I’m such an idiot! How much ruder could I be?!
Yuffie bowed again and again. Friend jumped down in surprise, meowing indignantly. Meanwhile, Erina laughed in amusement.
“Actually, there’s one more reason.”
“Oh?” Yuffie looked up timidly at her.
Looking serious, Erina asked her, “Do you know about Ultilaugh disease, Yuffie?”
“Ultilaugh…?”
“I can see that you don’t. It’s an incurable disease with very few cases, and no medical treatment has yet been established. I was infected when I was five years old…”
“That young?!”
Yuffie was shocked. She didn’t know what Ultilaugh disease was, but judging from Erina’s somber air, it must be a very serious illness. One where you probably had a high fever of over 40 degrees for days on end, with your head hurting so bad it felt like it was going to explode, and blood spurting from every orifice in your body…
“If you get that disease…”
Yuffie swallowed in breathless anticipation.
“…you can’t stop laughing!”
“Huh?” she squeaked out.
“You heard me. It’s the ultimate laughing disease… You laugh from morning to night until your stomach hurts and you can’t eat properly… Your abdominal muscles cramp up, your jaw aches, and you even laugh in situations where you shouldn’t. You can’t even imagine how hard life is with it.”
“I-I see…?”
It sounded tough. It really did. But…
That’s not what I expected to hear…
Yuffie couldn’t help her skeptical expression, so Lyle added on, “Didn’t you get it from a certain type of mushroom growing in your garden at home?”
“Correct! The ‘once you start you can’t stop laughing’ fungus really does resemble a mushroom, doesn’t it? I’d had beef stew for dinner the night before, and the mushrooms in it were delicious, so I just thought…”
“Th-That is very unfortunate…”
D-Doesn’t that mean it’s your own fault…?
Yuffie was trying really hard not to show her thoughts on her face while Erina rubbed her head bashfully.
“Fortunately, it wasn’t a life-threatening illness, but I laughed all the time. When I say all the time, I mean it. I didn’t want abs like Jack’s, so I went to the doctor. But as I said before, Ultilaugh disease isn’t something that can be cured with medicine or surgery. Then the Saint back then visited us and used her healing magic on me. With her power, my laughter stopped all at once, and life thankfully went back to normal for me…”
Erina continued reminiscing. “I can still remember that clearly. I would laugh so hard that my stomach cramped and I had trouble breathing, but the Saint hugged me gently and rubbed my back… Considering the nature of the illness, my friends and family couldn’t take it seriously. The Saint was the only one who genuinely cared for me.”
Before Yuffie realized it, she was hanging intently on each of Erina’s words.
“After that experience, I wished with all my heart to become a Saint myself and help people. So there you have it, my other reason for learning healing magic.”
Then she stared expectantly at Yuffie.
“Th-Thank you for sharing your story with me! You went through so much.”
Setting aside the question of the actual disease, she could relate to Erina’s admiration of healing magic after seeing the Saint performing her miracle because Yuffie’s story was pretty much the same. Setting aside the question of the actual disease (for the second time), her friend’s motives were purely altruistic, and her kindness, the picture of sainthood, dazzled her…
Compared to her, my motive for using healing magic is so not pure!
“Oh my goodness, Yuffie, you’re melting! What is happening?!”
While Yuffie liquefied in despair at her shallowness, Lyle chimed in. “I’ve known Erina for a long time, so I know how serious she is about wanting to be a Saint. I respect that part of you from the bottom of my heart.”
“Stop it, Lyle, you’re embarrassing me.”
Erina rubbed her slightly flushed cheek and continued, “Ultilaugh disease was a painful disease to deal with, but it was a good experience in that it gave me direction in my life. Although…” A shadow fell over her face again. “The Saint’s power didn’t cure the aftereffects…”
“Wh-What do you mean…?” Yuffie braced herself for anything.
“I laughed so much that my sense of humor went positively haywire!”
Yuffie stared in silence, processing her words, but ultimately couldn’t. “…Can you…elaborate…?”
“My sensibilities warped after my sickness. Things that others find funny don’t come across that way to me, and names that I think are cute don’t seem that way to others…”
“Ohhh…”
That was Yuffie’s lightbulb moment. Black Hole Seraphim, Demon Overlord God Phoenix. Her somewhat unique naming style was an aftereffect of Ultilaugh disease…
“No, you’ve always picked odd names, Erina.”
“What?! You’re joking.”
“What was the name of the parakeet you had when you were little?”
“You mean Mr. Sushi?”
“If you were to name a parakeet after a niche eastern dish, I’d say something was off from the start.”
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t pick that name now. Let me see…if I were to name one now, I’d probably name it…Roadmail Gilgamesh or something along those lines.”
“Just because you went in a different direction doesn’t mean it’s still not weird,” Lyle pointed this out, and Erina puffed out her cheeks unhappily.
You really are so interesting, Erina…
Yuffie had thought she was pure and ladylike, just like a Saint, but the two of them actually had a few things in common. Plus, Erina had been kind enough to become friends with her, warts and all.
I have to try my best too…
Yuffie clenched her hands into fists. After hearing Erina’s story, she felt even more determined to work hard at mastering healing magic.
💠🌸💠