My heartbeat isn't ringing in my ears anymore. I was breathing steadily, and without much difficulty. There was lightness in my body through a strange sensation of numbness in my head and torso... so this is what being injured is like.
She must have sensed I've awoken, because one of my hands was grabbed in her smaller, slender own before I could open my eyes and see for myself, "It's about time you woke up, idiot."
Akira's neck was wrapped in bandages, but she still wore the necklace Amira-san gave her. She was out of her usual red blouse and now wears a gray scrub shirt, though it shows that her injured side is bandaged as well. Her hair was a total mess, she looked pathetic. Yet why do I feel warm?
"How long have I been asleep?" I croak, only now realizing how dry my throat is.
An apologetic expression looks back at me, "Three years."
My face fell. How is Killu? Is Akira married to that pig now? Dad, is he mad at me? Disappointed that something as simple as the amalgamation of creatures could send me to sleep for three years? Mom and my brothers, how are...?
"I hate you so much." I voice, causing the amusement she struggled to hide to appear, "You have a sick sense of humor, Akira Yakuza."
The redhead laughs openly, leaning back on the chair she was sitting on, "I could boomerang those words back at you, so really, we aren't different."
She didn't react to her surname. She's not married. I think. Good... Why am I relieved?
"Where are we?"
Once again, the look on her face shifts slowly yet quickly. She was light-hearted and tranquil one second, and then the next, she was melancholy, as if reprising her state when she admitted she wanted to keep herself a mystery to me.
"The clinic of Midori's family." her tone softened at the name, and I could only assume he's a significant figure by how Akira looked down at her hands, "They're not that renowned in the industry, but they used to patch us up whenever we grazed ourselves as children."
As if on cue, the door opens, revealing a man with deep green hair, "Oh no, those were more than just grazes, Kira. And you're still a child."
Now, she appeared to be immensely annoyed, "And I can still hurt you in my condition, Takeo-kun."
"Undoubtedly." the sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable, but the good nature between them two is nevertheless prominent. It is unusual for Akira to behave like so.
Out of the blue, the attention was directed to me, "Well, I worked on you when you were on the brink of death, so if you would acknowledge the necessity to not strain yourself until you recover, I would very much appreciate it. "
I look back at Akira and blink. What was I supposed to do?
Suddenly, she flew from her seat and elbowed the green haired man on the head, "Do I have to do everything myself!?"
Takeo spoke with crocodile tears, "Do you really have to be so harsh? It's been a long time since I treated anyone; I forget."
"Like hell you do! There was no flaw in your moves when I brought him to you!"
"Wait, what?"
Both of them recover, and the female continues, "I brought you here."
"Th-Then what happened to...?"
"That thing we fought? I made sure it stayed down." Akira folds her arms over her chest, "We're very far from there and it's only been three days since then, so you don't have to worry."
Through the pain in my body, I felt myself go rigid, "Three days?"
"It's actually impressive that you took that long." the doctor spoke up, "The physique of an assassin in your caliber needs an amount of time and energy that equals the one it uses up. Being with Akira for this long has also done a number on your Nen, so in comparison to your normal recovery time, it took more than half to get you back on your feet. I guess you can't expect anything else from a Zoldyck."
I found myself confused, and they noticed that, prompting Akira to proceed, "You're not my Certain, so you're automatically considered as a backup power for me. Neither of us could keep up with that thing because I was subconsciously using up your Nen to fight off my own injury. You still kept fighting like a dumbass, so it backlashed and knocked you out eventually."
Absentmindedly, I touch the bandage around my head. I remembered something when I was thrown across the room... or I feel like I remember. What was it?
"By the way," I look up at her, "Why did you have to shove me so hard?"
She steps back, visibly surprised, "Hey, the poison was suffocating me, okay!? Knowing how stupid you can get when it came to signals, I decided to save my strength to get you out of the way! You should be thanking me!"
"With the way you're treating me now?" I turn my face away, "I don't think so."
As Akira continued to huff, I was vaguely aware of the deadpanned expression in our audience's face, "Well, I'll leave you to it then. Don't exhaust yourselves too much."
"Yeah, yeah, now get out of here." she adorably kicked him in the back of the knees on his way to the door, in the process letting go of my hand. Almost immediately, I felt cold... right, her Nen is fire-based.
I found myself looking down at my hands, connected to now-bandaged arms and placed over what I assumed to be equally injured legs, "Backup power..."
"It was the easiest comparison I could think of." she replies, "What, you didn't think the reason I was irritable during the Hunter Exam was because of the fuss circling your family name, did you?"
When I didn't respond, she breathes out in indignation, "You did. Awesome."
"There's a lot you're not telling me, Akira." I look up at her now; she wasn't facing me, but the window of the room. From the rays of the sun seeping through it, I assumed it was early morning.
She chuckles, facing me with an unreadable expression, "There's a lot you're not asking, Illumi."
A good second passes before I scoot over to one side of the bed. I stared at her until she understood, in which case she bashfully approached and took a seat beside me. "Are you in the mood to be truthful?"
"What a great first question." Akira laughs, "Yes, I am."