MIYABI

BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…

Miyabi’s body felt heavy. Her head really freakin’ hurt and she felt so thirsty. Miyabi tried to swallow, but her throat felt so dry it made her cough.

BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…

It felt like there was a small vine wrapped around her ear and going into her nose. Her fingers twitched. It was hard to move her arm, but she felt like she needed to remove whatever it was she was tangled up in. With some effort, she was able to lift a hand to her face and pull the thing out of her nose.

BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…

…What the hell was that noise? Where was she?

The thing in her hand was blowing cool air at her face. She rubbed her fingers on it. It didn’t feel like a plant. Plastic?

Miyabi’s eyes flickered open. It took her vision a moment to adjust. The room was dim but not completely dark. There was a white ceiling and a curtain rail above her.

The curtain was gently pulled aside, and Miyabi turned her face toward the opening. She was greeted with the face of a really shocked nurse. The nurse rushed out of the room, calling for a doctor.

Ah. The hospital…

What followed was a barrage of doctors and nurses checking up on her. She had just woken up from a week-long coma, according to them. It felt too unreal, like a dream. But when Miyabi’s parents entered the room, she finally broke down crying at the sight of their tired faces.

She had finally made it home.

While the coma was a cause for concern, in the accident, Miyabi had only sustained a concussion and some bruising. When things were starting to calm down, Miyabi finally had a chance to ask the question that had been on her mind since she woke up.

“What happened to Chinatsu?”

Her parents exchanged nervous glances. Miyabi’s mother, on the verge of tears, took her hand while her father explained.

HFF HFF–

Miyabi’s legs felt so tired and weak, but she was still outrunning a nurse through the hospital.

Room 355…room 356…room 357…

Miyabi stopped. That was the room they told her. She flung the door open.

“Young lady, you can’t do that!” the nurse panted, catching up with her.

Miyabi dropped to her knees. She clutched at her chest as she let out a wail. Fat teardrops hit the floor like rain. As Miyabi was helped to her feet by two nurses and escorted out of the room, she took in the scene once more before a third nurse shut the door.

Chinatsu was in a hospital bed, hooked up to all kinds of tubes and machines to keep him alive. Casts on his body made him look almost like a mummy. His face was bruised on one side. Yet somehow, he looked like he was peacefully asleep.

According to her parents, a witness to the accident said that Chinatsu had evidently shielded Miyabi with his own body. If she had known that his condition was going to be this critical when she returned, Miyabi would have just volunteered to stay in the other world.

Protect her? What the hell was he talking about? The whole time they’d been there, he had been trying so hard to do just that.

“Miyabi, you’re a year older than Chinatsu. Do you know what that means?”

Her mother’s words from childhood came to mind. It was after the first time Chinatsu had come home crying from being bullied by the other kids.

“It means you need to protect him when he’s in trouble.”

Miyabi sat in her hospital room alone. Visiting hours were over, and the nurses were done fussing over her for the night. She choked back sobs, remembering what her mother had told her so long ago.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…” she repeated as she cried into a pillow.

Chinatsu’s parents visited her on the day she was discharged. They looked even more haggard than her own parents were when she woke up. Miyabi couldn’t help but prostrate herself before them. She wasn’t sure if her apology was reaching their ears through her sobs until she felt a hand on her back.

“It was nobody’s fault. It was just an accident,” Chinatsu’s mother said as she rubbed Miyabi’s back. The adults helped Miyabi to her feet, and her family parted ways with Chinatsu’s parents. They were off to visit their son next.

Miyabi’s friends tried visiting her at home, but she refused them. She didn’t deserve visitors. It was summer break, and Miyabi was glad for it because it meant she wouldn’t have to go back to school just yet. She didn’t think she’d be able to face any of her classmates.

Her hospital stay after waking up had only been a week, and he still wasn’t up. It had taken them a week to reach the end together, but she tried not to worry. Maybe he was just making sure he got enough rest on the journey.

A week turned into two weeks, which turned into a month.

Every day, Miyabi visited Chinatsu, waiting for him to wake up. Every day, she visited a nearby shrine to pray that he would wake up and come back to her.

Soon, summer break was over, and it was time to go back to school. People whispered wherever she went. They were all aware she’d been in the same accident that put him in a coma. When asked about it, Miyabi couldn’t even get the words out without crying, so people just stopped asking. Were they judging her?

She wondered how Chinatsu would have handled it if he’d been the one to come back. He probably would have handled it a lot better. He’d gotten really good at hiding his own feelings at some point. Miyabi wished she could do that.

After school, at the shrine, Miyabi rang the bell and put a 1000 yen bill into the offering box. She started out with 5 yen coins and had been gradually increasing the value as her desperation grew.

Please…please…let him wake up today.

Miyabi shivered a bit as she walked to the hospital. It was already mid-October, and it was getting chilly in the evenings. She thought bitterly about how Chinatsu had missed out on the rest of baseball season. The basketball team kept pestering her about whether he’d woken up yet and if she thought he’d be able to play with them this year. No and no. Idiots.

She sat down at his bedside and took his hand. By now, the cast on his arm had been removed, but he still had one on his leg in addition to a back brace. In the accident, he’d broken his right leg, arm, scapula and collarbone, as well as three ribs and two vertebrae.

Miyabi told Chinatsu about school. The doctors told her that just talking was good for him because there was always a chance that someone’s voice could reach him.

“Everyone keeps asking about you. They miss you,” Miyabi said, petting his hand. She was a little surprised at how popular he was at their school. It made her realize that even though they grew up together, there was a lot about him she didn’t know.

The machines keeping him alive just beeped and hummed in response.

Miyabi felt tears welling up in her eyes. She pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.

“I miss you too…sniff…So please come back…sniffle…Please wake up already…”

She felt his fingers twitch in her hand. Miyabi inhaled sharply. She squeezed his hand in hers and wiped away her tears with the other as she looked at him. His eyes were rolling around under his eyelids like he was dreaming.

“Ch-Chinatsu…?” she said, leaning closer. His eyelids fluttered but didn’t open. Miyabi felt his fingers twitch once more. “Chinatsu!? Chinatsu, can you hear me!? Wake up! Please wake up!”

“M…” he whispered.

“Yes? Chinatsu, it’s me! I’m here!” Miyabi said, squeezing his hand tighter. She leaned in closer.

“M…my hand…you’re squeezing…my right hand too hard,” he croaked.

“Ah! Sorry!” Miyabi said, letting go of his hand. It flopped onto the bed.

“Ow…”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she cried. Miyabi jumped to her feet. “Doctor! I have to go get the doctor! Wait here!”

He was back! He was finally back! After informing the doctors, Miyabi collapsed in a chair and cried. It had been so long, and she had so many things she wanted to ask him.

Like her, he was subjected to the same parade of doctors and examinations after waking up. After visiting him every single day for the past couple of months, it was agonizing to have to wait even just a few days to see him again.

On the way to the hospital, Miyabi passed by the shrine again. She made a mental note to come back later and thank the gods for answering her prayers. Right now, she was at her limit and couldn’t help but rush.

HFF HFF–

She walked briskly through the hospital, not wanting to get yelled at by the nurses for running.

Room 355…room 356…room 357…

Was that room number always so lucky?

Miyabi flung the door open to find Chinatsu sitting up in bed, eating hospital food.

“Ah, welcome back,” he said in between bites.

“I’m here…” Miyabi panted. She took a seat next to his bed.

“Did you run here?” he laughed. Chinatsu set down the spoon he was using and leaned on the tray table with his elbow.

“I just walked really, really fast,” Miyabi replied. He was looking at her and smiling. She remembered what she’d said to him in the other world and wanted to just bury herself then and there.

He leaned back in the bed and looked out the window. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure what to say to him. Without the noise from the life support machines, the silence in the room felt oppressive.

“Um…” Miyabi mumbled, fidgeting with her hands. She stared at the ugly hospital slippers on her feet. What to say? “I, um, heard that you might not be able to play sports anymore because of your injuries.”

“I heard that too,” Chinatsu replied.

“I’m sorry…” she said, lowering her head.

“It’s okay. I’ll find other things to do,” he sighed.

“Has anyone else come to visit you?”

“Just my family.”

Damn it. This was stupid. Why was she sitting here making small talk with him?

“I heard you visited me every day, though,” he chuckled. Miyabi felt her face go red. “You’re so stubborn.”

“W-well…”

Was he just teasing her at this point?

“Still, it made me happy,” he said softly. Miyabi looked up and met his eyes. The way he was smiling at her–could he always make that kind of face?

Miyabi felt like she was going to overheat. She put her face down on the bed next to him and buried her face in the blanket. Miyabi felt his hand rest on her head. She looked up at him.

“Don’t you want to know what took me so long?” he asked, tilting his head.