Campione: Strongest# 461: The Awakening

Click—clack—click—!

A nurse, having pushed open the window, glanced back at the sleeping girl on the bed. Confirming that everything was normal, she turned and left the room.

Creeeak—

The soft, grating sound of the door closing caused the index finger of the girl on the bed to twitch. Her beautiful, long eyelashes trembled.

A gentle spring breeze drifted into the small room, swirling around her fluttering eyelashes as if celebrating her awakening.

“Mmm…” A low sound escaped her lips. Shiki Ryougi, who had been asleep for over a month, slowly opened her eyes.

Her gaze was unfocused, her vision blurry. She blinked several times, trying to bring the world into focus. Staring at the unfamiliar brown ceiling, her expression wasn't her usual cool indifference, but one of pure bewilderment, making her look surprisingly innocent.

Rustle—

Shiki turned on her side, saw the sun high in the sky, and pulled the covers tighter. A creature of the night, her first instinct was to sink back into unconsciousness.

“Huh??” Her dark eyes suddenly snapped open. She blinked, a wave of confusion hitting her. It was only then that she realized she was not in her bedroom at the Ryougi estate.

She turned her head, looked down at the hospital gown she was wearing, and then surveyed her surroundings. The small, twenty-square-meter room was stark, with a simple vase holding a few carnations on a bedside table being the only 'furniture' besides the bed itself.

“Am I in a hospital?” Shiki murmured to herself, sitting up against the headboard.

Thanks to Haru's subtle magecraft, the room lacked any medical equipment, yet her body was in peak condition.

In his view, a True Mage who could control the laws of matter was superior to any machine. With him looking after her, doctors and equipment were both unnecessary. This was why her room was so bare, and why she had to rely on the gown to understand her situation.

“Something… feels like it’s missing.” Shiki shook her head, a profound sense of confusion washing over her.

The words had barely left her mouth when her pupils constricted. Suddenly, the world was overlaid with a terrifying new reality. Countless pitch-black lines, like cracks in creation, spiderwebbed across her own body, the bed, and the sheets. Everything in her field of vision was covered in these strange, dark lines.

“What is this? A prank?”

She forced her gaze around the room, her eyes landing on the carnations. The flowers were covered in the same lines. She hesitated, then slowly raised her left hand. The tip of her index finger gently traced one of the lines on the flower’s bud.

The instant her nail touched the line, the carnation died. The petals didn't wilt; they shattered, as if cut by an impossibly sharp blade, fluttering down in pieces.

“…” Shiki stared silently at the shredded petals, her small body trembling.

She pursed her lips, as if disbelieving what she had just seen, and gently traced a line on the bedside table.

Clang—!

With a series of crashing sounds, the bedside table splintered and collapsed to the floor.

Shiki looked around in terror. When her gaze shifted to the window, her eyes lost focus. As if in some divine joke, everything outside was covered in the same pitch-black lines. The tall buildings, the vast sky—all of it looked like a crumbling ruin, exuding an aura of decay and death.

Shiki squeezed her eyes shut, her heart hammering. Even with her naturally stoic personality, the sight of a world on the verge of annihilation was too much to bear.

“SHIKI, do you know what’s happening?”

“SHIKI? SHIKI! SHIKI!!!”

She finally understood what was missing.

SHIKI, who had been with her since birth, who should have been in her mind, was gone without a trace. Shiki felt the broken balance of Yin and Yang, and an unprecedented emptiness filled her heart.

“Haru? Haru! You’re here, right?? Where’s SHIKI? Where did she go??”

—————

At the hospital entrance.

Haru, with a sphere of light hovering over his head, carried a plastic bag of breakfast and walked slowly toward the lobby.

“Did you have fun last night??” The sphere of light bounced, hitting Haru on the head. “The ‘cat’ was wailing from 11 p.m. to dawn! You think I couldn’t hear it??” The sphere bounced again as SHIKI’s irate voice echoed in his ears.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” she asked resentfully.

“I was just imagining what your cries would sound like,” Haru said slowly, taking a meat bun from the bag and biting into it.

“…Who would cry for you??”

“You pervert! You creep! You sicko!”

“Tsundere doesn’t suit your personality, SHIKI. And why is your first thought to cry for me?” Haru grinned, his tone teasing.

“Do you want me to cut you with a knife??”

“I believe you... Can I poke you with a stick, then?” Haru said, a wicked smile on his face.

SHIKI: “…”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Unable to win a battle of wits, SHIKI resorted to ramming his head to express her indignation. However, a soul is said to weigh only twenty-one grams.

Suddenly, Haru stopped walking.

SHIKI’s ramming also ceased.

“Shiki’s awake. Are we going ahead with the plan?” her voice was quiet.

“I have a feeling I’m going to get stabbed a few times for this,” Haru said, his lip twitching.

“Knowing ‘myself,’ I’d say I get one stab, and you get eleven,” SHIKI said, her tone malicious.

“Why do I get ten more?” Haru raised an eyebrow. SHIKI was the mastermind, so why was his punishment so much greater?

“Well, just think of it as me giving you eleven roses,” SHIKI teased.

“Somehow, that makes me feel a lot better,” Haru shrugged, then took a step forward.

The bustling lobby vanished, and the small hospital room appeared before his eyes.