"So Gold Ship is really going to be hospitalized for a while?" Dyna asked, standing outside the hospital room with the diagnostic report the doctor had just handed her.
The mare doctor in a white coat stood with both hands in her pockets and nodded. "Acute food poisoning. It looks like she basically ate charcoal, so what exactly was that thing?"
In all her years of practice, she had to admit this was the first time she had ever seen a horse girl rushed into emergency care with her entire mouth blackened. Thankfully, Gold Ship wasn't in any danger, but the doctor still very much wanted to lecture her friends.
This time, the culprit herself, Orfevre, answered in Dyna's place.
"It was… overbaked cookies, basically. But even I didn't expect Gold Ship to eat an entire box of them in one go!"
The doctor tipped her head back, her expression grave.
"For the immediate future, the patient needs to eat bland foods only. Nothing that irritates the stomach. Sweets are absolutely forbidden. And the rest of you, as her friends, need to take food safety more seriously! Sure, sharing desserts can strengthen bonds, but the feelings get across without this kind of thing! Honestly, I have no words for the sort of stubborn pride that leads to this!"
The doctor went on and on, scolding them both thoroughly, while Dyna and Orfevre could only stand there obediently, backs straight, and take it in silence.
Eventually, perhaps having said everything she wanted to say, the doctor paused to take a sip of carrot juice and clear her throat.
"In short, those are the main precautions. And as her friends, you need to pay more attention to what she eats. Don't drag her into binge-eating spicy, acidic, or irritating foods—"
She launched into another long-winded lecture full of sound advice. Dyna and Orfevre kept their heads lowered and said nothing, though both of them were biting their lips hard enough to nearly draw blood.
At last, the reprimand ended. The doctor handed the prescription to Dyna, who at least looked dependable, then left to make her rounds in the next room.
Neither Dyna nor Orfevre went into Gold Ship's room right away.
Because Dyna was staring at Orfevre.
"Miss Orfevre, promise me something. If you ever come to the shop to 'show sincerity' again… only bring goodwill, all right? I have this awful feeling that if you bring anything else with you, Gold Ship won't live very long…"
She had no idea where that premonition came from, but the urge in her heart was so strong that, for the sake of her employee's continued survival, Dyna felt she had to stop Orfevre here and now.
Orfevre lifted a hand as if to argue, but since she wasn't in the right in any way whatsoever, she swallowed the protest instead.
"I understand. This will never happen again. I'll take care of Gold Ship from here on, Dyna."
Dyna?
Dyna froze for a second.
In Japan, calling someone by name like that was a sign of real closeness, and she definitely didn't think she and Orfevre were close enough for that. But in the end, she didn't bring it up. Since Gold Ship would now have someone looking after her, Dyna needed to get back to the shop and keep the business running.
And with someone from the Gold family taking care of her, there really shouldn't be anything to worry about. No matter how bad the Gold family might be at looking after people, surely they wouldn't hand Gold Ship the wrong medicine—or feed her the wrong food.
So Dyna carefully went over the doctor's instructions with Orfevre all over again, explaining everything in plain, simple terms. Only after Orfevre nodded and promised she understood did Dyna finally leave the hospital.
Still, as she stepped outside, the more she thought about that slightly dazed look in Orfevre's eyes, the more uneasy she felt.
"I really hope that's just my imagination…"
"Maybe it isn't," a voice said.
Cody's Wish had appeared at her side at some point and started walking alongside her. The little blue bird perched on her shoulder chirped softly, then fluttered down onto Dyna's raised hand.
"Ah? Miss Cody's Wish! Good afternoon. I haven't seen much of you lately. Have you been busy with something?" Dyna asked, pleasantly surprised.
Whenever Cody's Wish wasn't around, Dyna always felt a little lonely. Now that she had suddenly reappeared, all the feelings Dyna had been quietly bottling up spilled out naturally at once.
Cody's Wish touched a finger to her chin and answered, "Mm. I've been reworking the unused areas of your mindscape—the places that could be used, but have been left abandoned. It's strange. Your imagination is so vast, yet you only make use of a tiny fraction of it."
She tilted her head at Dyna.
"Is this what people mean when they say life has worn someone's edges down?"
Dyna's smile froze for a moment.
"Wait… the space in my mind…? Are you saying my head doesn't just have room for someone like you?"
"Of course not," Cody's Wish said. "You're special, Dyna. The imagination you possess is enormous—far beyond the hazy kind children have. Yours is wilder, freer. What you lack is someone who can guide you in using that imagination and your willpower. Unfortunately… I'm not that person."
Her words made Dyna's heart tremble.
Something buried deep inside her felt as though it might start breaking through the soil again.
"I… there's no way something like that would be useful. It can't help in real life at all, okay? Ha ha…"
For what might have been the first time, Dyna was openly avoiding the topic in front of Cody's Wish.
As though imagination itself was something she needed to stay away from.
That made Cody's Wish curious. What could have happened to make someone fear imagination so deeply?
Perhaps to avoid continuing the conversation, Dyna quickened her pace. Cody's Wish simply lifted off the ground, drifting weightlessly around her, and said nothing more.
But by now, Cody's Wish had a fairly clear sense of where Dyna's real bottleneck lay.
Perhaps this fear of dreaming about the future—of envisioning what might come next—was the root of everything holding her back.
But what, exactly, was the wound at the heart of it?
Cody's Wish had no idea.
Dyna now ran a warm, welcoming little shop every day. Every morning she trained with Wada, Opera O, and Chrysler's Wish. She had friends like Gold Ship, Oguri Cap, and the internet idol Karen. What kind of past could make someone this gentle, this capable, this full of life, still keep her heart so tightly closed?
She looked so vibrant, and yet she had already stopped daring to imagine a future for herself.
That was a terrifying thing.
"Miss Cody's Wish… could you please not ask about this anymore?"
"All right," Cody's Wish said. "I won't."
Only then did Dyna's expression ease a little. Still, the pounding of her heart made it obvious she was far from all right.
Cody's Wish fell silent. After Dyna boarded the bus, she disappeared.
Inside the packed bus, Dyna was jostled from side to side like a dead leaf, able to keep her balance only by clinging to the handrail.
The conversation had stirred up shadows buried deep inside her, and she remained dazed all the way until she got off. Standing beneath the glowing sign of her shop, she lifted her head and stared at the neat row of familiar letters.
Beneath the wash of neon, the place looked warm.
And yet…
No matter what she did, she couldn't feel any warmth in her heart.
Light Dyna had made too many promises once.
And without exception—
She had broken them.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter116)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 118
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 111
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 80
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 112
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 95
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 89
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 61
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 65
Uma Musume: From Beginner 61
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 37
Uma Musume: I Want All 35
I Can Copy Unique Skills 36
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
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