Situation

Snap!

The front door slowly closed.

"What... are you doing?"

Seeing the three of them suddenly emerge from the kitchen, Hirohiko blinked, let out a breath, and asked in considerable confusion.

"How is he? How is Hirohiko now? His voice didn't sound right to me!"

But his question was decisively ignored. Nao stood behind Chiba, with Yukina beside her, and she could no longer hold herself back from asking. To her ears, Hirohiko's voice had not sounded good at all. He seemed injured, and very exhausted.

Perhaps that voice made it impossible for her to imagine him being in any good condition. One of Nao's hands had unconsciously gripped Yukina's arm.

"He's fine."

Feeling Nao's hand on her arm, Yukina gently raised her other hand and placed it over the slightly trembling hand.

Well... he couldn't exactly be called fine...

Hearing Yukina's reassurance and looking at Hirohiko, Chiba's lips twitched unnaturally.

At this moment, Hirohiko, standing before them, absolutely did not look "fine." His upper body, left hand, bridge of his nose, and forehead were all wrapped in bandages. Red stains showed through the bandages around his upper body and left arm, slowly spreading outward. Clearly, the wounds had not healed. His clothes were covered in scorch marks, and the uncovered parts of his face bore burns as well. He practically looked as if he had been pulled straight out of an explosion.

From Hirohiko's appearance, Chiba could not tell whether he had suffered internal injuries. Judging from the blood soaking through the bandages, these should have been blade wounds. From the way the bandages were wrapped, he had no fewer than eight cuts on his body. As for the injuries on the bridge of his nose and forehead, they should have been caused by blunt force. That was difficult