This is a direct sequel to my fanfic, The 30th I: Phantom of Infinity.
Disclaimer: I do not own Date a Live and it's characters.
The 30th II: Eden of Ornaments
Act 1: Snowy Days
Chapter 2 - "Hospital Visit"
"Shin, what is Yoshino-chan like?" Mio asked as she and Shinji venture down the sandy beach.
"Yoshino is like... a little angel. It's all I can say, really." Shinji vaguely answered, but Mio was satisfied with his response.
"I see. Then, I'm excited to meet her."
"Mm. Yoshino would be happy to meet someone like you." Shinji said to Mio.
Mio stopped walking for a moment while a certain building caught her attention. It was a gift shop filled with many things to give somebody. She thought it was a good place to get something for Yoshino before visiting her at the hospital.
"Do you want to get Yoshino something?
"Yes. I want to have a good first impression when it comes to her."
The two went inside the gift shop to try and pick up something to give Yoshino. They looked through various toys and useful items, but none of them really fit the person in mind's preferences.
"Yoshino isn't particularly materialistic." a woman called out from behind them.
To Shinji and Mio's surprise—Yoshino's mother, Nagisa Himekawa was right here with them. Wasn't she about to visit Yoshino in the hospital earlier?
"Nagisa-san! Aren't you visiting Yoshino today?" Shinji asked.
"I will be. But I would like to give her something that she can cherish. I'll give it to her when I visit later."
"Then, did you come here to buy something?" it was Mio's turn to ask.
"Nope, I already bought the thing I had in mind." Nagisa answered.
"I just need to do this here... maybe change this into this... there, see?"
Nagisa brought out her sewing kit and made changes to the thing she bought at the gift shop earlier. She added buttons, new facial features, and adjusted the size of the object. Eventually, she finished her work and admired it.
"I'm sure Yoshino would love it." Mio assured.
"Mm. It really looks like something she'd love. Maybe as a symbol of you..." Shinji followed.
"That's the plan. Yoshino needs someone to keep her from getting lonely, after all," she explained before turning to the object at hand that resembled a white rabbit puppet with an eyepatch. "Isn't that right, Yoshinon?"
"Ms. Himekawa, you have guests." a nurse said as she lets Nagisa, Mio, and Shinji into the room.
"I'm coming in, Yoshino."
Yoshino was asleep, but she woke up upon hearing Shinji's gentle voice.
"Shinji-san!" Yoshino happily exclaimed as she rubs her eyes to clear her vision and get a good look at the figure who entered the room.
"Are you doing fine?"
"Yes, I'm doing fine," she says as she notices the new face beside Shinji. "Who's that?" she curiously asked.
"That's Mio-san. She's a close friend of mine."
"Nice to meet you, Yoshino-chan. Shin told me all about you." Mio politely introduced.
"Who is... 'Shin'?" Yoshino asked.
Mio giggled. She looked at Shinji before turning back to Yoshino "You call him 'Shinji-san' and I call him 'Shin'. Isn't it cute?"
"Oh, yes! 'Shin' is a really cute name for him!"
Shinji sported a light blush which Mio giggled to. But little did she know that he was turning red not from her teasing, but from her calling him "Shinji" for the first time in a while, which made his heart flutter a little.
After the friendship being quickly formed from just a few minutes of meeting, the third visitor finally spoke up.
"Yoshino, how is your condition?" Nagisa asked with a clear and caring smile.
"Mm. The doctor said my illness is getting better. I might get out of the hospital soon."
"Really? That's great," she said before her smile grew into a light frown. "I'm sorry if I visit late recently."
"Mom..."
"Here, I have something for you." Nagisa said as she reached into her bag.
This made Yoshino curious. Her mother never really gave her much gifts when visiting outside of special occasions like her birthdays. She was much too busy for things like these, something Nagisa herself regrets.
Her curious and nervous energy quickly changed into a bright and cheerful one when Nagisa brought out a small rabbit puppet and handed it to her.
"Her name is Yoshinon. She will look after you while I'm at work."
"Cute! I love it..." Yoshino said softly.
"Here, Mio and I brought some food..." Shinji said as he brings out his own bag and unloads a bunch of food Yoshino likes (they consulted with Nagisa first).
It was a lively hospital visit.
"Takamiya, I might not be able to visit today. Could you go in my stead?" Nagisa said over the phone.
"No need to worry. I was already planning to go visit Yoshino today. In fact, I'm already heading to the hospital with Mio right now."
"Really? I'm glad. Yoshino must have been really lonely..."
"I wouldn't say that. She seems to really love Yoshinon." Shinji said.
"Is that s— ah, Takamiya, I have to go. See you tomorrow!"
"Take care." Shinji said as he ends the call with Nagisa and enters the hospital Yoshino was in.
"Ms. Himekawa, you have visitors."
"Yoshino-chan, good afternoon." Mio greets as she entered the room first to give Yoshino a nice hug.
"Mio-san, I missed you..." Yoshino says as she returns the affectionate hug from her new friend.
Yoshino is usually very shy and cautious around strangers. But around Shinji and Mio, whom she had just met yesterday, she was quite the lively girl. But despite that, she tends to hide her affection out of habit and keeps the shy tone in her voice.
Shinji enters the room shortly and notices the white sock and buttons beside her right hand while Yoshinon was being worn on her left hand.
"What are you up to, Yoshino?" Shinji curiously asked.
"Oh, this? Mom made an image of herself through Yoshinon so I can remember her and..." she paused, changing into her shy voice. "I wanted to make an image of myself to her too..."
"So is this..."
"Mm. A smaller version of Yoshinon." Yoshino said.
"Do you need any help?" Shinji inquired.
"Y-yes... this is pretty hard to do..." Mio answered softly.
"It's understandable in the least. Nagisa-san bought a rabbit puppet and added some things over it. She didn't make one from scratch." Mio said.
"Is that so? I still want to make this though..."
"That's fine. We can help you." Shinji suggested.
"You can do that? Thank you." Yoshino gratefully said.
"I'll help too," Mio said as she looks at Yoshino's current progress. "Maybe we should get you some new materials first."
"This is how... you sew with a needle and a thread?" Yoshino asked as she successfully slipped the thread through the needle's eye.
"Yes, you got it pretty quickly. Much faster than Shin when I was teaching him, actually." Mio said while looking at Shinji's face which was flushed red in embarrassment.
"I don't really have a talent for t-these t-things."
"Aren't you ashamed that a mere child is better than you in sewing?" Mio teasingly asked.
"N-no! Yoshino got... that's right! Yoshino got lucky, that's all!" Shinji said but his jaw dropped when he sees Yoshino perfectly do a backstitch and slip another thread into the needle eye like it was nothing.
"Lucky, huh?" Mio teasingly said.
"F-fine..." Shinji said in defeat.
"It's done!" Yoshino excitedly announces while holding up the homemade rabbit puppet that looks like a smaller rendition of Yoshinon.
"Woah, Yoshino! It looks really cute!" Mio exclaimed.
"It really does. Great work!" Shinji followed.
"I'll give this to mom the next time she visits." Yoshino said.
"Mm. I'm sure she'd love it." Shinji responded.
"Really?"
"Really. You know how happy you were to have Yoshinon. Just imagine how happy she would be to have a Yoshinon Jr. that reminds her of you."
"Mm. I'm sure she'll love it!" Mio declared with a bright smile on her face full of anticipation and excitement.
"This is..."
"No way..."
Breaking: Car crash! 1 death confirmed.
According to the news, an accident in the nearby highway occurred. A vehicle fell off the side and crashed on the earth below it. The result was one casualty that apparently didn't reach the hospital on time, and was considered dead. Shinji and Mio were worried as they watched this bizarre news in the comfort of the Takamiya household where Mio was invited over for lunch. Shinji hoped that Yoshino wasn't watching this in her room, as she may be quite scared. But what worried him the most was how close this accident was to Nagisa Himekawa's workplace, and couldn't help but get worried.
"I hope Nagisa-san is f—" Shinji's words were interrupted when the confirmed casualty from the accident was flashed on the screen:
Himekawa, Nagisa
Next: Stringless Puppet
AN: Oh boy that last part was a bit painful to write, even for me. But it was necessary for the intended storyline that this will follow.
Also, I only have a vague amount of information about Yoshino's canon past (basically I read from the wiki and based it there), so I do not know what exactly happened to Nagisa Himekawa, but she dies nonetheless.
Now at this point in the canon timeline, Yoshino's illness would start to get worse to the point of her having difficulty breathing until Mio comes in to turn her into a spirit. But since Mio in this story is a regular human, that won't be happening. But Shinji is involved now, so what would happen?
