"Hic..!"
"There, there. I'll apologize as many times as I need to." Atsuko's hand never stopped patting Kasuka's back as she constantly reassures the brown haired girl.
After a while, the noises finally stopped. 'Did she fall back asleep?', As Atsuko thought so, she noticed that Kasuka's halo was still shining brightly... Wait, what's wrong with her halo?
Previously, the halo hovering over Kasuka's head wasn't something unique. Like every other student, it was merely a single streak of light.
But now that she was able to get a closer look at her Halo, she found something odd about Kasuka's halo.
There was... a streak of black line, barely visible through the brightly shining white.
'Is that... a crack?' She thought her eyes were lying to her. But as Atsuko organized the information inside her head, she finally found one memory of the past.
It was the idea that the destruction of someone's halo are the signs of their death.
The instructors seemed to really focus on this part, seemingly wanting to train them to get used to the sight of a halo shattering.
Whether it was fortunate or not, they've never been made to personally see the sight of someone's halo shattering.
With this information, Atsuko panicked.
"Undress!" Without hesitation, she pushed Kasuka away and commanded her to undress.
There's one main reason to explain how and why a halo could suddenly start cracking.
It was...
The owner of such a halo had sustained an injury so severe that the halo couldn't handle all the damages, which in turn led to the halo shattering under pressure.
"Ah?" Kasuka, still confused and tears threatening to fall down, was suddenly pinned down on the ground with no way out.
Hearing the word 'undress' comes from such a pure child... it wasn't something she thought she would ever experience.
Although she was curious about the reasons, Kasuka decided that following Atsuko's words would bring the most profit.
After all...
[150,000 Points Gained]
Oh. My. God.
'MA, I'M RICH!!!!!!!'
This ATM had suddenly let out a crap ton of points! Suddenly, what appeared in her sight wasn't Atsuko, but a golden statue made of dollar bills!
'I'm not certain what's going on in that head of yours, but I'm all in for it! Keep going! I love you, Atsuko-sama!'
Although her mind was in another dimension, her expressions were controlled well enough to prevent any inner thoughts escaping.
Kasuka's face flushed slightly, her earlier sobs already disappeared the moment Atsuko told her to... stri-- undress...
"U-um... Hime...?"
"Take it off. I need to check on your conditions!" Though it appeared that Atsuko found nothing wrong with her statement.
Was it due to the urgency of the situation? Probably.
Kasuka wondered if Atsuko would one day look back at this moment and found herself cringing...
Relenting her freedom, Kasuka hesitantly took off her pajama, a one piece dress that covered the entirety of her torso and reached down her knee.
Not the best kind of pyjamas, but the kind Kasuka wears to sleep... 'I didn't want to wear dresses too, you know! But making a fuss about what I can't wear would be too much of a pain!'
Well, it's fine even if Atsuko saw everything.
At this point in time, not only are they both girls, both a child, and both part of the same family! There's nothing weird going on!
Huh? What do you mean the FBI is coming for me? Sir! I'm the victim!
Besides, weren't Atsuko present during every other time she was treated? She'd practically seen everything already!
In that case, I'm innocent!
As Kasuka was stripped down to only a single piece of cloth covering her private area, her head was lowered in shame.
Atsuko quickly darted her gaze across Kasuka's body, searching for any signs of injuries, even the smallest of scratches.
But as she looked, she found nothing.
Kasuka's skin was as clean as a baby's.
No, in this case, perhaps her skin was more taken care of than a newborn baby.
Inside this forsaken place, having such smooth skin would be a miracle in and of itself.
And yet, Kasuka's entire body was clean of any scar or injuries, not even a sign of a mole.
Atsuko was reminded of that time she witnessed the injury on Kasuka's stomach and temple, most definitely the worst she'd ever seen in her life.
The image was absolutely vivid, making her feel a knot in her stomach. If she didn't care, she would've vomited out everything she had for dinner.
"Stand up, I'm checking your leg."
"...Ok."
Pulling Kasuka to her feet, Atsuko kneeled down and placed her hand on Kasuka's thigh.
A shiver ran down Kasuka's spine as the warmth touched her legs, exploring everything from her calf to her shin... to the back of her knee...
'Aren't you touching me too much?'
Though she thought of something just now, Kasuka never forgot to keep up appearance as a child that couldn't help but follow orders.
After a while, Atsuko finally seemed satisfied at not finding anything peculiar.
A single sigh of relief escaped her lips, but her heart still wasn't calm. After all, Kasuka's halo, undoubtedly, had a crack on it.
This is not something she could simply brush off.
"Kasuka."
"Y-yes!?"
Atsuko's tone was quite commanding, even edging at the territory of being 'cold', but there's undoubtedly still warmth layering underneath.
"Please tell me, without leaving a single detail, what happened inside Madam's office."
"...!"
"Please don't be surprised, I'm asking this for your own good." Atsuko patted the smaller girl's head.
"U-um..."
Alright, this suddenly turned complicated.
On one hand, Atsuko was asking sincerely for answers. If she were to just leave her hanging, the entire squad's trust in her might plummet.
But by revealing the contents of her meeting with Beatrice... she'd be missing out big times on future points!
Don't you know that lamination gives birth to higher quality fried chicken?
Well, since they were the one that sent her to Madam's office, they probably had some suspicion that Madam did something to her, right?
That's only natural.
Any distrust in adults was the result of what the adults had done.
Nobody in the Arius Squad truly believed that Kasuka was simply 'healed' by Beatrice.
They knew there's supposed to be a 'price'.
After all, there's no such thing as free lunch in this world.
And since they were not the target of a 'price', then that only leaves out Kasuka, the person in question.
She's the only person who could possibly be on the receiving end of the 'transaction'.
To be fair, Kasuka only knew of one meeting with Beatrice in which the entire squad knew she had done.
That was the moment Saori sent her straight to Beatrice.
The second meeting? She thought she had done so discreetly...
When Kasuka returned home this morning, she did not find anything weird. Misaki was taking care of the house, Hime was resting, and the rest were out doing their own thing.
Perhaps seeing Hiyori returning later than her felt a bit weird, but she brushed it aside, that can be explained simply by imagining what kind of things can be done alone.
Who's to say that Hiyori didn't take the scenic route going back home?
And well... there's nothing else.
Night comes and she 'sleeps' like the good girl she is.
Damn, if only Kasuka knew earlier that there were the occasional night discussion, she wouldn't have anchored the persona of someone who always sleeps on time.
That's a blunder.
Though, tonight's discussion ended earlier than usual.
And it seemed like everyone except for Hime had moved out.
'Ah... I wanted to join!' At first she thought so, but then she realized she could simply build up relationship points with Atsuko!
She doesn't know where the others had gone, but wherever it was... they're constantly providing her with points!
You go, girls!