♡𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒽 [Komahina]♡ [CHECK DES]

Chapter Twenty-One

【Ｈａｊｉｍｅ＇ｓ　Ｐｏｖ】

I took a deep breath while staring into the lumpy blue sheet.

This was...everything. I couldn't afford to mess up at this point.

I moved my hand to the top of the cover, pulling it below the body's chin. I looked at her face.

Her skin wasn't filled with the dark spots or the holes anymore, she was just pale as death now. It makes sense. She's dead. Well, not anymore, as long as this works. Her temples had wires coming from them, connecting her to a computer. She had wires on other parts of her body too, they stook out from the edges of the bed.

There was a specific wire in mind though. The one connected to her heart. I just had to run this final piece of code, then she would wake up as her. She should anyway.

I brought my eyes to the computer. Just one button, that's it. It...should be fine. No matter how much I tried to convince myself it would be okay, I still had trouble believing myself. This could go south very quickly.

I hesitantly brought my hand to the keyboard, silently praying to myself for this to work right. I held by breath and pressed the enter key.

[Running scan for lifeform...]

...

[Positive]

[Checking for Nanami_Chiaki.aego...]

...

[Positive]

[Running code, please wait...]

...

...

...

[Complete]

It...went through. This was good! No, great! I smiled in hope that this would work. It defied the laws of life but...I think it's working..! I looked over at the body's face again, waiting for anything. Any type of movement was a step in the right direction here.

She fluttered her eyes a bit before slowly opening them, a slightly confused expression on her face. I gasped and jumped over beside her.

"C-Chiaki? Hello? Can you hear me!? It-It's me! Hajime!" I immediately yelled out, causing her to look over at me.

"H-Hajime? Where am I? How am I even..." She trailed off tiredly, looking over at the light above her with a squint. She blinked a couple times before slightly shifting her body a bit.

"Chiaki? It's...you, right?" I asked worriedly, leaning above her a bit.

"Of...course it's me. Who else would I be? And...you didn't answer my question." She had a somewhat annoyed face now. She tried sitting up, only to fail and almost fall back down into the bed she was in before I caught her.

"Y-Yes! I'm...sorry. It's just that-" I cut myself off before I rambled about the entire project, deciding to answer her original question first.

"You're in the hospital, right now. I just got you to wake up." I glance over at the computer at the table beside her. She frowned a bit in response.

"Shouldn't I be dead?" She asked bluntly.

"I- Well, technically... But the other day, Mikan, she-" I had trouble getting my words out, "She killed Hiyoko." I finally spat out. Chiaki's eyes widened and she turned her head fully towards me, causing a blonde curl to fall in front of her face, giving her a more frightened look.

"Am I...in Hiyoko...?" She asked softly, looking me dead in the eyes.

"Y-yes." I uttered. Nanami turned to face the light again, a surprised appearance still on her.

We both stayed silent for a few moments before she turned to face me again.

"Why?" She asked, leaving me a bit dumbfounded.

"Huh?" I frowned in confusion a bit.

"Why did you bring me back? Why didn't you bring back Hiyoko? Or maybe just buried her?" She questioned.

"Well- I-" I couldn't give her an answer. Why did I? Was it...

"To bring me back? Is that why?" She asked. Though the first question was really a question at all.

"I...guess so. I just really... I really missed you, Chiaki." I bowed my head sadly.

"So you...put me in Hiyoko's dead body to bring me back?" She looked directly into my eyes. It was...unsettling. The thought of staring in the eyes of a living corpse.

"I..." I started, but I didn't have much to say. Chiaki summed it up perfectly.

She went back to staring in the light above her. "Isn't this a bit like the Izuru Project?" She asked without looking at me.

"Maybe." I responded quietly. I didn't like remembering the project. And I sure didn't like thinking about this like it either.

"You know I'm still dead, right Hajime? I'm...only an Alter Ego. I'm just your memories of me." She had a blank expression when she said this, which only added to my uneasiness. This interaction was...almost getting scary.

"You'll probably have to stay here for a while. Until you have enough health and strength to go anywhere else." I switched topics.

"...Okay." She said simply.

"You should...rest." I took my hand from the edge of the bed. She only gave me a slight nod.

"Goodbye, Chiaki." I turned towards the door, trying to keep myself from crying.

"Bye." She said faintly. I walked over to the door.

Maybe this wasn't as good as I thought it would be.