In Izumo, Making Honkai Great Again

"Isn't she cooked yet?"

Kiana's heart skipped a beat. She quickly removed her hand from the person's shoulder and checked for breathing.

Very faint.

But she was still breathing.

The person was alive.

Kiana didn't know where she was, but the girl's appearance, like she'd been struck by lightning and wasn't fully cooked, proved it.

She wasn't an ordinary person.

…I'm stating the obvious.

Kiana mentally chided herself. Watching the slowly closing passage, she picked up the girl who wasn't quite dead yet and leaped out, returning to the subspace through the hole she had created.

After she returned to the subspace, the air wall's repair speed increased significantly. Before long, the area she had just smashed open was completely repaired, still a pale gold, showing no signs of damage.

"The sense of foreignness is gone..."

Kiana understood the source of her feeling and gazed at the girl she had brought back.

...Her?

She seemed to have a faint resonance with the subspace, a resonance that Kiana, who had arrived in the subspace using Phase Shift, had detected.

Chapter 35: I Found a Pufferfish?!

It seemed like she had just been through a major battle.

Kiana disappeared from the subspace with the girl in her arms and returned to the shrine in reality.

The Honkai energy there was a bit excessive.

If she left the severely injured and near-death girl there, she would probably be corrupted before long.

She carefully placed the person on the bed.

"She just went through a major battle, possibly struck by lightning to end up like this. Her body temperature is terrifyingly high..." And that collapsing space.

Could this person have been fighting Takemikazuchi and been struck by its lightning?

Kiana guessed uncertainly.

"...It really was lightning, so why isn't her hair singed... It's not scientific at all."

Kiana sighed and placed her hand on the girl's face, feeling the burning heat of her body temperature.

Her temperature must have exceeded forty degrees Celsius.

But she was still alive.

She'd just treat her as someone who fought Takemikazuchi and was nearly killed by its lightning.

Her physical fitness far surpassed that of ordinary people.

But Kiana didn't know about her recovery ability.

What should she do?

Kiana, who had rescued the person, frowned as she looked at the purple-haired girl on the bed.

To be honest, an uncooked girl was very beautiful, and her hair color was very distinctive.

Without thinking in any other direction, Kiana looked at the person she had rescued, hesitating for a moment.

"I've already saved her..."

She was barely clinging to life, and the way her breath could give out at any moment was quite frightening.

Kiana opened the equipment purchase page. She remembered that two-star spray-type weapons had a healing effect.

"Found it! Healing Spray!"

There were few items with a maximum rarity of two stars. Kiana found the spray weapons in the spray section and bought one for a hundred Honkai Crystals.

[HECO Healing Spray (1-star): Each use restores a small amount of HP. Magazine capacity: 16/16 (Refreshes after 24h)]

A spray bottle with a red cross on it appeared in her hand. Kiana unhesitatingly aimed it at the person on the bed and pressed the spray button.

The healing spray hit the unconscious girl, but it had no effect. She remained unconscious.

Kiana wasn't surprised.

The item description clearly stated that it only restored a small amount of HP, and this girl was on the verge of death.

She pressed the button sixteen times, using up all the ammo, but the purple-haired girl on the bed was still a sleeping beauty.

A hundred crystals for nothing?

Kiana, refusing to believe it, reached out and touched the girl's face again.

"Her temperature seems to have dropped... It's working..."

It was good that the ammo could regenerate on its own, so should she leave the girl here and wait 24 hours to check on her again?

Listening to the girl's faint breaths, Kiana felt that if she waited 24 hours, the girl's problem wouldn't be high body temperature, but a stiff and cold body.

"24 hours later, and the situation will be long past its prime!"

She bought another healing spray and combined it with the previous one, which had run out of uses, to upgrade its star rating.

[HECO Healing Spray (2-star): Restores a portion of HP with each use. Ammo: 16/16 (refreshes after 24h)]

The ammo was full, and the effect had changed from "a small portion" to "a portion," meaning the healing effect had improved.

She just didn't know by how much.

"If she can survive this, earning back my investment should be a piece of cake, right?"

Muttering to herself, she aimed the spray at Sirin again and pressed the trigger sixteen times, using all its charges on this unknown girl.

Even so, she didn't think this girl could be healed by a few sprays.

After all, this was only a 2-star item.

However, since it could be reused and offered 16 chances to try each day, it was a small necessity.

No one could guarantee they wouldn't get injured.

She herself had been injured for two consecutive days, and it was only because her self-healing was strong enough that it didn't impede her actions that she hadn't paid it much mind.

Wait a minute, does that mean she'd been getting beaten for two days straight?

"...I need to find more helpers for farming monsters!"

"Mmmph..."

The girl, who had received 32 sprays of healing consecutively, let out a groan. Kiana noticed she was waking up and quickly looked over.

She saw the purple-haired girl's eyelids flutter, then her confused eyes opened, seemingly not yet awake, her gaze unfocused.

"You're finally awake," Kiana said with a bright, sunny smile, looking at her intently. "Do you remember who you are?"

Although she had a pulse, her body temperature just now was far from normal. Kiana needed to confirm if her brain had been fried.

What a shame it would be if such a beautiful girl were to be left mentally impaired by a fever.

The purple-haired girl lying on the bed heard the unfamiliar voice, and her eyes slowly gained focus. Her golden eyes gradually regained their spirit.

"...I... I'm alive?"

Her voice was dry and hoarse.

Kiana tapped her head and turned to rummage through her backpack, pulling out a bottle of water. She unscrewed it and placed it on the bedside table.

"Of course, you're alive," Kiana said, looking at her curiously, especially at her golden-yellow eyes. She paused for a moment before asking, "...Can you sit up?"

These eyes, these eyes...

X?

Like mushrooms with two slashes through them.

Purple hair, golden eyes with an X pattern, and a faint resonance with the Imaginary Space...

Hearing Kiana's words, the girl moved her powerless arms, trying to push herself up. Seeing her struggle, Kiana reached out to help her sit up.

"Where is this?"

At this moment, the now-conscious girl fully reacted. She frowned, looking around the room. This wasn't the base, nor was it a hospital.

Kiana handed the newly opened water to the hoarse-voiced girl, a suspicion dawning on her that made her feel bewildered.

"Is the battle over?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about." Kiana inwardly confirmed that the other party likely came from Yae Sakura's side.

"Obviously, this is my room for now." Kiana sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the girl who was possibly a certain Miss Pufferfish.

She might not immediately associate purple hair with Sirin, but the X-patterned eyes brought back painful memories.

This wasn't a full house of pufferfish elements?

The purple-haired girl blinked slightly and suspiciously surveyed her surroundings again.

A clean, ordinary room.

It was a residential dwelling.

"...Did you save me?"

This wasn't a hospital.

The girl remembered being defeated in her confrontation with Takemikazuchi. Before she completely lost consciousness, she had only managed to send the 'Heavenly' Blade back to the mortal realm.

To have directly endured Takemikazuchi's divine punishment and still be alive... she hadn't died?

When she lost consciousness, she was in the Imaginary Space. Even if Takemikazuchi hadn't delivered a finishing blow, her chances of survival were infinitesimally close to zero.

"I brought you back. Do you remember who you are? You looked quite badly injured, and you were frighteningly hot just now."

"...Thank you."

The girl's expression became dazed. She felt like she might be dreaming, a hallucination appearing before death.

"Also, my name is Sirin."

Chapter 36: Who is She?

Just as I suspected.

Kiana's expression was calm; she had already guessed, and now she wasn't surprised at all.

She had even met Yae Sakura yesterday.

How should I put it...

First Yae Sakura, then Sirin.

She felt that if she saw anyone else familiar in Izumo later, she wouldn't be too surprised anymore.

"Do you know Yae Sakura?"

After confirming that the other person was indeed Sirin, Kiana got straight to the point, wanting to know how things were going with Takemikazuchi.

"You know her?"

Sirin raised her hand, trying to grip it, but her body was weak and she showed a hint of surprise on her face.

It seems I'm not dreaming.

A near-death dream shouldn't feel this real, nor should it involve a girl I've never met before.

"I suppose I do," Kiana said. "My name is Kiana. I'm currently staying at the Narukami Shrine, and I just met Yae Sakura yesterday."

The surprise on Sirin's face intensified. She looked at the white-haired girl sitting by her bedside with utter shock.

Kiana?

Isn't this the girl Yae Sakura had just talked about, the one she said would become friends if she managed to come back alive?

The girl Yae Sakura had been praising so much?