Blue Winter |Mikaze Ai|

23 : When I Wake Up Again

Chapter 23

I'm actually scared of going to sleep.

I'm afraid to wake up and find out that everything I've been through was just a dream.

* * *

=INOUE SAYAKA=

White is the color of emptiness. I already know.

"Sayaka!!"

"Inoue-san!"

"Saya!"

Papa and mama were like that too when I got in the car accident, right?

My eyes soon adjusted to the light, and what was previously colorful blurs were actually my friends. They stared at me wide eyed, afraid that causing a ruckus might worsen my situation.

Wait.. What situation?

I couldn't move much. My body was so heavy and I still felt like I was underwater.

"Ittoki, sit back down already." That was... Ran-chan, right? Oto-nii was seated beside me. I remember him being right in front of me when I first woke up.

I turned my head to the right and saw two females clad in white.

Why does everything have to be white.

They walked up to me and checked my pulse. After nodding at each other, they smiled at me and left. Up until now, Oto-nii was still beside me, and I tried to move my aching muscles to hold his hand.

"O...to..." Was all I could say.

"Music?" I heard someone say. I couldn't make out who it was because of all the vapor rising to my eyes. My breathing still felt like it was being controlled and I couldn't even move my hand to take off the thing covering my nose and mouth.

Again, I tried calling out. "O-Oto-"

"She wants music, right?" This time, I could make out the voice to be Rei-niichan's.

Baka Oto-nii why can't you hear me.

"You're all idiots." Ai? "She was calling Otoya."

"S-Saya-chan," Oto-nii held my hand. "So cold..."

I'm not cold. Your hand is just so warm...

Even when he says my hand is cold, I can feel myself sweating under the covers and it was really hot.

"Mi.." I croaked. (She's trying to say water. Mizu.) My throat's so dry and I feel like I slept in a desert. Wata pleeaaaassseeee

"Mikaze?" Noooooooo Baka Masa-chaaaaan.

I felt someone pull off the thing covering the bottom half of my face, and a cup of water with a straw in it was held up in front of me.

I felt warm arms pull me up and rest my back on the headboard behind me. I gave myself a better view of everyone in the room, and I just now realized that everyone - including Haruka - was here.

"Here." Ai said as he brought the straw to my lips. I tried my best to sip it, and when I successfully did, I relaxed as the lukewarm liquid slid down my throat.

How long was I out that my throat became this dry? And how are papa and mama?

"You've been asleep for five days. Your parents visit a lot, telling us to take care of you while you're still bedridden like this." Ai replied, seemingly reading my thoughts. He placed the cup on the table beside me and again, I tried to speak.

"What..." Ai shushed me by covering my mouth with his hand, and if I didn't feel so weak at the moment, I would've bitten it.

"Be quiet already."

And I did.

For a few seconds I guess.

When I felt like I could already talk properly, I tapped Ai, who now took Otoya's seat beside me.

"Ai, what happened?" I asked, internally screaming at the pain I was feeling in my body.

He didn't answer. Instead, the others did.

"Nanami said you suddenly started screaming in your sleep..." Syo muttered. "Then she woke us up first because our room was the nearest."

"Then this woman woke us up too..." Camus said while sucking his teeth.

Tokiya crossed his arms and his eyes shot me a worried look. "We didn't know whether to wake you up or not. And even when we tried to, you still kept screaming. Then you woke up."

"Wait wait wait, I woke up?" I said, interrupting his explanation. Most of them shrugged thee shoulders.

"You were gripping my shoulder saying you couldn't breathe. You were palpitating and it was obvious that you had lung problems even before coming to school." Ai said, looking at his palm. "But my data says that this has never happened to you before, countering my previous statement."

"I... Don't know." I replied, eyes wide. So then, what's going on?

Again, Ai's face inched closer to mine. I tried to back away, but stopped my actions when I remembered I was seated in bed and trapped in a useless body.

"You're sweating... Did you have another nightmare?" He asked, only a few centimeters away from my face.

Did I?

"It wasn't a nightmare." Lies.

"It was just a dream, but I couldn't remember what happened." All lies.

"Sokka..." He pulled away and sat back down to his chair.

I observed each person in the room. I was surprised when I counted twelve people, me excluded. "Why is everyone here? Is it a Sunday?"

Ranmaru spoke up first. "It would be bad to have a dead composer." He was fiddling with the strings of his bass and I wanted to ask how he was able to bring that big of an instrument to a hospital room.

"But won't Shining get mad at you guys for ditching work?" The members of STARISH smiled at me and shook their heads.

My attention went back to Ai when I heard the sound of his phone clicking. He continued to stare at the black screen as he talked. "Your parents will be arriving in two hours. You should go to sleep first. I doubt you wouldn't be discharged from this place by the time you get here."

"But I just woke up."

"Sleep."

"But-"

"Go to sleep." He pulled me down from my position and covered my face with my blanket.

"Will everyone still be here when I wake up..." I mumbled without knowing. I began crying even thought I never intended to, and I could feel Ai stroking my hair.

"Why wouldn't we be? The faster you go to sleep, the faster you'll see us again." Ai said in a monotone. Even if his words lacked emotion, I still felt that what he said meant what they're supposed to.

He began humming to a tune I'm unfamiliar with. It gave me goosebumps, but I soon found myself dozing off again.

* * *

Oto means music just in case you didn't know.

音 I think this is the character used. Idk I don't have wifi so