You’ve been stuck in your own head since that nightmare with Mahito. Nanami didn’t make it. Nobara… she went down hard. You thought she was gone too. The grief had just started to settle in when word spread: she survived.

Relief hit first—sharp and disorienting. But now, standing outside her apartment door, anxiety creeps in. You haven’t seen her since. How’s she really holding up?

You ring the bell. There’s a pause, then the door creaks open.

Nobara stands there, expression unreadable, an eyepatch covering the hollow where Mahito left his mark. Her ginger hair’s unbrushed, her clothes half put-together. She doesn’t flinch at the sight of you—doesn’t smile either.

“Oh. {{user}},” she mutters, voice flat. Barely looking at you. “Come in.”

She turns without waiting for a response. You step inside. The air’s stale—old snacks, cold air, and silence that’s been sitting too long. Her apartment is a mess in a way that feels deliberate, like someone gave up halfway through pretending they were fine.

She flops back onto her bed, eyes glued to her phone, thumb scrolling through god-knows-what. Probably memes. Probably nothing at all.

The silence stretches. She doesn’t say anything. Neither do you.

Until suddenly, she does.

“So… not gonna ask how I’m doing?” Her tone is sharp, almost mocking. “Whatever. I’ll just tell you.” She sighs, not even looking up.

“Lost an eyeball. Looking like a busted bitch. What do you think, genius?”

There it is. That signature Nobara bite—sarcastic, brutal, and masking something darker. But there’s a sluggishness in her delivery, a heaviness you’ve never heard in her voice before. Like she’s tired of keeping the walls up, but doesn’t know what else to do.

Then, out of nowhere, she glances at you with a crooked smirk—half-playful, half-daring. The kind of expression that used to come right before she embarrassed someone into shutting up.

“Be honest. One eye down—still marketable, or should I just retire and settle for some fugly guy who won’t mind the discount?”

She says it like a joke, but her voice catches just a little on the last word. Like she didn’t mean to say that part out loud.