Kazuha...

And so, in that moment of disbelief, I realized who was there with me. It wasn't Evangeline or Suzuki, either.

"This is... Kazuha...? How?" I wondered incredulously.

My eyes widened with disbelief.

I was surprised.

Kazuha was the last person I expected to find there with me.

She was sleeping, but as soon as my leg moved, she woke up instantly.

"U-Uh?!" she exclaimed, lifting her head and turning towards me.

"Fumihiro! So you're okay!" she added, moving closer to me to give me a hug.

Kazuha's eyes were shining with a beautiful crimson red.

She was in her work uniform.

I was too surprised to speak, so I let her embrace me.

But the hug lasted only a moment, after Kazuha realized she had overstepped.

She then pulled away, blushing.

"O-Oh sorry...! Ahah~ I was just so happy that you were okay." She said. "How are you feeling?" she then asked with a gentle and calm tone.

I had many questions in my head, and I was really confused, but at the same time, I needed explanations.

"W-Well... I'm surprised to see you here, Hasegawa-san." I said, with a very calm tone.

"I'm feeling quite okay, although I feel a little dizzy and weak. Do you happen to know what happened to me? I don't remember anything anymore." I asked, scratching my head.

Kazuha chuckled softly.

"Y-Yes, I imagine you have a lot of questions. Let me tell you," she said, taking a deep breath.

"It was 7:30 in the morning, and I was leaving my house to go to work. I pass by that street every morning where the ambulance was," she said.

"Really? That's Ema's house." I interrupted her.

She nodded.

"Yes, they told me later. They thought you had hurt Ema. It was a very hilarious scene. I was far away but I saw everything," she replied, laughing playfully.

"So... you saw everything?" I asked, embarrassed.

Kazuha nodded again, with a little laugh.

"Yes! Ahaha! Everyone was scared but I knew it was all a misunderstanding. After that, they injected you with an anesthetic to make you fall asleep and brought you here," she added.

"And then? What else happened?" I asked.

"Mmmm... Then I approached to see and I met your friends. They're very nice. They were very scared that you might have hurt Ema," Kazuha said, looking at me with a serene expression.

"Ah... How embarrassing... You saw me in a pathetic condition..." I said, blushing.

"But it doesn't end there!" She said.

"What else happened?" I asked.

Kazuha's gaze then became more serious.

"Ema came down to the entrance of her house and saw the doctors carrying you into the ambulance." Kazuha's tone became much darker.

"Ema felt very guilty and thought something serious had happened to you. She ran to the doctors with so much concern, begging them to let her get in with them, but they denied her, explaining the situation. At that point, she started crying and screaming your name. She didn't want them to take you away..." she said, lowering her gaze to the ceiling.

"..." I started to worry about what might have happened.

"And then?" I asked.

"And from there... Benjiro and Suzuki lashed out at her, while Evangeline watched the scene with a sad look." Kazuha then looked me in the eyes.

My eyes widened.

"What? Ema argued with Benjiro and Suzuki?" I asked with a really worried tone.

Kazuha nodded.

"Yes. They insulted her a lot and Ema didn't know what to say. She just cried. It wasn't a nice scene... but knowing what she did, I'm not surprised by your friends' reaction," she said.

"Wait a moment." I interrupted her, grabbing her arm.

"How do you know what she did to me? Who told you?" I asked, looking her straight in the eyes.

Kazuha blushed.

"E-Hey... wait! Evangeline told me," she replied, freeing herself from my grip.

"S-Sorry... haha... I didn't think about it." I said, scratching my head.

"I-It's okay. Don't worry," Kazuha said in a calm tone.

I was very agitated, but I tried my best to hide it. Of course, it was impossible, since my accelerated heartbeat was displayed on the monitor.

"Calm down, Fumihiro..." Kazuha said, gently stroking my arm.

"But why is she so kind to me?! What's happening this period?" I wondered, not understanding the reason for so much kindness towards me, who was a stranger.

For some reason, her touch calmed me slightly, and my heart rate returned to normal.

"Sorry again," I said, sounding sorry.

"It's all okay. Don't worry. Do you want to know what else happened?" she asked then.

I nodded and remained silent.

"Well... then after that argument, Ema ran into her house, and Evangeline tried to chase her, but without success. Now she's locked in the house and doesn't come out according to the latest news... Benjiro and Suzuki instead went to school after that. They asked me to keep an eye on you," Kazuha said.

Now I had another concern in my head. Ema. I was afraid of what she might do, I was terrified that she might hurt herself again.

Despite these feelings, I tried to remain calm.

"Kazuha, thank you for telling me everything. Could you pass me my phone?" I asked her.

My voice was a little trembling.

Kazuha nodded and handed me the phone without adding anything else.

I immediately turned on the display and didn't see any messages from Ema.

But my fear was fortunately dampened by Kanna, who had written to me that Ema was under control and out of danger.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fumihiro, you worry too much about someone who is ruining your life," Kazuha said with a very cold tone.

"Eh...?" My gaze turned towards her.

Her red eyes were shining, but with a blood red, as if she were speaking like a demon.

"A person who behaves like that is selfish. One who doesn't care about seeing you happy. She's hiding so many things from you, how can you trust her after something like this? This is a real betrayal," she said, with a tone of regret and bitterness.

"..." I didn't reply. My silence spoke for me. I didn't know what to say. She had hit the nail on the head with my thoughts.

"Even if she didn't physically betray you, she's making your life a hell. You're a fool if you think situations can change. People change only for themselves. If the love of your life starts lying to you... ask yourself two questions," Kazuha added.

"If I can give you some advice, leave her for your own good and hers too. If it's love, she'll always come back to you as a better person. Otherwise, she'll disappear forever. You're lucky to have so many people who care about you. You're not alone, and you never have been. And you never will be," Kazuha's tone then became much softer and gentler.

Her gaze was fixed on my eyes.

"Kazuha, there are many things you don't know about me and Ema," I replied with a very annoyed tone.

In fact, Kazuha didn't know anything and was only talking about what she had seen.

"Fumihiro, you're not in love with her. You're in love with the idea you have of her, of what you are or what you were," she said.

In that moment, my heart froze.

"I know everything. Or rather, I know everything that i need to know. I know what it means to wait for a change that will never come. I know that feeling way too well. You could even say I've waited my whole life without getting any results," Kazuha said with a normal but equally sad tone.

It was as if she had already found herself in this situation before.

This situation was really too strange.

"First Evangeline, and now Kazuha? Can i have some answers?" I thought.

"Fumihiro, I know it will seem strange to you since i'm a perfect stranger to you. And for this exact reason, I'm trying to make you see reason. Your friends have told me everything. For your own good and Ema's, you should end the relationship with her," she said, taking my hand.

I was very annoyed by her statements.

"Kazuha... Please, don't say anything else and don't interfere in my life. I need to make mistakes on my own," I replied, pulling my hand away.

"Thank you for staying here with me, but I'll be honest: I don't understand why you're telling me all these things as if you know everything about me. And I don't understand why you want to interfere in my relationship, even more i don't understand why you're being so kind to me, I'm a stranger," I added, with a fairly nervous tone.

"..." Kazuha remained silent for a few seconds, looking at the floor.

I felt like I had said something wrong that had hurt her in some way.

"...We're not strangers, Fumihiro," she said with a cold tone. "As soon as you have your answers and come to me, I'll tell you everything," she added, with a melancholic tone.

"But I'm telling you, being a spectator in life hurts a lot," Kazuha whispered as she got up from the chair.

"Ema is just manipulating you, but I hope you'll understand it by yourself. I warned you," she added. "Now I'll go out, I'll let the doctors know you've woken up. I'll be back later."

I didn't even have time to reply to her before she quickly left the room.

I was left alone to think about everything she had told me.

I didn't even have time to tell her what Ema had done, how she had hurt herself.

She didn't know many things.

The only certain thing was that Kazuha was a girl who had definitely been part of my past.

I decided to investigate thoroughly.

I needed many answers.

"She's just manipulating me... huh? I don't think so... We'll see," I said to myself, trying to calm down.

At that exact moment, I just needed to relax and clear my head from intrusive thoughts.

I lay down again, putting my hands behind my head and using them as a pillow.

I started to think.

I needed to change myself, I needed to stop being the good guy who helps everyone without thinking about his own problems.

In life, you also need a bit of wickedness, otherwise you end up in my situation.

"Kazuha... I need to know more about her," I started thinking about that girl again.

Red hair and eyes, a rarity in Japan.

She had really delicate features, and her face conveyed a lot of sweetness but at the same time also with a glimpse of sadness.

If you looked closely at her face, you could tell she had suffered a lot in her life.

Even in the way she spoke, it seemed that the situation between me and Ema concerned her personally, to the point of making her say all those things.

It was as if she had been through it herself.

"I'll get to know her better. But now I want to solve the Ema situation first," I told myself as I looked at the ceiling.

My thoughts were then interrupted by a "Ding" coming from my phone, which was next to me.

I picked it up and saw a message from Ema.

I smiled a bit bitterly.

The message read "Sweetheart, how are you feeling? I hope you're okay, as soon as I can I'll come to see you with Kanna, okay? Kisses~ :)))".

She was worried about me.

"As soon as I can."

"Shouldn't her priority be to come here if she had that reaction according to Kazuha?" I asked myself.

After this little reflection, I replied to her.

"I'm fine, just a little weak," I texted back.

The message didn't take long to arrive.

"I'm glad! Kanna and I are about to come and visit you. We've prepared a nice bento for you! See you in a few hours!" Ema replied, sending me a picture of her and Kanna smiling.

I just wrote back a simple "See you later!".

"All this seems so absurd to me. I'm at my limit. I should just leave my whole life and go live in a monastery with the Shaolin monks in China," I thought.

"My life is gonna change starting from the next days. I'm 100% sure about that."

And with that, i closed my eyes, knowing that i had to work on a lot of things such resolving mysteries about Kazuha and Evangeline and resolving the situation with Ema and Chiko.

"Maybe it's the medicine but... i feel so weak. I don't care about anything anymore... *yawn*" I then let myself go into a peaceful sleep