White light. Clean air. The quiet beep of a monitor that wouldn't mind being ignored.

Raizen woke up like a man climbing out of cold water. Pain arrived first - dull, everywhere, and then sharp. He tried to sit. He got a breath in and kept it.

"Whoops – nope… I can't..."

A nurse leaned into view, hair pulled back, sleeves rolled, the calm of a person who had seen worse and refused to be impressed. She put a hand on his shoulder and eased him down again.

"You've been asleep for three days" she said. "I'm amazed you didn't break more bones."

"Three?" His voice sounded like sandpaper pretending to be a voice.

"Three. Count them if you need to." She glanced at his chart, then at his bandages. "Stitches everywhere. A cracked rib. A spectacular collection of cuts… Seriously, you Vanguards are built differently…"

"Cadet" he corrected. "Not Vanguard – not yet."

"Somehow? That's worse." The answer came.

He blinked until the lightbulbs didn't hurt his eyes, turned his head, and saw a chair wedged close to the bed. Hikari slept there, chin tucked into a scarf, hair a wreck.

"She didn't move much either" the nurse said, softer. "I tried to make her. I lost."

Raizen looked past them. The room was wide and bright - glass walls catching city light, white floors. The Vanguard med wing always felt like the inside of a snow globe: people suspended, not because they were fragile, but because someone decided to keep them for later.

Half the beds were full. Bandages everywhere. Slings. Splints. A low hum of machines and a higher hum of people pretending they weren't worried anymore.

On the left, Keahi sat propped upright, her right arm in a sleek brace, armor plate folded on the table beside her like a sleeping animal. She noticed him and lifted her other hand in a lazy salute.

Two rows over, Arashi slept diagonally across a narrow bed in a way that made geometry laugh, one arm hanging off the side. His pistols lay on the bedside tray, either confiscated or trusted. It was hard to tell which.

Lynea was awake. Her hair was tied in a knot that had lost the motivation to stay upright hours ago. A brace hugged her thigh. She had a cup of something steaming and was arguing quietly with Iris, Division Two's healer, about… Something I can hope I can call cooking.

Esen lay perfectly still - on purpose, probably - ribs wrapped, eyes closed, mouth smiling because being alive was a good joke.

Ichiro sat on the edge of his bed with his palms bandaged, turning them toward the light like new leaves, as if he could convince the skin to agree to future work. The medics didn't know how to treat him, so they left his Luminite shoulder be, just covering it with a bandage, as if it would help.

Rune leaned against a privacy curtain with a sling on his left arm and a halo of bad attitude. Oren and Keita were nearby: Oren with his shield leaning against the wall like a sulking dog, Keita flipping one of his fans open and shut because he couldn't stay still.

The nurse adjusted checked Raizen's pupils, then swatted lightly at his hand when he tried to peel tape. "Don't. Ruin. My art."

He tried smiling. It worked halfway. "Thanks."

"Thank me by staying put." She tipped her head toward Hikari. "She'll scold you harder than I will anyway."

He looked at Hikari again. There was dirt in the line of her jaw, long since dry, and a tiny nick on her lip. He didn't like that her hand was cold. He didn't like that her shoulder still had a piece of bandage where someone had re-wrapped it in a hurry.

"Everyone -" He had to pause and cough a little. "Everyone made it back?"

The nurse didn't answer. She glanced across the wing. Keahi's eyes said yes, her mouth didn't need to.

Raizen tried again. "We-re in the…"

"Vanguard Wing" the nurse continued. "Neoshima. You arrived two days ago. Well, your body did. You arrived now." She checked his monitor again, satisfied with the boring patterns.

He lay there and let the world rebuild itself. Three days had been enough time for the city to polish its windows and pretend it wasn't early November. Night had fallen somewhere outside the glass. The lights on the towers looked soft around the edges.

Hikari snored once, delicately, the kind of sound you pretend you didn't hear out of respect. He almost laughed. It hurt. He settled for a smile.

"Look who crawled back" Rune said, too loud and too relieved. "I thought we'd have to send a search party for the search party."

Arashi jolted awake like someone had fired a starter pistol. He looked around wild, clocked Raizen, and sagged. "Oh good. I can stop pretending I wasn't worried."

"Raizen" Lynea called, leaning forward. "Hey. Try not to explode any more mountains without telling us? Or give us a warning"

"He'll stop when the mountain files a complaint." Arashi laughed

Raizen opened his mouth to reply and stopped because Hikari woke up, fast and sharp like a switch had flipped. She blinked once. Twice. Then she made a very small sound - half laugh, half warning - and scooted her chair closer.

"You idiot" she said, eyes wet and voice steady. "You were supposed to come back, not crawl."

"I came back" he said. "Eventually."

She sniffed, then pretended she had an itch and wiped her cheek on her shoulder like she'd planned to do that anyway. "Don't do it again."

"Okay."

The wing took a breath together.

Keahi swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood, careful, as if the floor might feel disrespected. She walked over.

"Good work" she said simply. "I mean... Painfully reckless. But good work."

"I don't recommend running in between Nyxes towards a boulder…" he replied.

Arashi dragged his cot closer with his foot. "I recommend not being on the slope when the mountain decides to eat you" he said cheerfully. "Ten out of ten would avoid."

"Of course you would" Esen murmured without opening his eyes. "You complain when soup is spicy."

"Don't ask Keahi what happens when she opens the spice drawer… I am… delicate." Arashi sighed.

"Delicate like a grenade" Lynea said.

"You love me."

"I tolerate you."

Rune snorted. "If you two start flirting, I'm going back to sleep."

Oren folded his arms, winced, unfolded them. "For the record" he said, "your little "let's delete a boulder" gambit probably saved fifty people. Maybe more."

Keita flicked a fan open and drew a slow circle in the air. "The view was dramatic. Very cinematic. Ten points for style."

"Zero for communication" Hikari said under her breath.

Raizen tried to sit up again. Hikari leaned a shoulder into him.

"Don't make me tie you down" Hikari said. "I'll use your own bandages."

"I'm fine" he lied. It came out worse than usual.

"Sure" Hikari said. "And I'm the Empress."

"Your Majesty" Arashi said solemnly, and Hikari rolled her eyes so hard they almost made Arashi whine.

The door slid open.

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