The sky was beginning to get dark. We were still at the hospital.

Lizel-senpai had gone to meet the Devil King in my place while Reina did some first aid on Miyabi and me. Not long after Lizel-senpai came back, something happened with Reina.

It was like… she had become a doll. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say she was dea-

No, I won't think about it like that.

Anyway, we immediately rushed to the hospital after that. Miyabi and I had to take care of ourselves first and foremost, so we left Reina with Lizel-senpai.

Miyabi was healed quickly enough. I was more hurt, but the biggest problem I had was my broken arm, so once that was taken care of I was also discharged. Healing magic really is something else.

A few hours passed, and now the 3 of us are waiting on Reina. We couldn't go in since we might disturb the doctor, so we're just waiting outside.

It reminds me of when we brought Maki here, except now I'm the one who can't seem to calm down. Miyabi and Lizel-senpai are both worried, but they seem pretty calm compared to me.

"The doctor's ready to see you."

A nurse came to bring Lizel-senpai to Reina. Miyabi and I went with her.

We entered a room. In it, Reina was laying on a bed. Beside her was a man checking things like her heart rate and other stuff, and removing the equipment once he was done, I'm guessing he's the doctor.

Reina seemed… fine. Safe for being in a hospital bed, she looked perfectly fine.

"Yuuto-san and the senpais…"

The doctor finished checking what he was checking and then turned toward us.

"I need to speak with her owner. Which one of you owns her?"

Owner? What does he mean?

Before I could question him, Lizel-senpai cut me off.

"All of us are taking care of her."

"Is that so? Well, I recommend you start preparing to say goodbye. I'm not sure how long she has. Next time her body fails might be the last time."

I'm only getting more and more confused, but it doesn't seem like that's the case for Lizel-senpai and Miyabi. They both looked sad, as if Reina had some terminal illness, but the way the doctor's talking sounds more like he's describing an object or something.

I don't think this is just a difference between humans and devils. I'm getting more and more confused, to the point it's showing on my face.

Even the doctor and the nurse were starting to get bothered by how clueless I seemed. So Lizel-senpai turned to me, seemingly planning to tell me what's going on. She asked the doctor and the nurse to give us a minute.

"Yuuto, the truth is-"

"W-wait desu. Reina will tell Yuuto-san."

Reina cut off Lizel-senpai. I suppose the best person to say what's going on with Reina is Reina herself.

But what could it be? Maybe some chronic illness she'd kept hidden from me? But then what was that about being Reina's owner? I suppose the fastest way to learn was to let Reina explain.

"Reina… isn't a devil desu."

She's not a devil? Then is she human? But she's clearly stronger than a human. If she's not a devil, what could she be?

"There was once a devil called Reina Koiwai, but she died many years ago desu. Reina is a homunculus made to take the real Reina's place."

This is the first time I'm hearing about anything like a homunculus. But I suppose it's not much of a stretch, considering devils and magic exist.

"But why did you never tell me that before?"

"The Koiwai family is still keeping secret about the real Reina's death desu. The senpais know because this isn't the first time something like this happens to Reina. But Reina wanted to keep it a secret from Yuuto-san desu."

I'd only learn the specifics later, but Lizel-senpai learned of Reina being a homunculus when she was investigating if she could be my Card. Miyabi learned about it not long after she met Reina, in one of the times she 'turned off' so to say.

Now I understand why the doctor asked who Reina's owner was. A homunculus isn't a natural being, so someone created her. It's like asking for a child's parents. At least, that's how I see it.

"Alright, I think I got it. Let's call the doctor back in so he can tell us what happened with Reina."

Lizel-senpai nodded. Being closer to the door, Miyabi was the one who called the doctor back in.

Now that we were all on the same page, the doctor could properly explain things. I would pay attention to his every word so I could help Reina recover however I could.

"If I'm being honest… it's best to just prepare for her death. If you're planning to have a new homunculus take her place, it's best to prepare to switch now."

"B-but doctor, is there no way to save Reina?"

Lizel-senpai and Miyabi's face looked sad, Reina's looked like… she had already accepted it. But even if she had, I wasn't ready to.

"Even if you tell me that, she's already way beyond repair. Maybe you've had her since childhood? It's not uncommon for these kinds of homunculus to die because of lack of maintenance. There's not much to be done about it now, so it's best if you just enjoy her while she lasts."

"B-but that's…! How long does she have, doctor?"

"I'd give her a few days to a week at most. But honestly it wouldn't be strange for her to die any second now."

T-there's no way! Is it already too late to do anything about Reina? I…

"Is there anything you can still do for Reina, doctor?"

While I was too shaken to do anything, Lizel-senpai continued talking to the doctor.

"No, but if you were able to find the person that made her, maybe they could do something. Although there is this strange thing…"

"What is it?"

"I was able to pull her records from her previous visits. Luckily, she comes here for most of her exams. I noticed that some magic circuits that were previously damaged are now healed. I'm not sure what caused that, but if you can figure that out you might be able to buy more time for her."

Damaged magic circuits… were healed? Could it be… Healing Lovers?

[Analysis. That seems to be the most logical conclusion. I was not closely monitoring Knight previously, but I shall confirm it on the next Healing Lovers.]

Lizel-senpai, Miyabi and Reina seemed to all have the same idea as me. It seems things are not as hopeless as we thought.

"Regardless, even if you figure out how this happened, it doesn't fix the main problem. So In the end, it's still best to prepare for her death."

"And what exactly is Reina's problem, doctor?"

"There are many, like overexertion of magic circuits, likely from making a non-fighter model fight, missed maintenances, but the biggest problem is in regards to her Magic Stone. It's on the verge of breaking down."

So we shouldn't make Reina fight anymore and we'll have to take care of her maintenances. I got that, but what about the Magic Stone thing? How do we solve that?

While I was wondering about that, the doctor discharged Reina. We started heading to Lizel-senpai's car after Reina put on her normal clothes.

"Reina's sorry for all the trouble desu…"

"It's fine. Rather than that, should we go to Reina's parents' house, Lizel-senpai? They should know who made Reina, and we might be able to save her by working together."

I didn't catch it at the time, but Reina was troubled by my suggestion. Even Lizel-senpai didn't seem the most enthusiastic.

My idea was logical enough. Naturally, a parent wants the best for their child, and if their child has some problem, a parent will do everything they can to help. But looking back at it now, I see some signs I should have noticed before. For example, would the parents I was thinking about really miss Reina's maintenances?

But at the time, I didn't think about that and only insisted on the idea of getting the Koiwai's help.

"Yes… I suppose it's our best choice at the moment."

So we entered Lizel-senpai's car and headed to the Koiwai residence.