It was four days later before Samantha opened her eyes, hissing at the lights that were on in the room and then groaning as she realized how dry her mouth was. After a moment, her eyes adjusted, and she looked around the white room and realized she was in a hospital room. The only thing that was out of place was the cot that was pressed up against the side of her bed with a girl sleeping on it, her face pressed into the pages of a book under her head.

Samantha smiled and started to shift so she could reach down and touch Kaguya’s head, but pain stopped her real quick. “Shit!”

That woke up Kaguya, who bolted up and looked at Samantha with wide eyes. Then she quickly realized what happened and moved to push Samantha back into the bed. “Don’t move, Samantha! You’re still injured pretty badly. You healed the lung for that stab to your sternum, but you couldn’t quite get the rest healed before you ran out of energy.”

Samantha closed her eyes and focused before nodding. “Yeah, I can tell now that I’m looking for it. Damn, it’s been a long time since I hurt myself bad enough that my healing couldn’t keep up.” They were quiet for a moment, and then Samantha opened her eyes when she felt something wet fall onto her hand. It didn’t take her long to figure out Kaguya was crying. “Whoa, what’s wrong?”

“Why would you do something so reckless? She almost killed you, Samantha,” Kaguya said softly as she lowered herself back down onto the cot in a seated position. Samantha didn’t have much of an answer, especially not one that would make Kaguya feel better, so she didn’t say anything. After a while, Kaguya wiped at her eyes and shook her head. “No, I know why you did it and I can’t ask you not to do it again. You would do it in a heartbeat if it was to save Emmett.”

Samantha hissed but pushed herself forward anyway, causing Kaguya to look up and panic. “Stop, and look at me, Kaguya.” Kaguya froze and met Samantha’s eyes. “I would do the same thing for you, you know. I don’t want you to be hurt either.”

“But… why? I’m a murderer, and I can’t do anything but follow whatever my father orders of me.”

Samantha chuckled. “I don’t care about that stuff. And besides, if you’re a murderer, then I am too. I killed Monica. She doesn’t have my abilities, and I know I hit her in the heart. I made sure that I would.” Kaguya just looked down, her face covered with guilt. “And it’s not your fault that I killed her, it’s her own damn fault. But that’s not why I’d jump in if you were going to get hurt. I’d jump in because I love you.”

Kaguya inhaled sharply before she smiled shyly. “I’ve never been in love, never had anyone I was interested in before you. But, if how I feel for you isn’t love already then I have no doubt I’m falling for you.”

“You don’t have to be sure,” Samantha told her, tracing fingers down her face. “It’s enough to know you care about me until you can be sure.”

Kaguya leaned over to kiss Samantha gently, and cupped Samantha’s cheek. “You have no idea how glad I am that you didn’t die in the arena.”

“I think I’m getting a little bit of an idea.” They kissed again, still gentle but a little longer this time. “How long has it been since you left my side?”

“I haven’t, except to use the bathroom,” Kaguya admitted. She rested her forehead on Samantha’s and closed her eyes. “I should make an appearance in the dorm now that I know you’re awake.”

“I’m not going anywhere, so take your time okay? As soon as those docs figure out I’m awake they’ll probably be prodding at me for a while, so you can pamper yourself a little before coming back.”

Kaguya was on a high as she left the Thomas infirmary, her face beaming as she headed for the dorms to shower and change her clothes while Samantha was getting examined. She’d head back after so she could spend more time with Samantha, who probably wouldn’t be released today since she was still in pain and low on healing energy that had been working overtime for the last several days.

She had just entered her dorm room and walked in to gather clothes when she realized there was an envelope on her desk. When she went to reach for it, she was interrupted by a knock at her door.

“One moment!” Kaguya called back, lifting the envelope and starting to shake as she recognized her father’s handwriting. She dropped it and shuddered, then went to open the door only to find the household butler standing there.

“Miss Kaguya, the master has asked me to bring you to the main house,” the man said softly with a short bow.

“Do you mind if I shower real quick?” Kaguya asked quietly. The butler shook his head, and stepped into the room to sit on a chair. “I’ll try not to take too long.”

“I have not informed him that you’ve returned just yet,” the butler told her. “Take your time. I’m sorry that’s all I can offer you.”

Kaguya smiled a little, then gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom. She showered slowly, taking advantage of the time the family butler was giving her to let the water soothe her at least a little. She was a little stiff from sleeping on the cot, so she let the hot water ease some of those areas, knowing that she was likely going to need to be in the best shape possible.

Unable to hide in the shower forever, Kaguya eventually got out and dressed. Rather than spend time doing anything to her hair, she just pulled it into a high ponytail despite it still being wet, and left her bathroom. The butler stood and bowed a little, and then led Kaguya out of the dorms and do a small car that would drive her the mile into the woods towards the main house.

The maid was waiting inside the door as usual, and Kaguya was left alone with her leading the way to the training room again. This time her father wasn’t in the room immediately, but Kaguya knew she couldn’t relax because the maid would be getting him next. It was late in the day, but her father was likely still in his office, which was just a short jaunt up some stairs away from the training room.

Sure enough, only a few minutes passed before her father entered. He was still dressed in slacks, but he had removed his dress shirt and shoes before coming down. She watched him stop at their weapon storage area, and then come back out with a thick staff and nothing else, making her swallow with a dry mouth as she tried to dispel her fear. This wouldn’t be training today, she realized, but a punishment. He’d still call it training, like he did most of her punishments, but at least when he gives her a weapon too she can trick herself into believing it was training. There was no way to make being beat with a staff training in her mind.

“Why are you suddenly so cozy with the Thomas?” he asked softly as he approached her. Kaguya refused to answer, not wanting to tell her father about Samantha even if he already knew. If she was going to get punished, she wasn’t going to give him any satisfaction from it. She could see that her silence made him very angry, and she had little warning before the end of the staff was jabbed into her stomach, doubling her over. “They are the scum of the earth!”

“I don’t think so,” Kaguya spat out, managing to push aside the pain and straighten again. This time the blow came to the side of her head, and she fell to the ground. The staff kept coming down, and Kaguya kept trying to move to protect vital places but he managed to find a weakness no matter what she did.

“You aren’t to associate with a Thomas,” her father was yelling, spittle flying and landing on her arms and face as he brutally attacked her with the staff. “They are scum, weak! You aren’t weak, I won’t let you be weak!”

The blows kept coming, and Kaguya barely held consciousness by the end of it. She could feel her skin open and bleeding in many places, and she was pretty sure she had a concussion as well as a few broken fingers. She wasn’t sure, but a couple of her ribs may have been fractured again.

“Do not disappoint me anymore, Kaguya,” her father spat before he threw the staff on the ground next to her and left the training room.

Once he was gone, Kaguya let out a relieved sigh and tried to move. Instead she cried out and felt her eyes watering after everything went black for a moment. She saw Souma step out of a shadow, and closed her eyes. He would think her weak too, she was sure. He may hate their father, but he wouldn’t do anything to anger him either. Surely he was only there to ensure she still suffered.

“Jeez, Kag’s…” Souma mumbled as he scooped her up carefully. “He really did a number on you this time. I’m taking you to the Valentini infirmary. Gianna is already waiting for us.”

“Why?” she croaked out.

“You’re my little sister. Even if I can’t protect you from the monster, I can at least take care of you,” he whispered as they walked. She heard someone say something that sounded like, “this way, hurry,” before she closed her eyes.

Souma used his shadow jump ability to leave the house, the longer jump at once draining him more than he wished but focused more on Kaguya than himself. One of the drivers saw them, and quickly jumped out of the car to open the backseat.

“Thanks, man,” Souma told him and he gently loaded Kaguya into the backseat. “You’ll probably get fired and blacklisted for this, you know.”

“I don’t mind. Will she be okay until we get to the hospital?”

“We’re going to the Valentini infirmary building, not the hospital. She’s in rough shape, and it’s closer than the hospital at this point. And I don’t trust out Familia’s infirmary not to call our father.”

“Understood.” As soon as both of his passengers were in the car, the driver got in and drove them the short distance back to campus. He pulled in at the infirmary and helped Souma get Kaguya out as gently as he could. Gianna came out as they walked started for the building, having gotten a text from Souma after they left the manor.

“Damn, boy,” Gianna said, whistling. “She’s in rough shape. What the hell did he do to her?”

Souma shook his head and laid Kaguya on a waiting bed before pulling out his phone, opening it to put in an SD card, and pulling up a video for Gianna. She watched with narrowed eyes as Kaguya was brutalized with a staff, the infirmary staff quickly taking Kaguya into an examination room to see how bad the damage done was. Once the video was over, she handed the phone back to Souma and scowled.

“There’s a very thin line between training and abuse with him, isn’t there,” she growled. Souma nodded as he typed a message to Samantha and Thea, telling her Kaguya was in the Valentini infirmary and in bad shape. “How’d you get this video?”

“I don’t think he realizes he’s being abusive, and Kaguya wouldn’t let me tell her it was before. Maybe she’ll let me tell her now. Hell, maybe she’ll let me convince her to take refuge with you finally,” Souma told her, pocketing his phone and staring at the door Kaguya disappeared behind.

Gianna sighed and shook her head. “I hope so,” she mumbled. “How’d you get that video?”

“After the last time he beat her, I put a camera in the training room where it stays pretty shadowed, so I could come check on it anytime I needed to and change out the card. It was about time for it to be full, so I came in right at the end and changed the cards quickly. I wish I’d stepped in instead. I don’t know how she’s going to recover from this.”

“Send me a copy of that video, would you? I’m going to take it to my father.”

Souma nodded and pulled his phone back out to send it to her as she left the infirmary. Once his phone was back in his pocket, he dropped into a chair and rested his head on the wall behind it. He hadn’t gotten a response from Thea, but he wasn’t too surprised. They were good right now, but her sister was also hospitalized so he was sure she was focused on Samantha for now.

He sat there for a long time in the silence, nearly dozing off when he heard a door slam open, making him bolt upright. Samantha was rushing into the infirmary, holding her abdomen, with Thea behind her with a frustrated look on her face.

“What the hell?” he asked, catching their attention.

“Where is she?” Samantha demanded, glaring at him. Souma raised his hands in surrender and pointed at the closed door. He couldn’t tell her anything before she ran into the room, surprising all the staff as she grabbed hold of Kaguya’s hands and, eyes closed, concentrated on Kaguya’s body as she tried to pinpoint the worst of the damage and let her power do its job.

Thea turned to glare at Souma. “Why did you send that to Samantha too? You had to know she’d want to rush over here.”

“I figured she was asleep again and wouldn’t see it until they were done with Kaguya in there,” Souma explained, dropping into the chair again. He shook his head. “No, that’s a half truth. I hoped she was awake and could do something. Kaguya’s my sister, and when I brought her here she was in really bad shape.”

Thea couldn’t be too angry, since she understood his reasoning, but she was still frustrated that he managed to get the injured Samantha to leave her own bed to rush over. “I’m still angry about it, but it’s not like I don’t understand.”

They turned to the room that still had an open door, and watched as Kaguya’s complexion got a little better. Samantha was sweating and then suddenly she just collapsed to the floor.

“Samantha!” Thea yelled, rushing forward and relieved when one of the staff caught her before she hit her head. They all rushed into motion, two going to get another bed while the other three got to work on examining Kaguya.

“Her concussion is gone,” one said after they did several scans.

“The fractures to her ribs are healed,” another said.

“Her fingers aren’t broken anymore, but they are still in bad shape,” another said as they grabbed the supplies to take care of the hands.

The first staff doctor turned to Souma. “Those were her worst injuries, and the concussion was the most concerning. She should be fine with a lot of rest and time to recover.” He looked over at Samantha and shook his head. “She’s incredible.”

“She didn’t have enough energy to finish healing her own injuries,” Thea muttered to Souma. “Where did she find the power to heal Kaguya’s?”

Souma shrugged. “Maybe her body always keeps some energy in reserve when she’s not in critical condition, just in case, and that’s what she just used.”

“Stupid Samantha.” Thea sighed. “Though, I guess I’m glad she came to help Kaguya. She’d have felt horrible if she’d been unable to help.”