A new person came into view of Aiya’s gaze as she looked out towards the rest of the ward. Standing in the frame of the door was the figure of a silver-haired girl, not much older or younger than she herself was, dressed in a nightgown. Said girl’s small, gentle blue eyes were staring curiously at Aiya. [color=#EBF5FF]"Are those duel monsters cards…?"[/color] her voice rang. She had even raised a finger to point straight at what Aiya was holding. 

Aiya would look at her, and then back down at her cards then back to the girl. As she would sigh for a bit. She wasn’t used to greeting folk outside of work hours, especially people in the hospital. But this girl seemed gentle. Unassuming even. That she felt like she might as well just be friendly with them. Even as stressed as she was.

“Yep they are!” She’d say with a bit of an upbeat tone, the same type of tone she had when hanging with her friend. As she’d flip them around to show the girl the dragon monsters she was looking at in her hand. “Some really cool dragons right?” She’d say with a bit of passion. Truly behind her shroud of being the coolest. Aiya was a bit of a dork for dragon monsters. Kei knew this, and in this hospital with such a shroud of sadness around it all. She was using her upbeat card-game shop side to try to keep herself from falling into a pit of sadness.


The girl, when asked if Aiya’s dragons were cool, said: [color=#EBF5FF]"Mhm… I remember my brother using cards like these!"[/color] and pointed at some of Aiya’s higher-levelled ones. But when Aiya skimmed past ‘Burner, Dragon Ruler of Sparks’, the girl’s eyes lit up. [color=#EBF5FF]"Aaah… this one is cute!"[/color] she said excitedly, picking it out from the deck. Her eyes were positively sparkling as she looked intently at Aiya’s card. [color=#EBF5FF]"You have such nice cards… and you take such good care of them, too!"[/color]

“Well! Of course some of them were a gift from my grandfather” She’d say with a smile. “I’m Aiya by the way. I live in the Dragon-Duelist Shrine,” She’d say cheerily.

[color=#EBF5FF]"Aiya…"[/color] the girl repeated after her. [color=#EBF5FF]"It’s a nice name! I think I’ve heard of the shrine, too…"[/color] she muttered, eyes still fixated on the cards. Aiya continued explaining unabated.

“If there's anyone that knows dragon monsters. It's my Grandfather” She’d say as she enjoyed the fact that the other girl seemed to be enjoying looking at her monsters. “So. Why are you here on this ward?” She’d ask the other girl cheerily. As she’d continue to show off her deck to her.

The girl’s eyes widened for a bit, her mouth slightly agape. She got her composure back fairly quick, but it was a noticeable break in character. She hesitantly vocalised a quick [color=#EBF5FF]"Actually…"[/color] and took her eyes off Aiya’s cards for the first time. Giving her an apologetic smile, she said: [color=#EBF5FF]"...this is my room. I’m a patient here. My name’s Tsukiko."[/color]

There had been an empty bed in the room, after all.

“A patient? So this is recoverable from.” Aiya would breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that it would all turn out alright. Given the proof was right in front of her. This girl was up and about. But Tsukiko, for her part, just averted her eyes and muttered something under her breath:

[color=#EBF5FF]"Recoverable, huh…?"[/color]

Aiya, suspecting nothing, continued: “That puts my mind at ease.” She’d say relaxing her posture. Afterall why did she have to worry so much if eventually the guy would be able to get up and be fine. “Do you know why it happens?” She’d be curious now.  

Tsukiko matched Aya’s gaze. [color=#EBF5FF]"Why…? I don’t…"[/color] she mutters uncomfortably, a hand on her chest clutching her nightgown slightly tighter than before. [color=#EBF5FF]"It’s… it’s because you lose a duel, right?"[/color] she said, repeating something Aiya likely already knew. [color=#EBF5FF]"Back before all this, I had a duel with my brother. I collapsed and the next thing I knew, I woke up here…"[/color] she told Aiya, but didn’t go into any more detail.

“Yeah. That's as far as I can ascertain.” Aya would say her lips turning downwards in a frown as she’d think back to the regular and how he collapsed. “It happened as soon as his life points hit zero, He seemed to gain awareness of himself before he immediately collapsed.” She’d say. “But. Seeing you awake makes me hopeful. Maybe everyone will be able to get back to health too?”


[color=#EBF5FF]”I see… it’s not quite the same as with me, then…"[/color] Tsukiko muttered to herself. She looked out the window, then said to Aiya: [color=#EBF5FF]"I also hope everyone else can wake up. I’m sure their families must be worried sick, too."[/color] 

Tsukiko made a sudden movement, as if she’d just remembered something. [color=#EBF5FF]"Oh, right…! I needed to be in my room because the doctor was coming to check on me. He’ll be here soon, I think you might be asked to leave… but I want to talk to you a little more, I never get visitors anymore. Do you think you could hide until he’s passed by?"[/color] the hospital girl earnestly asked.

“For sure. Do you know any good hiding spots? Aiya would immediately ask. Not wanting to put a stop to this enlightening conversation so early. Her eyes scanned the hospital room. Hiding under a hospital bed would be a bad move due to their adjustability. Perhaps she could hide behind those partition curtains. As she stared at the corner considering it while waiting for Tsukiko to offer input on good hiding spots. 

[color=#EBF5FF]"Over there,"[/color] Tsukiko pointed at a nearby door. [color=#EBF5FF]"That’s this room’s bathroom… as long as you close the door far enough, he won’t see you. Now hurry!"[/color] she shoo’d Aiya into that direction.[hr][i]A little earlier…[/i]

“Doctor! The equipment you requested from that university professor has arrived!” one of the hospital’s assistants cried out. The assistant was still young, clean shaven and starry-eyed. The doctor, meanwhile, was on the scruffier side with a stubble on the chin and some wrinkles already on his ageing brow. That doesn’t mean he didn’t look the professional part, though, in his green shirt and mouth mask hanging from the neck.

“That so? Let me take a look then,” he said to his assistant, taking a small device that looked somewhat like a CD player. He hooked it up to the computer, gave in some login credentials and the machine popped its lid right open. The doctor reached out for a box at his desk.

“Oh? That’s the deck from one of the patients, right?” his assistant asked. The doctor nodded.

“It sounds ridiculous, but I think something about these cards might be related to the issue. Using this scanner from the professor, I could check for some kind of anomaly.”

“Oh, I see! Do you want me to run the tests? That way you can focus on your patients,” the assistant offered. The doctor shook his head.

“You can take a break, you’ve been a big help already. Why don’t you go talk to that nurse you fancy?” he teased.

“Wh- I-it’s not like that, doctor…” he complained, then both had a laugh about it. Soon enough the assistant had left, leaving the doctor alone in his office. He picked up a card from the deck and let the scanner do its work, typing in some things on his computer in the meanwhile. After a minute, he suddenly said “Wait… this is…!” but before any conclusions could be drawn, the scanner’s lid suddenly shot back open. A black mist was oozing from the card. The doctor shot up and accidentally knocked over his chair.

“No…! I have to stop it!” he said to himself, focusing his attention back to the keyboard and rapidly typing in kill commands to try and shut the program down. Nothing worked. He took a step back, nervous sweat on his brow and shot another glance at the cards. “No… NOOO!” he yelled, with nobody in the area to hear as he was swallowed in darkness.