Book 3 Prologue (1/2)
”Leo?”
It happened in an instant. One moment, I was languishing in a kind of euphoric state of unconsciousness, and then BAM! All of a sudden, everything hurt. It only lasted for a second before it faded into a kind of 'background noise', yet in that short moment my parched mouth opened wide to suck in a panicked gasp. My torso also rose from the bed, without any conscious agreement from my higher brain function, only for me to almost fall over when my senses were assaulted by an unholy combination of nausea, pain, and fuchsia. I mean, the color itself. It's hard to explain, so I won't even try.
Anyhow, once the fog on my mind began to break up a little, I noted that almost literally jumping awake like that was very unrealistic, and chided myself for engaging in such clichéd behavior. Once my head cleared out even further, I realized that my previous observation, while not inaccurate, was both dumb and completely inconsequential. However, it took about five more seconds after that until I finally registered that I was inside my own room. I wasn't alone either, as my gradually refocusing eyes finally noticed the duo of Snowy and a red furball standing by the half-opened door and looking at me with concerned eyes.
”Are… are you all right?” my sister inquired with just a hint of bewilderment as she stepped inside, though the little fox somehow still managed to get to the side of the bed faster than her.
”No, I'm not, but that's beside the point,” I responded practically on autopilot before I pointed a finger at her and declared, ”Simulacrum.”
Snowy came to a sudden halt, her eyes no longer only holding a hint of bafflement, and at last she timidly asked, ”What is that?”
”I'll be damned if I know, but it's really important,” I responded, only to pause, let my hand down, and add, ”At least I think it is.”
”Neige-ue! I think Ue-sama must still be delirious!” the fox declared with her front paws on my bed. ”It's just like Judy-ue said!”
”Oh, right!” my sister's expression immediately cleared up as she exclaimed and she quickly made her way over to my bedside. She extended a hand towards me, but then paused a muttered a barely legible ”Please excuse me,” before she first touched my forehead, then after a few seconds she clumsily stuck her fingers down my collar to feel around my collarbone.
”How is he?” Ichiko asked without a hint of worry in her voice.
”You still have a high fever,” Snowy stated, completely ignoring the excited fox and her wagging tail by our side. ”Judy said that if you still had a fever in the morning, I should tell you that you must take another cold shower.”
”Did she really?”
It was a rhetorical question, but they both nodded in unison. Honestly though, I didn't feel that bad. No, rather, I was feeling bad, but better than yesterday. Maybe it was because I got a good night's sleep, but my head felt much clearer than last night and I… Wait… There was something wrong with that thought just now.
”Erm… Snowy?”
”Yes?” my sister perked up the moment I called her name.
”Was I sleeping just now?”
”… Yes?” she asked, for some odd reason.
”Are you sure?”
”I… I think?” she said, her answer once again coming out with a question mark at the end. ”You woke up just now, didn't you?”
”Did I?”