"Chirp chirp... clang clang clang... chirp chirp... clang clang clang..."
Amid the construction sounds of sawing and hammering, bright birdsong rang clearly through the darkness of his consciousness.
Then, a glowing crack slowly opened as if it had sliced through the darkness. It gradually widened until the warm, bright sunlight illuminated his entire dark consciousness.
This is...
As everything within that sunlight's unique warmth and brightness came into view, a thought slowly surfaced in his awakened mind.
Right... I must have suddenly lost consciousness and been carried to the hospital!
Rolling his eyes, Chiba looked around. His frequent hospital visits several years ago allowed him to recognize at a glance that this was a Konoha ward—apparently even an emergency ward he had never entered before.
Well, it was not that he had never entered one. He had simply never stayed in an emergency ward before.
Tch! So I still ended up in the hospital?
I just hope the nurse looking after me isn't Keiko...
After recognizing where he was and taking a moment to recover, Chiba's expression shifted slightly as he thought of a certain terrifying person.
Hm? Before he could reflexively recall the terrifying things that terrifying person had done and feel frightened, Chiba frowned. Now that he was awake, his returning bodily senses told him that his right side felt somewhat heavy, with a soft, smooth sensation against it.
Yukina?
He instinctively looked over and saw a young girl lying facedown beside his hospital bed. Her cheek rested against his arm and hand, her eyes closed. Her steady breathing slowly reached Chiba's ears.
It was Yukina.
So that's how it is... I made Yukina worry again.
After clearly seeing Yukina's face, Chiba slowly looked away. He suppressed the urge to sit up and silently stared at the ceiling.