By A Slight Mistake

「13 Hayate’s Perspective」

(Author’s note: Hayate’s point of view. Ahead is a painful description of Mizuki’s injuries, skip ahead if you’re not good with those things.

“Sorry, I’ll be going ahead after all.”

I said that to Ariwara and Tachibana as I finished my meal in the café.

“Aren’t you being a bit overprotective, Okabe?”

I smiled warily even as I shook my head at Ariwara’s remark.

“I’m not protective enough. Mizuki does too much without telling people anything.”

“……Well, that is true.”

“Besides, she didn’t seem to have that much of an appetite today. She only ate potage after all.”

Tachibana was someone who always caught details.

He must have noticed the differences between the regular Mizuki and the one that just left.

“………… I didn’t say anything a while ago…”

The younger of the Sugawara twins spoke up.

“…but mint and eucalyptus have a sedative effect. Was she trying to relieve her pain without painkillers?”

“This morning, Mizu-chan did her best to come to school despite the obvious discomfort she was in. That guy who Mizu-chan was with didn’t even notice something was wrong, Sickーenーing!”

“……Ookami?”

Tachibana covered his face when he was reminded of this morning’s surprise.

“I understand your feelings for Mizuki, elder Sugawara. I own you for this morning. We can discuss this matter later.”

Even though I told her to tell me when something like that happens, she once again choose to just endure it?

I violently returned my dirty tray and rushed towards Mizuki’s classroom.

Who cared about the ‘no running in the hallway’ rule at this point.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me.

Shinonome Academy was a rather large place.

Because the cafeteria had to service both the high school and middle school, it was built in the middle of the campus.

All the corridors had roofs over them, so the students didn’t have to worry about getting wet on rainy days.

Rain.

Mizuki said that her wounds ached when the atmospheric pressure changed with the weather.

Even though it hurt, she was opposed to taking sedatives and did her best to endure the pain.

Why hadn’t I been more worried?

I knew of a few remedies that helped, but none of them completely handled the pain.

She said she had some business to take care of, but what was it?

I should have asked her about it before she left.

When I neared Mizuki’s classroom I slowed my pace.

I spotted Mizuki speaking to an annoying guy by the window in the hallway.

Iori Suwa.

Was he the business she had to take care of?

He was another person after Mizuki.

Nothing good came from associating with the Suwa.

Mizuki seemed to have finished her conversation and began to walk away briskly.

However, something was off.

The moment I thought that, Mizuki’s upper body started to shiver and she collapsed.

“Sagara!”

“Don’t touch her!!”

I shouted at Suwa as he approached the fallen Mizuki.

A startled Suwa turned around when he heard me.

“I will never allow you to touch Mizuki again.”

It was unacceptable for the one responsible for nearly killing Mizuki to touch her.

My glare remained focused on Suwa as I approached Mizuki, bent down, and raised her to a sitting position.

Mizuki remained unconscious.

Her skin was pale and cold to the touch.

Her right sleeve was gradually turning a shade of red.

Did her skin tear?

“Is Sagara alright?”

Suwa worried voice reached me.

“It’s none of your concern.”

No matter what Mizuki thought, the Sagara hated that she was involved with the Suwa.

Suwa was frightened by the tone I took with him.

I lifted Mizuki and stood up.

Those concerned about Mizuki parted ways for me in the hallway.

I slowly made my way towards the infirmary and did my best not to jostle her.

Though it was an indiscrete thought, I couldn’t help but be grateful that Mizuki didn’t wear a skirt.

Mizuki’s wounds were rather troubling.

She should have fully recovered from them long ago.

It was a rather cruel scar.

The wound was a reminder of the thin margin by which she avoided death.

Normally, she wouldn’t have been able to roam around as freely as she does.

Paralysis of half her body, or a vegetative state was what had been expected.

I later heard that a subconscious decision had saved her.

Because she had fallen defensively, her head was spared being damaged.

Because she had curled up into a ball, her spine didn’t get crushed.

Consequently, the bones in her right arm and leg had been shattered.

The shattered bone fragments had been gathered, set in the proper location and bolted back together.

I heard that the surgery to set the broken ribs and mitigate the damage to her internal organs had taken a considerable amount of time.

Mizuki had fallen into an almost comatose-like state and I had been worried that she wouldn’t open her eyes ever again.

The word ‘miracle’ was too light of a description of what happened.

That’s how grateful we were that Mizuki chose to live when death would have been the easier option.

Still, that was when Mizuki’s hellish days began.

She was only hospitalized for half a year.

However, if you wanted to count the number of surgeries she had to endure during those six months, the fingers on both your hands wouldn’t have been enough.

In accidents such as hers, it was impossible for anyone to regain full functionality with the initial surgery, so multiple ones were necessary.

In addition, Okugata-san, Mizuki’s mother feared that the scars would diminish her marriage prospects and had her undergo plastic surgery as well.

Although some of her scars had been cleared away, Mizuki paid the price with her physical strength.

Her weakened body became sensitive to smell, not only perfumes but even laundry detergent and flowers were too much for her. The hospital disinfectant they used on the dishes made her vomit when she smelled it.

She’d been incapable of eating solids and had to take supplemental nutrients from a drip feed.

The problem was that the spoons and bowls also smelled of antiseptic solution.

The gastrostomy treatment didn’t take.

Nevertheless, the next head of the family continued to undergo plastic surgery.

Every time Mizuki disappeared behind those doors I was afraid she wouldn’t return.

However, I couldn’t say that I wanted the operations to stop.

Mizuki had been giving it her all, I couldn’t tell her to stop just because I was afraid.

Four months into her hospitalization, Mizuki finally asked for the surgeries to stop.

Her mother tried to persuade her against it.

However, Mizuki, who’d normally obediently do as she was told, refused to budge on the matter.

“I hate it!”

The shock of hearing Mizuki say that caused me to fall silent.

Mizuki remained firm, and her mother turned to me so that I could persuade her.

It would have been difficult for me to follow that order, it was only by the intervention of Mizuki’s grandmother that I was spared from doing so.

“Mizuki’s body needs to heal, so let her rest for a while.”

“But, Okaasama! The scars have to be completely removed! Mizuki will suffer otherwise.”

I was surprised to see Okugata-san’s tearful pleading.

“She did nothing wrong, I can’t help but think of the injustice of it all when she has to look at those scars. She’ll have to live with those terrible scars for the rest of her life. Mizuki is still a girl!! If I could trade places with her I would do so……”

“It is the same for me. If this old lady could switch places with her, she’d do it in a heartbeat. But, Yoriko-san, as her mother you cannot be shaken by what is to come. If the mother falters, the child will lose their footing. Yoriko-san, Mizuki has done her best to reassure you by going through these surgeries. Mizuki no longer wishes to do this anymore. You have to accept it.”

“Okaasama…… excuse……”

“Its okay, don’t cry anymore. You are her mother. Since Mizuki is saying ‘I hate it’ now of all times, then that is a good thing in the end. Rather than shed tears, you should be discussing the future with the doctor.”

After saying that, the two of them went into the waiting area.

I don’t know what they discussed after that.

However, I was relieved when I learned the operations wouldn’t continue until she regained her strength.

But it’d been too early to feel relieved.

Mizuki still needed to have the bolts removed from her arm and femur.

Originally, it shouldn’t have been a difficult procedure.

It was nearly impossible for a body with a compromised immune system not to catch an infection.

The issue had been her right arm.

It required daily sessions to remove the stitches and necrotic flesh.

If the wound had managed to close, it would have to be cut open again so the infected area could be removed, washed and disinfected.

The skin on Mizuki’s arm became quite thin after repeated sessions.

Once a blood test confirmed that the infection had disappeared, the flesh rose into a keloid scar and it seemed like the wound had completely healed.

However, that was only on the surface.

Even as the wound closed, the bodied remembered. The skin might have looked strong, but it remained unhealthy thin.

Whenever Mizuki was extremely stressed or strained the skin, it would tear and the blood  underneath would spill out.

The plastic surgeon explained that it would take several years for the body to recover from the trauma.

When would it forget?

Even so, it had only been two years.

Usually, it was all right.

Recently, her wounds opening had become a rare occurrence.

The cause of her stress was bad.

In other words, it was the Suwa.

I must prevent them from coming into contact with her ever again.

I don’t care if I earned Mizuki’s ire.

My decision was made by the time I entered the infirmary.

Shinonome had a female doctor on hand.

Her name was Sagara Mari

She was the eldest daughter of the Sagara, and Mizuki’s older sister.

Her beauty and dignified manner earned her the nickname Empress.

“I’ve been waiting for you Hayate. Lay Mizuki on that bed.”

Somehow, she’d heard about Mizuki collapsing and had already begun her preparations.

Mari had already been a doctor at the time of the incident and acted as the assistant surgeon during the initial operation.

I could leave Mizuki in Mari’s care because she knew the most about Mizuki’s wounds out of the entire Sagara household.

Mari didn’t hesitate as she unbuttoned Mizuki’s shirt after I laid her on the tarp-covered bed.

No, wait! I’m still here!

Just wait a second.

Mari called out to me as I tried to back away.

“Hayate, I need your assistance!”

“Huh!?”

“I need your help treating Mizuki. Can you examine her wounds for me?”

“Of course!”

The problem seems to have been ignored.

Although I wanted to comment on the daughter showing her skin to a man before marriage, Mari was relentless.

Mizuki’s shoulder was exposed and her wound was revealed.

It was smaller than I expected.

“I’m a bit relieved that your complexion hasn’t changed upon seeing the scars, Hayate.”

“They are proof that Mizuki chose to live. I’m glad that the wound is smaller than I thought it’d be.”

“Good child. Take that pan and hold it directly under the wound. I’m going to wash the wound now.”

I took the silvery, bean-shaped pan and placed it where instructed.

Mari washed the wound with purified water, sterilized the surrounding area and carefully sterilized the inside of the wound.

Then she applied an ointment to the area, covered it in sterilized gauze, and wrapped it with surgical tape.

Her work flowed without any wasteful moments.

“It’s done. Thank you, Hayate.”

“No. You did most of the work.”

I was at a loss when I answered Mari as she began cleaning up.

“Mari-sama. A change of clothes for Mizuki……”

“Well. I’ll take care of it. There’s a prepared set of clothes waiting.”

I don’t know what methods she used to get the position, but having Mari as the infirmary doctor was helpful.

“I’m still useless.”

“……ha.”

I was of no use to Mizuki.

I think it was natural for a person to have a trauma or two they were incapable of immediately overcoming.

Mizuki had two traumas.

She felt sick when she saw a van, and when she saw the color red.

The red that was reminiscent of blood was ruined for her.

Red lights, red roses and other such items didn’t cause a reaction in her, but blood red was impossible for her to deal with.

She couldn’t even put that shade of red in her drawings.

A bloodstained shirt was out of the question.

“Then……”

“Just wait a minute.”

Even though afternoon classes had begun, Mari continued to detain me.

“You don’t expect me to change her by myself, do you? Help me.”

“Huh!? No, wait……that’s……”

“What’s the matter? Raise Mizuki up and support her.”

“Nonono! Mari-sama, that’s unacceptable!!”

“As her doctor and sister, I’ll allow it. It’s alright. Do it now!”

There was no winning against Mari-sama, or the second daughter Chika-sama.

And the scariest part was that Mizuki wouldn’t have minded if she was conscious.

“Please be a little wary. Yakumo-sama may kill me over this……”

“Yakumo frightens you? Ahahaha!! This is why you’ll never win Mizuki’s heart.”

“No, well. I am Zuijin…… the choice is hers to make.”

I divert my gaze as I lifted Mizuki and spoke.

Yakumo absolutely wouldn’t be the one.

I made that promise to Mari in my heart.