After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Inside the Vongola medical room.

Jin Chaoyan watched as the girl’s abdomen on the bed gradually caved in. She felt that if she didn’t use some medical skills now, it would be too late. She instructed Kina to close the door, glanced around to ensure there were no cameras, and reached her palm toward the girl’s abdomen under the covers—

The next moment, her wrist was caught and moved away by a hand reaching out from the side. “What are you doing?”

Following the glimpse of a purple shirt and black suit cuff at the newcomer’s wrist, she looked up and said naturally, “Saving her?”

Kyoya Hibari lowered his gaze, his phoenix eyes watching her calmly. “How do you plan to save her?”

“…For example, by restoring her health?” In this life-and-death moment, Jin Chaoyan was busy thinking about which skill she had bought from the store would work. Only after speaking did she realize how suspicious it would be to use her abilities right in front of him, so she stopped abruptly, looking like she had been choked.

But the man didn’t press further. He merely glanced at the girl on the bed and replied plainly, “Your method cannot be used for the time being.”

Eh?

Why?

Jin Chaoyan stared at him blankly, not yet understanding his meaning, when she heard Sawada Tsuna’s voice as he ran in from outside. “Is it Chrome?”

Even Gokudera, Yamamoto, Reborn, and Lal Mirch had arrived. Almost as soon as they reached the bedside, the thin quilt over the girl on the snowy white bed sank completely, making the shape of her spine clearly visible.

“This is bad—”

Sawada Tsuna clutched his head, saying in a panic, “Why did it suddenly become like this?”

“Most likely, something happened on Rokudo Mukuro’s end.” Reborn hopped onto the edge of the bed and pressed down on his fedora. The smile disappeared from the corners of his mouth, and his childish voice turned heavy.

Before Gokudera or Yamamoto could speak, Kyoya Hibari turned toward the group that had suddenly flooded in. “If you want to save her, get out.”

“Eh… Eh?”

Sawada Tsuna looked at him in a daze. He wanted to say something, but a silver-grey head poked in from the door, reminding them in a loud voice, “Sawada, leave this to Hibari. I happen to have something important to convey to you all. Come to the meeting room.”

“…Big Brother?”

He turned his head in surprise and saw Sasagawa Ryohei, whose hands were wrapped in bandages as he gripped the doorframe. He was much taller than he had been ten years ago, wearing an orange shirt and a black suit. Tsuna’s eyes widened.

Reborn hopped down from the bed and walked toward the door. “He’s right, Tsuna. Let’s go out first.”

Gokudera and Yamamoto exchanged a glance and chose to follow Reborn’s lead. Sawada Tsuna looked left and right, noticing that even Jin Chaoyan was turning to leave. Only then did he belatedly feel a death stare, making the hair on his body stand on end, and he scrambled toward the exit.

“You, stay.”

When he heard that voice, Sawada Tsuna turned his head stiffly in confusion, only to realize that Kyoya Hibari wasn’t calling him.

More bewildered than he was Jin Chaoyan. The woman pointed a finger at herself. “Me?”

Though she didn’t know what use her staying would be, under the man’s gaze and with the girl’s life still hanging in the balance, she simply nodded. She stopped looking at the people who had already left and walked to Hibari’s side, asking:

“How can I help?”

The dense mist was guided and dispersed, filling the entire medical room. Jin Chaoyan witnessed the entire scene of the Vongola Mist Ring’s power being drawn out. What surprised her most was that the person on the bed used illusions again to fill in the organs that had just vanished.

It wasn’t until she was led out of the ward that she seemed to snap out of it. “What was that just now…?”

“Physical illusions.”

Kyoya Hibari answered in a flat voice.

Oh, sounds pretty impressive. Jin Chaoyan raised a hand to lightly scratch her forehead. “So she’s been using illusions to sustain her life all this time?”

“Previously, her illusions were maintained by Mukuro. The connection between her and Mukuro is very special. If you were to heal her without preparation and sever this connection between them, it wouldn’t be a good thing for her.”

Hearing his explanation, Jin Chaoyan understood why she had been stopped. She nodded. “I see. Then I’ll wait until she wakes up and ask her personally…”

After a pause, she asked somewhat sheepishly, “Was I being too reckless just now?”

Sensing her gaze, Kyoya Hibari suddenly stopped. He looked at her with a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Why don’t you ask who Mukuro is?”

“…”

Jin Chaoyan hadn’t expected this man to throw out difficult questions to corner her at every moment; it was more terrifying than a pop quiz back in school. Her expression went blank for two seconds before she followed his lead as if nothing were wrong. “Oh, who is Mukuro?”

The curve of Kyoya Hibari’s lips rose higher.

—The little squirrel’s big tail had been exposed again.

He thought this but didn’t answer, heading straight for the elevator and pressing the floor button.

Jin Chaoyan agonized for a moment. She felt that this man had already seen through her secrets, yet he chose not to ask. Like a cat playing with a mouse, he just wanted to see her scramble to make up lies.

She stared at Kyoya Hibari’s back for a while, then decided to just go with it, pretending they hadn’t just been talking as she stood beside him to wait for the elevator.

Tetsuya Kusakabe had left with the Vongola group earlier and wasn’t with them now. Kina followed at a distance. Watching them interact, even when the elevator arrived, she stood at the furthest point from them, looking down with her head lowered to minimize her presence.

Suddenly, an extremely piercing greeting arrived: “VOI————!!!”

The moving elevator seemed to be attacked by the sound wave. The bright lights began to flicker, and Jin Chaoyan, caught in the blast, felt her mind go blank. It took her a while to remember to cover her ears, blocking that booming, lung-busting voice with her palms.

The elevator car gave a slight lurch. She had been so startled by the roar that both her hands were busy covering her ears, leaving her no time to grab the emergency railing. She couldn’t stand steadily, and her head bumped into the shoulder of the person beside her. The next second, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her entirely toward his side.

As her nose bumped into the fabric of his suit chest, Jin Chaoyan smelled that faint scent of fresh grass again. She felt as though she were on a sun-drenched prairie, being protected by a predator within its territory.

By the time the elevator stopped shaking, her head was still buzzing. Jin Chaoyan stepped out of his embrace and asked dazed, “Was that… an enemy attack?”

Did Millefiore use a sonic weapon?

Kyoya Hibari was already displeased by the noise, but seeing her startled and dazed look now, his gaze swept over her repeatedly, and his mood turned strangely peaceful. “It’s the Vongola independent assassination squad, Varia’s strategy commander, Superbi Squalo.”

Oh.

Right.

Jin Chaoyan truly remembered now. Back when she was watching this anime and playing it out loud at home, that was the time her speakers broke.

Now, with 3D surround sound and an immersive experience, she could only say her speakers back then didn’t die in vain.

After returning to Hibari’s base, Jin Chaoyan remembered she had been caught in the rain earlier and wanted to take a hot shower to get rid of the chill.

After hesitating between the two bedrooms for a while, she chose to take her change of clothes to Hibari’s bathroom, where the door wasn’t broken. That broken screen door in her own room really didn’t provide any sense of security.

In the sound of rushing water, the swirling mist spread out.

Jin Chaoyan stood under the hot water, feeling her startled heart from earlier being smoothed over by the warm flow. After washing her hair and body, she hummed a song relaxedly. She picked up a towel to gently dry her long hair, and after wiping herself dry, she reached for the change of clothes nearby.

“HEY—! HIBARI! ARE YOU EXTREMELY ASKING FOR A BEATING?!”

An incredibly powerful roar startled Jin Chaoyan so much she shuddered, remembering the terror of being dominated by Squalo’s voice earlier. By the time she reacted, her fresh clothes had already fallen to the floor.

“…”

She looked down at the new clothes that were now completely unwearable, then at the old ones she had tossed into the laundry basket, still damp with rain. For a moment, Jin Chaoyan felt that the destruction of the world might be a good thing—quiet and peaceful.

Ten minutes later.

Jin Chaoyan stood by the wardrobe, rolling up the sleeves of the deep blue yukata she was wearing. She wrapped her wet hair in a bath towel and walked out expressionlessly, planning to go back to her room to blow-dry her hair.

Swish.

When the door opened, Kyoya Hibari was standing there, about to come in and change.

Their eyes met. The person untying his tie stopped his fingers, his index finger hooked into the black tie knot. His grey-blue eyes lowered slightly, catching sight of her in the sleep robe with loose shoulders and sleeves and a hem that was far too long.

After a moment, Kyoya Hibari curled his lips. “Wao.”

He said in a sighing tone: “I didn’t realize you liked my clothes this much.”

Jin Chaoyan: “…”

She was quite numb. The shame that should have emerged upon being discovered was suppressed by the lingering shock of those two sonic attacks. Thus, after hearing his words, she calmly raised her eyes to meet the man’s gaze.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“What?”

“Does Vongola give work injury subsidies to guardians’ family members? For example, can I get reimbursed for some ENT specialist fees?”

“…”

It took Kyoya Hibari a while to figure out what she was referring to.

Then he roughly guessed why Jin Chaoyan was wearing his clothes. His grey-blue eyes softened as a smile surfaced.

The woman didn’t wait for his answer. Feeling like the ringing in her ears had improved slightly, she bypassed him and headed to her own room, busy with drying her hair.

Kyoya Hibari’s gaze instinctively fell on the nape of her snowy neck. He watched for a while until his attention was drawn by movement in the corridor. Seeing Kusakabe walking over, he suddenly spoke:

“Tetsuya.”

“Yes, Kyo-san, please give your orders.”

“Go hang a sign at the entrance connecting to the Vongola base. It should say: ‘Entry forbidden for anyone whose voice exceeds forty decibels.'”

Tetsuya Kusakabe: “?”

He was somewhat confused, but thinking of the scene earlier where Sasagawa Ryohei was shouting at Kyoya Hibari in the hall, he immediately understood who Kyo-san’s order was targeting.

But… would that really stop them?

During his hesitation, Hibari remembered how Sasagawa Ryohei insisted on drinking with him earlier and felt that the man’s reading comprehension might be lacking. So he changed his mind:

“Never mind. Change the content to—”

“‘Sasagawa Ryohei and children are not allowed inside.'”

Tetsuya Kusakabe: “…”

Though he felt this likely wouldn’t affect that headstrong Vongola Sun Guardian, since the boss had ordered it, he could only comply. “Yes.”

At the same time.

Jin Chaoyan finished drying her hair and heard Kina reporting to her at the door. “Madam, Mr. Hibari had a visitor just now, and he also brought a greeting gift for you.”

“Hmm?”

She put down the hair dryer and opened the wardrobe to change back into her own clothes, answering absentmindedly, “Who sent it?”

“It was Mr. Sasagawa Ryohei. He brought you a bottle of low-alcohol strawberry sparkling wine from abroad.”

The person standing in front of the wardrobe turned around. She hadn’t expected this Vongola Sun Guardian to criticize Hibari so loudly while being so courteous to others. She quickly forgot about the damage to her ears and instructed Kina:

“Help me prepare a return gift.”

“Yes, Madam.”

After Kina replied, she asked, “What are your plans for this bottle of wine, Madam?”

Jin Chaoyan hadn’t tasted fruit wine before. She turned her head with a hint of expectation. “The alcohol content in fruit wine is very low, right? Why don’t you open it for me now, and I’ll have a glass?”

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