Shipping the SDRA2 Cast With Each Other

Emmaroha/Iroha Nijiue x Emma Magorobi

It was an odd tradition between the Children of Utsuro, but every night before bed, they would often gather around to hear each other's stories. Iroha had happy and complicated retellings of manga she had seen, Hajime didn't have many stories at all, Nikei was only allowed to read out happy things from his articles, and Emma had a lot of stories to share.

It was often Emma that told the group a story to help them get to sleep faster, to have dreams coloured by her words instead of plagued by their usual nightmares. But now that they were on Utsuroshima, it was drastically different.

They all had their own dorm rooms on the Monocruise - actual shelter, for once! - and often slept in their own, despite Monocrow extending the rule from 'only sleep in your own dorm' to 'only sleep in the dorms.' He said that it increased camaraderie, so people took the opportunity to cuddle each other.

Nikei and Hajime didn't necessarily need stories anymore, but Iroha still requested bedtime stories from Emma on nights that she couldn't sleep or was too anxious to sleep, scared that a nightmare would keep her up. Emma would oblige and come to Iroha's room, pulling up a chair to sit beside her bed.

Tonight, Emma walked in the room with a depressed look on her face. "I got your message, you poor thing. Nightmares have been bothering you again? What was it of this time?" The actress softly asked, grabbing the chair and pulling it up to the painter's bedside.

"I-It was of my old house...just bad memories. I need to just stay positive, maybe they'll go away then..." Iroha whimpered while laying on her bed. The blankets were mostly pulled over her thin frame, and she looked up at Emma with wet eyes.

Emma looked down at her, wondering what to say to fix this. She knew that Iroha had asked for a bedtime story, but clearly that wouldn't be enough to brighten her mood. She had to make it engaging. "Hm, how about I tell you about the time I volunteered at an animal hospital?" The actress began.

"An...animal hospital?" The painter's eyes lit up with interest and excitement. "Th-Those exist?!"

"Ah, it's a hospital FOR animals, not run by animals." Emma chuckled. "But it did mean that I got to cuddle with a bunch of animals a lot. What my job was as a volunteer was to make sure that everyone was fed, given water, went to the bathroom, and emotional support. Animals do get stressed out if they're left alone while in pain for a long time, so there were many volunteers like me to help them!"

"O-Oh...well, I'm glad that animals have people in their own hospitals helping them get better!" Iroha chirped, looking a little awkward from her misunderstanding. "Hey, you could tell me about your favourite patient? I think it would be a cute story!"

"My favourite patient... Well, I'd have to say, it would be a bird with no wings. We were helping it to fly without the use of its wings!" The blonde happily explained. "It was an owl, actually, and it got mauled on the ground by a trap while trying to catch some prey. We were helping it to fly again!"

"Um... Birds can't fly without wings..." Iroha interrupted, skeptical of the story.

"Well, here's the catch: some geniuses had 3D printed some prosthetic wings and they were attached to this owl!" Emma exclaimed. "And the poor thing was having a hard time at first, trying to fly after being injured like that in a trap, and it kept trying to preen the 3D printed wings too. It was actually pretty sad to see, but it liked being petted!"

"Oh, I see now! What a cute owl!" The girl in bed chirped. "What happened to it? Did it get better?"

"Well, that's the thing. Not only did it get attached to humans, but it kept failing to fly and kept picking at its fake wing. It couldn't be released back into the wild." Emma sighed, but suddenly brightened up. "Well, there is a good side to this story! The owl was kept at the hospital and is being trained into a therapy animal to other animals bigger than itself, and it should be a trained owl by now!"

"Ooh, cool!" Iroha smiled, and then relaxed into bed. "Thanks, Emma. I think I can try and sleep now."

"Do you want me to snuggle with you, just in case?" The actress asked. Iroha made a soft affirmative noise and moved over in her bed, allowing Emma to slip in and lie down next to her. 

As soon as she pulled the blankets back over them, Iroha wrapped her limbs around Emma and clung to her like a koala. The taller girl just giggled and used the room's remote to turn off the lights, waiting until Iroha had fallen asleep before sleeping herself.