Hearing his emotional voice, Emily's eyes couldn't help but tear up. Although she knew he cared already, it was only now she got a sense of how much he did. And it was a lot. It really ward her heart.
"N...no, it wasn't your fault. It was just bad luck on our part. And we all made it, so it's fine" Emily said in a gentle voice while rubbing his back. She was secretly on cloud nine having discovered his fragile side, especially since she was the reason he was showing it.
"Tsk, I'm calling the FBI, just woke up and you're already assaulting little girls" Before Muku replied, Jade's voice sounded from the door. She had opened it without knocking, and behind her everyone was poking their heads from the sides with shock in their eyes.
"Oh my! What a scandalous scene!" Audrey exclaid while covering her mouth. Although she and the others could guess what was really going on, it wouldn't stop them from teasing the two who were in each other's embrace.
After all, right then, Muku was shirtless while hugging Emily. As for why he didn't have one on?. That's because Audrey is a bit of a pervert. She liked seeing his toned upper body so much that she hadn't been putting one on him throughout the whole week. She just covered his body with a blanket to hide it from the others. There was no way they'd uncovered it right?
"Ahh!" Having realised their situation, Emily scread in embarrassnt. Her face burning red, she pushed Muku away, jumped on the bed and covered her whole body with the blanket. She would have preferred to run out of the room, but the door was blocked. Seeing her reaction, the others were quite amused, she was just too cute. Elsa, though, felt really embarrassed for her older sister, who just lost all her face in front of the team.
"Arg!" Before Muku could say anything to defend both his and Emily's honour and reputation. Another person was already in his arms, their face buried in his chest. Judging from the force of the hug and the green hair, it was pretty obvious who it was. To think it was the sa person that was talking about calling the FBI just a few monts before. That's right, it was Jade. She had moved before anyone else could react.
"Don't scare like that again, please" Jade spoke in an uncharacteristically soft voice. It was only then that the others realised despite her having appeared to be as loud as ever, she was probably one of the most worried people in the group. She just didn't like showing her weakness, which honestly is sothing they'd expect from Jade. But it seems she couldn't hold her act any longer after seeing Muku.
Without waiting for Muku to respond, she calmly left his arms. She proceeded to walk to the door with a serious face. The others created a path for her and she left. The others might think she was calm and collected if not for her red face having betrayed her from the start.
After Jade left the others just looked at Muku from a distance, not advancing or retreating. Seeing the desire for a hug in all their eyes Muku could only open his arms wide. As if a dam wall had been broken, Layla and Chloe ran forth into his arms. Audrey, being a mature lady, refused to act like the girls. Hope, having gotten first dibs, was standing by the side, waiting for everyone to get their own before jumping in for a second round.
Elsa wasn't as close to Muku as the others so although she was happy he was up, she wasn't too overly moved. If anything she cast a slightly suspicious and wary gaze at Muku. Was he one of those "passionate" guys who won't be satisfied by just one girl she saw in ani?. Wouldn't she also be in danger after a few years then, if he was?
"It's fine now, no need to cry" Muku spoke in a soft voice.
"W... who's crying!?" Layla exclaid as she jumped out of his embrace while wiping away the tears that were coming out of her eyes.
"Sothing got into my eyes! Hmph!, I'm leaving" She added before walking out. Just as red-faced as Jade before her. This surprised everyone greatly, they didn't know that Layla was a Tsundere like Jade. Their levels even seed to be about equal.
"Eep!" Having been left alone in the hug, Chloe also wanted to get out before she was how tightly, prompting a surprised sound to escape her mouth.
"What? Are you also going to leave like they did?" Muku said to the blue-haired girl who was trying her best to wiggle out of his grasp but failing.
"N...no, I'm happy that you're awake. I missed you a lot. Can you please let go now? Please?" Chloe resigned herself to say those embarrassing words after realising that he wouldn't let her go if she didn't.
"Good girl", Muku said while patting her head, then let her go. He couldn't bully her too much after all. Especially with no shirt on and in front of people. Not to ntion that all the hugs had roused a certain fellow who was close to making his presence known if he didn't let go of Chloe. Like a scared little puppy, Chloe quickly ran out of the room as soon as she was released.
"Glad to have you back" Audrey said while standing by the door with a gentle smile on her face.
"Glad to be back...don't you also want a hug?" Muku replied to her and even added a tease at the end. They had gotten familiar with each other for such things after all.
"....Maybe another ti" Audrey replied while blushing faintly. She wanted to refuse to show her maturity, but since she also wanted one, she could only reserve it until there was no one else around.
"Sure, anyti you want" Muku replied while getting a t-shirt from the drawer. He thought it was just a joke, unaware that Audrey was serious. Not that he'd mind hugging such a gorgeous lady though.
"So how long have I been unconscious?" Muku asked while taking a sit on one of the two chairs in the room. Audrey took the other one. Hope sat on the bed...where Emily was still covering herself with Muku's blanket. She wanted to leave but still couldn't face the others, so chose to stay. Not to ntion she wanted to know what they were talking about.
"A week" Audrey replied.
"Really!?, no wonder I feel so hungry!" Muku was shocked by how long he was unconscious. That was a super long ti, considering that so many events in the novel had happened within a week!
"You're hungry? I'll go get you sothing to eat", Hope interjected, then ran out of the room without waiting for a response. What a caring little sister she was, everyone thought.
Audrey gave Muku a rundown of what they were doing while he was unconscious. She intentionally skipped the part about how Emily was still alive. She felt that since Emily was there in person, she might as well speak for herself.
.....
"Will you heat this for please?" Muku asked Emily for help while holding a plate full of cold at. Emily didn't respond for a few seconds. Then she scooched closer, still covering herself with the blanket. Her little hand then slowly ca out, she tossed a little fla that enveloped the at for a bit before going out, leaving the at properly heated. This is what she could do with just 3% improved mana control, one can only imagine what 100% could do.
"Woah, what great control!" Muku exclaid, truly impressed by her feat. One has to rember that when she first tried to roast at, she turned it into charcoal. So this really was a great improvent, especially in such little ti.
"Mmm," Emily accepted the complint with a little sound while smiling under the blankets. It is to be expected that she really likes being praised by him.
"Care to tell about your experience after I blacked out?" Muku spoke just when Emily was about to scooch back to her initial spot.
"Oh, okay" Emily replied, still hidden under the blanket. Then imdiately started telling him everything that happened. From how her class required her body to die to how coincidentally everything she needed was present and everything in between. Despite having already heard everything, Audrey and Hope also listened in intently. They still found the story interesting, after all, it was a story about how soone they knew died and ca back to life. The story was interesting enough that no one even minded how Emily was still under a blanket as she said it.
"Wow, to think there'd be so many coincidences; author-san really pushed it with that one", Muku comnted after Emily finished speaking. The others nodded in agreent, they felt it was a bit unbelievable, but that was their new life.
"I'm sure you want to take ti to think for a bit. We'll go downstairs and wait for you there" After everything had been discussed. Audrey spoke up, preparing to leave; she then went to the bed, picked up Emily along with her blanket and took her away. Hope wanted to stay but felt that maybe her brother really did want so ti to himself, so she followed the others. That's when Muku stopped her, saying that he had sothing to talk to her about.
...
"Co sit beside " Muku said to Hope while sitting on the edge of the bed. To which Hope happily obliged. As soon as she sat, Muku made her put her head on his lap, which she happily did again. She was always willing to be close to her brother. Muku then started talking to her about random things casually. Which went on for a bit until Hope fell asleep. He proceeded to carry her onto the bed and then lay her down.
"Thank you, little sister, rest for now", Muku said while sitting on the edge of the bed again with a gentle look in his eyes. Audrey had told him how Hope did everything in her power to heal him. How she would co to heal him every ti, her mana completely regenerated, even in the middle of the night. How she didn't rest until his body was completely restored.
It really touched his heart how caring she was. He never had a family before, but he felt Hope was worth the wait. Such a good little sister. He had long noticed how tired she looked despite the happiness she was showing, so he imdiately devised a plan to get her to sleep and rest. Which he imdiately carried out, everything else could wait.
"I hope I'm never injured like that again. I don't want you to have to suffer like that again," He said softly while caressing her hair.
"And for that, I have to get stronger, a lot stronger. Then my bloodline will be a strength instead of a hidden danger," Muku spoke to himself resolutely, then got up and left the room, leaving Hope to rest...
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