Nedzu came into Kouki's view. Sylvia was playing with a feather that fell from her wings as she walked, taking gentle whiffs of its aromatic rosy scent and feeling its soft texture, akin to that of a flower petal. Lucy was opening and closing her wings, trying to entertain herself in how the light from the fluorescent light bulbs danced across her scales. Jack, on the other hand, without any extra appendages to play with, instead cooled and warmed the air around him, using his quirk to train himself in certain concentrations of area and energy (and also finding an excuse to entertain himself).
"Ah, Amachi-san," Nedzu said calmly, brightly grinning. "How pleasant to see you. I see you brought your children?"
Kouki nodded. "Yes, sir. I hope it's not a concern... I simply cannot think of a better place to keep the kids safe than with Recovery Girl, especially since..." he trailed off. It was quite a traumatic experience for the four of them.
"Yes, your previous email explained everything," Nedzu confirmed. "Recovery Girl is awaiting the children's arrival. She wishes you to know she welcomes your middle one with open arms."
At that, Sylvia perked up slightly, glancing at Nedzu for a second before flickering her attention back to her feather (only when Nedzu made eye contact with her).
"Good," Kouki sighed. "Then please, I'd like to walk them off to her before going. I need to know they're in safe hands."
"Of course. Right this way."
The creature led Kouki and the three kids to the nurse's office, where hospital equipment was visible. As Sylvia walked inside the room, she clearly tensed, recognizing the equipment from the several hospitals she's been in and out of in an attempt to fix her torn lungs. She gripped her feather tightly and extended her wings, fluffing them up defensively.
Kouki took notice of this and knelt to Sylvia's eye level. "Sylvia, this is where that nice healing hero lady stays to take care of the injured. Remember the healing lady?"
Sylvia nodded shakily, but she wouldn't stop shivering. "N-no surgery... p-please no surgery..."
"There's no surgery," Kouki assured her. "No surgery, I promise. She's just going to look at you. No surgery, just a quick look. If anything hurts or you don't want to be looked at, you can say so."
"No looking..."
Kouki hugged the frightened girl. He gave Nedzu an apologetic look. Nedzu hadn't understood the two since they spoke English instead of Japanese, so Kouki had to translate for him. "She's scared there's going to be a surgery and she doesn't want to be examined. I don't know what I can do to help her. Her siblings are close, but there's not much they can do to quell her fear; Lucy's only five and Jack's nine."
"I understand," Nedzu said. "It was a very tough experience for them all, and for you too, I'm sure. You can stay with her while Recovery Girl is here. After all, health is more important than a job interview."
Kouki nodded and gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you." He turned to Sylvia. "I'm going to stay here with you for a little while. I can be here while Recovery Girl comes and looks at you. That way, if you're uncomfortable, I'll be there to support you. Does that sound good?"
Sylvia shook her head. "Noooo.... I-I don't want them to look. She-she can't see me. I don't want to her see me--um, her to see me. I don't want it..."
"Sweetheart, you're going to have to. She's a doctor."
"She can take her lollipops and eat 'em."
Jack had spoken up then, arms crossed. He was clearly defending Sylvia and was growing angry. "If Sylvia says no, that means no."
"Jack, none of you have a choice in this. If we don't do this, Sylvia could--" Kouki bit his tongue. He didn't want to make his kids cry.
"Sylvia could what?" Lucy asked the taboo question far too innocently.
Jack didn't seem to get it either, which was strange. Jack was the smartest of them all, a kid genius who learns things very fast. But before Kouki could bite his tongue again, he had to let it slip.
"She could die from the damage alone."
The three siblings stopped what they were doing and exchanged horrified glances. "Sylvia's gonna DIE?!" Lucy exclaimed, tears welling up.
"Y-you jerk, no she's not!" Jack exclaimed.
Sylvia cried silently, but nodded nonetheless. "....o-ok..."
"Look, I-I didn't mean to make you cry. But reality isn't fair, and that villain wanted you kids dead. She was only stopped because of Ace--thank God for them--and now Sylvia's alright. But all I'm asking you to do is let Sylvia be examined by Recovery Girl so that we know what we can do to keep her from dying. Do you understand?"
Jack recovered quickly, but he was still angry with Kouki. He wiped his tears and huffed, turning away and refusing to speak again. Sylvia nodded again, finally agreeing to being examined, and Lucy still sobbed. She curled up and hid herself with her silvery wings. Nedzu gave the kids empathetic looks.
"I don't understand what you said, but I'm assuming they now know the weight of the situation?" he said.
Kouki sighed. "I didn't know how else to get them to listen. We don't want Sylvia dead, and I really didn't want to tell them about her situation, but despite their ages, they're still siblings. They deserve to know so they can understand how to take care of her."
Nedzu nodded. "Yes. How unfortunate. Ah, here comes Recovery Girl now."
And of course, the door opened to reveal the small old woman, frowning at the children's crying faces.