?

  No.6, her sibling No.5, and No.9 walked in, arguing up a storm. No.9 complained to me that No.5 was bullying her.

  I wasn’t in a position to be able to stop him anyway.

  Zero then tried to separate the two, and no.9 ran up to me and grabbed my hand.

  She thanked me for helping her previously, and also thanked me for helping with her gift. Apparently, I gave her the confidence she needed to make it work more consistently.

  I don’t recall doing any such thing, but I accepted her thanks regardless.

  No.5 also came up to me with a rather meek expression.

  He had a very roundabout way of saying it, but he was impressed with what he heard about me during the fight and wanted to apologize for how he acted previously.

  I accepted his apology.

  No.6 jokingly told me I was like a parent that set those two straight, which made me curious about their parents.

  I expressed surprise at learning that all of the parents were dead or gone. I had thought at least one of them was in partnership with this place, but apparently not.

  No.5 told me that he and his sister were abandoned by their parents at the age of 3. As he talked, he got progressively angrier until No.6 grabbed his shoulder to calm him down.

  No.9 quickly changed the subject and told me that it looks like I’ve made a lot of friends.

  We all talked for a bit longer before everyone left the room except for Zero.

  She commented on how I look pretty when I smile, and how I should do it more often.

  I’ll smile if there is a reason to smile, nothing more, nothing less.

  ?

  ?

  I faced a large problem today.

  While I was sleeping, Zero read through most of my diary.

  Apparently, she was bored. And she was surprised to realize that the acute awareness I have when I’m awake is not shared when I am sleeping.

  Obviously.

  Anyways, she took issue with when I called her a nuisance. And began physically assaulting me when I had called her heavy, despite me not even remembering I wrote that.

  She said it seemed like I wasn’t one to keep a diary. She was correct.

  I had originally done this to leave some type of mark on the world before I either died or faded into obscurity. However, it became a form of relief over time.

  I told her this and asked her if she had any methods of relief.

  She started to say something, but stopped. Then shrugged and said she liked styling and playing pranks on people.

  ?

  ?

  I was planning to ask Zero today why she was getting treatment, but I wasn’t able to.

  By the time I woke up, she was in the other bed with the curtains closed.

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  There were 3 facilitators there yelling and frantically moving around. Her father was sitting in the chair next to her bed.

  I asked him what was happening to her, and all he did was shake his head and choose not to respond.

  I could see her body violently twitching behind the shadow of the curtain. I could tell they were opening up different parts of her body and stitching them back together with a glowing string. They did this process over and over again for at least a couple of hours.

  When they finally pulled back the curtains, she was still unconscious.

  Yet streaming down her face were tears, dyed red with blood.

  …..

  …..

  I’m ending this here for the day.

  ?

  Zero was stuck in bed all day today in a comatose state.

  Her father was once again sitting by her bed with his head down and a grim expression.

  I asked him and the head researcher how long she would be like that, but Zagra didn’t respond.

  However, the head researcher told me that this is a common occurrence and that she should wake up within the next two days.

  He sounded uncaring, like it didn’t matter. I couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed at that.

  No.9 and No.5 also came today to keep me company.

  While No.5 was belligerent and No.9 could never get across what she wanted to say, it would be a lie to say I didn’t enjoy their company.

  I asked what they wanted to do after they got out of here.

  No.9 said she wanted to be a singer so her voice could reach everywhere. No.5 said he wanted to work in a place where he could fight often; his dream was apparently to be the strongest in the world.

  Commendable goals.

  When asked, I told them I wanted to be an engineer, and they looked at me with surprise.

  Do I seem unsuited for engineering?

  No.5 thought I wanted to be an “Agent,” whatever that means. And No.9 thought I wanted to be an athlete, because of my physical prowess.

  I told them that I'm not particularly fond of fighting, and they laughed like I made a joke.

  On second thought, I think I'll retract my previous statement about their company.

  ?

  ?

  Zero didn’t stop by today, but No.9 did.

  We talked for a while; she was very open and smiled far more than she did yesterday. But at the end of our conversation, she told me something that she said she’s never told anyone before.

  Basically, back when we fought Zagra, she referenced the drawback of her ability. And while she feels more confident using it, the drawback hasn’t gone away.

  I recall that during the fight, she said she felt like she had lost something, which I referenced during the conversation. She went on to explain how it actually feels.

  These are her words, not mine.

  “Everyone does certain things that make them….them. It could be habits, or personality, or something else. F-For example, I have the habit of twirling my hair when I feel embarrassed. Anyway, when I use my ability, I feel like a small part of myself fades away. I-I don’t know how to explain it, but something deep down is telling me I shouldn’t use my ability unless I absolutely have to.

  In response to hearing this, I apologized for making her use it, but she frantically waved her hands and assured me that there was no other choice in that situation.

  She also said that if it were for me, she would use it whenever I asked because of how much I’ve helped her.

  Again, I don’t recall ever actively helping her before, but she’s free to believe what she wants. I already said it, but I do enjoy her company. And I can’t deny that I feel slightly happy knowing she enjoys mine as well.

  ?

  I was discharged yesterday, but Zero was still bedridden, so I stayed to keep her company. I wasn’t able to see her, but just having her in the same room as me gave me a slight sense of relief. The awareness of life always does.

  Regardless, while I stayed in the infirmary, an unexpected visitor appeared. It was No.7, who I had never talked to before this. Her hair wriggled around like parasites; it was honestly unsettling to look at.

  However, it seemed she wasn’t here for me; she was here for Zero. The doctors shooed her away, but I called her over before she was forced out of the room.

  I introduced myself, but she didn’t respond. It seemed she had no willingness to talk to me. So instead, I talked about something she was interested in to get her attention. I told her about how Zero had been doing for the past couple of days and that, based on what I had seen, she was getting better.

  Again, she didn’t respond, but her hair stopped wriggling, and she had a relieved look on her face. She muttered an almost inaudible, “Thank you” before scurrying out of the room.

  I swear, I may be the only normal person here.