"Huh?! What happened?! And look at your hand!"
Sensing that I’d given up on something, the gyaru-looking upperclassman’s eyes went wide as she started a commotion. She was noisy, but I didn't find her annoying anymore. I see... so this is what despair feels like. The tension drained from my body, and I felt as though the pain had eased.
"I'll go get Reiko-chan!"
"..."
Recognizing that this was no ordinary situation upon closer look, she dashed out of the Health Room in a clumsy sprint. Her black hair and skirt fluttered as she turned, but in my current state, not even a shred of unnecessary emotion bubbled up.
".........Ah......"
"..."
A pair of legs entered my field of vision. When I raised my head slightly, I saw the Young Lady standing there, awkwardly hugging herself with one arm. It seemed she had followed me all the way here. Right now, even looking at something beautiful only irritated me, so I kept my gaze fixed on the floor without saying a word. I didn't have the emotional bandwidth to be considerate. Honestly, it would have been fine if she just went home.
"..."
"..."
The silence forced my awareness toward my left hand. Hating the sensation, I tried to divert my attention from the pain by focusing on the faint clamor in the distance. I couldn't tell what state the blood was in, but the cold sweat running down my temples seemed to have stopped.
"—I brought the teacher!"
"! Ugh..."
A few minutes later, the upperclassman from before burst through the open entrance. That was fast. She was more helpful than I had expected. A ray of hope appeared, but the cost was a sharp resurgence of pain.
"An injury?—Wait, it's you."
"Ah, er... hello."
The school nurse walked in quickly behind the senior. She seemed to have run, as she was slightly out of breath. Seeing her in her white coat was incredibly reassuring. I felt a pang of guilt for bringing more trouble her way, following my collapse back in the first semester. At the very least, I was grateful she remembered my face.
"Sajou-kun, what happened to your hand?"
"—Wait, 'Sajoo'?"
"Anyway, come this way."
Ms. Shindo gently supported my back and guided me to a round stool in front of the examination table. The upperclassman seemed surprised to hear my name, but it was likely because there was a female delinquent with the same surname in her year. Come to think of it, I wonder what the other girls in her grade—the ones besides Shinomiya-senpai—actually think of Nee-chan...
After answering a few of Ms. Shindo's questions about the injury, I was told to rest my left hand, palm-up, on her forearm.
"Do you think you can remove the tissues yourself?"
"Eh..."
"I'll do it."
"Y-Yes..."
Seeing the fear on my face, the teacher made an immediate call and began to move.
As she looked at the tissues wrapped around my left hand, now completely soaked in crimson, Ms. Shindo reached for a small pair of scissors. I heard someone—myself, or perhaps someone behind me—swallow hard. It was the one thing in the world I least wanted to look at right now.
"Gasp..."
She slid the scissors into the side of the red bundle, where the seams were no longer visible. The sodden material was snipped through with ease and peeled away toward the back of my hand. The sight was nothing but pure terror.
As the tissue on the inside of the palm was pulled back, I felt a slithering sensation as if it were fused to my skin. In that instant, dread outweighed the pain. Goosebumps erupted across my entire body.
"This is..."
"...Ugh..."
Ms. Shindo knit her brows. I, too, swallowed hard as I saw the state of my left hand for the first time. The red was shot through with dark, blackish shades, making it hard to tell the exact severity of the damage. However, seeing the center of my palm—which had clearly lost its "surface" shape—actually made me feel strangely detached. Oh, right. This is a major injury.
"What about the back of the hand?"
"..."
"I see."
Even though I hadn't answered, Ms. Shindo responded anyway. I didn't have the courage to check what had happened to the back of my hand myself, and she seemed to have sensed that.
"In any case, I can't provide proper treatment here. We need to get you to a hospital immediately while keeping the bleeding controlled."
"Y-Yes."
The look in her eyes changed; her voice carried an authority that brooked no argument. I could only nod. She instructed me to wrap my hand in fresh gauze and keep it pressed down against the desk while applying pressure to my arm to slow the blood flow. I followed her instructions precisely.
"However, it's already evening... outpatient clinics will be closed, so an ambulance is the only option. I'll have to notify the school."
"Ugh..."
It was turning into a much bigger ordeal than I'd anticipated, and a fresh bead of cold sweat rolled down. Calling an ambulance meant sirens echoing through the campus. I would stand out like a sore thumb. I had wanted to avoid that at all costs, but things weren't going my way.
"—U-Um, in that case, I'll...!"
Just as I was despairing over the situation, the Young Lady interjected. I looked at her with a glimmer of hope, wondering if there was a way to avoid a public scene. Unlike when she had been clutching that utility knife, her face now showed a determined resolve.
"And you are?"
"I-I am a first-year, Shinonome Claudine Marika! A student from the West side!"
"And? Are you saying you have a personal connection?"
"Y-Yes!"
"And that would be faster?"
"Yes! Exactly!"
"...Hmm. That might be more reliable."
Somehow, it seemed an ambulance wouldn't be necessary. I was saved... well, saying that given the state of my hand felt a bit off, but if I could reach a hospital without drawing attention, that was the best possible outcome. I decided to accept the Young Lady's offer.
"—Wait a second."
"W-What is it?"
My relief was short-lived as a shadow fell across my vision from the other side. The upperclassman was still behind me. Her voice was now calm, stripped of its earlier gyaru-like flightiness.
"I don't know the full story, so I shouldn't pry, but this isn't going to cause trouble for Sajoo-kun, is it?"
When I looked at her, she had a piercingly serious expression, worlds away from our first encounter. Her tone was sharp with hostility. Her glare reminded me of Nee-chan's, yet it carried a uniquely frigid air.
"What are you saying at a time like this?!"
"Sorry, okay? I'm from a generation that doesn't trust the 'West'."
"...Ugh..."
The Young Lady flinched. Likely due to her lack of composure, she couldn't find a retort.
The third-years—they belonged to the generation where clashes between the East’s Classes A through C and the West’s Classes D through F were common at Kouetsu High School. Since I spent my time with the Student Council, where everyone got along, the rivalry didn't feel real to me. Was that kind of thing really just part of daily life back then...?
But regardless of politics, I was the one who had done this to myself. While the Young Lady wasn't entirely uninvolved, I was the one who had actually performed the act. I never intended to hold her responsible. If I could get through this without a massive scene, I might even be personally grateful.
Just as I was about to defend her, Ms. Shindo spoke up.
"Stop it, Onitsuka-san. That isn't something you should be bringing up with a first-year. What is your priority as a health committee member right now?"
"Ugh... I'm sorry."
A brief scolding. So this gyaru-ish senior was actually a health committee member? I’d assumed she was just a slacker. Seeing how quickly she backed down, she didn't seem like a bad person. However, she had the vibe of someone still finding their footing—maybe in her first year of turning over a new leaf. She certainly wasn't as composed as Nee-chan. I just hoped she wouldn't make any more unhelpful comments...
"Shinonome-san, if you have a connection, we will take you up on that. Please make the arrangements immediately and give me the name of the hospital and the phone number for their plastic surgery department."
"Y-Yes, of course! I'll call right now to have a car sent to pick us up!"
"When will it arrive?"
"It should be here within fifteen minutes!"
"That's quick. In that case, I'll contact his homeroom teacher, Ms. Ohtsuki. Onitsuka-san, can you go to Class 1-C and bring back Sajou-kun's belongings?"
"Yeah, got it!"
"The answer is 'yes'."
"Yes! I'm on it!"
The situation was moving along much faster than I’d imagined. It looked like we really would avoid the ambulance. At this rate, I might be on my way to the hospital in thirty minutes. This was why the Young Lady was a "Young Lady," I suppose. Should I be... grateful? I was starting to lose track of how to feel.
Even though she was a health committee member, I felt awkward about putting an unrelated upperclassman to work. But as an injured person, the best thing I could do was not be a nuisance. I sat there quietly, pressing down on my left arm and focusing on stopping the bleeding.
Until the moment we departed, I spent my time trying to figure out how on earth I was going to explain this injury.