The Reve - Part 2

Chapter 1: Peek A Boo

On a sunny day in May, Hyori was arranging her new dormitory room inside the Ultra Academy. She had been released from hospital two weeks after her rescue. Her movements were measured and she only carried light items. She was experiencing withdrawals and felt like she was going through hell for a second time. She remembered bits of her rescue day. She had been too lightheaded to walk as her morning dose of sleeping pills was still affecting her body. She remembered being carried outside and the sound of an ambulance.

Besides the Hero Commission's Vice President, she hadn't received many visits during her detoxification in the hospital. For two weeks, she had been getting used to not relying on pills to sleep anymore. She didn't sleep well but at least wasn't at risk of a seizure anymore. Her limbs had stopped trembling after walking long distances and she had finally been discharged. The academy's nurse would keep track of her recovery and she would meet the elderly woman every day after her activities.

The professionals had advised her to take things slowly and her homeroom teacher was due to collect her at five in the afternoon to take her swimming. She should remain busy to get her mind off of her needs, but she shouldn't push herself into demanding activities. Those would be detrimental by triggering her need to ease her physical pain and the fatigue could cloud her judgement. She was unable to relapse since she was confined inside the academy's grounds but the discomfort would be heightened.

She had had issues focusing in classes on top of being tired due to her recurrent sleepless nights. Every time she closed her eyes, she was taken back into the manor where she had been used under the influence. It got to the point where she couldn't sleep until she lost consciousness due to fatigue. Her sleeping time didn't last for more than four hours before she woke up alarmed and sweaty.

Her memories of the events were spotty when she was awake but vivid during her slumber. She had nightmares of her frenzy in his arms at night, when she was under stimulants' influence. At some point, she had resigned herself and gave up on hoping to be free again. Giving up had granted her the freedom to roam in the place void of any presence that wasn't her jailor, even if she mostly slept in between doses. She had been able to command the multiple domestic robots that kept the place tidy and had guessed that would be her life forever.

On multiple occasions, she had entertained asking for Megumi's help but didn't want her little sister to see her state. She wanted to improve her form and state of mind to prevent polluting the younger's mind. She hadn't seen the girl in over a month and thinking about meeting again was helping her.

Knocking on her door interrupted her contemplation and she opened to her homeroom teacher. She was already wearing her gym clothes and binding underwear, not having partook in the afternoon physical classes. In the common spaces of the building, no one could be seen and she assumed her classmates were either training or studying.

The walk to the sports grounds had been silent. As there were pupils lingering outside, she lowered her umbrella as much as possible to hide her face. She already had a reputation as the only general to have transferred in the heroic course this year, and maybe for a couple of years. She suspected her violet mane made her stand out, but at least she couldn't see people's eyes on her.

Inside the indoor pool area, she changed into the school-sponsored swimsuit and so did her teacher, just in case he had to intervene. After stretching, she swam slowly with floating foams for a dozen minutes. She then took a five-minute break before starting again. After one hour in the waters, it was time to leave. She changed before the teacher walked her to the nurse's office for her daily examination.

Afterwards, he escorted her to the cafeteria for dinner before taking her back inside the dormitories. In the dormitories, her peers kept their distance and she avoided eye contact while the teacher escorted her into her bedroom. The routine lasted until she requested to resume her training in the nearby resort. The nurse allowed her to proceed as long as she kept her daily recovery auscultations.