Mercy and Sacrifice (1)

"A sudden, heavy intranasal hemorrhage... We'll need to find the cause. Let us go to a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hospital tomorrow."

That was what Han Seoyeon had said the night before. It was entirely reasonable, and so Ninomae had nodded.

"But..."

And now she opened her mouth again.

"—Why are we in a place like this?"

"Did we not agree to go to a hospital?"

At the question, though, Han Seoyeon only tilted her head, ever so slightly.

"...The Tanaka Czechoslovakian Traditional Culture Research Institute?"

"If we hung an ordinary hospital sign, people from the surface might well wander in. This is a hospital reserved for paranormal citizens."

The usual Ninomae would never have set foot in a place like this. She found herself convinced all the same, quite against her will.

"But what if someone sees a sign like this and comes in anyway?"

"I was told the thinking runs something like this: if a person is passionate enough about Czechoslovak traditional culture to visit a research institute on the fourth floor of some rundown old building they barely even know, then we might as well just let them through the Secrecy Protocol."

"...If they're that devoted, I suppose they deserve to find out."

Anyone with a passion like that was bound to stumble into the hidden world sooner or later, rooting through archaeological records and the like. Better, then, that they meet a verified anomaly in a relatively safe city than in some dangerous ruin.

"In any case, you needn't worry overmuch. Their skill, at least, is excellent. A physician of real renown in this country."

"If you say so, Shion..."

Still trading words, the two of them climbed the stairs and opened the door of the institute.

"...It really is a hospital."

A pastel sofa, plush in a vague and noncommittal way. Walls so coldly white they felt clean, set against lighting of a warm tone, and the faint smell of disinfectant drifting on the air. The atmosphere was a hospital, and nothing else.

Ninomae looked the scene over this way and that, and still she trotted faithfully along at Han Seoyeon's heels, making for the reception desk.

"We're here for an examination."

"Huh? Apostle? Didn't you have a checkup not all that long ago?"

"Not me, today. This one. The name is Ninomae Hitomi."

Do they know each other? Even as the thought crossed her mind, Ninomae bowed her head in greeting.

"She had a sudden nosebleed last night, just pouring out of her. I brought her so we could have a proper examination done."

"Sudden? She catch a curse or something? Anyway, yeah. Any other symptoms?"

"That would be..."

The receptionist typed something at the keyboard and asked again, and this time Han Seoyeon turned to look at Ninomae. No one knew her own condition better than she did; she was meant to explain it herself.

"Um, a little dizziness... and other than that, I don't think there was anything in particular."

"All right. Please fill out the questionnaire and hand it in."

In due course Ninomae took the form and headed for the sofa.

"......?"

Only then did she notice there was another person in the lobby. A black hoodie pulled up over the head, and a beak mask besides — it would have passed, without any shortage, for a modernized plague doctor. Ninomae flinched for an instant, then quieted herself. This was the hidden world. Of course there would be people like that. So she told herself, and turned her eyes to the questionnaire.

Compared with the ones she had been given at other hospitals, it ran to rather more pages.

"There's quite a lot of this, isn't there?"

"In the world of anomalies, all manner of things can happen."

So they had to account for that many factors, did they? Ninomae accepted it well enough and lifted her pen.

Ninomae went on filling it in. The first two sheets covered personal particulars and the sort of questions one might well find at any other hospital.

The sense that something was strange began only after she had worked through about half of it.

...Eh? What?

"Um, Shion? What on earth is this?"

"This one... ah. It simply means whether you have met a god of Japanese origin. You encountered Hachiman Daibosatsu recently, so this would be 'yes.'"

"No, but — is this an important question...?"

"Yes. So I understand it."

Even so, once she had been told to fill it in, Ninomae was the sort to complete every item properly.

"Met a member of the clergy of Apostle rank within the past six months... yes. Entered a contract with a demon... yes. Spoken for thirty-six seconds or more with the Seven Sisters, or with one of the World's Seven Great Madmen... no."

"That one will need to be 'yes.' Professor Senjoji falls under it."

"...What? The World's Seven what?"

"...Should I be checking this?"

"From what I heard last time, you've already crossed over into this classification, so probably."

"...No. What is this now?"

"Ah. My apologies, patient. Another document got mixed in."

Appalled as she was by the bewilderingly grotesque items, Ninomae managed somehow to finish the questionnaire. Then a hand tapped, tap-tap, against her arm from behind, and she let out a sigh.

"Yes. I'm done now. So please don't rush me."

She had only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just finished. There was no need to hurry her any further — so thinking, Ninomae raised her head... and met Han Seoyeon's eyes.

"......?"

Huh? Wait. Why is Shion right in front of me? Then who in the world was touching me from behind...

Ninomae's gaze slid slowly around.

—And their eyes met. Or rather, she met a pair of dark, dark glass lenses.

"Hyaaaaaaaah?!"

The plague doctor she had seen a moment ago was sitting on the very same sofa, a white-gloved hand clutched in the collar of Ninomae's clothes. At that presence Ninomae screamed and toppled backward, and Han Seoyeon caught her body and held her up.

"Eeeeeeeek?!"

"......Huh?"

The other party was no different. A voice far more frail than she had expected let out a shrill scream and went over. Unlike Ninomae, this one simply tumbled across the plush sofa.

Startled, it seemed, by Ninomae's own scream. The absurdity of that struck her dumb once, and when she turned it over the voice sounded like one she had heard somewhere before, which only left her looking more vacant still.

"...Don't tell me. Aki-senpai?"

"Huu, y-yes, yees... that's right..."

The habit of going about with her face hidden behind a strange mask. A voice familiar to the ear, and a timid heart. Her real name was Natsugahara Hina; her virtual name, Rokumondera Aki.

It stood to reason, once she thought about it. Ninomae might have failed to notice the approach, but there was no way Han Seoyeon would have. Even with the whole body covered, telling who it was by scent could not have been difficult, and once Seoyeon recognized someone they knew, she must have been quietly watching that hand reach for Ninomae.

"I-I-I'm sorry... for startling you..."

"Ah, no. It's all right. Please lift your head, Aki-senpai."

"Miss Ninomae. I'll go and submit the questionnaire first."

"Ah, yes. I understand."

Even after Han Seoyeon stepped away, Ninomae soothed Hina for a while. Somehow it was Hina who looked the more shaken of the two.

"And you can speak casually, if you like. You're my senior, and older than me, as far as I know..."

"Uh, th-that's... no. Polite speech is easier for me... no, I mean, this way is more... thrilling..."

"Um, i-is that so...?"

For an instant Ninomae's eyes went flustered. Then she broke into a soft little laugh.

"Well, nothing to be done about it, then."

Watching that smile, Hina murmured under her breath.

"Y-you really are an angel, Mary-chan..."

"Huh? Ah. Well, Mary's concept is a kind, pure queen — that's the appeal. I do try my best to come across as good."

"Ah, n-no. Not that... I mean the real you. The actual person..."

She didn't think she had done anything to earn words like that. Ninomae tilted her head.

"Th-the fact that you don't even realize it... that's what makes you even more of an angel..."

"......?"

She did seem to be overestimating her, in some strange way. But before Ninomae could offer any argument, another voice cut in.

"I heard screaming from the bathroom... The hell is this. Ninomae Hitomi?"

"Ah, Miss Akaba?"

Her eyes met those of a woman with a sharp gaze. A zip-up hoodie, sweatpants, and sneakers faded a little with wear — a light, easy outfit. Yugure Tama — Akaba Akane — stood looking their way just so, hands jammed into her pockets.

"Did the two of you come together?"

"Yeah. Hina's in for a checkup."

A fear of people, a shyness around strangers, trouble so much as communicating — and on top of all that, a violent revulsion at the very act of baring her skin. Natsugahara Hina was certainly ill-suited to wandering alone through any place where other people's eyes might fall on her.

"Well. Point is, I'm playing guardian."

"I-I'm in your care..."

"Miss Akaba, you secretly like looking after people, don't you?"

"Not 'cause I enjoy it."

Akane answered with a crease between her brows, then muttered, low, "That Tenka brat says the same thing sometimes..."

"Y-yes, yees. That's right. Akane-chan is... mm, a good person."

"Even you? I tell you every time — I lived a punk's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠life, and there wasn't a damn thing in it worth copying."

"But Akane-chan is a good delinquent, even if she is one..."

"Where does a thing like that even exist?"

The reply was curt, but Ninomae nodded as if she understood all the same. Face and temperament both were keen as a blade, and yet she had the feeling that an abandoned cat would stop Akane cold — that she would be unable to walk on by, and would end up looking after it. It was no accident that viewers now and then called Tama Tamamama, or Tama-mom, viewers from other channels included.

Today alone, she had set aside her own time to accompany a coworker to a checkup. The clothes were comfortable ones, with little regard for formality, but a trouble taken was still a trouble taken. Even hearing as much, of course, Akane's manner stayed chilly. She only fiddled with the phone she had drawn from her pocket, as if to say they could think what they liked.

And then an awkward air drifted once more between Ninomae and Hina. For a little while they sat in silence, sneaking glances at each other only to look away.

"U-um, e-excuse me..."

The one to break the stillness first was, unexpectedly, Natsugahara Hina. In a voice shrinking in on itself, she called softly to Ninomae.

"Y-yes, yees. What is it?"

"It's... s-since meeting like this is a kind of fate... um, when we're done, could we maybe... eat together...?"

"A meal?"

Ninomae thought it wasn't a bad suggestion, and was just about to nod.

Thud. Something hit the floor. Both their gazes turned that way at once.

"Hina... making plans to meet someone, all on her own...?"

Akaba Akane, the phone slipped from her hand, was staring at them with her eyes gone wide.

"Akane-chan?! I-it's not — I can do this much, I-I can...!"

"An actual miracle...? Fine. To mark the occasion, the meal's on me."

"Akane-chaan?!"

So this one, too, raised her voice and scolded when the moment took her. Watching them, Ninomae couldn't help a stifled little giggle.