Entertaining a Small Thought

1st Arc Part 2: Responsibility to be Useful

I managed to relax after a while, but I couldn't fall asleep. I couldn't stop thinking about what I was dreaming about before I came to. I just... couldn't stop thinking about what it could mean. Just thinking about it made my injuries burn.

After a little while, I hear what sounds like footsteps. I turn to the entrance and see Kiyo, Kirumi, Angie, and Shuichi walking back. Angie and Shuichi seem to be more injured than before since they are being helped by Kiyo and Kirumi to get back.

"What happened this time?" I asked.

"We managed to get farther, but when we were opening a second gate, bombs appeared and got all of us at once. How unfortunate." Kiyo explained with a dejected look. "Shuichi and Angie got the worst of it, however. They were caught in multiple explosions."

"Do not worry. Atua protected us from the worst of it." Angie beamed, though she seemed less peppy than before.

Shuichi didn't say anything. He just stayed there in deep thought. The four settled down, waiting for any news of the other's success, or, more likely, for the others to fail and come back.

I sighed. Things are looking like they'll go the way my intuition is predicting. People are going to start having a grudge against Kaede. I should probably intervene before that happens.

"How are you doing, Rin? Are you feeling better?" Kirumi asked as she walked up to me.

"I'm fine. I feel a lot better for the most part." I said with a smile. She smiled back as she nodded. "Want to sit down? You must be tired after another round of the Death Road."

"No, I am fine. Besides, that would be improper for a maid."

"Oh c'mon. Don't be like that." I reach out and grab Kirumi's hand and forced her to take a seat. She didn't look too happy about me forcing her to sit down, though, as her eyes seemed to narrow a bit.

"I should not be sitting down right now."

"Relax. You were one of the people who wouldn't let me go into the underground passage when I was injured, so you shouldn't be standing either when you're injured as well." I say as I point to her.

Before she could object, I grabbed her arm and checked to see if I was right, which, not to my surprise, I was. She was doing a good job hiding them, what with her long-sleeved dress and gloves, but I still saw them. She had multiple cuts and bruises on her hands and arms.

I caught a slight glance at them when she first came up to me, but she immediately covered them with her sleeves and gloves. She also seemed to be shifting her slightly shaking legs a bit when she was standing, which probably means her feet or legs are also injured somehow.

I sighed and reached over to the bag of bandages and other things Kirumi brought after our first run of the Death Road To Despair.

"Seriously, you shouldn't hide these things. Especially after you were one of the people who didn't want me to go through the passage with injuries." I lectured as I began to patch her up, much to her surprise it seemed. "I wonder when you got these. Was it this recent run, or did you perhaps get them the first time around and didn't tell anyone?"

Kirumi didn't respond. She remained silent as I finished wrapping the bandages around her cuts. She began to examine the wrappings a bit with a scrutinizing look.

"I'm not an expert when it comes to this stuff. I just...have muscle memory, it seems. You could probably do a better job, but it's better if someone else does it right now. You can fix it later once you have the time. Now, what's wrong with your legs?" I asked sternly.

She was silent for a bit before she responded.

"I got caught in a fire trap and hurt my right leg a bit due to that." She said.