Second Composer

Chapter 21

Trigger Warning: Blood and panic attack. Don't like, don't read pass "I want Aka".

The first thing that I notice when I gain conscious is the pain on the back of my head. The next thing is muffled voices surrounding me. While debating whether or not I should open my eyes, I listen to the voices. It takes me a while to recognized who the voices belong to. Knowing I'll not be going back to sleep, I struggle to open my eyes. It takes a while but manage to open them and I am greeted with the bright, blinding light of the room. I immediately shut my eyes again before trying again. Once I was used to the light, I can make out a white ceiling with white curtains all around me. Infirmary is the only word that pops into my mind as I remember a similar situation on the first day of school.

"...not enough sleep and food." A female voice said just outside of the curtain. "It is probably cause by stress."

"Is there anything we can do to help, Sensei?" I hear Syo asked.

"As long as she rests and eats something that is easy on the stomach in the next couple of days, she should be fine." Sensei said. "I have business that I have to go to. Please watch her."

"Yes, Sensei. Thank you, Sensei." Toki's voice, which catches me off guard, said.

I honestly thought Syo and the doctor were the only ones to be in the infirmary with me, so to hear Toki's voice surprised me. The sound of the door sliding open and close, telling me that someone walked out. Feeling stiff, I sit up. The rustling must have alerted the people behind the curtain. Someone draws the curtains open a bit and peeks their head in. Bright blue eyes stare into my dark brown ones. A little bit of orange hair sway back and forth in front of them.

"Koneko-chan." Ren-san said as he fully opens the curtain up.

"Teresa!" Syo shouted as he bounces to my side.

I wince at the volume of his voice and rub my head to stop the pounding from getting worst. Seeing this, Syo gives me a guilty look.

"Sorry." Syo said in a lower voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay?" I said in a form of a question.

Honestly, I feel like my body isn't my own right now, but I don't want to make the boys worry more than they already have.

"Do you remember what happen?" Toki asked, cutting right to the chase.

I stare into space, trying to recall what happened before I landed in the infirmary again. But the harder I try to remember, the worse the headache gets. I give up in trying to remember as I shake my head no.

"You fell down the stairs and hit your head hard." Ren-san explained. "You were lucky that nothing worst happened."

"We also found out about your bad eating habit and insomnia." Syo said. "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

I look down at my hands. My vision goes in and out of focus as I try to form an explanation. I watch my blurry hands moving, my right hand scratching the back of my left. My left hand burns a little, but I did not think about it at the time.

"Sorry." I mumbled as I couldn't think of anything other than that.

"I thought we were friends." Syo said, clearly upset. "You could have told us."

"What about you, Syo?" I said, the words coming out of my mouth before I even realize it. "You don't say anything about your heart condition."

Syo's eyes widen. His mouth opens and closes, trying to form words but nothing comes out. Toki and Ren-san look at Syo in disbelief. I don't know if it was because of the fall or I am just tired, but my mouth did not stop sprouting words.

"And what about Toki? He has been going to his 'part-time job' almost every night and only come back in the early mornings."

This time, Toki looks at me like a deer in the headlights. The look on Toki's face makes me shut up finally. I didn't want to say any of that. I meant to kept that a secret. I want to leave and run away again, but I know that someone will stop me. I want to cry, but something is preventing me. I want Aka.

I feel myself hyperventilating. The sounds around me starts becoming white noise and my vision becomes worse. I can vaguely hear someone calling me, but I can't make out who it was. The scent of something metallic hits my nose and something warm spreads across the back of my left hand and the fingertips of my right. I look down and see red spreading on my hands and the blanket under them. It was then that I feel pain on my left hand that I realize that I dig my fingernails and break the skin.

This made me panic even more. Hands that weren't mine's wrap around my wrist and pull them apart forcefully. I struggle out of whoever's grip is on me, but that only made them hold me tighter. Darkness starts to fill my vision because of the panic and lack of air. Just when I was about to pass out again, I hear the one voice that I desperately want. The voice that I desperately need.

Like magic, I feel myself coming back to reality. My breathing slows down enough where I can feel air entering my lungs. The smell of blood is stronger now than before, but I didn't care. From my limited sight, I see Toki was the one holding my wrists. I turn to my right and see a long, black and red-haired person kneeling there. The person reaches for my right hand, making Toki let go of it. Despite the blood, the person holds my hand and squeezing it. I relax at their touch.

"Teresa." they said.

Like a floodgate, tears start coming out of my eyes. I didn't care at this point. I tug my arms away from Toki's and their hold and wrap them around the person. I sob into her shoulder as I say their name over and over again.

"Aka!" I cried.