Toma lay still on the hospital bed; her breathing was slow and uneven. Her consciousness started to co slowly. Her fingers moved first, then her eyes fluttered open, struggling against the weight of exhaustion. The ceiling ca into view, blurred at the edges and for a mont she didn’t understand where she was.
A figure sat beside her.
"..Who?..." She turned her head slightly and saw him. "Aiden....?"
Aiden leaned forward the mont her eyes opened, relief flashing across his face before it tightened into worry. "You’re awake. Do you have any idea what you put through? How could you end up in sothing so dangerous like this, Toma? I was so damn worried."
Toma blinked slowly, her voice weak. "Did you... ouch, my head hurts. Are you the one who saved ?"
Aiden shook his head. "No. I didn’t. The hospital called . I don’t even know how they got my number. When I asked, they said they couldn’t rember who gave it."
Toma tried to piece her mories together. Her thoughts felt scattered, slipping through her grasp. She closed her eyes for a mont, forcing herself to rember what happened. There had been a car, n with ard weapons and then... a figure. A pink bunny helt guy?
But after that, everything went dark.
Aiden’s voice pulled her back. "Do you rember anything, Toma?"
She hesitated, then shook her head lightly. "No. It’s nothing."
Aiden, seeing her face, was not entirely convinced, but he let it go for now. "One thing I can’t think of is why would anyone target you like that? These weren’t random people. I think this was organised by soone who knew us very well ."
His tone sharpened slightly. "You’re my childhood friend. Do you understand how serious that is? I even missed an urgent eting because of this. The mont I got the call, I ca straight here."
Toma gave a faint smile. "I’m okay, Aidi. It’s not that bad. You don’t have to worry so much."
"That’s not the point," Aiden replied. "From now on, you’re not going anywhere alone. I’ll assign security for you. Twenty-four hours."
"That’s too much, Aidi," she said quickly. "I’ll be fine by myself."
Aiden didn’t respond imdiately, but his expression made it clear he wasn’t backing down.
Toma looked away, her thoughts drifting again. "That biker... who was he?...Why did he feel so familiar?"
........
Far from the hospital,
Mr.Nobody sat alone on the edge of a bridge, legs hanging loosely over the side as he stared down at the water below. The wind moved past him in soft, steady waves, carrying the distant hum of traffic.
"Haaah." He let out a small breath . "Calling Aiden was a good move."
His fingers tapped lightly against the railing. "Still... who would’ve thought the system could just hand over a main character’s number like that?"
He tilted his head slightly. "Wait. If that’s the case... doesn’t that an I could get Toma’s number like that too?"
"....."
"...No. That’s a terrible idea. She’d think I’m a stalker."
"Sigh...."
"Yeah. Definitely a bad idea."
Silence settled again before he spoke, almost casually to us. "Don’t you think so, guys?"
He looked slightly at us.
"Yeah, yeah. Long ti no see, guys. How’ve you been?"
A faint chuckle escaped him. "You guys think so too, right? I’m starting to sound weird."
He rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe I always was."
"Anyway, guys... see you."
After a mont, he called out the system window. "Hey, system."
A faint glow appeared in front of his eyes.
"How many main plots are left?"
The screen flickered, then displayed a simple response.
[System window]11 main plots remaining. 6 subplots remaining. (●ˇ∀ˇ●)
"....." Mr.Nobody was dumbfounded. "Cough! Cough!" You’ve got to be kidding ." He leaned back slightly. "I thought there’d be, like... two or three left."
His voice rose in frustration. "Why are there so many plots, dude? I just wanna go ho....."
The screen gave no answer.
....
Fourteen days have passed since then.
Toma stepped out of the hospital, the sunlight feeling strangely unfamiliar after so long indoors. She moved carefully, still not fully recovered, but determined to act normally.
"Wow, the weather seems quite nice outside. Way better than the hospital room."
Aiden walked beside her. "Don’t push yourself too much, Toma."
"I won’t," she replied.
"Still, you need to be careful," Aiden said to Toma.
For a mont, everything felt calm.
Then it hit her. Her steps slowed.
Her eyes widened slightly. "Mr.Nobody...." The mory ca rushing back. The gunshot. The blood. The way he had stood between her and danger without hesitation.
Her breathing grew uneven.
"He got shot..." she whispered.
Fear tightened in her chest. "Why? Why did you get involved?"
Her voice trembled. "It wasn’t your fault... it was mine."
Her knees gave out before she realised it.
She dropped to the ground, tears forming in her eyes. "I’m the one who kept dragging you into this..."
Aiden turned sharply. "Toma....what happened...?"
But she barely heard him.
....
Elsewhere, Mr.Nobody stood alone under the fading light, hands in his pockets, staring ahead with a troubled expression.
"Did she forget about ...?" he muttered.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
"Oh. shit....! How could I forget?"
He touched his arm unconsciously. "For her, I got shot in the arms."
He let out a slow breath. "Then how exactly am I supposed to explain this to her?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers