Chapter 150: Awakening
“Kazumi…”
The young man’s heart sank like being doused with cold water upon seeing the girl’s cold and unfamiliar gaze. For a moment, he stood there, at a loss for words, murmuring the girl’s name.
“Little Shinichi, could you please go out for a moment? The patient just woke up and might not be in a stable emotional state. Don’t provoke her further.”
Orio Mei reached out and took Kazumi’s wrist. A faint white energy flowed from her hand to the girl on the hospital bed, suppressing the emotions that flared up again upon seeing Sato Shinichi.
With a professionally serious expression overlaying her gentle face, she used her other hand to gently block Sato Shinichi behind her, preventing the boy’s actions from further agitating Kazumi’s emotions on the hospital bed.
“Okay… Aunt Orio.”
Sato Shinichi looked at the girl within arm’s reach with reluctance. He knew that his previous actions were too rash.
No one knew what Kazumi had experienced before she fell unconscious. What exactly did the enemy, who had disguised themselves as him, do to her? Only by asking her directly could they find out.
His sudden appearance before her might cause her new stress, or even hurt her again.
Even knowing this, the boy, whose heart was filled with concern for Kazumi, still pleaded with Orio Mei to let him see her after she woke up.
With a gaze full of concern, Sato Shinichi reluctantly retreated from the room, gently closing the door and leaving the space to Orio Mei, the healer, and the patient, Kazumi.
“Hello, little Kazumi. You are now completely out of danger. How are you feeling?”
Orio Mei’s voice was incredibly gentle, like a spring breeze. Combined with the energy flowing through her body, it calmed the girl’s inner restlessness.
It was only then that Kazumi fully recovered from her post-awakening daze. Her body’s reaction to Sato Shinichi’s approach was purely instinctive. Before Kazumi could even explain her actions, the imposing woman who looked like a doctor waved the foolish boy away.
“Doctor, I feel alright…”
“Just call me Aunt Orio. Little Kazumi, do you remember what happened before you fell unconscious?”
Orio Mei gently placed her palm on Kazumi’s forehead, interrupting her words. Her gaze, filled with maternal concern, fell upon the girl with the pitiable background.
Even without the request from her senior, Hamano Tsukasa, Orio Mei, as a medical professional, felt immense pity for Shimizu Kazumi. This girl, who was always facing misfortune, would evoke a sense of compassion in anyone who saw her.
“I… I was being chased by Kimura-sensei, who was impersonated by an enemy. Then I met Sato-kun from my class, and we ran away together. Then, he, who was controlled by something I don’t know, pushed me down the slope. I don’t remember anything after that.”
Only after understanding her situation did Kazumi breathe a sigh of relief. No matter what she was currently experiencing, one thing was certain: she was no longer in danger of being pursued by enemies and had reached a safe place.
Calming her emotions slightly, Kazumi recalled the events that had transpired, along with her own speculations, and recounted her previous experiences to the healer hero before her.
The girl’s answer surprised Orio Mei. According to the accounts of other survivors and the Association’s profiling of the executive “Mist’s” peculiar personality, the others could roughly deduce what the girl had gone through.
However, for the girl, as a direct participant, to see things so clearly and even have the mental capacity to discern the disguised enemy and the seemingly controlled Sato Shinichi, it was hard not to impress Orio Mei, who understood “Mist’s” abilities, with this ordinary girl who possessed no special abilities.
“Little Kazumi, your guess is correct. Both Kimori Kage, who was chasing you, and Sato Shinichi, who escaped with you later, are likely products of the opposing organization’s abilities. Their ultimate goal is to collect emotions during moments of human despair.”
A hint of a pleased smile appeared on Orio Mei’s face. The girl’s current mental state and her accurate recollection of past events indicated that her physical recovery was progressing very well.
After all, when Orio Mei first saw Kazumi, her frail body was like a broken doll, and her aura was like that of a dying person, on the verge of fading away at any moment. Coupled with the girl’s special constitution, which made it difficult to absorb Life Energy, Orio Mei had to put in great effort to pull her back from the brink of death.
“So, that Sato Shinichi was also fake? No wonder…”
Orio Mei’s words made Kazumi on the hospital bed nod thoughtfully. This resolved many of the questions in the girl’s heart, and the gloom that had gathered in her heart dissipated like clouds dispersed by the sun.
“But I’m quite curious, little Kazumi, why are you so sure that Sato Shinichi at that time was being controlled?”
Seeing the girl on the hospital bed pondering like a little adult, Orio Mei wore a slightly amused expression and asked Kazumi.
“Well… because Shinichi would never do something like that. The only explanation is that the person wasn’t him, or he was controlled by someone else.”
The girl’s casually confident tone gave Orio Mei a sense of awkwardness, as if she didn’t know what to say. How could it be that she was here to heal and save people, only to be force-fed a mouthful of couple’s sweetness?
Helplessly, Orio Mei rubbed the girl’s head twice, completely unaware of her actions. She then stood up, informed Kazumi on the bed of her departure, turned around, and walked out of the hospital room, leaving the girl sitting on the bed with her head bowed in thought.
Sensing that the woman, who exuded a disgusting life energy, had finally left, Kazumi breathed a long sigh of relief.
Although for some unknown reason, the death aura within her had inexplicably dissipated, in the presence of such a powerful psychic who wielded life energy, Kazumi was still very careful to suppress her aura, fearing that the other party would discover her abilities.
Her disguise was quite effective. Not only was her problem not discovered, but she could also feel the faint goodwill emanating from the other party.
Kazumi lowered her head and continued to contemplate the matters she needed to face. However, before she could even fully sit up in bed, the originally closed hospital room door was suddenly opened.
Walking in were a small old man with graying temples and a stern face, and behind him, a golden-haired young man with a complicated expression.
