Cassius blinked his eyes open, the faint scent of antiseptic and the soft hum of distant machines pulling him from his groggy state. It took a mont for his vision to focus, but when it did, the sight that greeted him made him question whether he was still unconscious.
Leaning over his bed was the beautiful brown-haired girl he vaguely rembered saving. Her silky locks spilled over his blanket like a cascading waterfall, her large eyes shimring with unshed tears. Yet there was sothing strange in her gaze—a hazy fog, almost as if she were moving on autopilot.
Cassius felt his eyelids twitch. The girl's face was steadily drawing closer, her lips barely trembling as if… no, surely not.
"Is she about to—?" His thoughts froze as the realization hit him.
She was leaning in for a kiss!
Cassius didn't know what to do. Panic coursed through him, but his body refused to respond, caught in a strange limbo between disbelief and awkward acceptance. His mind raced with conflicting thoughts. Should he stop her? Let it happen? Pretend it didn't afterward?
But before he could arrive at any decision, the girl hesitated, her lips re inches away from his.
Cassius: "???"
The girl's cheeks burned a deep crimson as she blinked rapidly, finally regaining her composure. "...Hey… are you awake right now…?" she asked, her voice soft and trembling, her blush threatening to consu her face.
Cassius opened his eyes fully, fixing her with a bemused look. "...Yes, I am…"
Her reaction was imdiate. She practically leaped back, pressing herself against the wall beside the window as if trying to rge with it. Her dainty hands fidgeted nervously in front of her, her gaze darting anywhere but toward him. "I-I see…" she stamred, visibly mortified. "Y-You're not going to ask what I was doing…?"
"No, I don't think so," Cassius replied evenly, his expression unreadable.
"I… see… T-Thanks…"
"No problem."
The room fell into an awkward silence, broken only by the faint sounds of sumr outside. The humid heat clung to their skin, amplifying the discomfort of the mont. The girl squird under the weight of her own embarrassnt, her thoughts spiraling uncontrollably.
'W-What was I thinking?!' she scread internally. 'Why did I almost…? I must be losing my mind! He just looked so peaceful and handso lying there, and I—' She buried her face in her hands, her cheeks so red they almost glowed.
Noticing the oppressive quiet, Cassius decided to cut through the tension. "So… how long have I been out?" He glanced down at the bandages wrapped snugly around his torso. The dull ache in his body hinted at the extent of his injuries, but he had no sense of how much ti had passed.
The girl hesitated, her voice barely above a whisper as she answered, "I-It's been around… thirty hours…"
Cassius blinked. "Thirty hours? That ans I missed the Daily Quest cut-off…" His voice trailed off as he lifted his blanket slightly, checking his pelvis. To his relief, everything was still in place.
"Y-You…" The girl's voice faltered as her wide eyes flickered toward him. Her face turned an even deeper shade of red as she hastily covered her own with her hands. "I-I didn't know they were supposed to be that… big…"
Cassius froze, question marks practically floating above his head as realization struck him. "Oh. That's… uh… sorry about that." He offered a slight bow of his head, wincing as pain shot through his torso.
"D-Don't move!" the girl scolded, rushing to his bedside. Her hands glowed with a soothing green energy as she pressed them over his injury. The warmth seeped into his body, dulling the pain and leaving him with a strange sense of calm.
Cassius watched in fascination, his curiosity outweighing his discomfort. "This is… magic?" he murmured, his eyes alight with interest.
The girl flinched under his gaze, retreating to her chair by the windowsill. "P-Please don't co so close…" she whispered, her voice trembling. 'H-He slls good… How can soone sll this nice after being hit by a truck?!'
"Sorry," Cassius said, leaning back into his pillow. "It's just… I've never seen magic up close. It's a lot prettier than I expected."
Her blush deepened, and she began twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. "I-It's fine… And about earlier…"
"I already forgot what happened," Cassius interrupted with a warm smile.
The girl's heart fluttered, a strange warmth spreading through her chest. "...Thanks…" she whispered shyly.
Cassius decided to steer the conversation away from the increasingly awkward air. "How long have you been here?"
Her response was hesitant, almost reluctant. "...Since you got here…"
Cassius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You really shouldn't have done that. We've only just t; there was no need for you to put your health at risk like that—" He stopped when he noticed her biting her lip apologetically. He sighed again, softer this ti. "I'm not mad. Just… take better care of yourself, okay?"
"Mhmm…" she mumbled, nodding slightly. Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her dress, and a faint smile tugged at her lips.
Cassius leaned back, studying her for a mont. 'She seems like a good person,' he thought, noting her shy deanor. 'But she's clearly a pushover… I can see people taking advantage of that.'
His gaze drifted toward the window, taking in the view of Hoshito from the top floor of the hospital. The city stretched out before him, bustling and alive, but his thoughts turned inward. He wondered briefly if his family had co to visit him.
'Probably not,' he thought with a wry smile. 'They wouldn't even notice if I dropped over dead one day.'
A faint glow caught his attention, and from the corner of his eye, an all-too-familiar blue pop-up appeared.
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