Chapter 39 A New Friend

"N-n-nothing." Satoshi shook his head, slamming the door open and seeing Kuroe curled up on her bed, on the verge of tears as she laughed her heart out. "Ahh, you think that was funny?" He asked, poking her on the side to tickle her.

"Agh~ stop it." Kuroe curled up even tighter as she tried hard not to laugh. She knew that her wound would open if she were to do so.

Satoshi realized it a split second later and stopped doing it, muttering a soft sorry as he sat down on one of the nearest chairs. Now that he got a better look at Kuroe, he realized that she was just putting up a front in front of him and Shiroi. Of course, it was natural for her to do that since she didn't want them to pity her. Kuroe had thick bandages on her stomach and her left thigh— the parts where the metal pipe did her in.

"Um... it would totally leave a scar, right?" Shiroi asked out of the blue. Apparently, Satoshi and Kuroe herself badly wanted to ask that very same question but they couldn't bring it up as it would state the obvious. Plainly, it would leave a mark no matter how proficient the doctors were at bandaging her up. The wounds were just too deep for natural healing to do its job properly.

"Don't worry too much about it. The superhero nicknamed the Nurse is currently in the hospital right now. She paid me a visit a few minutes ago, telling me about what had transpired the entire time I was impaled by the metal pipe. I was on the verge of losing consciousness back then so I couldn't really watch the entire thing. I heard you looked pretty cool back then, fending that Slime alien or something. Sorry I couldn't watch the entire thing."

"Wait, the Nurse is here? That's awesome! I'm a big fan! I should probably say hello to her now. So... is she going to heal you? Whoa, I want to witness the whole thing! Can I stay overnight here? I'll look after you I promise!" Shiroi excitedly said, clenching her fists and leaning in towards Kuroe while her eyes sparkled. This was the first time Satoshi saw Shiroi overly enthusiastic, confusing him for a few seconds before he thought to himself that he was also a big fan of certain superheroes.

p "Um... sure! I could use a little bit of company." Kuroe pursed her lips before forcing herself to smile. When she first applied to the USA, she already concluded to herself that she wouldn't make any friends since she'd never had one in the past. Whenever she tried to approach someone, that person would deem her as weird, and then she'd lose that someone before a friendship has begun. It has happened too many times that Kuroe just gave up on the pursuit of friendship.

A new school, another chance to change her life gave her a minuscule amount of motivation to change her mind but there was certainly something in there that changed since she accidentally flaunted her powers one certain morning. One thing led to another and now... she considered Satoshi as her friend even though they haven't formalized anything regarding the topic. Of course, she couldn't just tactlessly bring up the topic of asking Satoshito to be her friend and by now, it was probably too late to ask him but nevertheless... it gave Kuroe the peace of mind that at least she's got one acquaintance in school.

That's why it came as a shock for her when Shiroi asked to stay the night with her. If she hadn't pursed her lips and bit as hard as she could that her teeth chattered, tears would've fallen out of her eyes continuously like a leaking faucet. She even had to turn around as she said those words that she almost choked on.

"Really? Kyaaa~ I'm so excited! Oh wait, Satoshi, you come with me." This time, it was Shiroi's turn to grab Satoshi by the hand which made him almost squeal his heart out in puzzlement. "Don't worry, Kuroe, we'll be back soon! Oh, and is there anything you want to eat? We're going to grab some food right now."

"Nothing in particular." Kuroe calmly uttered but she was more excited than Shiroi when it came to the overnight they were going to have.

"All right, Satoshi come on!" Shiroi continued, dragging him out of the hospital against his will.

For the first time, Satoshi saw how excited Shiroi could get at such a simple thing and so he didn't want to stop her. He even lent her some of his allowance just so they could buy more snacks. By the convenience store, Satoshi had to ask Shiroi a couple of times whether the food she bought would be enough for the whole night and after changing her mind a few times, they finally got to the counter with two full shopping baskets in hand.

"I'm finally going to meet the Nurse! I've only ever seen her on TV, you know!" Shiroi blabbered on while they waited in the queue. "Remember that iconic scene of hers where she healed at least fifty superheroes in an instant during the Atlantic War. It was so cool! Ever since then, I've always wanted to be like her."

Satoshi could clearly remember that scene since he'd always admired every superhero to ever exist. Just the thought of someone capable of doing something inhuman fascinated him since he was a child. If someone were to ask him about a certain superhero feat, he could probably narrate it as accurately as a reporter during that time.

That night was one of the most memorable nights, not only for Shiroi but for Kuroe as well. They get to meet the Nurse and they get to spend more time together. As for Satoshi, however, he headed home before he felt awkward in that hospital room.

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