SENSITIVE EYES OF SISTERS
Sensitive Eyes of Sisters
The Journey of Sisters Sayla and Leina
Sayla had been living on Earth, far from her brother, dedicating herself to her work as a physician. One day, a wounded girl with eyes just like her own appeared before her.
And so, the two tenderhearted sisters embarked on a journey together.
※ This story is a completely original creation planned by our editorial team.
Written by Yumiko Suzuki
A key screenwriter for the acclaimed Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ series. Suzuki studied under Yu Yamamoto, renowned for his work on the classic sci-fi anime “J9.” From her student days, she has crafted scripts for charming stories like The Story of Little Goddess Roly-Poly Pollon and Nanako SOS. A rising star among female screenwriters in the anime industry, Suzuki is also an avid volleyball enthusiast.
Illustrations by Toshimitsu Kobayashi (to be updated later)
Sayla had always been a loner, even as a child. Whenever something was troubling her, she would mull it over on her own. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to confide in others, but rather that she had no one to turn to.
Today was no different. As she stared at the blank spaces on the medical chart, her mind wandered to a particular patient.
The girl’s name was Leina Ashta, and she couldn’t have been more than ten years old. She was a tiny little thing, and she rarely spoke about herself. All Sayla knew was her name, that she had apparently been on a Neo Zeon ship, and that she had nearly died from severe injuries sustained during the bombing of Dakar.
The man who had saved her life and provided this information was Rahd Khadija, a former Neo Zeon soldier himself. It was thought that Leina might have some intel on Neo Zeon, which is why she had been admitted to this hospital near the Mediterranean Sea. But since her arrival, the girl had hardly spoken to anyone except Rahd. He had even been excused from his usual duties as a prisoner of war so that he could act as Leina’s caretaker. And it was clear that he genuinely enjoyed looking after her, not in a weird way, but with a sincere fondness for the child.
Sayla, too, found herself inexplicably drawn to Leina. But try as she might, she couldn’t seem to connect with her. Their conversations always ended up feeling strained and awkward. It was becoming quite the dilemma.
Frankly, it was harder than trying to figure out how to let down an overly persistent suitor, with which Sayla had plenty of experience. But with Leina… maybe the girl was just intimidated by Sayla’s seemingly perfect demeanor.
Yes, that had to be it.
“To put Leina’s mind at ease… yes, that’s what I’ll do!”
With meticulous precision, she jotted down her plan on the back of the medical chart. As was her routine, Sayla made her way to Leina’s room as the girl sat down for breakfast.
It was a lavish space for a lone child, a mark of the hospital’s esteem.
“Good morning, Leina,” Sayla called out, her voice infused with as much warmth as she could muster. People often complimented her smile, saying it had a touch of melancholy that made it all the more lovely. Sayla thought that was ridiculous. Her inability to summon a carefree, unbridled laugh was a product of her somber upbringing, nothing more. Besides, looking too serious could make patients uneasy, a liability in her line of work.
Little wonder that Leina had yet to open up to her, necessitating this unorthodox approach.
“Good morning, Dr. Sayla,” Leina replied, her own smile tinged with a certain rigidity. Sayla could read it plain as day.
“Still not quite ready to talk about yourself, I see.”
“I’m sorry…”
Leina’s gaze fell to the floor.
“Think nothing of it. I’m not here to interrogate you. Our first priority is getting you healed up!”
Sayla set to work examining Leina’s injuries, a ritual she had grown accustomed to. The sight of the brutal gunshot wound never failed to turn her stomach – a hair’s breadth higher, and it would have pierced the girl’s heart.
Each time she laid eyes on it, Sayla was transported back to the battlefields of her past, memories she longed to forget surging unbidden to the surface. It was part of the reason why she had been reluctant to practice medicine again. She hadn’t really wanted to join Karaba either. While she hated standing by and watching the war unfold, she wasn’t keen on participating in it. And more than anything, she wanted to stay far away from her brother, who was out there in space.
When her comrades in Karaba had extended the invitation, Sayla had every intention of declining. But then she met Leina, and something within her shifted, a newfound resolve taking hold.
In Leina’s eyes, Sayla saw a reflection of her own sorrow.
Chart tucked under her arm, Sayla began the process of changing Leina’s dressings, her plan springing into action.
“Oh no!!” The words left her lips with an almost comical clarity, each syllable ringing out in sharp relief. Sayla was hardly prone to such outbursts, and Leina’s eyes widened in shock.
“I’ve made a terrible mistake,” Sayla continued, her voice dripping with chagrin.
“I’ve gone and grabbed the wrong gloves! These are meant for the kitchen!”
Sure enough, the gloves adorning Sayla’s hands were a vivid purple, thick, and clearly intended for culinary pursuits.
But Leina seemed too taken aback to react, her expression frozen somewhere between bewilderment and mild alarm, not a hint of a smile to be seen.
Undeterred, Sayla deployed her contingency plan.
“What a pickle I’ve landed myself in…” As the words left her mouth, Sayla plopped the offending glove atop her head with a flourish. A smudge of grime from the glove left a mark across her face, an impromptu beard of sorts.
“Dr. Sayla?!”
Sayla made an exaggerated show of looking at her reflection in the shiny lid of a cotton-filled jar.
“Heavens above, how ghastly! Is that a beard I spy?!”
The lines fell from Sayla’s lips with practiced ease, lifted verbatim from her meticulous notes on the back of the chart. Surely, this would do the trick. But Leina remained silent, her gaze fixed on Sayla’s arm, inscrutable.
It seemed even her most valiant efforts at levity had failed to pierce the veil of Leina’s reserve. But then…
Realization dawned on Sayla in a flash.
There, in plain view, was the medical chart she held, the very same one she had scrawled her plan upon, laid bare before Leina’s eyes. A rush of heat suffused Sayla’s face, a telltale blush spreading across her features.
“Doc… it was funny. Really…” Leina lifted her gaze, a valiant attempt at a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
“I fear I may have missed my calling as a comedian. Just as well, I became a doctor instead.”
“Don’t say that. It really was funny.”
The earnestness in Leina’s voice struck a chord deep within Sayla, a wave of tenderness washing over her.
“Leina… you… there’s no need to go to such lengths on my account… Haha.”
Almost before she realized it, peals of laughter were spilling from Sayla’s lips, the sound unfamiliar even to her own ears.
“I can’t believe… Hehe… Haha.”
Soon, both of them had dissolved into peals of laughter, the room ringing with the sound of their shared joy.
“Ow… Dr. Sayla, my wound… Haha.”
“Careful now, Leina. Don’t overdo it.”
Despite her words of caution, one of them found it quite impossible to rein in her laughter for some time.When they finally caught their breath, Sayla turned to Leina with a gentle smile.
“We’re not so different, are we? Always putting others before ourselves.”
“My brother used to chide me for worrying too much.”
“You have a brother as well?”
A flicker of surprise danced across Leina’s face as if she hadn’t meant to let that particular detail slip.
“Pay it no mind. You don’t have to say anything more if you’d rather not.”
“No, I want to tell you. I feel I can talk to you, Dr. Sayla.”
And with that, the floodgates opened, Leina’s words pouring forth in an unrelenting torrent. She spoke of her birth on Shangri-La, of her time aboard the Argama with her brother, of their cruel separation, and how he probably thought she was dead now. She confessed that she had kept her identity secret because she worried that suddenly reappearing would only distract him and weaken his resolve. On and on she went, heedless of Sayla’s gentle attempts to slow her down, worry for the girl’s well-being foremost in her mind.
From that day forward, conversation flowed freely between them, their bond growing with each passing day. They became as sisters, linked by an unbreakable thread of understanding.
Leina held nothing back, sharing tales of her beloved brother Judau, her cherished friends, and the trials she had endured as a captive of Neo Zeon, saved only by the grace of Glemy Toto.
And Sayla, in turn, found herself opening up as never before, trading stories of her own past, her own flesh and blood, secrets she had scarcely dared to whisper aloud. In those precious moments, the weight of the years between them seemed to melt away.
As Leina’s external wounds began to mend, Sayla put the finishing touches on a report to complement the medical chart.
It stated in no uncertain terms that Leina had no significant intel on Neo Zeon, that she was unlikely to have any further contact with them, and that she would need to be relocated for a while to focus on her recovery and rehabilitation.
The report was airtight, leaving no room for anyone to raise objections on the spot.
Under normal circumstances, whisking Leina away on such short notice would have been unthinkable. Sayla knew she had to act fast before the powers that be at Karaba could marshal their forces. For once, she found herself grateful for the exacting nature of her upbringing, the relentless pursuit of perfection that had shaped her every waking moment.
With a sense of grim determination, Sayla gathered up their meager belongings, stowing them away in the trunk of a waiting car. Leina, still unsteady on her feet, found herself swept up in Sayla’s arms, carried to safety with a tenderness that belied the urgency of their flight.
“Ms Sayla, I was just about to–“
“I’m going to help you find your way back to the Leina you once were.”
A smile, warm and genuine, blossomed on Sayla’s face – a sight that had become commonplace in Leina’s presence these past days.
“And to do that, we’re setting off on a journey, just the two of us.”
Before Leina could offer up a smile of her own in return, Sayla’s fingers were already turning the key in the ignition, the engine roaring to life.
And with that, their adventure began.
◆ ◆ ◆
As Sayla and Leina made their way toward Northern Europe, where flights waited to ferry travelers to the stars, Sayla kept their true destination hidden from her young companion. She knew Leina wasn’t ready to return to the cosmos, to face the brother she had left behind, and the mere mention of it would only cause her pain.
The towns they passed through on their journey weren’t always the picture of tranquility, but the people they encountered never failed to greet them with warmth and kindness. On this particular day, as dusk began to settle over the countryside, they found themselves in a small village and were offered a cozy detached house to stay in. The owner even went so far as to tell them they were free to use any of the food they found inside.
With a spring in their step, the two girls set about preparing their evening meal.
“You know, Ms. Sayla,” Leina said, her eyes sparkling with affection, “having you by my side makes me feel like I can take on anything. You’re so talented, so capable, and when I’m with you, it’s like everyone we meet can’t help but be drawn to you.”
“You give me too much credit,” Sayla replied earnestly. “Everyone just wants to be liked by you, Leina.”
While she and Leina shared some similarities, Leina possessed a certain quality that Sayla lacked – the ability to put people’s hearts at ease.
Sayla believed she didn’t have that gift. That’s why she thought her brother had distanced himself from her. Perhaps her perfectionist nature had a way of hardening people’s hearts.
As she was lost in these thoughts, Leina skillfully peeled potatoes. The kitchen they found themselves in wasn’t the modern, familiar setup Sayla was used to, causing her to hesitate slightly.
“Leina, let me help too,” she offered.
Without looking up, Leina replied, “It’s just stew, so… you can peel some vegetables or something.”
“Peel them…”
There were potatoes, carrots, and onions.
“Onions…” Sayla looked relieved.
She picked up an onion and started peeling. A while later, Leina let out a surprised yelp.
“Sayla, do you secretly love onions?!”
A pile of more than ten peeled onions sat in front of Sayla.
“Oh, I guess I peeled too many… I’ll do something else…”
“Here, you can do the carrots!” Leina pointed.
“Okay!”
But instead of peeling them right away, Sayla rummaged through the kitchen drawers for a while.
“What are you looking for?” Leina asked.
“Well…” Sayla hesitated. “I was hoping there might be… a peeler…”
“There’s a knife right there.”
“I… I can’t peel with a knife.”
“What?! No way!” Leina burst out laughing. “If you’d told me, I would’ve done it myself. I can’t believe you, of all people, don’t know how to peel vegetables…”
Sayla felt her cheeks grow warm.
“You’d just finished praising me for being so capable… I didn’t want to let you down.”
Leina took the carrot Sayla was still holding and peeled it effortlessly with practiced hands. She ended up preparing the whole meal herself. The stew had a few too many onions, but to Sayla, it tasted better than any gourmet meal she’d ever had.
“Ms. Sayla,” Leina chided gently, “you have to tell me these things from the start. If there’s something you can’t do, I want to know.”
“I’m sorry. I thought if I just had a peeler…”
“It’s fine, really.” Leina smiled. “You’re always so focused on not getting in anyone’s way, aren’t you?”
“I suppose I am,” Sayla admitted.
“I’m like that too,” Leina said, her gaze distant. “But when there’s truly something I can’t handle, it shows on my face. And then my brother comes swooping in to help, whether I want him to or not.”
Her smile grew warmer, full of affection.
“No matter how capable I seem, the truth is, I couldn’t manage without him. He knows that… so in those moments, I let him take the lead.
“You’re so honest about your feelings, Leina.”
“Of course! No matter how ridiculous he can be, I could never hate my brother!! You love yours too, right Ms. Sayla?”
“I do… but…”
“You overthink things,” Leina’s tone was almost scolding. Sayla didn’t argue.
“Thanks for dinner! It was delicious.” Leina began cleaning up.
To look at her now, you’d never guess what she’d been through. She seemed perfectly healthy.
But Sayla’s mind was elsewhere.
“Maybe I expected too much perfection from him,” she murmured to herself. “But no one’s perfect. Not even me, who can’t peel a simple vegetable… If I’d just been more honest and approachable with him…”
She turned to Leina, her voice firm.
“Leina, when we reach the Karaba base in Norway, you’re going straight back to space.”
“What?!” Leina stopped washing the dishes and turned around, looking anxious. “But if I see my brother now…”
“Didn’t you just teach me that I need to be more honest with myself?! The best thing is for you to be back by your beloved brother’s side.”
“No!”
Sayla was surprised by Leina’s vehemence.
“You have to come to space with me, Ms. Sayla!”
“It’s alright. Rahd Khadija, the man who saved you in Dakar, has agreed to take you as far as Von Braun City on Luna.”
“That’s not it!! I don’t want to go if you’re not with me!!” Leina flung her arms around Sayla.
Sayla was silent for a moment.
Stars twinkled outside the window.
She knew who was up there in space.
She made up her mind.
“I’ll go with you, Leina. I’ll try to be a little more honest with myself, too. No, I’ll practice being honest…”
Sayla spoke to Leina gently. “I understand now. I was overthinking things.”
“Ms. Sayla?”
“Yes. The truth is, there’s nothing complicated at all… I wonder how long it takes for people to realize that. Especially men… I want to teach this to someone. Someone I love very much.”
“Someone you love?”
“Yes, just like you love your brother Judau, there’s someone I love. I want to teach him this.”
As if on cue, Leina and Sayla both went outside.
Cold stars twinkled overhead.
Leina and Sayla gazed up at the sky, thinking of the day they would soon return to that vast expanse… forever and always.
