"Harue!!"
"Nee-chan."
The second he blurted that word out, Akane jogged towards him and hugged him tightly.
"Ack! Nee-chan! Slowly! Slowly."
She did not reply to him but instead continued to glue herself to Harue.
"Ah...Mou....You really don't listen to me."
But contradicting his statement of anger, he felt soothed by her older sister's embrace. Her stifle cry intruded Harue's ears, which forced him to pat her Nee-chan's trembling back gently.
"I'm alright now Nee-chan..."
The corner of Harue's lips rose as he continued to calm his older sister down by patting her like a little child.
Now you really wonder who was more in pain at the moment. The boy who was bandaged on his head, or the healthy girl whose tears are never stopping.
The eyes of Harue caught sight of another four individual who entered with Akane.
One was a middle-aged man wearing a doctor attire, checking the medical equipment to the left.
Kouki and Yuna too was near Akane as they had relief written all over their face. Harue noticed the small crack in Yuna's spectacle but did not say anything to her in particular.
Kouki felt extremely happy seeing Harue conscious. He passed Harue a smile as he did not want to disturb Harue and Akane's reunion.
And in front of Harue, Kana was looking at him with a straight face. She wore the school uniform and the blazer was buttonless.
She had her arms crossed and kept staring at Harue expressionlessly. It seemed like she did not care about what happened to Harue.
Nevertheless, Harue flashed a genuine smile to Kana. She was shocked at Harue. Although Kana was the furthest to Harue's bed, she still felt close to him.
A subtle ascend to the corners of her lips went by undetected because Harue resumed to simmer down Akane's sobbing. The crying girl in his arms was starting to enter a calm state thanks to the help of Harue.
"I'm alright. I'm alright..."
After halting the tears from bawling out her moist eyes, she rubbed her eyes to get rid of the obstructing salty water. As a result, she had a clear vision but still, she obviously had puffy eyes.
He lightly distanced her from himself so he could see her keep her composure.
"I. Am. Alright. See?"
He had his smile plastered, showing to Akane what she wanted to see. She could not help but smile at the injured boy who tried to reassure his health.
There was a stool nearby and the doctor beckoned Akane to sit down.
"Harue-kun. Do you feel a headache?"
The doctor himself was the one who intervened between those two siblings.
"Yes, doctor, a faint one."
"Well, it would be strange if you did not experience these effects. You have a minor concussion."
"A minor concussion? Then am i good to go to my home?"
"I'm afraid no Harue-kun. You will be admitted to this hospital for a week."
Harue brooded over at what the doctor said. He looked at Akane and Kana before retrieving his sight back to the doctor.
Seeing Harue's expression, the doctor ensured.
"We are doing it in case some complications pop up during this period of time. It could be that the concussion is not severe but we don't like to take risks. One week and you will be good to go."
Though still contemplating on something, Harue got interrupted by Akane.
"Thank you doctor. Harue will stay. Don't worry."
"Okay then. I will tell a nurse to bring the admittance form to you."
"Thank you again doctor."
"It's our job madam."
After getting a final check on Harue, the doctor left his patient and walked to the corridor.
Harue was watching their conversation without having a say in it. Now the doctor had left, Akane returned her sight on Harue.
"Well Nee-chan, why did you do that?" Harue was obviously not happy with the decision.
"You need rest Harue. Don't worry about us. Worry about yourself."
"Worrying about myself is the same as worrying about you."
"Harue."
He was taken aback by his older sister's tone. She was determined and going to be stubborn if he continued to refute her decision.
Her adamant nature was not something new to Harue so he knew it would be almost useless to continue this argument.
*Sigh*
"Will you two be alright without me?"
He directed that towards Akane and Kana. Kana still hasn't said anything till now. Yet, at this point, she opened her mouth the first time she entered the room.
"We'll manage."
"Who do you think we are!" Akane supported her with an easy-going attitude. Completely different to when she acted persistently.
"I completely agree with them Harue. Take a good long rest."
Kouki, his best friend took their part and voiced his opinion. Yuna nodded along with Kouki's comment.
All of them were against Harue and well, what could he do now since all the people he cares worry about him? He could only just obey their orders.
"Ah really. I get it. I'm staying"
He put up his arm weakly as he was surrendering to their demands.
The nurse arrived at that moment which diverted all of our attentions. The formalities that need to be completed for Harue's admittance arrived.
Harue and Akane were made to sign a form before the nurse excused herself.
"By the way what time is it?"
"...It's 6:47 p.m.....CRAP!!!" Kouki was shocked as he looked at his black digital watch.
"Harue, sorry but, I need to go! My mom and Tsuru will be angry if I return late."
Harue understood Kouki's situation and grinned.
"I know your family. So yeah, thanks for even keeping me accompany this late."
Harue and Kouki clasped their hands together as they face each other happily. It was like they were blood-related brothers.
Kouki glanced at Yuna and then at the Fukuyama sisters.
"I'll excuse myself."
A small bow to Akane and a wave at Kana before exiting this spacious room filled with patients.
"I'll also be going then."
Yuna also bowed to Harue's older sister and even to Kana. A glimpse at Harue and she was off.
Only the siblings remained beside Harue at this time.
"What are you going to do about food?"
"Like Kana said, we'll manage."
"You are really worrying me here Nee-chan. I don't know if you two will have a balanced diet. Besides, you are going to only cook rice porridge, aren't you?"
Harue pressed Akane on her food management and even berated her cooking skills.
"You-!"
"Rice porridge is more suited for ill people. Are you two even ill?"
"Like-!"
"And if you are going to be eating outside, forget it. You are going to be unhealthy and become fat if you continue visiting such places."
Harue shot down all of the ideas that Akane was having to pull through this week.
"But Nee-chan-"
"It's Nii-chan!!!!"
"Nee-chan, we have the internet. We can cook whatever we want."
Kana ignored her brother's outburst and continued to reason with him about the food arrangement. Akane just mindlessly nodded along with Kana's suggestion because she was previously losing the flow of conversation to Harue.
"*Sigh*...Browsing over on the internet is not going to be able to make your food delicious in just one try."
"We don't want it to be delicious, just edible."
That was convincing, to Akane at least. She was going to support Kana to the end because Kana was on her side.
Harue raised one eyebrow due to the suspicion that they would not manage to get by this week.
Nevertheless, he wanted to surrender because he suddenly felt tired.
".....Alright. Do what you want."
Kana grinned to Akane while Harue sighed again but not due to his sisters, but due to his fatigue.
"Ah, Nee-chan. Can you do me a favour? Can you buy some things for me?"
"What?"
"Some cloth, and can you also bring a needle and its string."
"Okay sure."
"Wait."
After getting a piece of paper and a pen from a nurse, he wrote down the kind of cloth he wanted and which colour.
The shopping mall was attacked so he did not have the chance to buy what he wanted.
"Here."
Akane received it and put it in her black pant's pocket.
"I'm going to be bored here for a week so I need to do something, right?"
"Don't force yourself."
Harue nodded. He was ordered to rest and he will do so since his sister insisted on it.
"It's time to go, Nee-chan."
Kana signalled Akane, making her frown but she had the same intention.
"We're going Harue. Sleep well."
She ruffled through Harue's hair lightly as he felt the smooth skin wafting his head.
"...Don't treat me like a kid."
Pouting like a little kid and contradicting his own request, he had such a cute expression that even entranced Akane.
"You are really cute!!"
Just as she was about to embrace him, Harue flicked his finger really hard onto Akane's forehead.
*Pak*
"OWW!!!"
"Now go home and eat!"
Kana dragged his older sister with her who was suffering from Harue's wrath. Approaching near the door, Kana looked over to Harue and greeted him off.
"See you tomorrow Nee-chan."
"It's Nii-chan!!!!"
"Harue! This one hurt really bad!"
Kana forcefully dragged Akane out as she waved desperately to Harue. He was really getting tired, but this kind of tiredness, he did not hate it.
He slowly laid down and relaxed while watching the white ceiling that was occasionally accompanied by the coughs of the patients.
.....
An office with furniture made up out of the finest wood material that Japan produced. So smooth that it could seem that you could play ice hockey on it.
The floor was covered with a carpet that had an extravagant artistic design. A symbol that even by not understanding what it means, exude such noble aura. It could make ordinary people wash their shoes thrice to even walk on this type of carpet so as not to soil it.
Near the window of the office, a table with all kinds of documents, pens and a laptop was on it
A middle-aged man was staring out the window at the stars that shined beautifully in the dark sky. He wore a black suit, a black pant and a black tie. The black figure would have camouflaged itself well in the dark if the lights in the office would not be lit.
He continued to admire the beauty of the world but he soon heard a knock on the door.
"May I come in?"
"Yes, you may."
A dignified tone that contained an intellectual vibe to him.
A young man seemingly from his early 20s came through the door as he bowed to the middle-aged man. He wore a white long-sleeved uniform which was tucked into his black pants.
"Do you need anything from me, Zaizen-sama?"
Without taking his eyes off the sky, the middle-aged man equipped a determined tone.
"It's time."
To which the young man twitched as he knew what he was talking about. The young man clenched his fist as he was shivering.
"Zaizen-sama, would you please... reconsider your plan?"
"Do I really need to?"
"You would be creating monsters. They would be uncontrollable!"
"That is why I assigned this project to you, right?"
Zaizen now looked at the young man with a grin on his face.
"You are the only one that I could think of. You yourself know for whom you are doing it. Am I wrong?"
"...No."
A serious reply from the young boy. His trembling had already stopped when Zaizen pointed out the fact that he was participating in this project for someone.
"You are saying that they would be uncontrollable. But I trust that you would be able to command them. It is a double-edged sword strategy so I am depending on you for the success of this project."
"I will not let you down Zaizen-sama."
Satisfied at the young man's behaviour, he returned his gaze to the dark blue sky.
"You are dismissed."
Only Zaizen was in this room, still in awe at the brimming sky. It was so beautiful and Zaizen fully enjoyed the sight of it.
Suddenly, he started thinking about the project and he could not help but adopt the mindset that time will only know what will happen to him afterwards.
Will this move of his contribute to his downfall, make stairs to his success or stir the whole world in terror?
Again, as his mind thought,
Only time knows.