Shouko, along with the other saintias who came to help had slept there in the infirmary. There were plenty of beds and staff rooms for anyone who wanted privacy. Shouko had all but passed out on one of the now empty beds near the south-facing area of the circle room. She only awoke due to the growing commotion around her, shaking off her drowsiness as the world came back into focus.

"Good morning!"

A cheerful voice came from her right, and she turned to see none other than the ever-friendly Shun sitting cross-legend on the bed next to her.

Shouko stared back at him, not entirely sure how to react, as she was still not entirely sure why Shun had seemed to attach himself to her. If what he wanted was information, someone like Mii or Katya would be way better to ask. If he wanted friendly company, Xiao-Ling or Elda would be much more fun; Shouko thought, and yet, Shun was trailing after her.

"Are you feeling okay? Did you sleep well?" Shun asked while Shouko rubbed her face in a continual effort to wake herself up.

"I'm…fine," she muttered, staring blankly at her hands as she struggled to put together the memories of her dreams. There wasn't much there. Just a lot of vague terrified feelings. There was this vague empty feeling of worry that she couldn't quite see the to shake. And she suspected that the feeling would remain as long as her sister was still in critical condition.

Shouko pushed herself up from the bed, there wasn't much time to waste, she had to get moving again. Shouko stood up and wandered over to the rounds cart and picked up her tablet, mindlessly starting to page through patient information without much sinking in.

"Can I help?" Shun asked, leaning in over her shoulder.

Shouko shook herself to try get herself together enough to even ask for help. "I need to check in with the patients assigned to me, and mark down if they can be discharged."

"How do we know that?"

Shouko pointed to a medical scanner that still waited on the cart. "I just need to do a general scan, and if it passes a 90% threshold, they can leave." Shouko was just repeating the training that Shaina had drilled into her head several years ago, it all being second nature to her now.

"If you want, since you're the trained one. How about you perform the scans, while I go through the patient information for you?"

Shouko blinked, her drowsiness starting to finally lift as she looked at Shun's genuinely kind smile.

"Yeah, that seems fine," she said, glancing around to see that several other saintias had paired up to do the exact same thing. Why Shouko hadn't thought to do the same was beyond her.

Shouko handed the tablet to Shun and picked up the medical scanner and they got to work.

Part way into their first patient however, Shun's attention again began to wander.

"I noticed that Milo was the last to go into the Spire last night," he said rather casually. Shouko was mostly ignoring him as she scanned the still-unconscious female saint in the bed before them.

Shun continued, his gaze split between the tablet, the female saint and the yet-unmoving central lift. "I don't think miss Milo got any injuries, and yet she's been up there the whole time. I though miss Shaina only brought critical patients up there."

"Yeah but she also brings her lovers up there too," Shouko said without thinking which she immediately regretted.

Next to them, seeing to another patient was Elda and Katya. Elda holding the tablet while Katya performed her medical scans. Elda was unabashedly listening in on their conversation and gave Shun a grin. "So you noticed huh? It's pretty obvious, everyone in the medical units knew about them for years."

"Oh?" Shun asked, turning to Elda with great interest.

"Yeah, the Healer and Lady Milo are totally an item!" Elda said with a mischievous grin.

Katya gave a light scoff after finishing one of her scans. "Anyone could have deduced that, Elda. Milo wasn't hurt and yet she's been up there all night."

Elda frowned slightly, giving Katya a gentle nudge with her hip, a gesture that Katya returned with a suprisingly affectiona caress on her arm. Elda did her best to remain composed, but a very obvious blush appeared on her cheeks.

A grin formed on Shun's lips as he turned his attention back to Shouko and their patient. "I'll admit, I assumed the sanctuary to be a cold and cruel place. But there's a suprising amount of love and life here, isn't there?"

Katya gave Shun a brief and furtive look. "Perhaps the reality of that cold cruelty is what caused such relationships to form in such quantities."

"That is a fair point," Shun replied with a friendly grin.

Elda and Katya continued to focus on their patient and Shun returned to his own. Shouko had remained quite silent, perhaps grateful that Elda and Katya had stepped in to answer Shun's questions. Shun then considered that perhaps more than exhaustion was weighing down the typically lively shouko, and decided to pull back a bit.

Shouko finished a very extensive deep-tissue scan and turned back to Shun while not meeting his eyes. "Abdomen has sustained internal damage; no sign of internal bleeding, but significant tissue bruising is present." Shouko then continued to list off the values that Shun needed to take down as she went through each region of the abdomen. They had been making their way down the body and were through most of the vital organs.

Their patient was a bronze saint, just like Shun himself was. She seemed familiar, although Shun couldn't quite be sure. He had trained alongside many others back on earth, but he couldn't be sure if this was the same person he remembered. Much of his training had been brief and in such secret.

Shouko furrowed her brows. "She should be able to wake up, but she's still just deeply asleep at the moment.

Shun got an idea. If Genet was indeed who he thought she was, then there was no harm in trying. Shun crouched down, his face furrowing in concentration as he seemed to be focusing on her ear.

"Shun? What are you doing?"

Shun then blew a quick burst of air onto Genet's earlobe; which to everyone's surprised caused her to immediately jerk upright with a gasp.

Shouko let out a surprised yelp, nearly dropping her scanner while Shun pulled back with a satisfied chuckle.

Genet then looked around wildly until her eyes landed directly on Shun.

"Shun?!" She asked, all other questions leaving her as sudden recognition filled her face.

Shun then smiled brightly as the memories started to come back to him. "Ah, of course! I thought I recognized you!"

Genet frowned. "It's been a long time so I'm not shocked you forgot me." Genet turned away from him, seeming to get ready to stand from her bed.

"Of course I remember you!" He said hastily, reaching out a hand to try and keep her in bed. "But in all seriousness, you need to stay in bed still, we haven't finished the examination."

Genet frowned, seeming annoyed at how she was woken up, perhaps, but layed herself back down nonetheless.

Elda suppressed an amused chuckle from next to them while they all continued their work. Shouko however, seemed slightly less tense than before. Seeing her patient awake and conscious being very good news. But, Shouko's overall rather dour temperament remained unchanged.

When Genet's examination was completed, it was determined that she would have to stay for at least another day while the internal damage healed.

"Don't worry," Shun said with a grin. "I'll be here the whole time until you recover!"

Genet gave him a displeased look while Shouko however suddenly got to her feet, staggering towards the central lift. The car was on it's way up from the first floor and Shouko immediately went over to greet whoever would emerge.

Form inside the lift first emerged Mii, her expression unreadable; but from behind her came a hovering gurney.

"Neesan!" Shouko bellowed, immediately going to her sister's side without a second thought.

Mii regarded Shouko with an expression leaning slightly towards sympathy. "She's stable, but still unconscious," Mii informed. "I'll add her to you patient list."

"We will take one of hers to make room," Elda and Katya had stood up, walking just behind where Shouko and Mii were gathered by the lift.

Mii nodded at them and lifted her tablet to make the change. "I see that Horologium Aludra has just been cleared for discharge and so I can move one of Shouko's patients promptly into your care."

Elda and Katya nodded and returned back to where their patient was preparing to leave. Mii brought Kyouko over to the now empty bed and along with Shouko got her situated.

While Mii and Shouko attended to Kyouko, and Elda and Katya moved onto their next patient; Shun remained by the lift. He noticed that instead of returning to the first floor, the lift then went up to the Spire room, which it had not done since Milo had ascended the night before.

Sure enough, within a few moments, the lift came back down and the door opened. Shun did his best to seem casual, but his interest had already been made quite obvious before. Milo and Shaina exited the lift together, not bothering to hide it. Shun admired that brashness, and while he deeply wanted to know more; he also was able to read the situation.

While they left together, Shaina was very stiff and faced away from Milo. Milo was relaxed, her eyes lingering on Shaina in very obvious concern. Milo made a move to touch Shaina's shoulder, but Shaina all but recoiled, going back into the lift and heading down to the first floor. Milo stood there for a few moments, her expression unreadable.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Shun asked.

Milo blinked and turned towards Shun. She gave him a look of mild surprise before replying. "No, not now. Shaina has her own matters to attend to." Although Milo was an expert at hiding her emotions when necessary, there was a sudden sad flash across her face.

Milo walked past Shun to where Shouko knelt besides Kyouko. Milo stood at the end of the bed, and Shun went to stand next to her.

Shouko had spoken with great sadness about her sister when first mentioning her to Shun; and now all of that worry and weight was unable to be contained. Shun took a moment to glance back at the far corner where his own brother was still sleeping in from the morning. Shun was honestly shocked that Ikki was still around so long. Perhaps Shun had taken it for granted that Ikki would leave again, and as such hadn't bothered trying to talk to him any more.

While Kyouko was being tended to, Genet in the next bed over seemed to take that as an opportunity to sneak out of bed like she had wanted to. Shun then took her as an excuse to accompany her and further avoid trying to talk to Ikki.

"Is everything alright with you and miss Shaina?" Shouko asked, only briefly glancing at Milo, her attention still largely focused on her sister. Mii was conducting the intake scan and hooking up Kyouko to the various monitoring devices. Shouko, understandably only seemed able to hold her sister's hand.

Milo let out a measured sigh. "Shaina has a lot on her mind." Milo's eyes flashed over to where Shun was, her gaze wary.

Shun offered Genet a hand that she accepted, still needing some help to walk. Shun then slung Genet's arm over his shoulders and helped her walk out to the terrace for some fresh air.

Shun seemed to have taken to the infirmary's veranda. The view was unchanged but the sunlight made the world sparkle in a whole new spectrum.

Genet however, still seemed rather cold to Shun, and despite Shun's usual sharp instincts, he was completely in the dark as to why. It was very likely that whatever she was upset about had nothing to do with him.

He leaned on the railing, looking out at the surrounding gardens, not expecting to see much. But, beyond any of his expectations, he actually glimpsed Aiolia and Milo walking hand in hand just for a moment.

A grin spread across his face, speculation as to their relationship quickly shoving out any other thought in his head.

That moment of escape however was interrupted by the sound of the balcony door sliding open behind him.

Shun started, and despite his best efforts wasn't able to recollect himself before Genet marched out next to him on the balcony.

"Genet—to what do I owe the plea—"

"Save it," Genet almost barked. "I'm not in the mood for that right now."

"Noted," Shun said with a quick nod, looking back out on the gardens.

"Do you really not remember me?" Genet asked, not sounding particularly offended, but still upset.

Shun paused before answering. "To be honest, you're one of the only people I really remember from my training days," Shun said, his gaze falling to the middle distance. "And you even disappeared part way through," he gave her a rather strained smile. If anything, Shun was the one who should be more bitter towards Genet, and perhaps that is what annoyed Genet.

"I didn't have a choice, you know. I'm older than you, my training was done faster."

"I know," Shun said, still not meeting Genet's gaze.

"And that's the same for your brother too, you know that, right?"

Shun started again giving Genet a rather surprised look.

"Look, even an idiot can tell that you're avoiding him."

Shun giggled. "Well, I don't think Seiya has noticed."

"He has." Genet replied, curtly.

"Oh, my…"

"As you can tell, I'm not exactly in the mood for wasting time today."

Shun gave Genet a long look, taking a moment to think. "Genet, can you tell me a bit about...what happened to you today? Only if you want to."

Genet looked back at him, her face now bordering on curiosity. "You do realize that I only just woke up right? I have no idea why you're even here to begin with."

Shun gave a nervous laugh. "Ah that's fair." Shun took the hint and instead of pressing further, he instead caught her up to speed on everything from his end.

Genet's face melted into a smile that was much more familiar to Shun than her earlier scowls. "In the end, your brother still came through, huh?"

Shun shrugged. "I mean, sure I suppose."

"But I bet you just expect him to leave again," it wasn't a question, but a statement, and Shun didn't want to reply.

Genet reached out a hand and placed it on Shun's back. "At the very least, you need to talk to him."

"Yes, I'll do that eventually," Shun gave a smirk, glancing back through the windows behind them. Ikki was in fact awake, and was now receiving his physical from Elda and Katya.

Against Shun's better judgement, he kept watching; for what, he didn't know. Maybe he was looking for some kind of sign; some indication that Ikki wasn't just going to leave again. But ikki was like a blank slate. There was nothing, no body language or signal that Shun could pick up on. Ikki had always been like that, infuriatingly, a mystery to Shun. Even when they were each other's only family; even when they were supposed to know each other the best. Ikki was always just out of his reach.

While the four of them made their way back to the infirmary; Shun was still musing on the infirmary's veranda, at this point, being somewhat stubborn. Genet had given up on the idea of trying to convince him, as obviously, there was much more there that she was yet unable to understand.

Genet let out a sigh, forcing herself to let go of the last bit of strain from the battle the day before. "Well, I figure I should say this at least," she then turned towards Shun, Shun only giving her a rather vacant look in reply. "I am glad to see you again. Even if the circumstances are, frankly, the worst they could be for a reunion."

Shun gave a very dry laugh, his mouth barely moving towards anything resembling a smile. "Thank you, I appreciate that."

Genet kept watching as Shun's expression mysteriously seemed to be drifting further towards darkness. Genet then decided to grasp at whatever topic change was even remotely possible.

"So, you were helping Shouko earlier huh? Did the Saintias ask you guys for help?"

Shun's expression suddenly shifted to one of polite engagement. "The saintias seemed a bit overwhelmed so I figured I'd help! Better than just sitting around or wandering around a place I'm not familiar with."

Genet nodded, still keeping a very careful eye on Shun's overall behavior. Despite having just woken up from unconsciousness, Genet had been very carefully observing her surroundings. It wasn't hard to see that while Shun was already very quickly comfortable with Shouko, Shun was still very pointedly avoiding his own brother.

"You seemed like you were getting along with Shouko already," Genet commented. "Although gettting along with people has always been a bit of a talent of yours."

Shun gave a short laugh. "I am just very interested in people. And just about everyone appreciates when someone takes an interest in them."

Genet gave Shun a small smirk before continuing. "So you know about Kyouko and Shouko being siblings already, I presume?"

Shun nodded. "Yeah! She's told me as much. Really seems to look up to her."

"Do you know why Kyouko is the way she is right now?"

Shun faltered. "I'll admit that I am less clear on that. All I know is that she facilitated the Saintias' evacuation."

"That is true," Genet allowed. "If you want, I'll let you in on what happened. You'll even get to know a bit of what happened to me."

While the atmosphere in popes hall and Athena's sanctum had always been tense and dour, things became far more dire in the days leading up to the attack.

Genet, for many years had been one of the saints assigned to guard and observe Saintia trainees, and as such she was often privy to the inner circle of the saintias and their movements. More often than not, Genet had been instrumental in making sure that certain information never left those very circles.

Saintias, from their childhood are sworn to defend Athena with their body and soul. Olivia, the leader 16 years ago, had done that very thing; and as such, Kyouko, her eldest daughter, was more than prepared to do the same. Unfortunately, without regard for how that might affect those around her, especially her very own sister, Shouko.

Kyouko did what she had to do, lending aid to the Graad foundation how she could; and protecting the Saintias so that when Athena finally returned, she would have her loyal servants there to greet her.

Genet explained to Shun how Kyoko had commanded them all flawlessly. While the pope was distracted by the attack, she used all her strength to break the Pope's barriers and got every single Saintia out alive.

Genet gave a bitter smile. "Except for Marin. We had to leave her behind."

Shun leaned in, his interest growing. "I gathered that much, but why? Was there something special with Marin?"

Genet blinked. "You know her too?"

Shun smiled. "Yes, I also spoke with her yesterday. She's seiya's older sister after all."

Genet continued to stare back at him, looking bewildered. "You mean Marin is okay?"

Shun nodded. "Yes! I saw her a little after she was pulled from the wreckage. She was with Aiolia and so I know she's being taken care of well."

Genet gave a bemused grin. "Very much like you to already be sussing out all the hot couples here at sanctuary."

Shun gave her a mischievous wink and Genet sighed before continuing. "But yeah, Marin was at the center of everything actually Everything that we were unable to stop," Genet paused, grimacing. "Marin, this whole time had be forced under the evil Pope's thumb. As I understand it, Saga figured out that she was sneaking out to see seiya, and he used that to make her his pawn."

Shun's mouth then formed a small 'o' or realization. It all made sense; why Marin left him, why Marin was so resistant to talk about why.

"We couldn't get to her. We would have to go to the pope directly, and that would risk alerting him to our escape." The decision to leave Marin behind still clearly weighing heavily.

Shun took that moment to reach out and gently take Genet's hand. "Hey, it's alright. Marin is safe now!"

"I am really glad about that," Genet said with a sigh. "Once I'm recovered though, I'll be leaving here as soon as I can."

"Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Yeah, I gotta report back to captain Mayura. And namely, to Athena i have to know she's al right."

Shun's expression lit up as the name Mayura rang a bell. "Ah, yes! Pavo Mayura, right? I remember her. She called herself the captain of the Saintias," Shun smiled. "Don't worry. I was there when Mayura took Saori into her care."

Genet gave a relieved smile. "That is great to hear," she paused. "I imagine Mii will return to her side soon too. All the Saintias will."

Shun glanced back into the infirmary where the Saintias were still working diligently. The commotion from Kyouko's appearance seeming to have calmed down, Shun had a mind to return back inside.

"What do you say we head back in?" Shun suggested, ignoring Genet's suspicious look and leading her back through the glad door.

Inside, Shun looked around. Ikki was sitting up straight in his bed where he had been since they were all brought there the day before. As before, he was unreadable and seemed almost unapproachable.

Seiya was awake and was doing his best to be useful, holding a tablet for Xiao-Ling as Shun had done for Shouko earlier. Shun smiled, glad to see that the others seemed to be recovering well. Shiryu and Hyoga were also awake and receiving their exams, and from the looks of it they would soon be released themselves.

While Ikki was still being examined, Shun figured that it would be best not to interfere.

He turned sharply from his brother and walked back over to check on Shouko.

Despite it still being quite early in the day, the poor girl was out cold. She was knelt by her sister's bedside with her head and arms on the bed, fast asleep. It was obvious that Shun wanted to do something, but before Shun could act, Genet had marched up from behind him.

Genet didn't hesitate and took Shouko into her arms, placing her on the now empty bed next to her sister.

Shun didn't say anything, his gaze drifting from Shouko and back to Kyouko.

Perhaps after all there was nothing else for him to do besides face his brother.

At that moment however, Shun found himself being approached by none other than katya. Without so much as a greeting, she started speaking as soon as she caught Shun's attention. "Shun, we have completed your brother's examination."

Shun tried to put on the best smile that he could, but he had a feeling that Katya would be able to see right through it regardless. She gave him a somewhat suspicious look before continuing.

"His neurological readings are extremely abnormal, so we want to keep him here longer." Katya paused. "He will need to undergo a special procedure from Shaina directly. I however cannot give you all the details now, I hope you understand."

Shun nodded. "Thanks for telling me."

"You are free to tend to him as you wish."

That suggestioned seemed to be quite goading, and Shun felt the guilt build up a little more.

"Katya," Genet asked before Katya could leave. "Do I really have to stay here for the rest of the day?"

Katya paused and checked her tablet. "Yes, unfortunately." Katya glanced to Genet's assigned bed, seeing that Shouko now lay there, glanced back in Ikki's direction. "If you want to leave sooner, I reccomend you rest. Bed 5, next to Ikki is now available."

Genet then smiled, clearly entertained by that prospect. Genet then smirked at Shun. "you heard her, time for me to rest," Genet patted Shun on the shoulder as she began to walk away with Katya. "If you want me, I'll be resting, over there in bed five."

Shun pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, still standing there near Shouko's bed as he stubbornly refused to yet move.