Out in the garden, a thin layer of snow still covered the ground, and the cold air wrapped around my body. Even so, the residual drowsiness would not leave my mind.
I shook my head a few times and then headed to the washstand in the corner of the garden. I twisted the antique silver faucet and placed my hands in the cascading water.
I threw some ice-cold water onto my face, and my facial nerves immediately winced with a numbing pain, and I marveled that the water hadn't frozen. Ignoring the pain, I splashed water on my face two or three more times, then took a sip of water directly from the tap.
As I wiped my face with the towel hanging around my neck, the sliding glass door into the porch opened and Suguha came down the stairs wearing her jersey. Usually, she was very energetic in the morning, but today was a rare day, she was only half-awake with her head wobbling.
"Good morning, Sugu."
Hearing the sound of my voice, Suguha unsteadily walked in front of me, blinked, and said:
"Good morning, onii-chan."
"You seem awfully sleepy. When did you go to bed yesterday?"
"Well, about four o'clock."
More than a little surprised, I shook my head.
"This is not good at all, a child shouldn't stay up so late. What were you doing?"
"Well... I was on the net..."
The answer surprised me a little. If it was the old Suguha, I could not imagine her staying up on the net so late. This girl... she has grown up quite well in the past two years that I wasn't here, I thought with a pang of emotion.
"As long as it is in moderation— Not that I'm someone with the right to say that..."
My voice sounded vague as I said the last part, and suddenly I remembered something that happened last night, and so I said:
"Hey Sugu, turn around."
"....?"
Still only half-awake and tilting her head at my request, Suguha turned half way around. I put my right hand under the faucet and thoroughly wet my hand, then I pulled down the neck of her jersey and let at least half a dozen drops of cryogenic temperature water drip down her back.
"Piaaaaaa——!!"
Suguha jumped and let loose a scream that echoed grandly.
Suguha kept pouting during stretching and exercising, but I promised to take her to a nearby family restaurant to eat an expensive raspberry cream parfait, and she easily recovered her good humor.
Today, since we had both overslept, by the time we had finished training and took turns showering, it was already nine o'clock. Our mother was, as usual, still sleeping deeply in her bedroom, so Suguha and I made breakfast together.
As I washed some tomatoes and cut them into six equal parts, she chopped up a head of lettuce, Suguha then looked at me and asked:
"Onii-chan, what are you planning to do today?"
"Well, I have a promise to keep a little after noon, but I think I'll go visit the hospital this morning."
"I see..."
Since I became aware of Asuna's situation, visiting the hospital every other day had become my most important habit.
In the real world, I'm only 16 years old, and there was little I could do for Asuna. No, one could say I couldn't do anything at all. All I could do was hold her hand and continue to pray.
