Next morning, Inumaki came to the hospital with fruits. He sat and waited patiently for Y/N to wake up. He needed something to pass the time. Some books on the table caught his attention. There were five books in total. He picked up the first one, the cover read, 'The Reckoning' by John Grisham, second one, 'The Confession' by John Grisham, third one, 'The Guardians' by John Grisham. 'Fan of a particular author,' he thought. Reading the back covers, he realised they were all about murders and legal stuff. The next book he picked up was 'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai. He didn't read the description and started reading the book. He went through some pages and felt strangely sad. 'Is that why she's like this?' he thought.
Y/N slowly opened her eyes and when her vision got cleared, she caught Inumaki reading the book. "Don't read that one," she screamed. He looked at her smiled. She melted from this gesture of him. "There's a book on the table with the title, 'Theodore Boone, The Accomplice,' read that," she suggested.
Inumaki realised that he didn't check the last book. Since the girl was already up, he didn't want to read anymore. Y/N got up from the bed and Inumaki stood close to her, in case she fell. She told him to sit and went to the bathroom. She returned in not more than ten minutes. Inumaki gave her an apple but she wasn't allowed to eat it, so she denied. Glucose kept her alive but she desperately wanted to eat something good.
Inumaki hardly spoke and his vocabulary was a bit hard to decipher for Y/N. Around two hours passed, she wanted to do something as she was bored. She started to get out of bed once again. Inumaki said, "Don't move."
She looked at him and said while settling back, "Alright, I won't move. Give me my laptop, please."
Inumaki was clueless. 'How is she still moving?' he thought. His cursed speech didn't work on her. He picked up the laptop and gave it to her.
Y/N shifted to create some space on her bed. She patted the empty space, "Sit, Inumaki." He did as she said. "Let's play a game," she suggested. He did a thumbs up and smiled. She turned the laptop on and opened the browser. She thought for a moment and spoke, "Let's search for random names and see if there's any such person."
Inumaki shot a confused look.
"It will be fun, trust me."
"Okay," he whispered.
"I'll go first, and yeah, if there's actually a person of the name we search, the one searching gets a point."
The boy smiled in agreement.
Y/N typed, 'Olivia Rayne.' Results read, "Author of the book, 'My Mother The Psychopath.'"
"One point," Y/N screamed.
Inumaki narrowed his eyes at her.
"No, honestly, I've never heard this name in my entire life."
He nodded.
They found some more details about Olivia. She took notes and decided to buy her book.
Inumaki typed a Japanese name. A sumo wrestler appeared. They watched some videos of him which were funny. It was the first time Y/N saw Inumaki laugh so much. The boy looked adorable and she smiled widely looking at him.
"Okay, we're on one-one," Y/N said. Next she typed, 'George Anderson.' Results showed that he was a Youtuber. "He's cute," Y/N complimented. His name on YouTube was 'Spifey.' They checked out some of his videos, they were enjoyable.
Inumaki, once again typed a Japanese name. A beautiful girl appeared in the results. They went through some of her photos and found out that she was a model.
"Two-two," Inumaki said.
"Yeah. Are you enjoying?"
He nodded.
"Told ya it would be fun."
Y/N typed the name, 'HENRY BAKER.' Results showed, Peruvian Businessman. A Facebook profile showed up. The man, despite being in his fifties, looked fit. The recent picture he posted was clicked in Japan. Inumaki identified the place as it was in the same city. Hometown was mentioned as Huaraz, Peru. The date on his latest post was October 7.
"What's the date today?" Y/N asked.
"October 9," the boy answered.
"Should I send him a friend request?"
"Bonito Flakes," he said making an X with his hands. "Unknown," he whispered.
"Right," Y/N said. She opened Henry's about. A real estate agent in Peru, she found out. She knew where he stayed in Japan. She got what she needed.
They searched for some more names and ended the game with equal scores.
"We'll play a different game next time," Y/N said.
Inumaki agreed.
Satoru entered her room lazily. He glanced at them and froze. Y/N read his movements and asked, "What?"
"Why are you two sitting so close?"
Y/N and Inumaki looked at each other then at Satoru. "We were playing a game," she answered.
Satoru came closer, covered Inumaki's ears with his palms and asked Y/N, "Were you two kissing?"
Y/N was annoyed, "No, we were not."
"Of course, you can't kiss him, because you'll kiss me," he said cockily.
"Fuck you."
"I'll be honoured if you do."
Y/N covered her face in embarrassment. She couldn't win when it's him.
Inumaki had enough. He got up and mumbled "Bye." Satoru waved at him and he waved back. He smiled at Y/N and left.
Without a word, Satoru sat beside her. She kept looking at a document in her laptop.
"Close it, look at me, I want attention," he pouted.
Y/N glanced at him and started reading the document again.
He closed her laptop and spoke in a deeper voice, "Look. At. Me."
She frowned and looked at him. He pulled down his blindfold. "Now you won't look away, little girl."
She kept her gaze focused on him.
"Play a game with me too."
"Which game?"
"A staring contest. Whoever blinks first, loses."
"Alright," she closed her eyes. "3, 2, 1." She opened them again.
Y/N's head tilted upwards and Satoru's downwards. They both stared into each other's eyes. Nearly two minutes passed, her eyes had water.
"Give up, little girl," Satoru whispered leaning closer to her face.
"After you," she said.
He chuckled.
Her eyes were turning pink and tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Girl, you're too stubborn."
"Yes, I am."
"I have been waiting for both of you to kiss, just do it already," nurse won the game.
They looked at her together. She was amazed to see Satoru's glittering blue eyes. He pulled his blindfold up and covered his eyes. The nurse looked at Y/N and asked, "Are you crying?"
"No," Y/N replied.
Satoru pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Y/N. She thanked him wiped her face.
"Y/N, you will be discharged after two days," the nurse announced.
Y/N smiled and her eyes shone with happiness.
"We'll go on a date," Satoru joked.
"I prefer to go with Sukuna," she teased back.
Satoru left the bed and stood straight. 'Did I offend him?' Y/N thought.
"I don't mind," he spoke.
"Really?" she was surprised to hear that. He would never agree to anything related to Sukuna.
"No, you are not even allowed to see him," he said with a serious face.
Last two days in hospital passed slower than expected. When no one was around, she researched more about Henry Baker. She figured out where he had usually been going for parties and who he had been hanging out with. 'Poor guy, likes to be too social,' she smirked.
After she went back home, she rested for three more days while keeping a check on whereabouts of Henry. She was always surrounded by the people, whom she now called her friends. The care she received from them made her feel like the luckiest person alive. At night, Candice stayed with her.
It was the last day for her to rest. At night, she made coffee for Candice and herself. Candice felt asleep soon. Y/N left to see Sukuna. She soon reached the temple and entered the familiar lambent doorway. Her eyes searched for Sukuna. He was sitting at his usual place. Her eyes met his gaze. She ran towards him and tripped on the first step of the stairs.
"Watch it," he said and got up from his throne.
She found her balance and ran again. As soon as she reached him, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest.
"Why didn't you come back? I missed you," she said panting.
"How are you?" he asked pulling away.
"I'm fine. Are you mad at me?"
"No."
"Why did you pull away like that?"
"Sorry," he hugged her back tightly. "I still don't get it, why was I unable to heal you."
"I don't know how this healing thing works but forget about it, I'm all good now."
"I left you in pain."
"It's gone."
He pulled away and looked at her.
"I came here...to...ask for a favour," she said.
"I'm listening."
"Teach me how to...f-fight."
He smiled ear to ear. "Finally. Finally, you realised your purpose."
"Yes, I'm going to p-punish them all."
"Punish? What are you? A teacher? Nah! That's not the right word."
"I'll murder them."
"Perfect," he laughed. "I'll teach you everything you want to learn, what will I get in return?"
"Negotiating with me?"
"Yes, nothing is free."
"Fuck! What a normal human like me can possibly give you?"
"Let me use that headcover of yours from time to time."
She laughed, "That's it? Just the headphones?"
He looked confused, "I've only seen you smiling, you can laugh too?"
"The demand of headphones was funny, that's easy."
"There's more."
"Huh?" she stopped laughing.
"I'll tell you when the time comes."
Y/N nodded.
"Were you alone at home?"
"No, Candice is there. Sleeping."
"What if she wakes up?"
"She won't. Not until morning."
"How do you know?"
She shrugged and smiled.
"You're a clever girl."
"I need to finish some work, I'll come back soon."
"Sure."
She started to leave but he held her wrist and pulled her into an embrace. "You're forgetting something," he reminded.
She pulled away, "Yeah, yeah, I remember."
He smiled and bent down, she kissed his cheek.
"Actually, I'm free, so I'll go with you," he said.
"Cool, let's go."
She started walking away.
"No, wait," he called.
"What?"
He stepped closer and picked her up. His right arm wrapped around her waist and left under her knees. He stepped out of the doorway.
"Oh, you can actually go out," she was surprised.
"Yes, but I can only use this doorway when that brat sleeps, plus, I can't use my powers."
"Why?"
"It's quite complicated, I need a body to do that."
"But you do have a body."
"Since the boy is sleeping, I'm using his unconscious self, so basically, I'm not using a body."
"What?"
"Forget about it. Tell me what are you going to do next."
"Eh, I have a plan, it needs execution."
"Good."
They chatted on their way to Y/N's. When it was visible, he stopped and put her down carefully. "Go and be careful about whatever you do."
She nodded. "Fine, why are goodbyes so hard when I'm with you?" she muttered.
"Come back soon, I'll be waiting," he smiled and kissed her forehead. "Take care."
She waved and went back home.