27 Masked Protector

Miya's eyes opened, and she turned to the side of her hospital bed, unaware of her surroundings. To the right of her hospital bed sat Bo, silently looking at the wall with a blank expression. In reaction to her movement, Bo looked toward her with his dead red eyes.

"Good morning, Miya."

Bo picked something up from the seat to his right and displayed it to Miya. It was a set of clothes. Miya stared at them, in a daze.

"Ms. Boudreaux brought your clothes. She's very nice."

"Bo... Wh-Where am I?"

Miya wiped her eyes, attempting to process the situation as she accepted the clothes, wearing a hospital gown. Bo spoke as Miya looked out the window, cars whirring past the building on the busy street.

"You're in the Hinansho Hospital."

Chatter could be heard from outside of her room, and Miya quickly turned around. A lady in a light blue gown entered the room and approached Miya, her face covered by a blue sanitation mask.

"You're finally awake, ma'am. This gentleman here brought you here saying that you'd collapsed in an alleyway outside of a corner store. Do you feel ok? Do you hurt anywhere?"

The woman stood at a distance from Miya, but Miya was not offended, knowing that they were protecting themselves from her sleeping powers. Miya sat straight, trying to act more formal toward the nurse.

"N-No ma'am."

"Do you remember what happened on that night?"

Miya struggled, but not a single memory revealed itself.

"No ma'am... The last thing I remember was visiting the Lovely Lounge with Bo."

The woman looked toward Bo who looked away from them, his eyes wandering as he looked out of the hospital room's window. Many doctors at work moved through the halls, and one stood out to him; it was Fable, dressed in a suit rather than the blue gowns that others wore.

"Is that this gentleman's name?"

"Yes ma'am."

Bo returned his attention to the wall again, and he made little sound before getting up from his chair and walking toward the door. He spoke as the nurse's eyes followed him, curious.

"I'll allow you to change. If you are up to it, I'd like for us to walk to school together."

The nurse smiled under her mask before leaving the room with Bo, pulling the curtain across the room's window and allowing Miya to change. She picked up the set of clothes; It included some jeans and a light blue crop top. A bra and underwear were present as well.

Her face turned red, and she looked toward the shuttered window, a sheepish frown forming on her face.

'He doesn't feel embarrassed at all touching all of this stuff? It looks like he even folded it himself.'

Miya began changing while Bo spoke with the nurse; she asked him various questions concerning her incident, and Bo told her the most of the truth, asking her not to share with Miya. The nurse reluctantly agreed before returning to the room, examining Miya to make sure there were no abnormalities and allowed Miya to exit the room.

As Miya exited the room, Bo was leaning his back against the window that belonged to her hospital room, and Bo motioned for her, walking to the front desk of the Hospital to check Miya out. Miya tugged on Bo's pink jacket which looked almost identical to Nifla's, but was much thinner.

"How long did you stay beside my hospital bed."

Bo responded without looking in her direction.

"One day, through the night, and until you woke up."

"Did you sleep any?"

"Yes. For a while."

Bo stopped at the front desk and signed Miya's checkout sheet, and she stood beside him, feeling guilty for burdening him. Bo finished quickly and escorted her out of the building and into the direction of the school. As they left the building, Miya's face remained red, and she struggled to force the words from her mouth

"T-Thank you."

...

Everyone sat in the auditorium, everyone's voices filling the room before headmaster appeared before them, his presence needing no announcement.

"I've gathered you all here to make a special announcement that I'm sure you'll want to listen closely."

Miya leaned further into her seat, and all of her friends followed suit.

"I've arranged a competition of sorts. Individuals will participate in two challenges with varying conditions and rules, and I've also determined that this would be a good time to exercise the school's ranking system. That being said, your placement in these challenges will affect your standing in the hierarchy, giving certain students at the top bonus privileges but not punishing those at the bottom."

The crowd went crazy with no exception, shaking the entire auditorium with its volume. Miya sat, he competitive spirit awakening as her eyes locked onto Krewe, her fists balled as she grew ever excited.

"There is a catch, though. Your placement during the competition will affect what type of missions you are assigned for the remainder of the school year and, of course, your placement in the school's hierarchy system."

The crowd stepped back for a second. The thought of their competition affecting their entire school year seemed to worry them, but Kem jumped out of his chair, cheering in excitement.

"Thank you, Mr. Krewe!"

The crowd laughed as Kem continued to dance and jitter.

"You've always liked competition… Actually, since you rank second amongst the students right now, why not give you a bit of perks during the competition as well?"

"Really?!"

The crowd's jaws dropped in disbelief while Kem seemed ecstatic about the idea.

"What kinda perks?!"

"You'll find out soon enough."