Interlude – Violent. Do Not Pet

Beep– Beep– Beep–

Along with the steady beeping of machines, a faint smell of medicine stings the nose.

And in that medicinal smell, while holding onto a drowsy mind, a warm sensation is slowly felt.

Feeling a sense of reassurance enveloping her body as if buried in clouds, Neon unknowingly smiled.

‘This feels nice…’

A comfortable feeling that made her want to lie here forever if possible.

She couldn’t stop her lips from relaxing as her whole body felt languidly unwound.

But that warm sensation while lying down only lasted for a moment.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, with the sound of air deflating, the warmth enveloping her body disappeared, and Neon, lying on the bed, furrowed her brow and shivered slightly.

Her drowsy mind starts to return due to the warmth that suddenly disappeared for some reason.

And as Neon was shivering from the cold, she suddenly heard voices conversing right next to her.

“Is this all finished now?”

“Yes, she should be fully healed with this. However, since the scent probably hasn’t completely left her body yet, it would be better for her to rest for about 1-2 hours.”

“I see, understood. I’ll stay here now, so you can go ahead.”

“Yes, Ancestor. Then I’ll excuse myself first.”

One familiar voice and one unfamiliar voice.

Step– Step–

The two conversed like that next to the bed where Neon was lying, and then the one with the unfamiliar voice left the room, while the one with the familiar voice sat down next to Neon.

It wasn’t difficult to deduce that Neon herself was in a place like a hospital room just from their conversation.

Moreover, since Neon had already come to her senses while listening to their conversation and feeling the disappeared warmth, she slowly began to open her eyes only after the one with the unfamiliar voice had completely left the room.

“Mmm…”

“Oh? You’re awake?”

Blink blink—

And as Neon opens her eyes while swallowing a groan from the bright light, the owner of the familiar voice sitting next to her speaks to Neon like that.

Of course, it was a familiar figure whose identity didn’t need to be mentioned.

When Neon’s eyes finally adjusted to the light and she fully opened them, what entered her view was the appearance of the girl herself that had naturally been forming in her mind.

“How are you feeling? Is your body alright?”

A girl with pure white hair reaching her waist and a fluttering red bridge.

Seeing Shin-yeon’s figure reflecting herself in round golden eyes and asking that question, Neon shook her blank head for a moment.

“Ah, um, wait a moment…”

Although the drowsiness had long since flown away, hearing such a question from Shin-yeon made memories she had forgotten start to come back.

The attack of a different race at school, the choice that she had given to Neon herself, the choice and battle in response to that, and finally the memory of being defeated and collapsing.

“…!”

And recalling those things, Neon’s complexion turned pale and her eyes widened.

Naturally, she couldn’t help but be shocked as she vividly remembered abandoning the lives of the children who had treated her so well on her first day at school, and fighting to preserve her own life.

Of course, even if she went back to that time, it wouldn’t change that she would make the same choice, but how could she continue going to school after doing such a thing?

Even Neon herself would surely be greatly angered if someone who had shown her kindness abandoned her life.

“What should I do…? This is really a big problem…”

Therefore, recalling those memories, Neon could find herself involuntarily breaking out in a cold sweat.

Her body trembling and cold sweat flowing down her neck.

But while she was anxious like that for a moment, Shin-yeon looked at Neon like that and said in an indifferent voice not to worry.

“I can see exactly what you’re thinking, but there’s no need to worry. Seol has already taken care of the aftermath.”

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean, all the humans at Gaeam High School, after you were kidnapped, had their memories modified without exception.”

Thanks to that, quite a bit of money was spent, but it wasn’t such a big expense, so it was an excellent cleanup.

Adding that explanation, Neon inadvertently let out a questioning tone at Shin-yeon’s words.

If she was talking about Seol, wasn’t that surely the girl who always wore a black dress like pajamas and wore a sleep mask?

Although she was a familiar face that Neon had met once, it was hard to easily understand the statement that she had already finished the cleanup.

However, of course, there was no way Shin-yeon with such a voice would have lied, so it took about ten seconds to understand the words that were not accepted for a moment.

And only then did a long sigh of relief burst from Neon’s mouth.

“Haaa… Thank goodness…”

“For now, while doing the memory procedure, all memories of you transferring in were erased, so if you want to go to a different school, tell Yeon-ah. She said she found a new school.”

“That’s certainly… something I need to think about.”

After all, Neon herself wasn’t thick-skinned when it came to this aspect, so transferring schools was an option worth considering.

It was funny that she had to transfer again before even a day had passed since going to school, but she felt that she wouldn’t be very comfortable seeing the children’s faces every time.

“…Ah!”

So while engraving in her heart to seriously consider Shin-yeon’s words, Neon realized she hadn’t asked the most important question only after seeing Shin-yeon’s face in front of her.

“C-Come to think of it, what happened to that vermilion twin-tailed one? How many days have passed since then?”

“First of all, don’t try to get up unnecessarily and stay lying down. You heard the conversation earlier, right? You need to lie down for another hour or two.”

“Ugh…”

Squish—

As Neon asked with a quickened voice and tried to get up from the bed, Shin-yeon firmly pressed down on her forehead.

At that, Neon let out a strange scream and had no choice but to lie back down on the bed, and to Neon who had calmed down like that, Shin-yeon began to answer one by one.

“First, about three days have passed since that day. Originally, you could have woken up that same day, but you were kept unconscious for two more days for treatment.”

“Treatment? Ah, certainly now my arm…”

“That oni completely pulverized the bones in your limbs, so they probably spent a full day just treating you. Of course, you’re fully healed now.”

Hearing Shin-yeon’s words about treatment, Neon quickly tried moving her arms and legs as she recalled her defeat that day.

She had definitely thought she might never be able to move her arms and legs again at that time, but now her limbs moved normally.

And at Shin-yeon’s term “oni” for the different race, Neon wanted to ask more, but her words weren’t finished yet.

“Next, what do you think happened to that oni?”

Shin-yeon only said that much for the next answer and closed her mouth.

“…?”

At that, Neon tilted her head wondering why she closed her mouth, but soon realized that Shin-yeon’s action was telling her to guess for herself.

And Shin-yeon folded her arms with a smug expression as if giving a hint.

In normal times, it would have been an unpleasant attitude, but this time her face and actions were directly giving the answer, so Neon couldn’t bring herself to spit on that face.

Shin-yeon’s appearance asking why she would be alive and here, and what the answer would be if she was smiling like this.

Looking at Shin-yeon like that, Neon unknowingly smiled back.

“You won.”

“Yes, I won perfectly. That one will probably die very slowly for a very long time in the torture they hate the most.”

“Haha! That’s scary. Looks like you were really angry that I was kidnapped?”

“Of course.”

…Shouldn’t denial come first at times like this?

Neon felt dumbfounded seeing Shin-yeon affirm without even a moment’s hesitation despite her asking the question.

But even so, that answer of “of course” made her feel more joy than bewilderment, causing a bright laugh to burst out.

“Ahah… Ahahahat!!”

This situation of someone acting for her sake… something she had never done or experienced before, was an even happier feeling than Neon had expected.

And laughter and happiness bursting out endlessly at that joy.

Feeling such a different kind of happiness, Neon unconsciously knew what she should say first.

“…Thank you so much.”

Words of gratitude filled with sincerity without even having to think about it.

“This is nothing, I said I’d continue to take care of you when I took you in from the start.”

“Still, being grateful is being grateful.”

She had certainly said at their first meeting that she would always protect her, but actually experiencing it made her feel like she could shed tears that wouldn’t flow easily.

And thinking about it, it was also in a hospital room like this when she had asked if she would be taken in by her own hands, saying she would take care of her.

At the coincidence that could be called strange if strange, Neon grinned again.

“Really, thank you, Shin-yeon.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Thump—

Then, as Neon expressed her gratitude once again, Shin-yeon began to gently pat Neon’s head.

Her characteristic rough patting pours down on Neon’s head.

And while patting Neon’s head like that, Shin-yeon also smiled warmly, but…

Kyaak—!!!

“I didn’t give permission to pat my head!”

“Waaak?!”

Unfortunately, feeling grateful and happy was separate from having her head patted.

Before Shin-yeon could pat even three times, Neon immediately got up from where she was lying and swung her fist at her.

Since her arms and legs had long since healed, the swinging fist was very light.

Whoosh—!

“Hey! The doctor just said to rest…!”

“Shut up, you who treated me like a kid!”

And Shin-yeon tries to calm Neon down by emphasizing the doctor’s words and rest while dodging the fist.

But Neon, who was enraged, had no intention of stopping until she properly hit Shin-yeon once, so she began to run noisily around the hospital room with Shin-yeon.

Bang clatter clatter.

It was the moment when the quiet hospital room instantly became a chaotic scene.