Content warning: graphic descriptions of brutality and use of strong language.


"Kumiko's Asleep? What do you mean by that? Is she going to die?"

Springing awake upon processing what Asuka said, Reina was surprised to discover the Elite Four member's Tropius descending downwards, hurtling through the clouds at a frenzied pace. Kumiko's head still cradled in her arms, Asuka turned to face Reina, her usual energetic demeanour replaced by a stern look.

"Well, Miss Kousaka. According to my diagnostic device, it looks like Oumae-chan here has been hit by a Pokémon's sleep-inducing move." Asuka explained. "Normally, a Pokémon rendered Asleep during battle will wake up again after a short amount of time, but since human beings are obviously made of weaker stuff, we can't take Pokémon moves quite as well. That's why Oumae-chan's life is potentially at stake here."

"What…" In the moment, Reina was at a complete loss for words. Kumiko Oumae, the girl who had been her first love, was now at death's door. Unsure of how to feel after hearing that piece of shocking news, Reina's eyes were like a dead Magikarp's as she idly stared forward, her mind drawing a complete blank. Though Reina lapsed into a state of catatonia, Asuka paid no heed and continued dropping explosive bombshells.

"Unfortunately for Oumae-chan, all the hospitals in the region are currently over capacity, which means it'll be a while before she can get the treatment she needs." Asuka further clarified, eliciting a slight twitch from Reina's unmoving face. "In fact, they're all so full that I had to find the LEAST crowded hospital in the region, and even it's bursting at the seams with a ton of new cases every hour."

"What… happened?" Managing to squeeze out two words from her mouth, Reina was confused at what Asuka just told her. How could all of the region's hospitals be full simultaneously? Unless there was some sort of catastrophic emergency, there was no way that sort of unthinkable scenario could happen, and there didn't seem to be any sign of a calamity. Otherwise, Asuka wouldn't have been able to rescue them.

"Ah, I forgot you were kidnapped by HTT yesterday. No wonder you're locked out of the loop." Asuka mused. "Alright, to keep things short, Ultra Wormholes have appeared all around Octiva, and Ultra Beasts are spewing out of them nonstop. All of the Gym Leaders and other League staff are busy holding them off, and it was only because of special circumstances that I was able to arrive at Houkago Records' headquarters."

Despite how Asuka seemed to frame everything which happened as completely separate events, Reina had the suspicion all this was somehow tied together in one interconnected web. The last time she met Asuka, it was when she and Kumiko were fighting two members of HTT in the midst of hunting Ultra Beasts. All of this was definitely more than a coincidence, but Reina didn't care.

Swiftly brushing those irrelevant thoughts out of her head, Reina ignored Asuka's ramblings and turned her attention to Kumiko. The girl she loved was still unresponsive while laying in Asuka's arms, and Reina noticed Kumiko's skin seemed to be getting paler with each passing second. Most disturbingly, it appeared Kumiko was trying to squirm around in pain, but some invisible force prevented her from doing so.

This was clearly not a normal case of being asleep, but Reina had been torn apart too much by everything else to even wonder if an ordinary Pokémon move was even capable of wreaking such havoc on the human body. Powerless to act in any productive way, all Reina could do was stare at Kumiko, her mind attempting to reconcile with the reality of what happened but failing in its attempts.

Remaining in this state for the rest of her journey in the skies, Reina didn't notice how much time had passed in the interim, any thoughts she could muster quickly being snuffed out by her own lingering doubt. This idleness was only broken when Asuka's Tropius finally burst through the clouds, revealing to Reina that they were now flying above Dacap Town.

The fact that this was the same town where she met Kumiko for the first time after graduating from middle school did not go unnoticed by Reina, and she almost laughed at the irony of it all. In the exact place where the girl of her dreams fully entered her life, there was a chance Reina could lose her here as well. The day had already exacted a heavy toll, and Reina did not want it to get even heavier.

Circling around before making its final descent, Asuka's Tropius soon approached a complex of buildings bearing the familiar emblems of a hospital. From her vantage point up in the air, Reina could see doctors, nurses, and medics hurriedly scampering between the various facilities, often accompanying patients and stretchers. If Asuka's words were to be taken seriously, then these Ultra Beast attacks were serious indeed.

As Asuka's Tropius landed in front of the hospital's main entrance at last, its Trainer used her arms to scoop Kumiko up in one swift maneuver before hopping down. Looking at the Elite Four member quickly finding a doctor to talk with, Reina got the feeling she was supposed to be the person looking after Kumiko right now, not Asuka. However, she couldn't find it in her to muster up some courage for Kumiko's sake.

From Reina's perspective, this entire scenario felt like a twisted reflection of the time Kumiko helped her across a path of coals by carrying her all the way through. Under better circumstances, Reina should've been the one to lift Kumiko and help her in this situation, but Asuka had once again stepped in and filled that role instead. In her greatest hour of need, the person who helped Kumiko was not her lover, but a relative outsider instead.

Her body struggling to move on its own free will after everything it had endured, all of Reina's muscles screamed as she forced herself off Asuka's Tropius. Pushing her own weight downwards, Reina felt her feet touch the ground before she stumbled a few steps forward, her body readjusting itself to stand properly again.

Unable to maintain her balance due to fatigue, Reina soon found herself leaning against a wall, panting and gasping for her life. With her vision becoming increasingly blurry, only the vaguest picture of Asuka and Kumiko entered Reina's mind. As the girl she loved had an oxygen mask wrapped around her head while she was being lowered onto a stretcher, Reina saw Asuka accompany Kumiko as they entered the building.

Not wanting to fall behind and involuntarily abandon Kumiko, Reina pushed herself forwards against the wall using both her hands, making it inside before stumbling and falling into a nearby row of wall-mounted seats. After lifting herself up, Reina then began to make her way across the hospital, using various walls and chairs to support herself as she directed herself towards where Kumiko was heading.

Despite the distance she had to travel, Reina was surprisingly able to keep up with Kumiko's stretcher, mainly because the hospital was crowded enough to slow it down to a reasonable pace. Seeing the stretcher being wheeled into a room, Reina was about to continue following it when she noticed the door close in front, cutting her off from Kumiko.

Too exhausted to go any further, Reina resigned herself as she plopped down on a nearby row of seats. With any luck, she could soon be able to go in and check on Kumiko, though Reina highly doubted visitors would be allowed to see patients in such a chaotic situation. Then again, she had managed to make it this far without any hospital staff questioning why she was here.

Now in a more comfortable position, Reina's muscles automatically relaxed themselves, only for all the pain they had previously gone through to suddenly come surging back. As she felt the sensation of countless pins and needles being thrust into her body course all over, Reina wanted to scream out loud from the intensity of it all, but her jaw was unable to move due to how much exertion she went through.

Struggling to retain some control over her own body, Reina was now left with no choice but to wait until the pain subsided, as it currently paralyzed every last nerve she had. Wanting to keel over in exhaustion from how tired she was, Reina found that her body was working against its innermost urges, her muscles' contractions preventing her from making even the most minute action.

It took a few agonizingly long moments before Reina regained some feeling over most of her body, by which time she discovered she had already reached her upper limits. About to pass out yet again, Reina's supposedly quick journey into unconsciousness was abruptly interrupted by the sound of the nearby door opening, revealing a yawning Asuka walking out.

"Ahh… that was really stressful back there. Time to step outside and get a breath of fresh air." Finishing stretching her arms in the air, Asuka then turned her head and noticed Reina. "Oh, Miss Kousaka. I'm surprised to see you managed to catch up with us. Thought you would hang around outside during this time, considering how exhausted you were back there."

"How's… Kumiko?" Her mouth finally moving the way she wanted again, Reina was surprised at the question she asked. Even with her body in such a sorry state and an endless amount of other things to worry about, the first thought which made its way out of Reina's mind was about Kumiko's current condition. Eagerly absorbing Reina's question, Asuka readily provided an answer.

"Oh, the doctors got Oumae-chan's condition stabilized, so she's in no danger of dying for the time being." Asuka explained, to which Reina breathed a tight sigh of relief. "That said, I called in a favour to get her treatment expedited, which means you don't have to bite your nails for so long while waiting for Oumae-chan to recover. Anyways, there's a lot of things I need to check up on, so bye now! Toodles!"

"Wait-" Reina's reply was cut short as Asuka swiftly turned on her heels and quickly strode off. While she had been planning to ask the Elite Four member whether or not she could go inside the room and look at Kumiko, those hopes and dreams of Reina's were immediately dashed upon Asuka making her sudden leave.

Now breathing out the full sigh she previously kept cooped up, Reina was about to continue waiting outside when she saw a gap between the door and its frame. Taking this as a sign, Reina seized the opportunity and entered the room of her own accord, any potential repercussions from doing so now casually thrown to the wind. What she saw inside wasn't out of the ordinary, but it also didn't get Reina's hopes up either.

The room Kumiko was in didn't look all that different from a standard hospital room, with the exception of a certain brown-haired occupant lying down on one of the beds and some machinery hooked up to her. A steady beat emitted from an EKG machine periodically punctuated the empty silence, bringing a sign of life into the otherwise sterile room.

With the tone of Kumiko's heartbeat acting as white noise to Reina's distressed ears, she took a seat in front of Kumiko's bed, burying her head in her arms. Of all the challenges she expected to run into during her journey, never did Reina consider someone she loved ending up in mortal danger one of them. Because of these events completely out of her control, Reina was left doubting that the future she had once sought to forge for herself was still there.

When she first set out on her journey across the region that fateful day, Reina had done so with the aim of becoming the best Trainer in all of Octiva. Knowing that goal would eventually result in her having to challenge the man she admired above all else, Reina honed her battling senses as best as she could, while never forgetting to keep her trumpet skills sharp as well. That was the promise she made to herself.

This seemed like a straightforward enough path to take, but all that had been derailed when she met Kumiko again right here in Dacap Town for the first time after middle school. On that fateful night, the distance separating them had been drastically shortened, serving as the serendipitous beginning to what would become the most magical relationship in Reina's life. Even as she continued striving to be the very best, a new way was now open to her.

Eventually, their bond with each other gradually transitioned from being just overly affectionate friends to an all-out romance. With their relationship upgrade, everything Reina did with Kumiko gained an additional layer of significance to it. Even the simplest things done with a lover were far more intimate than the grandest gestures of friendship, and all this finally culminated in her surprise proposal to Kumiko just a mere few days ago. Of course, that was before HTT flipped the script.

While it was an audacious maneuver, snatching her away from Kumiko only seemed to strengthen the bond between them, as she swiftly rescued Reina the next day. Though they had been abruptly separated, their love didn't wane a single bit during that period, both of them longing to be back by the other's side as soon as possible. However, with the revelations of recent events, Reina now doubted whether those feelings were genuine.

Yamanaka's words still ringing in her head from earlier today, they acted as a rude awakening for Reina, directing her eyes to the ugly truth she previously looked away from. Despite how much she loved Kumiko, Reina never stopped to wonder whether that was the same kind of love Kumiko felt towards her. Even if their love was truly mutual, the same definitely could not be said for their relationship dynamic.

Without consciously realizing it, Reina frequently found herself taking the lead in matters concerning both of them, often forcing Kumiko to push herself if she wanted to catch up. Rather than slow down and wait for Kumiko, Reina continued to plow ahead instead, unwittingly widening the gap between them. This was clearly not a sign of a healthy relationship, but Kumiko never brought it up. Thus, Reina remained unaware.

Reina always strived to become special, the person who stood above all others. To that end, Reina realized she needed to be assertive if she wanted to lead the charge and surpass everyone else. While this approach had worked wonders when she was still going at it on her own, Reina never included Kumiko in that equation, and the knowledge of how the girl she loved felt about this never reached her.

Previously, Reina could say with confidence that her main goal was to be the strongest, whether it was in battle or music, but Kumiko changed all that. With someone to wholeheartedly love, Reina had found the second important thing in her life, and she was unwilling to let it go at any cost. This had mostly been harmless at first, but the newfound love Reina discovered had begun to clash with her inner ambitions.

Being at the top was certainly going to be a lonely position, and Reina had already accepted that harsh reality from the moment she made it her goal. However, Kumiko's presence as her lover was surely going to detract from the life of solitude she chose. Rather than deal with this dilemma head-on as with most situations she faced, Reina chose to ignore it, focusing her attention on other things she considered more important. And here she was, reaping the consequences of her choices.

Whether it was because of Yamanaka or the immense mental stress Kumiko's current condition caused her, Reina didn't know how to feel right now. Though Kumiko's life was hanging in the balance, any worry Reina had was being quashed by the myriad of other emotions coursing through her, preventing her from acting on them. Even if she wanted to be by Kumiko's side, Reina simply couldn't push herself to do that.

Her mind wildly jumping from one topic to another without forming a proper conclusion to anything, Reina was at a complete loss as to what she could draw from all these thoughts. She used to think she was a person who could solve anything thrown at her, but there were now far too many things to worry about and find somewhere she could begin. Could she have done anything to prevent this? How would she get through these next few days? Was she really worthy of Kumiko's love?

As all these daunting questions swam through Reina's head and overwhelmed her, she heard a soft knock on the door. Looking at it in confusion for a brief moment, Reina then remembered Asuka arranged for someone to help treat Kumiko. Reasoning that the person would most likely be a regular doctor or nurse, Reina uttered a weak "Come in", before widening her eyes in shock as the door swung open to reveal who it was.

"Kaori… Nakaseko?" Reina's already frazzled mental landscape became even more chaotic upon seeing the Elite Four's Steel-type specialist appear before her. Just what was such an important person like her doing here? Reina initially thought she was accompanying Asuka, and had gotten lost somewhere in the frenzy of everything going on in the hospital, but that was soon disproved by what Kaori said next.

"It's been a while since we met, Miss Kousaka." Kaori greeted Reina. "From the look on your face, I take it you're extremely confused about why I'm here. To keep it short, it's because Asu- Miss Tanaka asked me to come. Aside from being an Elite Four member, I'm also a nursing student, and am qualified to give out certain basic treatments. That includes helping human beings recover from Pokémon status ailments."

"So you're… going to help Kumiko?" Reina couldn't believe what she just heard. Kaori Nakaseko, the Elite Four member who Reina considered the toughest opponent she ever faced, just offered to provide medical aid out of the blue. Despite being wholly convinced about Kaori being a nursing student, Reina still remained unsure of the motive behind this gesture of goodwill. "You're not going to charge me for this, right?"

"Not at all. Since Miss Oumae's a friend of Miss Tanaka, I'm going to treat her for free. Besides, the medicine I'm going to be using doesn't cost a lot." Taking a small plastic ziploc bag out of her handbag, Kaori then showed what was inside to Reina. "These are all-natural Worry Seeds. Their processed version is used as part of a common drug for narcolepsy, while whole ones are used to treat people who are Asleep."

"You mean… people like Kumiko?" Glancing at the transparent bag's contents, Reina saw several regular-looking seeds inside, which confirmed this was the real deal. The move Worry Seed changed a Pokémon's Ability to Insomnia in battle, which also had the helpful side-effect of removing the Asleep status ailment from them. Given the context of this situation, Kaori's solution seemed to be perfect.

"Well, in most cases, yes. However, other cures exist too, including a much stronger one involving a certain Pokémon's feather… but that's too challenging to obtain normally. Apologies for going a bit off topic there." Opening the bag, Kaori took out one of the Worry Seeds. "One seed should wake Miss Oumae up in a few short moments, but I'll give you the whole packet after this just in case."

Going over to Kumiko's bed, Kaori then pried her mouth open using her fingers, eliciting a reaction of shock from Reina. While she guessed that Kaori would feed Kumiko the Worry Seed through her mouth, actually seeing her do so was an entirely different matter. Seeing another woman touch the girl she loved that intimately completely caught Reina off-guard, and would surely have caused her to have a more adverse response if Asuka hadn't done so earlier.

This was the second time today that Kumiko had been in the care of an Elite Four member, and Reina wasn't pleased with how she was sidelined. She was the person who Kumiko loved above all else, so why wasn't she front and center in the effort to assist the girl she loved? Was this what Yamanaka meant about their relationship being flawed? That their love wasn't equal?

As Kaori took one Worry Seed out of the bag and placed it in front of Kumiko's lips, Reina felt a twinge of envy run through her. From her perspective, it looked as if Kaori was feeding Kumiko like a lover, which was a deeply disturbing sight to Reina. Unable to continue seeing this any further, Reina was about to stand up and feed Kumiko the Worry Seed herself when she found she couldn't.

Wondering why her legs weren't moving at all, Reina first thought it was because they were exhausted beyond measure, but she innately knew this clearly wasn't the case here. Rather than the physical exertion she put herself through, it was the emotional pain of thinking about Kumiko which had worn Reina out. All the mental beatdowns she witnessed and received finally bore fruit, weighing Reina down more than any load possibly could.

Resigning herself to her seat, Reina could only watch as Kaori fully inserted the Worry Seed into Kumiko's mouth, before feeding her some water to wash it down her throat. After seeing someone take better care of the girl she loved than she ever could, Reina's mind couldn't find any reason why Kumiko would still love her. Anything Reina was capable of doing for Kumiko, someone else could do it better. Case in point, this entire scenario.

"Excuse me. I have to go outside for a moment." Standing up from her seat, this time no longer being crushed by her insecurities, Reina simply headed for the door and went out of the room. The atmosphere inside was doing no favours for her mental state, and Reina feared remaining there any longer wouldn't end well for her. At that rate, nothing good was going to happen.

Once she stepped out, the corridor Reina ended up in wasn't much better. Despite the hospital supposedly being extremely busy with everything going on, this hallway was surprisingly desolate, not even a single worker rushing past in a hurry. Even in this relatively tranquil environment, Reina still found it too stuffy for her liking. About to head out of the building and get some actually fresh air, Reina then saw someone walk by. And it was the person she least wanted to see.

Him. That person. Because he didn't help them back in Ubmedi City, Reina couldn't mount a successful escape from HTT, forcing her to sacrifice herself for Kumiko's sake. That had been the catalyst for everything which had happened since then, and was why Reina was feeling down in a hospital instead of spending time together with Kumiko.

"Wait, I can-" Before Shuichi could process the sight in front of him, Reina had stormed over in a fit of pure unbridled rage. Shoving him down with a single outstretched palm, Reina then leapt on top of him and clenched both her hands tightly around his neck. Unable to breathe, Shuichi was left gasping for air as Reina began using her right foot to repeatedly stomp on his groin in anger.

"Acck- acck- acck-" With his windpipe being steadily crushed, those excruciating sounds were all Shuichi was able to make as his crotch was being subjected to burst after burst of unbearable torture. His eyes starting to roll up in their sockets, Shuichi's pupils briefly met Reina's, and he could see the malice in them for a split second before his attention shifted back to what she was doing to the area between his legs.

"YOU- MOTHERFUCKER!" Reina yelled at the top of her lungs, completely ignoring whether or not anybody else heard her as tears began to streak down her face. "IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU BEING A FUCKING LITTLE PUSSY AND RUNNING AWAY LIKE A LITTLE BITCH WITH YOUR POKÉMON, THEN KUMIKO WOULDN'T BE STUCK IN A FUCKING COMA RIGHT NOW! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO HER, YOU FUCKING COWARD!"

"Kou-" Trying to explain everything from the very beginning, Shuichi found himself deprived of that opportunity as Reina's fingers curled deeper around his throat. Shuichi soon felt her sharp nails puncture his skin, and he found his vision getting fuzzier as blood trickled out from his neck. Though she could obviously imagine the pain Shuichi was feeling, Reina thought that it was nothing compared to the pain she and Kumiko were currently going through.

"FUCKING SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU BRAT!" Her voice beginning to crack from screaming so much, Reina's arms and legs were also beginning to go numb after what she was putting them through. "YOU DON"T FUCKING DESERVE TO TALK BACK TO ME, NOT AFTER WHAT YOU'VE FUCKING DONE! THE ONLY THING YOU FUCKING DESERVE IS TO FUCKING DIE IN A HOLE!"

"No-" Attempting to reason with Reina again, the cycle of hurt Shuichi was trapped in prevented him from doing anything constructive. Right when Shuichi was about to pass out from all the pain, a stomp to his crotch shocked him back up again, and that was enough to make him begin to lose consciousness. At this point, the only thought occupying Shuichi's mind was the torture he was undergoing.

"WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE KUMIKO AND NOT YOU? WHY?" All the strain her vocal cords continued to endure still wasn't enough to convey how much Reina was suffering. In her fury, any rational thought had already deserted Reina's mind, leaving her a complete slave to her emotions. "JUST FUCKING KILL YOURSELF ALREADY, YOU COMPLETE PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT!"

"Reina… what...?" About to land another blow on Shuichi's groin, Reina looked up in the direction of the voice she heard, and her eyes quickly met those of Hazuki's. Shocked at why she was also here at this hospital, Reina froze on the spot as tears began to well up in Hazuki's eyes. Hazuki's unorthodox reaction leaving her completely confused, Reina didn't know how to respond in this situation. "Let him go… please."

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT HE FUCKING DID? DO YOU?" Reina was completely furious. In the state she was in, anyone who didn't agree with her right now was against her, and that included Hazuki. "IF ONLY YOU KNEW EVERY SINGLE FUCKING THING HE DID, THEN YOU WOULD FEEL THE SAME FUCKING WAY I DO RIGHT NOW!"

"Reina… I'm sorry, but that's no way to treat someone, not even someone you hate with every bone in your body." Hazuki's eyes quickly losing their usual energetic luster, Reina could see the visible disappointment in them as she strode over. Swiftly bringing her right hand down, Hazuki delivered a simple karate chop onto Reina's wrist, freeing Shuichi from her clenched hands.

"AAAGGGHHH!" Reina cried out as she fell backwards, her eyes soon meeting the ceiling. Lying down there for who knows how long, Reina eventually raised her hands up to try and wipe all the tears she had accumulated, only to see her fingertips stained with Shuichi's blood. Her eyes widening upon seeing how much she actually hurt Shuichi, Reina then picked herself up without saying anything when she heard another voice.

"I can't believe I'm friends with such a psycho bitch." Turning her head to see who had spoken, Reina then saw Yuuko sporting a look of utter disapproval on her face. Not even caring why Yuuko was here in the first place, Reina was shocked that one of the only people she had a working relationship with witnessed everything she just did. There was no way to justify this at all.

Without a second thought, Reina fled the scene, completely deaf to Hazuki's cries for help or Yuuko's shouts to come back. Heedless to the world around her, nothing mattered to Reina anymore. Now that Kumiko was on the brink of death, Reina had nothing to live for. Not even the goal of becoming the strongest had any meaning to her anymore. If Kumiko wasn't by her side when she finally achieved her goal, then was there any meaning to it? Reina couldn't answer that with a single shred of confidence.

She was upset. She was so upset she could die.


Aoi Saitou didn't like the room's mood.

With Asuka, Kaori, and Haruka unavailable, Aoi had been called over to Dacap Town's hospital to help debrief the Houkago Records raid team. While she already heard the mission ended on a sour note, Aoi wasn't sure how badly it went until she saw the lifeless looks on everyone's faces upon meeting them. That already told her everything she needed to know.

Miraculously, the impossibly busy hospital managed to spare a room for the debrief, which was where everyone had currently gathered. Normally, something like this would've been conducted at a conference room in League headquarters, but given how frantic it was there, it made no sense to go back. Besides, everyone had already followed Asuka and Kaori here, so why bother?

"Hey, Saitou." Aoi heard Natsuki call out from across the room, her head rested on her arms above a tabletop. "Y'know, since Yuuko and Asuka and Nakaseko are gone, why not just cancel this debriefing outright? We've all been beaten quite badly today, so cut us a break, alright? Hell, now that I've checked again, Hashimoto, Niiyama, and the percussion trio aren't here as well! There's no way we can discuss anything."

"Miss Nakagawa, you're missing the point here." While Aoi was certainly aware that approximately half the raid team was absent, she still had to proceed with the debriefing nonetheless. "I know a lot of people are gone, but it's just to recap everything that happened during the raid, whether it be good or bad. This obviously can't fix anything, so just think of this as an opportunity for reflection."

"Yeah. You know what, screw this. I'm outta here. We aren't going to get anything done moping on our sorry asses like this." Yanking her chair backwards, Natsuki stood up dejectedly and left the room, not even bothering to close the door behind her properly. As Aoi let out a worried sigh, it was Nozomi who filled the ensuing silence with her voice, finally breaking the invisible deadlock.

"Since nobody's talking here, I might as well say something about a strange detail I noticed." Nozomi began. "Mr. Hashimoto and Ms. Niiyama discovered the five members of HTT on the rooftop along with their adviser. What's curious about this is not who found HTT, but where HTT was found. From what Ms. Niiyama told me, it seemed that HTT wasn't trying to escape, but rather they just finished doing something up there. But what?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Miss Kasaki." Aoi replied, having nothing else to add. "From what we've seen of them so far, nothing HTT does is by accident. Whatever they did, it was certainly moving their plan forward. We've only got a vague idea as to what their end goal is, which means we need to be on our guard at all times. If everything they've done up to now is just their opening move, then I'm dreading what they're going to pull off for their finishing act."


"What the… I've never seen anything like this happen before!"

The frantic beeping of the EKG only intensifying the chaos in the room, Kaori looked on in shock as Kumiko's body erratically shifted around on the bed, unsure of what to do next. She had read various case studies of adverse human reactions to Worry Seeds in the past, but nothing she learned about resembled this scenario in the slightest. Distressed about her patient's bizarre reaction, there was only one question occupying Kaori's mind.

Just what move was Kumiko hit by?


A/N: What a way to come back this week, eh?

Boy, the universe can't seem to give Shuichi a break over the past two days (yes, everything since Reina was kidnapped happened in two in-universe days). Getting beat up by Reina, getting beat up by Kumiko, almost getting killed by a Pheromosa, getting brutalized by Reina again... The only good thing coming his way was reuniting with Hazuki.

Oh yeah, Kumiko and Reina also got gigantic servings of emotional trauma delivered to them. Can't believe I almost forgot about that.