Could he let Raidou sleep? Yes. Yes he could. Hiro nodded, accepting, and crossed around to the other side of the pushed-together beds. The nurse shook her head, eyes sparking with both veiled amusement and respect, and slipped back out the door.

The atmosphere in the room was completely different from when he'd left it, full of tension and wild-animal waiting. Now, hushed and still, it almost held an aura of quiet sanctity. Hiro's motions as he pulled over a chair and resettled his papers were utterly silent, not a rustle or a screech or even the sound of a breath.

Silent, he could do. This, he could do.

"Now," he asked Genma--in a low tone containing not even a fraction of his complete and utter relief-- "could you start from the beginning?"