Then, a night passed and the morning sun rays gently caressed my eyes by passing trough the window.
*yawn* that's the first thing I did before slowly stretching my arms and legs while still in bed.
After that, I noticed that my body was much lighter than last night and i rapidly took a look on my left.
Hina was not there with me… i was alone in my room.
I also felt a strange pain on the back of my neck.
"Maybe i slept in a very bad position…" that's what i thought.
Then, i took my phone that was on the desk and saw no message from Hina.
I thought for the worst.
"Maybe she dumped me and she doesn't want to see me ever again…" i said to myself, with a sigh of sadness.
But in the same moment i thought about this, I heard some footsteps coming from the kitchen.
I got up and went there and saw Hina preparing breakfast.
She was humming a strange melody while gently cooking the breakfast for us.
But the strange thing was that most of the things she was cooking wasn't in my kitchen, so she probably went outside and bought them by her own.
The sun filtering trough the window was illuminating her figure, by making her more beautiful than she normally was.
I was stunned by her beauty.
Hina then noticed my presence and turned her head towards me.
She smiled warmly and said "Good morning, Darling!!! I'm preparing breakfast, so please take a sit! I'm almost done."
I was still half naked but she didn't care about it, instead she only invited me to take a seat.
Judging from what she's done and how she was prepared , she probably woke up 2 hours before me.
The "scariest" thing was that I didn't feel her waking up at all.
I have a really light sleep and you can say that even a falling feather can easily wake me up.
But Hina… had this hidden "talent". Her invisibility.
Then, I accepted her invitation and took a seat on my table.
It seemed like I was a guest in my own house.
Then, Hina also seated around the table, close to me.
She prepared for a traditional Japanese breakfast.
On the table were small bowls of freshly cooked white rice, steam still rising from the soft, glossy grains.
Next to the rice bowls were portions of grilled fish, often salmon or mackerel, with crispy, slightly charred skin that emitted a tempting aroma.
A small plate held tamagoyaki, a rolled Japanese omelette perfectly balanced between sweet and savory.
To complete the meal, steaming bowls of miso soup were served, with soft tofu cubes and wakame seaweed floating in the flavorful broth.
Beside these were small dishes of tsukemono, variously colored pickled vegetables, and nori, dried seaweed, ready to be wrapped around the rice.
Each component of the breakfast was arranged with care and precision, reflecting the Japanese attention to aesthetics and balance.
"She's so good at this, how is this possible?"
I thought.
Cups of green tea gently steamed, the clear, aromatic liquid completing the meal and awakening the senses.
As qe began to eat, the sounds of the morning blended with the delicate rustle of chopsticks and the murmur of conversation, creating an atmosphere of calm and serenity.
It was a perfect start to the day, way too perfect to be real.
In two hours Hina grabbed all these things and cooked a beautiful breakfast.
Something seemed off.
After a while, we finished eating and Hina asked: "Did you enjoy this, darling?".
I nodded at her.
"Of course, everything was delicious." I said.
After that, I noticed a small grin on Hina's face.
She seemed happy.
"Now… let me clean everything, okay?" She said, while taking everything to put it in the dishwasher.
She grabbed everything except the knife she used to cut the salmon.
"Hina, I think you forgot this." I said, while indicating her the knife.
"O-Oh… you're right. How silly of me!" She said with a sarcastic tone.
Then, she grabbed the knife and remained to observe it for some seconds.
Her eyes were open wide and her pupils were getting smaller every second.
For an instant , it seemed like her hand shakes a little, but maybe it was just my immagination.
"Hina? Are you okay?" I said, breaking her daydreaming session.
She snapped back into reality and tilted her head.
The then nodded and excused herself.
"Yes, sorry ahha… it's just that i like knives , nothing more. I was observing it." She said while rapidly putting the knife away.
I smiled at her, despite being a little bit scared.
"It's okay, just be sure not to kill me…" I replied in a playful tone.
"… I… I would never…" Hina whispered in such a low voice.
Her eyes opened wide again and she feel on her knees.
"What the…" I said.
Hina was on her knees and started speaking alone.
She then put her hands on her hair and kept murmuring some strange and not understandable words.
In that moment , Hina looked like a psychiatric patient who was fighting with her traumas.
It seemed like my words awoken something deep inside her like a painful memory.
I looked at Hina, stunned and scared by her behavior.
She even let out some tears.
I felt so guilty after this and then i decided to hug her to calm her down.
For some reason, i thought that this was the worst idea possible, but I had to do it.
I gently got closer to her and wrapped my arms around her.
As soon as I did, Hina put her hands on my arms like she was returning the hug and let out a loud scream.
"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" She screamed while trying to remove my arms from her.
I tried my best not to break the hug but she was too strong.
I kept repeating "Hina! Calm down! It's me! Kai!!! I won't hurt you!!"
Hina kept trying to break free but she wasn't putting her full force , so i kept hugging her.
It seemed she was fighting a part of herself that she wanted to keep sealed.
During her efforts, Hina even bit and scratched my arm a little, by giving me some little but painful wounds, but i didn't care.
After a while, Hina eventually stopped and her heavy breathing slowed down.
She then looked at me in a very horrified way and cried again.
"I'm so sorry- i… I've hurt you…" she said while sobbing and burying her face into my chest.
"It's okay. It's okay…" i said while gently petting her head.
Blood was still flowing from my arms and the wounds that she cause actually burned a little but i had to endure and act like a man.
Hina kept crying for some minutes before stopping and getting up.
"I'm sorry, Kai… I'm gonna go home now… I don't want to hurt you again…" she said while rapidly turning back and running towards the exit.
I tried to run after her but she was too fast and I couldn't even stop her escape.
Five minutes after her leaving, i saw a message on my phone by her.
"Please, i need some time alone. Thank you for calming me." The text said.
I felt so useless after that.
Maybe i needed to chase her, but judging from all my wounds, my instincts told me not to.
Then, i texted her "it's okay, I'll always be here for you." To let her know that i would've always been there for her.
No reply from Hina.
She usually replied to every message instantly.
I felt so useless… I couldn't even stop my girlfriend.
After that, I went into the toilet to wash out the blood.
I took a better look at myself in the mirror and noticed something strange on my body.
I saw an "X" shaped mark on my neck.
I got closer to the mirror and saw the position of it.
The mark was perfectly positioned on my jugular vein.
I've never had something like this before.
I touched it and… it burned a little.
"Ouch…" I softly gasped.
It wasn't made with a pen, but it looked like it was made with something sharp.
"Maybe Hina did this while I was asleep…? Or did it happen during her crisis…?" I asked to myself.
A shiver ran trough my spine.
I didn't know what to think or what to do.
The only thing I knew in that moment was that i was scared.
After that, i took off my clothes and took a shower.
Once again, i noticed something strange.
All my soaps and shower gels had already been used.
Hina even took a shower.
But i thought it was normal since she woke up really early.
It was a free day from school and the clock on my phone was set on "8:47 A.M."
Still early, but not for her.
Maybe the rumors were half correct about her… but the thing that i was sure about was that Hina had too many things to tell me.
She was wearing a mask, or more than one.
"Time to time…" i said to myself, before drying my hair and putting on some fresh clothes.
I then started to lose some time by studying and playing games since there was no sign of Hina.
I even sent her multiple messages, worried about what happened , but with no response.
After a while, i heard my phone ringing and i rapidly picked it up but it wasn't Hina.
It was Hiro's sister Hana, telling me that her brother was feeling much better and that he opened his eyes.
My heart felt full of joy and I decided to give him a visit.
So I prepared myself properly and grabbed some stuff like mangas and novels to give to him to pass the time and walked out from my house.
But before going out, i noticed that my house keys weren't on the usual spot.
I always place them in the kitchen, but this time they were in the living room.
"Maybe i forgot…" i said with a sigh, before finally locking the door.
After that, i finally started to walk toward the nearest station in order to find a taxi to go to the hospital where hiro was.
I put my earphones on and kept walking and walking until i arrived at destination.
When i arrived, i also found Haruto, Yuna and Naomi standing on the bus stop.
They noticed my presence and waved at me.
"Oh, hey, Kai! What are you doing here? It's rare to see you outside during our free days. You're always at home studying!" Yuna said while getting closer to me with a smile.
"Haha… you're right, but Hana sent me a text saying that Hiro is feeling better so I'm going to the hospital to give him a visit." At this statement, the others let out a sigh of relief.
"Really!? Are you serious?" Haruto said with a very happy tone of voice.
I nodded in agreement at him.
"Yes, do you want to come with me? I think that Hiro will be happy." I suggested.
My friends looked at each others and thought about my suggestion for a moment.
After some seconds they all nodded and Yuna said "Yeah! Let's go."
I was happy to see that my friends wanted to make a beautiful gesture for Hiro, so we all took the nearest taxi and went directly into the hospital.
During our small "trip" , we talked about lots of things.
I was still worried about Hina, so i was kind of absent during their talks.
Yuna kept speaking to me eagerly , trying to distract my mind from the intrusive thoughts.
She's always been like this since she's a every sensitive girl who always wanted to help and support everybody.
"So, Kai, tomorrow is our last day of freedom. So do you have any plans except studying?" She asked me.
"Well, not at all. Hina is-" then , I remembered that I couldn't say that she slept at my place and that she disappeared.
"Hina is… what?" Yuna tilted her head on the side in confusion.
"Ah well… she said that she's going to see her grandparents so… I think I'm free tomorrow." I managed to say.
I tried to sound like I was saying the truth but I'm not good at telling lies.
I'm just like my father.
Yuna giggled softly and then said "it's okay, I'll pretend to believe you."
Haruto then joined the conversation and slapped my back in a friendly way.
"So you're with us tomorrow, okay? We're going to the luna park near the Yukka river." He said.
Oh, the Yukka river. The place where Hina almost killed a woman.
All I could do was nodding.
I couldn't refuse their request.
"Oh! Finally!" Naomi exclaimed.
After a while, between talks and laughs, we finally arrived at the hospital.
Outside, we saw Hana and her parents.
They were probably waiting for us.
After getting out, they noticed our presence and approached us.
Hana ran towards me and hugged me tightly.
Her gesture made me embarrassed , but I'm like an older brother to Hana, so that's completely normal for me.
Yuna, Haruto and Naomi seemed jealous of the hug.
"Finally you're here!!" Hana said while hugging me tightly.
"Yes, yes! I'm here. Where's Hiro?" I asked.
Hana then broke the hug and waved at the others.
"They moved him to another room. He's waiting for us, so let's go." Hana said happily.
Her parents didn't speak a word.
They were completely silent and it was a strange behavior since they've always been so talkative and social.
They only greeted us.
After that, we all walked inside the hospital and headed towards the room where Hiro was.
For some reason, I had a very strange feeling about something that was going to happen.