Just as Sosuke was watching the Scroll of Sealing with interest.
Inside the hospital room.
A pretty figure quietly appeared behind Sosuke.
Her delicate face was as perfect and lovely as ever. The passing years had not changed her in the slightest.
She was dressed just as she had been at first, in a light cherry-blossom-patterned kimono. If anything had changed, it was that her expression was no longer as cool and distant as before.
Instead, she seemed lively and adorable.
The porcelain-doll-like girl pouted slightly, watching Sosuke pore over the Scroll of Sealing with a disgruntled look.
She crept toward him, slowly raising her slender hand.
It seemed she was planning to startle Sosuke, like a child playing a game.
After taking a few quiet steps, she saw that Sosuke still hadn't noticed her.
The corners of her mouth curled up, revealing a few pearly white teeth. A crafty smile of triumph appeared on her delicate little face.
Just then, Sosuke's expression shifted as he studied the scroll, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Whoosh!"
Sosuke's body suddenly leaned a little to the left.
"Thump!"
A pretty figure landed face-first on the soft bed, her long black hair spreading across the white sheets like ripples.
She turned her head at once, lying on the bed without the slightest concern for the glimpses of skin exposed by her clothes.
Her delicate little face flushed slightly. She clenched her teeth and spoke in a clear voice.
"Sosuke, how could you dodge?"
Sosuke smiled at the girl's words, gently patting her little head with one large hand as he spoke softly.
"That's the forty-sixth time you've attacked me, Suigetsu. It looks like you're getting better and better at taking physical form."
He narrowed his eyes slightly and continued in a