The ones who matter

"You sure you don't want something for the pain," uncle Ge asks.

"No, it's alright. I want to feel this new change in my body, even if it is painful."

"Okay then. I'm going to count to zero. Five, four…" She closes her eyes, clearing her mind. "...One, go." A surge of pain erupts from her shoulder to her head, knocking the breath out of Hoshina.

"Are you okay?"

She's left panting, needing a few more seconds before she can answer. Once her heartbeat slows, she looks at him.

"Yes, thank you for your concern, brother." Kaji averts his gaze.

"This is way too weird. Can't you just call me by my name?"

"No, the way we address each other is important. Once we become closer I can call you more affectionate things like Kaji-nii or bro." He ruffles his hair as if he's about to pull some of it out.

"Still want me to connect the rest without sedating you?" Uncle asks again.

"Yes, please."

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

After the last one, she's left dizzy for nearly a minute before her mind clears.

Where there were nothing but stumps a few minutes earlier, heavy pieces of metal and other synthetic materials now lay.

"Alright, I'm ready to move."

"Good." Uncle looks at Kaji. "Your dear bro should be better at explaining this than me." Her brother elbows uncle Ge, who maintains a mischievous smile through his pained expression.

Kaji then turns to look at her. "How do I explain this? You don't feel the limb, but it responds in a similar way to your actual arm. I find it helpful to first do a simple movement with my real one, and then try to replicate it with—"

"Ah, I see." Hoshina lifts her right arm, then her mechanical left. Her brother's jaw drops.

"Hye, he, he, he!" Uncle cackles like a hyena. "You are quite something, dearest niece. It took your bro almost a week to twitch a finger. Hye, he, he!" Kaji tries to hit him again, but Uncle backs off just in time. "Welp, uncle has work to do. I'm leaving you two alone with your sibling bonding, bye."

Once he's gone, Kaji sighs.

Hoshina shifts her focus to the legs. They're trickier since she doesn't have a flesh-and-bone one for reference. As she's about to get out of bed...

"Careful! You could get hurt if you fall."

"I know, dear bro."

"Please don't call me that."

"Got it, Kaji-nii."

"That's worse." He sighs. "Why do I bother?"

"Brother?"

"NO!"

"Make up your mind, I have to call you something."

"Ugh… fine. Just go with brother, it's the least embarrassing one."

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

While offering his shoulder for support, Kaji can't help but wonder again what the hell is going through Hoshina's mind.

She had said, "since I won't see my parents or sister again, I want new family members," as if it made perfect sense.

"Brother, look, I managed to take a step."

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, I can see that."

It took less than an hour of practice for her to start walking with someone's support. At this rate, she'll be running before Kaji can even use chopsticks again.

"Say, Hoshina—"

"Sister."

He grunts. "I already have a sister, and I call her by name."

"Alright, I will settle with Hoshi. What were you saying, dearest brother?"

Sighing is starting to become a new habit for Kaji.

"Say, Hoshi, do you mind telling me about your people's god again?"

"Don't refer to it as a god." Did she just stomp her mechanical foot? "It's a shit, like uncle said."

"You mean ship?"

"Same thing." She takes another step. Their goal now is to reach the wall, which should take at least four or five more steps.

"Still, I'm curious why your whole clan is so keen on fighting. It's related to their beliefs, right?"

"Correct. They think that Ikusagami is a powerful god who leads them to others in order to have glorious battles."

Hoshina taps his shoulder twice, and they turn back toward the bed, where she sits, breathing heavily.

She wipes the sweat from her forehead. "They were also told that anyone who dies like a warrior goes to a great afterlife, as well as all family members who support them."

"Then does that mean your ship is being controlled by someone to approach others?"

"You are right!" She nearly jumps to her feet. "Someone must be behind the whole operation." She crosses her arms. "But who?"

"Your family is a high class one, right?"

"The highest of all, even among the four…" She blinks twice, then lowers her head. "It's my father and the leaders, right?"

"It sounds likely since they have access to most resources. There must be a small group led by them who know the truth and steer the ship."

She looks back at him. "What about your people? Why don't they control their own ship to run away?"

"They probably don't know it's possible. The heads are likely aware there is a whole structure underneath the island. Though they might not dare to set foot inside out of fear of angering the god or something."

"Everything makes sense now."

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

Kaji stirs the pot, apparently struggling to hold the spoon with his mechanical arm.

Seated on the counter, Hoshina uses her still-human hand to chop onions, tomatoes, and the meat of something that resembles a wingless bird.

He glances at her work. "I thought you were supposed to be a spoiled child with no cooking knowledge."

"And you're right, I'm just following your instructions."

Her brother mumbles. "You and your quick learning. I don't remember instructing you to take out the apples."

"Apples have no place in a stew." She points at him with the knife.

"And since when do you get to alter my recipe?" He points at her with the spoon. "They add a nice sweetness to it."

"And I hate sweets."

"My recipe, my rules." The spoon slips from his fingers and hits the ground.

"I'm the one doing most of the cooking. You can barely avoid dropping your hand in the stew."

"When did you become so cheeky?" She picks up the spoon and wipes it with a towel. "The first time we met you were so well mannered you asked for my name and said it was an honor to fight."

"With my close ones I am painfully honest, dear brother." She gives him a small smirk. "And that is something you both envy and admire from me." Kaji's ears redden like the tomatoes.

It's kinda cute.

"Don't tease me with that shit, or you want me to remind you of all the embarrassing things you said as well?"

"That conversation was a great learning experience for me, there is nothing I consider embarrassing about it."

"Oh, absolutely! I'm sure the world will be knocking on your door any minute now, begging for wisdom from that incredibly profound moment." She tilts her head.

"What do you mean? Didn't uncle say the world ended?"

"I was being sarcastic."

"Then I'll also be sarcastic. When you get worked up you are so adorable the whole world would come just to see you."

"E-eh!? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Do you even know what sarcasm is?"

Her dearest brother is getting cuter by the minute. She's having more fun than when teasing Waissu.

As long as she keeps the mood light and doesn't truly anger him, things should work out—at least for a while.

Once they stop working, it will mean it's time to return to the original plan.

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

Though he almost spills it, Kaji manages to serve each of them their portion.

They sit around the low table, white artificial light shining from the ceiling.

"Yuck! Boy, sorry to complain but this stew is kinda burnt."

"It isn't; I just prefer it overcooked."

"Hmm, I also like it." Hoshina adds. "It gives it a certain bitterness, making it so I don't mind the sweetness of the apples."

"See? I told you they were necessary."

"By the way," Hoshina says, glancing at the ceiling, "how come this place has energy?"

"It runs on the equivalent of a giant gem, like the ones from your limbs," Ge responds.

Kaji grows curious as well. "And it all works after centuries?"

"Of course not. The folks I was traveling with repaired it, they are also who treated your wounds and built your limbs."

"Mmwhy d'ey leev?" Hoshina mumbles, her mouth stuffed.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you just said, my niece."

"Dearest sister, I was led to believe that thou wert raised in the fairest household. May I ask then, why dost thou speak with thy mouth full of shit?"

She swallows and looks at Ge. "Why did they leave?" Being ignored so blatantly ticks Kaji. Still, he must hide it or he'll lose this round.

"Because even though we three could live here for the rest of our lives without running out of resources, the same doesn't apply to a group of eighty people."

"I see. So they left you behind since you were too old to keep up."

"Oi! It was my choice to stay back and take care of yer asses just so you know!"

"Then I'm glad you did, uncle. Thank you for saving my brother."

"You're welcome." He says pointedly. "Besides, I wasn't really part of them; we were only traveling together for a while." He points at the two of them with his fingers. "And you better believe that the moment you become capable of walking you both are going out to gather stuff in my stead." A smile, lacking in teeth forms beneath his beard. "I deserve some rest as well, you hear?"

༻──⋆༺𓆩⋆𓆪༻⋆──༺

Her uncle and brother help Hoshina walk to the bedroom, the place where she had been sleeping for the last months, now without the life support and other equipment.

The lights go off, and as the steps of her make-believe family go away, a different sound takes over.

Subtle and imperceptible, only noticeable in complete silence, all coming from places where she can't feel a thing.

The more she tries to relax, the heavier she perceives herself.

Her posture is uncomfortable, yet she dares not move.

Then, she notices something right in front of her: a hideous silhouette on the ceiling lamp.

She won't get any good sleep for a while.