Chapter 148: This Cat Has Strength! (Patreon)

"Hah... hah..."

Isac struggled to roll himself over, lying flat on his back in the snow beside the road, sucking down great ragged breaths. The fight was already over, but his arms wouldn't stop shaking.

The sleeve on his right forearm hung torn away at the elbow, and what remained was soaked through with blood, the mangled flesh beneath faintly visible through the fabric.

As the adrenaline began to fade, the trembling that had started in his arms spread through his whole body, until even his teeth were chattering.

Isac struggled to sit up, but it felt like a boulder was sitting on his chest, making even breathing difficult. Then the pain from his wounds surged over him like a rising tide — the final straw that broke him. His vision started to blur, and his eyelids felt like they'd been filled with lead.

Through the haze, Isac could dimly make out Yukinoshita Yukino and Kaguya sprinting toward him like they'd lost their minds, and Hayasaka Ai right behind them. Her mouth kept moving, but all he could hear was a droning ring in his ears — nothing else got through.

In the last instant before he blacked out, Isac wasn't thinking about whether he might die. Just one thought filled his head: That damn cat was strong as hell!

"Yukino, it's time to switch. Go get some rest — I've got this."

"...Let me change his bandage first."

"Leave that to me and Hayasaka Ai. You haven't slept in almost a day. Keep this up and your body will give out before Izzy even wakes up."

"You're exaggerating."

"We do have mirrors in this house, you know — go look at your own face! The terminal already showed he's out of danger. He just needs rest now. You don't need to watch him every second."

Looking at Yukinoshita Yukino's haggard face, Kaguya felt her irritation flare.

"...Maybe so, but you don't look much better yourself."

Yukinoshita Yukino pressed her lips together. She knew Kaguya was only worried about her, but Kaguya herself was in no better shape.

"At least I've actually slept." Kaguya's voice came out a little short on conviction.

Yukinoshita Yukino let out a short "Heh," then called her out without mercy: "Does passing out count as sleeping?"

"If you don't go sleep soon, you'll pass out too." Caught in the lie, Kaguya couldn't help sounding a bit flustered and cross.

She hadn't inherited her mother's heart condition, but her tolerance for fatigue was far lower than an ordinary person's — push herself too hard, and she'd faint easily.

A full day of hard travel, the wolf pack ambush along the way, watching Isac get attacked with her own eyes — it had all piled up at once. Kaguya had only made it back to the survival house on sheer willpower. The moment she confirmed Isac was out of danger, the tension holding her together snapped, and the accumulated exhaustion hit all at once. Passing out afterward was only natural.

"The bed in the guest room next door is already made up. Go rest now. We've already got one person laid up in bed — I don't need another one in this house."

Yukinoshita Yukino opened her mouth, looking like she wanted to argue, but just then a pained groan came from the bed.

"Ugh..." Isac opened his eyes to a familiar ceiling.

Before he'd even fully come to, two girls with long, straight black hair closed in on either side of him.

"Isac, you're awake?"

"How are you feeling? Want some water?"

Faced with the two of them fussing over him, Isac instinctively tried to sit up to answer.

The instant he moved, sharp pain shot through his right arm, his left chest, even his ankle, and he sucked in a hissing breath.

"Hssss—" Pain. So much pain.

Worse than waking up after the plane crash!

Yukinoshita Yukino quickly warned him: "Don't move around like that — you'll tear the wounds open. If you need anything, just tell me... and Kaguya."

Isac's mouth twitched — not from amusement, but from pain.

He wanted badly to play the stoic tough guy in front of Yukinoshita Yukino and Kaguya, gritting through the pain without so much as a flinch — but goddamn, the wound hurt too much for that.

Isac had always considered himself to have a high pain tolerance, but with every muscle in his body feeling like it was being torn apart, he realized that whatever tolerance he thought he had meant nothing against real pain like this.

"Yukino." When Isac said her name, his voice came out dry and rasping, like sandpaper.

"I'm here."

Hearing him say her name, Yukinoshita Yukino leaned in closer so he wouldn't have to strain to speak.

"You look terrible... hiss— go get some rest." Halfway through, the movement must have pulled at his wound, and he sucked in another sharp breath, but he pushed through and finished what he wanted to say.

There was no exaggeration in it — Yukinoshita Yukino really did look terrible. Her eyes were bloodshot, the skin around them red and faintly tinged with blue, dark circles from lack of sleep. Her lips, usually soft and full, had gone dry and pale, and there wasn't a trace of color left in her face. She looked utterly worn down.

Nothing like the composed, icy beauty Isac remembered — the sight of her like this ached in his chest.

Kaguya, overhearing this, seized on it like she'd found the backing she needed and immediately turned on Yukinoshita Yukino: "You hear that? Get to the room next door and sleep already, before you actually pass out."

Her tone carried teasing, and concern, and buried beneath both, a trace of jealousy she hadn't even noticed in herself.

She couldn't help it — the moment Isac woke up, his first reaction had been to tell Yukinoshita Yukino to rest, even though there were two of them standing right there.

Sure, she hadn't stayed by his side the whole time he was unconscious like Yukinoshita Yukino had — but she'd been unconscious right along with him.

By any measure, hers was the harder ordeal, wasn't it?

Wait, no — why was she even competing with Yukinoshita Yukino over this?

Kaguya looked at Yukinoshita Yukino, whose eyes were clearly welling up, pursed her lips inwardly, and without a word slipped her handkerchief into the other woman's hand.

Yukinoshita Yukino took it, dabbed at the corners of her eyes, and gave Kaguya a small nod of thanks before answering: "All right. I'll go sleep in a bit."

Part of the reason she'd refused to sleep before was wanting to look after Isac while he was unconscious. The other part was that, with him still out, she couldn't have rested easy anyway.

After all, if Isac hadn't pulled her clear when he did, she would have been the one lying in that bed — or worse.

Now that he was awake, weak as he still was, at least his life was no longer in danger. That was enough to let her breathe a little easier.

Once Yukinoshita Yukino agreed, Isac turned to look at Kaguya.

"Kaguya."

A little flower practically bloomed on top of Kaguya's head — so after fussing over Yukinoshita Yukino, it was finally her turn?

"Thirsty."

Oh. Not about her, then.

The little flower wilted instantly and vanished.

Annoyed as she was, Kaguya decided not to pick a fight with an invalid. She'd file this one away for later — once he was back on his feet, she'd find a way to even the score.

Even as she thought it, she picked up the thermos beside the bed, scooped out a small spoonful of warm water, and brought it gently to Isac's lips, coaxing him like a baby: "Open up. Ahh..."

Isac clearly didn't have the energy left to comment on that. He obediently parted his lips, and Kaguya tipped the spoon, letting the warm water slide into his mouth.

With some water in him, Isac visibly perked up a little.

"Earlier, half out of it, I thought I heard Yukino say you passed out?"

"No such thing."

As much as Kaguya wanted Isac to worry about her a little, now that he'd actually asked, she found herself not wanting him to worry after all.

"I see..."

Isac's mouth twitched again — not from pain this time, but a smile.

It was faint, and a little ugly around the edges, but it got the point across.

Seeing him smile, Kaguya immediately bristled.

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe you."

"You don't look like someone who believes me at all!"

Kaguya wasn't stupid. One look at his reaction told her he must have overheard her earlier conversation with Yukinoshita Yukino.

So she couldn't help explaining herself: "It's just — carrying you back wore me out too much, and I couldn't stay conscious. That's all it was — falling asleep."

She bit down hard on the words "falling asleep," as if deliberately stressing that it had been sleep, not a blackout.

Just one word's difference, but the first implied simple exhaustion, while the second pointed to something physically wrong.

Kaguya craved Isac's concern, but she didn't want him worrying over her.

Isac understood that well enough.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to worry you."

"It's nothing," Kaguya mumbled, glancing over at Yukinoshita Yukino and wondering why she still hadn't gone next door to sleep.

Yukinoshita Yukino noticed the look and felt a flicker of exasperation, but remembering the handkerchief from a moment ago, she let it go.

She stood, ready to go catch up on sleep next door, but before leaving she couldn't resist one last reminder.

"Don't forget to change his bandages."

"I know, I know."

Still, Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't quite shake her worry. After all, Kaguya had always been a pampered young lady who'd never had to lift a finger for herself, let alone tend to someone else.

While Isac had been unconscious, there hadn't been much to do, and Kaguya had just about managed. Now that he was awake, Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't bring herself to fully trust him to Kaguya's care.

So after leaving the master bedroom, Yukinoshita Yukino didn't head straight for the guest room to sleep. Instead, she went downstairs to tell Hayasaka Ai that Isac was awake, meaning to have her set aside whatever she was doing and go keep an eye on things alongside Kaguya.

"He's awake?"

But before Yukinoshita Yukino could even say anything, Hayasaka Ai — bent over her desk in the study, sorting through what they'd gathered on the trip — had already guessed why she'd come.

Well, guessed wasn't quite the right word.

Hayasaka Ai had heard some noise from upstairs, and Yukinoshita Yukino's expression had visibly eased since before. Who else but Isac could have caused a shift like that in such a short time?

Yukinoshita Yukino nodded. "He's awake. Do you want to go up and see him?" she asked.

Hayasaka Ai nodded. "I do."

Her going up wasn't only for Isac's sake — it was for Kaguya's too.

Kaguya's sudden collapse after they'd gotten home yesterday had given Hayasaka Ai quite a scare.

There was no way Hayasaka Ai would feel at ease leaving Isac in Kaguya's care alone. If anything, in her eyes, Kaguya — barely out of her own blackout — was someone who needed looking after too.

Two invalids, more like.

"Heading off to sleep now?" Seeing that it was Yukinoshita Yukino who'd come down, not her own young lady, Hayasaka Ai figured Yukino must be about to go rest.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have come down to tell her in person.

"Yeah, I'll go lie down in the guest room in a bit," Yukinoshita Yukino said with a nod.

From the ambush yesterday until now, Yukinoshita Yukino had barely closed her eyes. Kaguya had made it back to the survival house on sheer stubbornness alone — but hadn't she done exactly the same?

Now that the weight on her heart had finally lifted, even she couldn't hold back the wave of exhaustion crashing over her. Push herself any further, and she might really end up following in Kaguya's footsteps.

"Go rest easy. I'll take good care of Izzy."

Hayasaka Ai promised at once.

But no sooner had she said it than both their expressions turned faintly awkward.

Given the tangled nature of their relationships with Isac, Hayasaka Ai's line had come out sounding uncomfortably close to some old pledge like, "Don't you worry, I'll look after your man for you."

Talk about a loaded statement.

It felt a little strange, but Yukinoshita Yukino recovered herself and said: "Mm. I trust you, Hayasaka. You've always been steady and dependable."

"Oh, right — about what we found yesterday, should we tell him now?" Hayasaka Ai suddenly remembered yesterday's discovery and wanted to ask whether they should share it with Isac right away.

At that, Yukinoshita Yukino fell into thought.

Yesterday, once Isac had lost consciousness, Hayasaka Ai had moved fast, stopping the bleeding and keeping him warm along with a string of other first-aid measures. By the time she'd carried him back to the survival house, the aurora overhead still hadn't faded.

That was exactly how the three of them who'd stayed conscious had finally gotten a rough picture of that mysterious program that had appeared on Hayasaka Ai's phone.

"If he asks, we tell him straight. If he doesn't, we hold off for now and let him focus on healing," Yukinoshita Yukino answered after a moment's thought.

Of course, even if Isac didn't ask, they had no intention of keeping it from him forever. They were holding off for now simply because Yukinoshita Yukino felt his most urgent priority was recovering — everything else could wait.

Hayasaka Ai understood what she meant, and agreed with the suggestion.

Still, Hayasaka Ai was fairly sure Isac would ask, so before heading upstairs, she gathered up the intel she'd already organized and brought it along.

That way, when he did ask, she'd be ready to explain.

After all, this had everything to do with whether they'd ever find a way home...