The next day, Shisui went to Hanako's house little before sunrise. To avoid waking up her family, he looked for the window to the brunette's room and entered through it without making a sound. He observed the girl sleeping peacefully and doubted for a moment waking her up. However, they had a lot to do regarding Hanako's training and the thought of it cleared all doubt from his mind.
"Hey Hanako, wake up," he muttered next to her ear while shaking her a little. The brunette just groaned and turned her back to him. "Oh come on, sleeping beauty, don't make me use the trick to wake you." Hanako opened her eyes a bit and looked at him sideways.
"You wouldn't."
"Oh...yes I would," he said with a grin, coming dangerously close to her.
"NO!" In a fraction of a second, the girl was out of bed and in the other side of the room, pressed tightly against the wall.
"Well, now you seem more awake than ever!" Shisui commented with a big grin. "Go eat some breakfast and meet me in the training grounds at seven sharp." Hanako sighed as she looked at the clock on her nightstand. It read six thirty in the morning.
"You have no idea how much I hate you right now..." she muttered under her breath.
* * *
After training nearly all day with Shisui, exhausted least to say, Hanako had to walk her way back home. She couldn't even take a step in less than half a minute. "Damn Shisui... He really overdid it; he shouldn't have discovered my ability to heal." Hanako muttered to herself. She stopped in the middle of the road, and looked down at her hand curiously. "But why do I...?" Hanako took a kunai from her pouch, raised it to her wrist, and dragged it down against her skin. "Why do I heal so fast?" She observed with interest as the cut closed itself and disappeared without leaving a mark that assured it had been there.
"Hanako-san, what are you doing?" Hanako jumped when she heard Hiroki's voice at her back. She quickly put the knife down and turned slowly to meet him, hiding the weapon from his sight.
"Hey, Hiroki...how's it going?" She grinned slightly.
"Fine, thank you..." Hiroki narrowed his eyes at her, his voice dubious. "What about you?" His eyes drifted to her hands ¾carefully hidden behind her back¾ and then back to her face.
"Well, fine obviously..." Hanako did everything possible to sound the most convincing, but he gave her a look of such pity that made her stomach churn.
"Are you sure?" Hiroki walked closer towards her. "You cannot deny that you were harming yourself just now, though, can you?" Hanako arched her eyebrows, faking incredulity. "I saw you cut yourself, Hanako. That's not a good sign." He tried to take her hand, but Hanako took a step away from him.
"What makes you think I could do such thing to myself?" Hanako glared at him, clearly annoyed. But he only ignored her, as he observed her intently, analyzing her expression for a moment. Before she had realized it, he had snatched her hand and turned it upwards, finding nothing but fair unharmed skin. "Is that convincing enough for you?" Hanako let the words roll out of her tongue in a cold voice as she pulled her hand back. "I am fine," she said.
"This can't be..." Hiroki muttered, more to himself than to her. Confusion was visibly marked in his face. "I swear I saw¾"
"You imagined it," Hanako rolled her eyes. "Don't you remember what I said in the hospital? About the nurses casting illusions on the halls so patients wouldn't run away?" she asked. "I wasn't joking."
Hiroki visibly paled. "I..."
"You should go back home before you hallucinate something you regret," she continued, nipping her nails as a small smile curled her lips up. "Just a word of advice."
