren’t cut out for that life,” Tatsuya said vaguely, but Miyuki understood what he was getting at.
In other words, Kasumi and Izumi weren’t suited for leadership roles in the Master Clan they were born into. Their elder sister, Mayumi, wasn’t much of a better fit, but she did prioritize her duty and position over all else. Kasumi and Izumi, on the other hand, were more likely to prioritize justice over their position and compassion over duty. In short, they were what most people would call “kindhearted.”
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Miyuki said. “In fact, I’m a little jealous.”
The two exchanged glances. They were clearly on the same page.
“By the way, Minami,” Tatsuya said, already switching gears.
“Yes?” Minami replied calmly.
“Has anything strange happened since the incident?”
“You mean, has Minoru tried to contact me since then?”
“It doesn’t just have to be Minoru,” Tatsuya said.