Her brother stood at the door frame, a face mask clutched tightly on his face. She could see the smile in his eyes as his face wrinkled up. A dwarf with a smaller hairball of unkempt auburn stuck her head past the door, peering at the sorry tragedy that lay on the hospital bed.

“Juny!” she shouted, clamoring towards her big sister, like a rocket heading for a collision, an unmovable object.

Euphemia barrels against her sister leaning in for a hug, her arms squeezing tightly, she stuck her head against the blanket that covered her. Juniper could feel a growing wetness leaking through the blanket, onto her chest. Effy’s little body trembling and shaking as she lets out muffled sobbing. Her voice hitched sharply and gasping exhalation.

Juniper’s body ached, and she winced. There was a quick urge to pull Effy away, partially because of the pain and less-than-affectionate manner she always treated the youngest of the two. But bore it, and smiled softly. Sticking her fingers into the wavy hair of her little sis, playing with it, and rubbing her hair.

“T-hey saii-d y-you mig-ht not walk ag-ain, Jun.” her voice broke with every word. “It-s all m-my-fault, I’m s-sorry Jun.”

“It’s not your fault Effy, it’s–”

It was her fault, she was careless and carefree. She needed to be a better provider, a better sister. This was the sum of her choices.

She restrained the urge from balling out herself, her chest was heavy, burdened by feeling she wanted to let out but couldn’t. She raised the little girl’s head, wiping away the flooding tears. Her eyes were red She played with her face, pinching her soft cheeks, kissing her on the forehead, something she never does.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she pointed at her cast leg and wiggled her toes. “Look, it lives.”

Effy reached to touch the casted leg.

Remy, her ever protector approaches them pulling her off with a tugging. “Let her breathe Effy, or they’ll keep her here forever.”

Juniper giggled, despite the unbridled chaos of the last few hours. The return to normalcy and love felt good. Something she was shy about admitting sometimes—a great distraction from other pressing matters. Leave them here for an hour and the banter will be like it was at home.

What would happen if she lost the two of them, what would happen if they lost her?

[So don’t loosen your grip, cherish what you have, and grab your life by the reins of your seat.!!!(૭ ｡•̀ ᵕ •́｡ )૭]

The system chimed in, making her head jerk uncontrollably. She frowns, not used to the sensation of having an entity living in her head.

“Are you alright,” Remy asked. Concerned he, Motions toward her.

“Yeah,”

“You sure, you looked like you took 9gs of gravity just now.”

Effy looked at her with her googly-worn-out eyes, perplexed.

“Sorry, it’s tick-like…thing I may have developed... don’t mind me.” she awkwardly motioned with her arms, intending to hug her brother, and he fell in her embrace. “How did you two get here, was it Miss Louise?”

“N-no, s-she was all mad about her rent, a-and a-and a-and threatened to k-kick us out.”

That old crone!

“Shit, I forgot the rent, I’m sorry,” she gritted her teeth, palming her face. “ I should've handled it sooner. Don’t worry, I’ll call her now, I’ll get this sorted Asap.”

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“It’s alright, It’s already covered.”

“What, who? How’d you even get here?”

Her brother smiled, raised his brow, and shifted his face like he was teasing her. “Ms. Kamizuki.”

She choked her Japanese neighbor, the girl she was always ogling.

“Kanako?”

That made no sense. Why would she do that? She really didn’t know how to feel about it, it was embarrassing already for a person of her age to have a ‘crush’ on another adult individual. But to have that person take care of your duties, it felt shameful.

[Romantic interest detected: Calculating probability of mutual attraction…]

‘Shut up system chan’

A third individual peaked in from the door, waving to her while approaching quietly but comfortably. It was Kanako with ‘more bags’ in her hand. The sterile room became almost sweet, as she entered.

Juniper’s cheeks flared up, she rubbed on them. Attempting to hide the rising heat in her face. She had to restrain herself from tucking her face under the darkened blanket. A lump was stuck in her throat.

Oh my god, what do I do? What do I say?

[Calm down Juny. Play it off cool. First off DON’T make irrational gestures, no unfunny jokes. But…*hypothetically* What if you spontaneously show off your new powers, I bet she’ll be impressed.]

‘What!!! Out of the question. Both literally and figuratively. ‘

Kanako put the crackling bags next to the already stacked get-well packages. “Ms. Pinewell, I’m sure this might be a strange moment for you.” she simply nodded, her mouth shut tight. “ But I’ve taken your siblings into my care until you are discharged.”

“You spoke English this whole time?” she blurted.

[Baka… Now she’ll think you're dumb] the AI transmitted in her head. Even her brother looked at her strange remark. Was she that dense? But she always spoke Japanese.

Kanako’s face contorted, her brow frowning a sweat. “O-Of course, but I understand why you may have thought otherwise. I tend to keep to myself.”

Reality kicked her in the face again. She was struck by a mix of genuine gratitude, and an encroaching feeling of disappointment in herself. Despite having a juvenile attraction to Kanako Kamizuki, leaving your family's lives in a stranger’s hands was not something to be proud of. The implications of her accident won’t go unpunished, the social worker will hear of this.

“Um…Thank you, I don’t know what to say. I–”

“It’s quite alright, if you need to discuss something, I’ll wait till you get better, as a matter of fact, I’ll give you my number to get you.” her bright smile was heartwarming but foreign.

[Score!]

“Bah…you don’t need to go so far, and about the rent–”

“It’s cool, there aren’t any issues. It’s settled, I know you're struggling, I don’t expect anything, we’ll speak soon okay.”

She wanted to contest, but Kanako waved her off. “Besides, the landlord lady can be a handful and when she’s mad at one of us, she’s mad at all of us. I’ll leave you to your siblings.”

She left the room, Juniper’s eye trailing her up and down, eyes locked on her movements, from her posture to her revealing ankles. She turned her head, and her brother caught her scrying eye, giving her a smug smile.

She shook her head in denial immediately. Her thought process was immediately broken after her brother started unending coughing. The wet rough sound of it snapped her out of the moment.

He clutched his chest, coughing into the disposable mask, switching to another. “Don’t worry just a cough.”

Immobilized and left bedridden by her accident, she felt completely useless. Tension was in the air, she could feel it in her bones, he was becoming sicker, he needed proper treatment. She needed to make a plan fast.

Her [Mimicry] was stirring, drawn to the psychic plague, she struggled to let go of it.

[Poor boy, he’s hurting]

The system had adopted a personality within seconds of speaking with her, some part of her very distrustful of her new powers. Some part was eager, she wondered if it was possible to completely take the sickness away from him, wear his burden instead. Nothing happened when he came in for a hug.

Effy huddled against the chair in the room frightened, stuck between two ill individuals. The only two trusted adults are both sick and powerless. Juniper did her best to distract the girl.

Things needed to change, and soon. It’s not every day you get a second chance. Kanako was a god sent, if there was one, she’d repay her ten-fold, somehow.

A

***

The hospital quieted down, several hours later. Only the humming of life support systems and the restless breathing of other patients came to her mind. The faint electrochemical sensation, haunted her, urging her to do something. She stared at the moonlight that shone inside her room.

An idea came to mind. Her hospital room conveniently had no camera, and she was a little curious.

“Sys-chan, Can you activate those solar powers? I just want to see what happens.”

[Moonlight isn't any sun sista, Proceeding anyway, nya₍^. .^₎]

‘Unnecessarily cute,’ she thought.

[Activate power?]

[Solar Powered Sentinel Level 1]

[Y/N?]

“Yes,” she whispered in her dark room.

The very second she agreed, soothing warmth spread through her limbs, her veins, and even her blood. It intensified, like jumping into a warm bath, suddenly.

Her back was tingling, and for a small moment, her leg wound became lighter. She gasped in disbelief, her body twitched, and she felt the air around her vibrate.

Then her body to her own surprise, lifted her from the bed. Barely even an inch. Then, she was levitating. Her limbs radiated a bright glow.

‘I’m levitating! I’m levitating’

[And Liftoff, now don’t forget to use your air brakes or we’ll have to do an Emergency landing]

She felt genuine joy and excitement for the first time. Gravity was slowly slipping away. As she started hovering completely off her bed, The tubes threatening to loosen, she deactivated the power in panic.

“Oof!”

She hoped Helio-girl wouldn’t hate her for this.