"Hi mom… I've come to visit." Kei said as he gave a tired smile.
The woman laying on the bed in front of him was Amane Mayuri, his birth mother. Due to some events that happened in the past, she was now stuck in a coma and has been for the past 4 months. Ever since then, Kei had been visiting her on Saturday every week when there is school and almost every night during holidays.
"How have you been, mom? I've been doing well…"
"I have been studying hard… or how I've always studied by just opening and closing the books so I've been getting top grades so far…"
"Basketball is going pretty well I would say… just kidding, I'm actually a little lost right now…"
As Kei continued talking, he had received no response from the woman in front of her who still had her eyes closed. He would have this conversation every week in hopes that maybe one day, one of his stories or life updates would be good enough to wake her up. He continued to try and smile while talking to her even if it was visibly weary and tired.
"You know…? I recently met someone… She's kind, sweet, beautiful, and not at all hesitant to give her opinion even if it might hurt me. That's ironic seeing as she's always shy and timid around others in school…"
"I guess I can call her my first friend in high school… Or rather… she badgered me into becoming her friend."
"But… I don't know how I feel about any of this… I'm lost, and I don't know what to do anymore…"
"I'm so lost, I'm so lonely… I just want everything to go back to normal…"
Kei leaned in to put his face on his mother's arm. When he did, tears started flowing from his eyes while his smile earlier was now gone as he gritted his teeth. Weary from recent events and his travels earlier, his eyes slowly closed as he felt more and more sleepy. As he finally slept, a small whisper could be heard coming out of his mouth.
"Please wake up… both of you…"
***
When Kei's eyes opened, he found himself lying on his mother's hand with the blanket under it slightly damp from his crying earlier. When he looked at his watch, he could see that it was already 5 in the evening. It had gone way past his normal visiting routine and schedule. He decided it was time to leave but not before giving his mother a kiss on the forehead.
"I will be going now, mom. Please be safe, and have a quick recovery."
Kei had little hope that his mother would wake up from her coma anytime soon, but that line had also become a sort of routine for him as he would say it every week before he left. When he took the life down, he noticed that the hospital lobby was quiet and emptier than usual. When he left the hospital, he could feel someone watching him again but he just shrugged it off as him just being paranoid.
In truth, Mai had been sitting in the hospital café for hours waiting for Kei to finally come down, just that she didn't anticipate that it would take this long. At this moment, Mai could only speculate by herself as to what Kei was doing there by himself on a Saturday.
'Is he sick?'
That question was the biggest hunch she had, which worried her. As she followed Kei at a distance, she watched as he entered a diner near the shopping district. It was already evening, so it was only natural that he would be looking to eat dinner rather than going home and cooking when its late.
Mai followed Kei into the diner several minutes later and sat at a table behind him with their backs facing each other. After she had made her order, she settled into her seat and took a breather as she was sitting in the hospital café for hours. On another note, she was attracting less attention than usual from the opposite gender because she bought a mask at the hospital and had been wearing it since then.
As she drank her soda while waiting for her food, she suddenly noticed a fierce aura near her. When she looked up to her side, chills ran down her spine as there stood Chihaya and Azusa whom she had unintentionally abandoned earlier.
"Eeek!"
"Chihiro-san~" Chihaya said as she had a scary smile on her face.
"Umm… ah…"
"Did you know how long Azusa and I had to look for you?"
"I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"
"Haah… it's fine… so? How did it go?"
When Chihaya asked that question, Mai quickly signalled to her to keep it down and pointed to the person sitting at the table behind her. Chihaya glanced over and was shocked to see that Mai had managed to follow Kei this far. Before Mai could say anything else however, Chihaya and Azusa quickly sat down on the table and leaned in close to Mai, causing her to panic as she is not used to human interaction with anyone other than Kei.
"So, how did it go?" Chihaya whispered.
"Did you managed to see what he does every Saturday?" Azusa followed."
"What's his big secret?"
"Is it a girl? Quickly, tell us."
As they bombarded her with questions, Mai found it hard to answer them as she couldn't cope with the pace they were setting. The more they questioned her, the more her head started spinning. When she finally calmed down after taking a sip of her soda, she finally spoke up.
"Well… the truth is… I lost him at the shopping district too… I only saw him again not long ago when I was sitting at a café and followed him here."
"You lost him too?! Well, it can't be helped since there was such a big crowd."
When they could do nothing but lament at their situation, the mood fell silent. Mai had chosen not to tell them of what she saw today since she wanted to wait for the full story from Kei and also thought that it would bother him a lot if Chihaya and Azusa started asking him questions.
"Well, let's put that aside. How about we hang out? We never interacted in school after all." Chihaya gave the suggestion.
"Huh? Umm… I…" Mai seemed indecisive at that request.
"I always wanted to be friends with you, you know? But you seemed to shut everyone off so it was hard to approach you. How about it?"
"…"
"Well, I won't mind even if you say no. I understand and respect that."
"Umm… Saki-san, Fujinomiya-san…"
""Hmm?""
"Would it be okay if I ask you for a favour?"