CHAPTER 34 — QUIET HANDS, FRACTURED BODIES
The battlefield had grown… quiet.
Not peaceful.
Just… exhausted.
Smoke drifted through the air in thin, broken lines. The distant thunder of collapsing structures echoed far away—remnants of a fight that refused to end.
Closer—
There was breathing.
Heavy. Uneven.
Alive.
---
Mira exhaled slowly.
Her hands hovered over Natsuki's body—faint green light flickering and fading like a dying pulse.
"…That's as far as I can go," she whispered.
The glow disappeared.
Natsuki's chest rose sharply as if his body had just remembered how to breathe. The deep tears in his muscles had closed, the bleeding stopped—but the damage beneath still lingered, like cracks in glass that hadn't fully spread yet.
He sat there for a second.
Processing.
"…Tch."
He flexed his fingers. Electricity sparked weakly across his skin—unstable, but present.
"Better than I expected," he muttered.
Mira pulled her hand back, her shoulders dropping slightly.
That one… took a lot.
---
Kaito leaned against the broken concrete nearby, his leg stretched out stiffly.
Mira had already treated him—but even now, faint tremors ran through his body.
Not pain.
Strain.
His injury wasn't just physical—it had drained him.
Still…
He looked at her and gave a small nod.
"…Thanks."
Simple.
But genuine.
Mira blinked.
Then smiled faintly.
"You're welcome."
---
Aoi watched all of this carefully.
Not just the healing—
But how Mira moved.
The slight delay before she touched someone.
The way her breathing changed after deeper injuries.
The hesitation.
Limits.
Aoi's eyes narrowed slightly.
So that's how it works…
---
"…Next."
Mira turned.
Her gaze landed on Nezuko.
---
Nezuko sat near the edge of the group, soaked from the river, strands of hair clinging to her face. Her breathing was steady—but her arms were scraped, bruised, and faintly trembling from overuse.
She had been pulling people out of the water non-stop.
Even now—
She looked like she was ready to get up again.
---
"…You should rest," Mira said softly as she approached.
Nezuko shook her head immediately.
"I'm fine."
A lie.
A very obvious one.
Mira didn't argue.
She simply knelt in front of her.
"Show me your hands."
Nezuko hesitated.
Then slowly extended them.
Bruised.
Cut.
Shaking.
---
Mira placed her fingers gently over Nezuko's wrist.
A soft green glow returned—
Warmer this time.
Gentler.
---
Nezuko flinched slightly.
"…It's warm."
Mira smiled faintly.
"That means it's working."
---
The light spread slowly across Nezuko's arms, stitching minor cuts, easing tension in the muscles, dulling the ache that had been building since the chaos began.
Not overwhelming.
Not forceful.
Just… careful.
---
Behind them—
Natsuki glanced over.
"…She's better with smaller injuries," he muttered.
Aoi nodded slightly.
"Yeah."
Kaito added quietly,
"Which means the bigger ones cost more."
---
Mira's hand trembled.
Just slightly.
But Aoi saw it.
---
Nezuko noticed too.
"…You don't have to push yourself," she said quietly.
Mira shook her head.
"I'm not pushing."
A pause.
"…Not yet."
---
The glow faded.
Nezuko flexed her fingers.
The shaking had stopped.
The pain—reduced.
Not gone.
But manageable.
---
"…Thank you," Nezuko said.
Mira nodded.
Then slowly stood up—
And for just a second—
Her balance faltered.
---
Aoi stepped forward instinctively.
"Hey—"
"I'm fine."
Mira steadied herself quickly.
Too quickly.
Like she didn't want them to see it.
---
Silence settled again.
But this time—
It felt different.
---
Because now—
They had something they didn't have before.
Not just strength.
Not just survival.
Support.
Aoi's gaze shifted slightly.
Back toward the battlefield in the distance.
Where the sky still flickered faintly with fire.
---
Tokita.
Ragnar.
Still fighting.
---
"…We don't have much time," Aoi said quietly.
---
No one disagreed.
---
And Mira—
For the first time—
Followed their gaze.
---
"…Then let's make what time we have count.