'Really? a 'Halo Switch' costed as much as 200k Points?! I simply wanted to make it seem like I was unconscious, that's all! In the end, I spent 200k Points just to act tough...'
"Do you know her?" Saori asked Azusa, who was gently placing down Kasuka in a more comfortable position.
Despite losing consciousness, she was still straight on her feet. If the halo wasn't an indication, nobody would've noticed the fact that the girl's eyes were closed shut under her bang.
"...No. But she helped me." Hesitantly, Azusa lets out an answer.
"..." Saori's gaze switched from the white haired angel towards the brown haired girl, inside her eyes were some emotions that she couldn't express clearly.
"What's your name?" Without moving her attention, she asked once again.
"Shirazu Azusa."
"My name is Joumae Saori. From today onwards, the two of you will be my responsibility. I expect only the best out of you two... Tell her that when she wakes up."
It was then that more soft footsteps echoed nearby. If someone were to pay enough attention, they would know that there are 3 distinct sound, which meant that 3 people were currently approaching them.
Azusa turned towards the source of the noise and saw them.
Three children around the same age as her.
One had a small round face with with short light purple hair. Her skin was practically free of blemishes, almost as if she was that of a royal lineage.
Another had brown hair, almost identical to the girl that had saved her earlier. But the color were much less pronounced when compared to her, her arms were covered in bandages.
The last one had a small low teal colored twin tail, she was covering both her ears as if trying to suppress the noises of the outside world. She was actively hiding behind the brown haired girl.
But the way the brown haired girl was gently holding the shirt of the teal haired girl so that she doesn't move too far away made it looked like their relationships are very close.
"Leader, let's go back." The brown haired girl, Misaki, said.
Saori nodded and took one last glance towards the unconscious brown haired girl before moving her gaze towards Azusa.
Her eyes were erratic as if she was stuck inside another dilemma. Then, she closed her eyes shut and exhaled once.
She walked towards Kasuka and crouched down. "Come on, place her on my back. I'll carry her."
Azusa hesitated for a moment but complied. She tried to move Kasuka's body but it was finally then that she realized how thin the girl's arms were.
It was as if she hasn't eaten in a long time.
Her face turned sour at how light the brown haired girl was. At this weight, she could easily carry three of her.
Kasuka was placed on Saori's back and she began to lead the way towards their base.
The three other people followed suit while introducing themselves one by one.
"...Name is Imashino Misaki." This was tomboyish brown haired girl.
"My name is Hakari Atsuko." The purple haired girl continued.
While waiting for the teal haired girl to introduce herself, Azusa introduced herself first.
"...I'll be in your care. My name is Shirazu Azusa."
Step Step
"...Come on, Hiyori. Introduce yourself." Misaki said softly.
"Eeeek!!?" A sudden shriek escaped the teal haired girl's lips. It seemed like she didn't expect that she also needed to introduce herself?
"A-Ah... So-sorry... My n-name is Hi...Hiyori?"
"Why are you questioning your own name? Don't worry about her, she's a bit of a scaredy cat. Her name is Tsuchinaga Hiyori." Saori said as she continued on her steps without a break.
"We already introduced ourselves earlier, but let me do it again out of courtesy. My name is Joumae Saori."
"Likewise, Shirazu Azusa."
"You didn't have to, that's practically the third time you said your name already." With a sweatdrop, Saori smiled slightly.
"...Sorry."
"It's nothing to sweat about. Don't mind." As they were talking, Saori could slightly feel the slight tremble of the girl on her back.
From behind, the four other people, Misaki, Hiyori, Atsuko, and Azusa clearly saw the slight flickering of the Kasuka's halo.
They waited in bated breath but then the flickering stopped.
Saori had stopped her movement a couple of seconds back to see whether the would wake up or not.
Feeling no movement on her back, she turned to look at Atsuko who simply shook her head.
"She's still unconscious. We'll need to give her treatment immediately. Her head isn't really in the greatest of shape right now." Misaki said what was hovering over everyone's mind.
"...Right, let's get back quickly. We'll deal with her when she wakes up." In a tacit understanding, everyone increased their movement speed towards the base.
Not long after, they arrived in front of a small house. The roof were caved in and the windows were barricaded using thick planks.
On the door, there are a few cracks and holes, showing everyone just how long the house have been surviving for.
Saori pushed the door gently and entered, following her were the 4 other children, all with distinctive appearance compared to one another.
All of them had no resemblance to one another. But with the appearance of Kasuka, now it looked like Misaki found herself her long lost sibling or something.
"Bring out the medkit, Misaki."
"Alright."
Misaki escaped into another room and quickly returned back with an emergency kit.
Saori placed Kasuka down on a soft mattress and took off the cape around her neck.
Without stopping, she also took Kasuka's shirt, which caused girl to start trembling.
"It's alright. It'll feel better in just a few minutes, you'll have to deal with it for now."
It sounded like she was trying to convince Kasuka to take it easy, but it also sounded like she was talking to herself.
"Prepare a blanket, she's cold." Saori opened the medkit and took out the small bottle disinfectant, dipped it using a soft cotton, and gently tapped the source of Kasuka's injury on the side of her eyebrows.
A small hiss escaped Kasuka's lips but that didn't stop Saori's movement. Instead, it encouraged her to finish this faster to prevent any more suffering on the smaller kid.
"...Do we have any more cold packs after this?"
"No, this is the last one." Misaki said, her gaze meeting Saori's eyes in a straight forward manner, as if she was saying 'What are you gonna do?'.
"...Use it, cover her stomach as much as possible. It'll be a good thing if the bruises disappeared after a couple of days."