(Hurts To See You Again)

The doctor grabs his medical kit before roughly setting his cup down. Mizuki holds the door open for him as he scrambles out. The next few seconds feel almost unreal, like it's impossible for Mizuki to believe that Hinata's seconds away from death.

Is it possible to die in this world? It's something she has avoided thinking about for too long. It's too much, too much of a burden on her chest to make sense of the things that are happening.

Mizuki watches from the side as the doctor settles his things on the ground, the bottles clattering as they fall out of order. He closes his eyes, putting his palms together as he begins to mutter an incantation.

The rattling of glass intensifies till soon there's a swirl of water wrapping the doctor from the back of his shoulders to the front, water droplets slowly accumulating into a magic circle. Hinata shows no sign of movement, lying dead still where she had left him. She cups one hand over the other, a feeble attempt in calming herself down.

"Sano," he mutters louder this time in a foreign language. The circle breaks, water dissolving over Hinata's heart. Hinata's eyebrows crease but the blood starts to wash off on its own, not the stains or much of the cuts just yet but it's progress.

It's something, and it's good enough for now. He's still here. Mizuki has to physically grapple onto her shirt to make sure she hasn't stopped breathing. Her face has gone deathly pale from watching it unfold. The doctor stands, a sad, wrinkled smile on his face.

"Do you know how this happened?"

Mizuki shakes her head vigorously, "He appeared out of nowhere and I have no clue where he might've been. Will he be okay?!" Mizuki would've been embarrassed at the shakiness of her voice if not for the unbearable amount of fear that's caving in on her.

"To be frank, I can't pinpoint what might've happened to render him to this state. He's one of the strongest people I know. Genuinely."

It doesn't put Mizuki at any more comfort. She forces an awkward grin.

"If you're curious about symptoms, he has burns all over his hands and the trauma areas are at the front of his face. He must've hit into something or held something extremely dangerous for him to end up like this. I have nothing else to advise but to make sure that he rests up. He tends to be jumpy, even during recovery," the doctor mentions. As he walks out, he makes sure to add, "I believe you'll take care of him well."

Mizuki steals a peek at Hinata. Her heart sinks. I could've been there for you. If only I wasn't so selfish about my own progress.

Inhaling a deep breath, she forces back tears and instead takes a seat on the couch, right by Hinata's head. Leaning her head towards his, she closes her eyes. She'll hope she gets to see emerald again when she wakes.

[Hirashi Mizuki has fallen asleep]

Mizuki sits up. She stares. She knows she's nowhere near home. In fact, she's not quite sure where she is. Around her, there's nothing but a faint light and loud, inhumane grumbling. When she tries to stand, she slips, palms holding herself up. She lifts them, scrunching her nose in disgust at the mysterious substance she's now coated in.

It reeks of saline and rotten fish, like she's somewhere underwater. Even then, she can breathe just fine. Mizuki hobbles and turns, furrowing her eyebrows at the sight in front of her. Mizuki rubs her eyes, trying to process the unfolding events and then she's yet again, thrown off her feet.

When she opens her eyes again, she realises the person in front of her is Hinata. A little drenched, scratched up here and healthy. Mizuki takes a couple steps forward, slowly so as to not skid. When she reaches a hand through him, it passes right through.

'Is this a dream?' Hinata holds his sword in his hand, staring intently at a bulging pocket of skin in front of him. Mizuki furrows her eyes in disgust, almost green in the face.

Out of nowhere, she hears a roar and snaps her head towards the sound. Behind her, she sees the jaws of a monster open and with the light from outside, she takes notice of the colossal-sized veins on the walls of the mouths she's in. Holy shit, she's trapped in a monster's mouth.

Mizuki catches the swift movement of a sword from her side. Hinata slices at the skin of the beast and out falls one of the Befallen Pieces of Astra. The monster howls, an ungodly amount of blood beginning to gush in her direction.

The Piece tumbles and almost falls into the oesophagus of the monster, only barely caught by Hinata. As soon as he touches it, a bright ray of light shines, the sheer force of it pushing Mizuki back.

Through it, she watches as Hinata's skin burns at its intensity of heat. It gets brighter, brighter, brighter and he can hardly keep himself on his stand. By this point, the monster has started to lose all control and start flailing its head around directionlessly in the air, quickly and with no pattern.

The Piece ultimately falls and Hinata loses his balance while trying to grapple onto the object. Making the wrong step, he slips. Mizuki feels sick to the stomach at the look of fear as he falls through the oesophagus of the monster.

"Yasui!" Mizuki screams out of instinct, reaching out a hand. He doesn't hear her. A masked figure, a figureless entity reaches a hand over her.

'If only you knew.'

Mizuki sits up again, this time much quicker and she's more scared. Mizuki scratches her head in confusion at the foreign location she's trapped in, wondering if she's at the right location.

Where was I a few seconds ago? Mizuki blanks. It's only a couple seconds later when her consciousness has faded back to her and the chill of the atmosphere starts to settle in on her.

Mizuki's lips part and she lets out a breath, a cloud of mist condensing in front of her lips. Though she's yet to process this, in front of her stands a massive terrain of ashen mountains covered in snow.

It's scary how they look like they're caving in, these icicle-like rock structures that look almost circular. She blinks and nothing changes but she'll still sure one of them will pierce her heart if she dares to stare too long. Even the impossible have started to seem most possible of all circumstances, especially since Hinata—Hinata?

Mizuki's instant reaction is to search. She stands, rubbing her hands together in a failed attempt to battle the cold. As she does so, Hinata himself walked through her. Mizuki looks down, touching herself. She's translucent.

Hinata passes her with an older version of herself, paying no heed of her spirit that exists here. Two indistinguishable faces pass her, both playfully bickering with each other. It reminds her of the way she used to be with Hinata.

Mizuki scrambles forward, waving wildly or calling out their names to make herself known. Her words go unheard. "Where are you going?" she wants to ask. "Is it safe there?" She would receive no answer.

Mizuki's gaze falls on the older version of herself, white hair already at her waist. She knows how she's always been a fan of shorter hair. She wonders why she let it grow.

"Are you taking good care of Hinata?"

There's a blissful smile on his face, enough to answer Mizuki's question. He watches the older Mizuki with the tips of his ears faintly flushed.