God Eater: Infinity Paradise

42. True Love's Kiss

The air was heavy inside the laboratory. Lenka internally figured it wasn't the right moment to open his mouth, but does it matter to him? "Well, there goes the two days," he finally said, bringing all eyes on him. "Negative." Sakuya lowered her gaze and sighed while Paylor continued the staring game with the unit captain.

Soma's piercing sharp glares were inevitable. "Why are you speaking like it's some sort of deadline?" He hissed, knowing perfectly what the younger God Eater was trying to say. And he doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't want to talk about how Yuka is still unconscious in that stupid bed in the sick bay. "She's my problem, not yours."

"Well, she has fully recovered," Paylor cut off before the conversation could lead somewhere heated. "... physically speaking. Yuka's body system is unique. When her physical body enters a perilous state, it works itself to numbness, allowing her to take her head off the pain all over. That's not a surprise it happened again."

"Again?" Alisa asked, leaning forward a bit from where she was seated. "Do you mean to say this incident has occurred before?"

Sakaki's lips pursed to a small smile. "Yes, though not as... severe as this one." He craned his neck to the direction of the dark-skinned God Eater. "You do remember the incident with the Tezcatlipoca, don't you?" The other grumbled. "Well, the numbness happens until she's conscious, and when she's not anymore, her body repairs itself. You could say it is similar to a state of coma, where she remains unconscious until she has fully healed. The problem is..."

"She is, but she hasn't waked up yet." Lenka found himself being subjected to icy glares once more. It wasn't that he is competing with Soma for anything, but he is the captain of the First Unit, and everybody under him is his responsibility. Plus, the guilty feeling still rests within his chest that he hesitated to assist the blonde just because of an Ouroboros. If he had gathered everyone there sooner, perhaps they could have avoided this situation.

He totally is not competing against his veteran senior. What is there to compete for anyway?

Amidst the silent war, Sakuya spoke, "So, there's still no assurance when will Yuka wake up, huh... Doctor, what exactly is her condition, anyway?" The littlest noises died that very moment, as the team's eyes landed on the old man. "We... have little to no idea what is going on with her. How would we know how we can help? What's happening with Yuka?"

"Shio!" The pale Aragami girl chirped.

"Shio? No," Sakuya chuckled softly. "It's Yuka, Shio. We need to know what's going on with her. You... don't happen to have any idea, do you?"

"Shio!" She said once more.

Kota cocked up a brow. "Shio's happening with Yuka? She doesn't make any sense!"

"We're not supposed to be asking her either," Alisa snorted. "What would Shio even know?"

"Well, you can never tell," Sakuya answered. "Even up to now, she still manages to surprise us." A fond smile decorated her face as she watched the little Aragami tug on her foot, up until she fell back to the floor. "... and so does she."

A while later, Kota stretched out his leg, crossing one over the other and reclined back to the couch, hands behind his head. "Seeing that Yuka's out of commission for an indefinite time period, she's kind of like Alisa when she was blacked out too, right? After the..." His expression saddened. "... the Moon in the Welkin."

The two New-Types exchanged glances. Kota might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but it doesn't mean he isn't sharp at all. In fact, he might have even suggested a working solution without him knowing it. Yeah, maybe that could work; the Russian's blue eyes seemed to tell him. But Lenka himself was a little too hesitant on proposing such thing. He didn't want to open up an idea that still has a chance to fail. He didn't want to incur more of Soma's wrath. Perhaps he could give it a shot—once he gets through this.