Early the next morning, Yukinoshita Shizuku pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a large bento bag.
Seeing Tsushima Kagami staring blankly at the ceiling, she walked to the head of the bed and placed the bento bag on the bedside cabinet. It was only then that she realized the patient monitor had been removed.
"Eh? Why was the monitor removed?"
Tsushima Kagami turned his head to look at Yukinoshita Shizuku.
He felt that her complexion this morning was significantly better than last night. Although her voice was still slightly hoarse, the swelling in her red eyes had subsided, and the bloodshot look had mostly faded.
"I told you there was no problem. I spoke with the doctor yesterday, and he finally agreed to take it off."
"As a doctor, he should have his own judgment. How can he listen to the patient? And the family didn't even agree. I'm going to file a complaint later."
Yukinoshita Shizuku knit her beautiful brows together as she spoke. She unzipped the bento bag she had brought, took out a jar resembling a soup tureen, and retrieved a small bowl. Then, she used a ladle to scoop some soup from the tureen into the bowl and handed it to Tsushima Kagami.
Tsushima Kagami accepted it with a smile.
"Aiya, the doctors are working hard enough as it is. Don't cause trouble for them."
"By the way, where is Mother?"
Tsushima Kagami scooped a spoonful from the bowl. Today's dish was vegetable and tofu soup. Inside, there were carrots, daikon radishes, winter mushrooms, and mixed vegetables that had been sautéed beforehand, all stewed together with soft tofu. The broth was clear and bright—at a glance, it was obviously not made by Yukinoshita Shizuku, whose cooking style consisted of throwing in miso, stirring it around, tossing in a few vegetable leaves, and calling it a day.
"Mother just dropped me off downstairs. She said that since you are fine, she would head back to Chiba first."
Yukinoshita Shizuku filled a bowl for herself as well, sitting down to drink it with Tsushima Kagami. She then looked up and asked, "How is the situation on Mrs. Ijichi's side?"
"Ijichi Seika-san woke up last night," Kagami replied. "I don't know if Mrs. Ijichi and Little Nijika are awake yet, but the doctor said there is no danger to their lives."
"That is good, then."
Hearing Tsushima Kagami's words, Yukinoshita Shizuku finally picked up a piece of radish and put it in her mouth.
"Ah, right. What about the driver?"
Tsushima Kagami only now recalled the driver who had caused the accident.
"It seems he died on the spot."
"Also, according to the inspection by the Metropolitan Police Department, it was likely caused by a vehicle malfunction."
"The medical expenses and follow-up compensation will all be covered by insurance."
"Truly an undeserved calamity," Tsushima Kagami couldn't help but remark.
Yukinoshita Shizuku nodded silently. As if to break the current gloomy atmosphere, she hurriedly spoke again.
"Ah, right. Kobayashi-san called the house this morning and said he had something to discuss."
"But I told him you were hospitalized here, so he said he would come over to see you later."
"Did he say what it was about on the phone?"
"No, he didn't."
Yukinoshita Shizuku shook her head while sipping her soup.
Knock, knock.
The sudden sound of knocking interrupted their chat.
Yukinoshita Shizuku put down the soup bowl in her hand, got up, walked to the door, and opened it.
"Hello, Sister Shizuku."
The door had barely opened a crack when Little Nijika squeezed through.
After greeting Yukinoshita Shizuku, she ran straight for Tsushima Kagami and hugged the thigh of the boy who was sitting by the bed drinking soup.
"Brother Kagami, thank you for protecting Mama."
Little Nijika happily rubbed her face against Tsushima Kagami's thigh.
Tsushima Kagami smiled and reached out, avoiding the "Bugle" on her head, and patted Little Nijika's hair.
"Don't rub your face on my pants blindly. It's not clean. Remember to wash your face later."
"Mhm!"
Little Nijika hugged Tsushima Kagami's thigh, looked up at him, and nodded heavily.
At this moment, Ijichi Seika also walked in, pushing Mrs. Ijichi, who was sitting in a wheelchair with her left arm in a plaster cast.
As for Hiroi Kikuri and the Sound Engineer Lady, they had been sent home last night by Tsukuyomi Komoe and Douraku Utage after saying goodbye to Tsushima Kagami.
Tsushima Kagami hurriedly stood up.
"Mrs. Ijichi, why did you come over?"
"Kagami-kun, thank you for saving Little Nijika and me."
" truly, thank you a thousand times over."
Mrs. Ijichi's joy of surviving the disaster was mixed with lingering fear and tears of gratitude that words could not express. She braced her hands on the armrests of the wheelchair, seemingly wanting to stand up to thank Tsushima Kagami.
Tsushima Kagami quickly walked to Mrs. Ijichi's side and crouched down, restraining her attempt to rise.
"Please don't move around recklessly. I apologize; if I had been a bit more careful back then, you wouldn't have suffered a dislocation and internal rupture."
Mrs. Ijichi extended her right hand and lovingly stroked Tsushima Kagami's cheek.
"Silly child. Being able to survive is already my greatest fortune, not to mention that now I only need to rest quietly."
"There is no ending more perfect than this. I am the one who should apologize."
"If I hadn't panicked and tripped myself back then, there would have been no need for Kagami-kun to risk his life to save me and Little Nijika."
"Kagami-kun has already done so much for us mother and daughters."
After speaking, Mrs. Ijichi, sitting in the wheelchair, endured the pain in her body and slowly bowed at the waist.
Ijichi Seika, standing to the side, also bowed deeply to Tsushima Kagami.
"The Ijichi family will never forget Kagami-kun's life-saving grace as long as we live."
"Student Yukinoshita, thank you for saving Mom and Little Nijika."
Tsushima Kagami bowed slightly in return.
"Since everyone is fine, and I have received your thanks, Mrs. Ijichi should hurry back and rest quietly."
Mrs. Ijichi smiled gently.
"Then we won't disturb Kagami-kun and Shizuku-chan."
"Nijika, come on, we're going back."
Little Nijika continued to hug Tsushima Kagami's leg, pouting.
"I want to play with Brother Kagami."
"Brother Kagami needs to rest too. Don't cause trouble for Brother Kagami."
"Be good. Little Nijika needs to rest well too. When your body is better, I'll play with Little Nijika again," Tsushima Kagami said with a smile while patting Little Nijika's head.
Only then did Little Nijika reluctantly let go and return to Mrs. Ijichi's side. The three of them walked to the door, bowed slightly to Tsushima Kagami once more, and then left the room.
"I didn't expect there would be scenes you couldn't handle."
Watching Mrs. Ijichi leave, Yukinoshita Shizuku smiled and sat back down, picking up her soup and looking at Tsushima Kagami with a grin.
Tsushima Kagami smiled and shook his head, sitting back on the bed.
"How can someone repay a life-saving debt? If we kept talking, it would just get awkward."
"I didn't think you could feel awkward."
Yukinoshita Shizuku looked at Tsushima Kagami in surprise, as if she had discovered a new continent.
"I thought words like 'awkward' didn't exist in your dictionary."
Tsushima Kagami ignored Yukinoshita Shizuku's teasing. Instead, while drinking his soup, he thought about the original work. It seemed that in the original story, Mrs. Ijichi also took Nijika to see Ijichi Seika's band performance, was driven away by an impatient Ijichi Seika, and ended up in a car accident on the way back.
However, in the original work, Ijichi Seika was already in university at that time.
Does this car accident now count as avoiding the subsequent tragedy?
"Why are you spacing out again?"
Yukinoshita Shizuku waved her hand in front of Tsushima Kagami's eyes.
Subsequently, the door was knocked on again.
Yukinoshita Shizuku got up once more to open the door.
"Kobayashi-san, you're here."
"How is Kagami-kun?"
"He should be considered fine."
Saying this, Kobayashi Tomoaki handed the get-well gift to Yukinoshita Shizuku and walked in.
"Kagami-kun, I heard you were hit by a car? How is your body?"
Kobayashi Tomoaki walked up to Tsushima Kagami and asked with concern.
Tsushima Kagami smiled and replied, "That's too exaggerated. It's just a few scratches; my body is fine."
Seeing Tsushima Kagami looking rosy and full of vitality, Kobayashi Tomoaki finally nodded in relief.
Then, he spoke with a smile.
"Then let me announce a piece of good news."
Tsushima Kagami and Yukinoshita Shizuku looked at Kobayashi Tomoaki in confusion.
"Kagami-kun, it has been decided that your The Setting Sun will be officially published early next month."
"Furthermore, we are skipping the tankobon and publishing directly as a bunko volume!"
____
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