Two days later, when the lot of them planned to go investigate further in Mushiyori City, Nanashi woke up early in the morning, well before her alarm, running for the bathroom. She threw up, not sure what was triggering her illness. Her head hurt a little bit, the flushing sound making it slightly worse. She had felt nauseous here and there ever since they had returned from rescuing Yusuke.

'Check again,' she asked the wind serpent.

She felt it move around within her, feeling slightly winded when it did that. 'You're not pregnant,' it explained to her calmly. 'Not possible as you finished the tea. Then your period a few days ago.' It sounded more irritated with her than it usually did, almost snappy.

'Maybe food poisoning or something,' she thought relieved. 'It comes and goes though...' She rose up, brushing her teeth carefully so as to avoid gagging. She went back to bed, having a little bit of trouble falling asleep with her stomach still squeamish.

She woke up when her alarm went off, pulling herself up drowsily. Coffee had to put a dent in this drowsiness. She set the kettle to boil, making herself a breakfast of toast that would hopefully be gentle on her stomach. She saw Yusuke stumble out of his room right behind her. "Good morning," she said, chasing it with a yawn.

"Morning," he said back, getting his own meal ready as soon as she was out of his way. She felt her head nod unexpectedly when she went to pick up her piece of toast. "You okay?" he asked, watching her.

She shrugged. "Trouble sleeping," she answered. "I'm fine."

"Better not be the flu again," he teased, giving her shoulder a shake. "The world's ending and I ain't got time to nurse you back to health like last time."

"You didn't do it last time," she griped, confused by what he was saying.

He chuckled, "to tired to take a joke apparently."

They finished eating breakfast and rushed over to the train station to meet the others. Nanashi felt a little dozy by the time they got on the train, but she kept it to herself. She stuck with Yusuke's group that consisted of Genkai, Kido, Yanagisawa, and herself. She was feeling it was less awkward with him than she would be with Kurama in his group. When they got to Mushiyori City, it was quite a sight to see various demonic insects and creatures buzzing around. The sight of them did twist her stomach a little. When one the size of her hand landed on her shoulder, the wind serpent came up around her neck unbidden and killed it without even consulting her first. It hissed in the air, striking another smaller insect that just happened to flying by. She told it to go away, but it went for another insect instead.

"Jeez, jumpy," Yusuke said, commenting on it watching her.

"Put that away, foolish girl," Genkai snapped at her. "Save your energy. These insects are mostly harmless."

A second time trying, she got it to summon away thankfully as they continued through the city. When they entered a mahjong club looking for another human that was awakened spiritually, the sound of clinking tiles unexpectedly gave her a headache. They found him, an older guy named Murata who could read the minds of those close to him, getting him to follow them out of the mahjong club and into a park near a hospital. Her head felt better, but then worse Murata found the leader of the group trying to open the tunnel between the Human World and Demon World and then was shot from a distance unexpectedly. They took him to the hospital nearby for his now cracked skull, where, once he was able to, shared what he read from the mind of Sensui, the leader behind the the tunnel opening project. The very idea that it was another human behind it, rather than a demon like she might have been expecting made her blood run cold. The wind serpent liked the idea of it not being a demon even less.

In the hospital, her head and stomach started to ache again, making her tempted to see if she could ask one of the nurses for some painkillers. "Unless you're running a fever or something, I doubt they'll give you anything," Murata said looking over at her.

"Hhhmm?" she hummed over at him. She winced when the lights he was sitting beneath stung her vision.

"Wait, are you actually sick?" Yusuke asked her. "I thought you were just tired."

She answered simply, "headache."

"And nausea," Murata added in, like he was tattling or her. "She threw up this morning." She gave him an annoyed look, mad at him for ratting her out. Hopefully he was tactful enough not to reveal she feared pregnancy at one point. She thought to beg him not to say anything like that.

"Headaches and vomiting are symptoms of awakening spiritually. And they were a bit annoying for me. Two days on and off throwing up and migraines to boot. Managed to take care of myself with it though," Yanasigawa pointed out. "But you woke up months ago. It doesn't make any sense for you to get sick like that."

She shrugged. "It's probably mild food poisoning or something," she excused. She disliked how the lot of them, especially Yusuke were looking at her.

Their conversation turned back about the sniper, Genkai figuring out it was a tiny piece of gum that Murata was shot with. Nanashi felt her attention lull when she felt someone extend their territory in the hospital. The shock of it felt like a cold bucket of water being dumped over her shoulders. The lot of them jumped up, with her ending up between Murata and Yanagisawa. She watched as both were injected by insects that looked nothing like bugs from the Human World nor the Demon World. The wind serpent popped back up unbidden on her neck and shoulders. She could have sworn it was longer and thicker than it had ever been. It even had a hooded head like a Human World cobra now. When one bug landed on her, the wind serpent struck it. Then at a second one, then at a third. A fourth one got her though just above the collar of her shirt. A marbled, blotching set of hives flooded out over her skin from the area. She felt her head swoon, and then she was sinking to the ground. She laid down on her side, curling up into a ball...

The next thing she knew, Yusuke was next to her, shaking her shoulder. "Hey, get up, come on. Everyone else who got the virus has recovered," he said down at her, sounding worried.

She pushed herself up by her hands, upper back and shoulders feeling incredibly heavy. Her shoulders sagged. She groaned, mouth feeling dry, "what...?" The wind serpent rose up from her neck, the weight of it driving her down to her elbows. It lashed out at Yusuke, outside of her control, biting him.

"Dude!" he shouted, jumping back and out of reach. It hissed at him and him alone.

She reached her right hand up, trying to quell the wind serpent, but it kept slipping from her grasp. "I can't control it," she said in a panic. She looked past Yusuke and over at Genkai behind him. The lights above Genkai's head pierced her vision, forcing her to turn her head away. The weight of the wind serpent on her neck drove her to lay back down on the floor. It was like a leaden chain around her neck. The headache that had her pounded. She closed her eyes. Her stomach started to churn, making her will herself not to throw up in the moment.

"We're in a hospital, maybe leave her here?" she heard Yusuke ask, although his voice sounded far too loud and sharp in her ears. She covered them.

She felt warm, dry hands hovering over her. "No, it's not physical, it's spiritual," she heard Genkai say far too loudly near her. "She's going through spirit awakening again. I don't know what else it could be. Better to take her home than leave her here so close to the tunnel opening."

"Again?" Yusuke asked. "I thought that was something people only did once, if ever?"

"Yes, exactly," Genkai answered. "Best take her back home to recover."

Nanashi felt Yusuke haul her up and onto his back. "Damn, you've put on weight," he complained. "If anyone asks, she's twenty, not seventeen, and is drunk off her ass."