10: Chapter 10 Hospital

It hurts so much...

Kaiwen didn't know when she woke up, nor even how long she had slept. Her brain felt like it was filled with a layer of paste, unable to think of anything; the only thing she could feel was the pain.

Every part of her body hurt, especially her head, which throbbed as if something had been jammed inside it.

She lay there in a daze for a long time, her mind completely blank.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint scent suddenly drifted into Kaiwen's nose.

This is... disinfectant? Am I in the hospital?

As her consciousness gradually cleared, memories slowly surged up, and she gradually remembered.

She seemed to have been playing the hero to save a beauty on the pedestrian street earlier?

She wondered if Miyuki had managed to run away; she should have escaped, given how long she had stalled.

Later, someone seemed to have given her a sneaky blow to the head?

Thinking of this, the place on her head where she had been hit earlier felt wave after wave of sharp pain, so she simply stopped thinking about it.

Forget it, she might as well just lie here since she couldn't move anyway.

The ward was quiet, with only her lying on the bed. There was a plastic chair nearby, draped with a familiar-looking jacket.

While she was staring blankly at that jacket, the door was pushed open.

A round-faced nurse walked in carrying a tray. Seeing her eyes open, the nurse chuckled: "Hey, you're awake? How do you feel?"

"... Headache."

"Of course, you got five stitches on the back of her head." The nurse walked over to look at the IV drip bottle and casually adjusted it. "But it's not a big deal; just rest and you'll be fine. For such a small frame, you're quite tough."

Tough? She was indeed quite tough, but just a bit short of the mark, otherwise she wouldn't have been sent to the hospital.

After changing the medication, the nurse chattered away while tidying up: "That sister of yours is really loyal. She stayed here and accompanied you all night. I told her to go back, but she stubbornly refused to leave, and in the end, she was dragged back by another young girl."

"Sister?"

"That white-haired girl who brought you here." The nurse tightened the bottle cap and casually remarked, "Seriously, you two sisters look so much alike, you're practically cut from the exact same mold."

Hearing those words made Kaiwen's brain go "buzz."

She slowly reached out to touch her face; it was clean, without that grainy feeling of cosmetics.

"Oh right," the nurse turned her head back when she reached the door. "There was also a young girl named Asakura who came last night, crying her eyes out and saying it was all her fault. Later, she was persuaded to go back by your white-haired friend."

After saying that, the nurse went out, and the ward returned to silence.

Kaiwen stared at the ceiling, taking about ten seconds to figure out her current predicament.

She had been exposed.

No, no, Kiana had seen her true appearance.

And the person who persuaded Kiana to leave wouldn't be Raiden Mei, would it?

If it really was her, she was doomed.

A person who looked identical to Kiana was still helping her gather information on Kiana? If Kiana thought she was up to no good, she would be finished.

How was she supposed to explain this? No matter how she explained it, it wouldn't make sense!

Just as Kaiwen's mind was running wild, her phone by the pillow rang.

Subconsciously raising her hand to feel for it, she touched a phone with a cracked screen, but fortunately it could still light up and barely be used.

There were two unread messages on the phone.

The first one was from Kiana, just sent:

"Let me know when you wake up."

Just that single sentence, but Kaiwen always felt that behind those six words was a stomach full of unspoken thoughts.

The other one was from Raiden Mei, sent at three in the morning:

"Classmate Kaiwen, I heard you were injured and hospitalized. Is your injury serious? I'm very worried about you!"

Three in the morning?

So the person who came to the hospital last night and persuaded Kiana to leave really was Mei?

She was doomed.

Kaiwen gripped the phone, her thumb hovering over the screen, not knowing which one to reply to first.

Reply to Kiana first; after all, she had stayed guard all night.

She typed a few characters, deleted them, typed a few more, deleted them again, and finally sent:

"I'm awake. Thank you for bringing me to the hospital last night."

After sending it, she felt that these words sounded strangely polite, like a college student thanking a food delivery worker.

But as soon as the message was sent, Kiana's reply popped up.

"Don't move, I'll be right there."

Well, it seemed she had been waiting for this message all along. Looking at these words, Kaiwen felt quite conflicted.

Wait, she's coming? She's coming right now?

But there's nothing on this face of mine right now! What am I going to face her with when she arrives?

Kaiwen flusteredly looked around, wanting to find something to cover her face. Pillowcase? Blanket? Or the box of disposable masks in the ward?

Masks? You'll do!

She struggled to reach for the mask box on the bedside table, but her injured body didn't seem very agile. With a careless move, the box fell to the floor, and the masks inside scattered all over the ground.

Seeing this, Kaiwen hurriedly wanted to pick them up, but at that moment the door of the ward was pushed open.

A figure carrying a food container walked in.

Their gazes met.

Looking at the figure on the hospital bed who was clearly injured yet still acting restless, Kiana stopped in her tracks.

Kaiwen looked at her as well.

The same white hair, the same blue eyes, the same facial contour—well, different figures; hers didn't seem as big as mine.

Seeming to sense Kaiwen's gaze, Kiana covered herself slightly, then softly spoke: "Your complexion is so poor, it really seems to hurt quite a bit."

She walked over, placed the food container on the cabinet beside the hospital bed, and then sat down at the edge of the bed.

Kaiwen opened her mouth, wanting to say something to ease the suffocatingly awkward atmosphere, but her brain was filled with mush, and after a long while she only managed to squeeze out:

"... Um, I think I can explain."

"Explain what?"

"Well... my appearance."

Kiana glanced at her, then opened the food container on the table; inside was a box of steaming porridge.

"Eat something first. You haven't eaten anything since last night."

"It's just... my current appearance."

"I know."

Kiana placed the porridge and spoon on the bedside table. The heat from the white porridge slowly drifted out, carrying a faint, salty aroma.

Then she picked up the bowl of porridge and looked at Kaiwen lying on the hospital bed.

"Let's talk after you finish eating. Sit up a bit now, I'll feed you."

"No no no, I'll do it myself." As soon as Kaiwen finished speaking, she prepared to reach out to take the porridge.

But just as her hand reached halfway, a killer pain shot through her body. She let out a sharp hiss and pulled her arm back.

Kiana looked at her without saying a word, just holding the bowl and waiting.

The meaning in that gaze was very clear: Done tossing around?

"... Then I'll have to trouble you." Kaiwen resigned herself to fate.

Seeing that Kaiwen stopped moving around, Kiana scooped a spoonful of porridge, blew on it slightly, and brought it to her lips.

Kaiwen opened her mouth to take it, and only when swallowing did she realize how truly hungry she was.

The porridge was cooked down until it was soft and mushy, with a bit of minced lean meat and salt added inside. Warm and comforting, it slid down her throat, making her stomach feel very cozy.

"Delicious," Kaiwen mumbled.

But Kiana didn't respond, continuing to scoop the second spoonful.

The two of them quietly ate more than half a bowl, spoonful by spoonful.

The atmosphere couldn't be called awkward, but it couldn't be called relaxed either; instead, it felt a bit warm. However, the issue concerning the two people's identical looks acted like an invisible barrier, pressing down heavily on the atmosphere inside the room.

Until the porridge was almost at the bottom, Kiana finally spoke.

"You..."