Darling in the FranXX: Insurrection

Chapter 21- Awakening

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come in!" a voice answers from the other side of the wooden door. Pushing down the handle with your elbow to avoid spilling the tray of food in your arms, you enter. Inside, Ichigo sits at a worn desk with her back to you. The faint sound of a pencil scratching against paper reaches your ears as she writes.

"There," she sets the pencil down beside the paper, before picking it up and folding it in half. She opens the lower right drawer and allows the folded note to slowly drift down before closing it once more. Only once this is complete does she turn to face you.

"Working hard?" you ask with a slight smile. Ichigo wipes her brow and slumps back in the chair. "You have no idea. I've spent all morning writing instructions for the treatment of our guests." You shoot her a quizzical look. "I thought you said you weren't going to do that because you weren't sure of how to help all of them?" you ask.

Her shoulders drop even further. "I'm not. But if we don't do something then they'll never get better. I just hope that nothing I suggest makes anything worse."

You place the tray on the desk beside her and then cup her cheek. "You're doing the best you can and that's all we can ask. You know more about medicine than anyone else here, even if it's only a little bit."

You rock to the side as she punches your shoulder. "If that was supposed to make me feel better," she says, rolling her eyes, "it didn't." "Then maybe this will," you nod to the tray containing the lunch you had brought her. "It's the last of the deer I shot a while back. Kokoro made a nice stew out of what was left."

Ichigo swivels in her chair and takes up the spoon. "There's more here than I thought there'd be," she says after poking around the bowl, before she glances up at you for an explanation. "Don't look at me," you reply. "I didn't plate it. I only carried it here. Take it up with Futoshi or Kokoro."

"I'm not complaining," Ichigo says before she blows on the soup to cool it. She takes a spoonful and brings it up to her mouth. Her eyes close and the stresses seem to momentarily melt away as she leans back in the chair. "Ohh, that's good," she purrs.

"Glad you like it," you smile as she scarfs down the remainder of the meal. When she's finished, she puts the bowl back on the tray and pulls another sheet of paper out of the desk. In that time, you have nearly nodded off on the desk, so she pokes you with the pencil.

"Hey, what's that for?" you demand, opening an eye. "You're sleeping on my workspace," Ichigo giggles. "Didn't you get enough sleep last night?" You glance up at the ceiling while you think. "About eight hours," you say, gathering the tray and making your way toward the door. "Seems like I can't get enough recently though. I'm always tired. Anyway, I'll let you get back to work."

"How's your head?" she asks before you can leave. "It's alright," you answer. "The headache doesn't seem to want to go away, but I'll manage." Her eyes follow you as you walk across the room. "How about-" her question is interrupted by a low growl emanating from your stomach.

A sliver of concern becomes visible in her expression as she fully faces you. "Have you eaten?" "Yeah," you answer, scratching your neck. "I ate before bringing you your lunch." Her eyebrows furrow. "But then why is your stomach growling?" she presses. "Just because I ate doesn't mean I can't still be hungry," you reply with growing uncertainty. "It's less than we're used to, after all."

As you finish speaking your stomach lets out another growl, this one lasting several seconds.

It was to be expected, of course. Your food from the plantation was never meant to last you indefinitely. That's one of the reasons why the hunting and foraging everyone had learned to do was so important. However, the added burden of ten new parasites to your home from Squads 26 and 56 had accelerated the decline in food supplies exponentially. There wasn't much left, especially when everyone had to share.