It was dark in your mind.
Your body felt heavy, as if something was holding you down.
Whispers.
The sound of people talking getting louder as pain started to seep back into your chest.
A hard cough forced itself out of you as you sat up, the heavy feeling from before now apparent to you as you looked down to see your chest wrapped in bandages.
"What..." Looking around, you were no longer in that forest of purple trees. You sat in a bed that seemed similar to a hospital ward. Coughing a few more times, you gave yourself a chance to take in where you laid.
There were, what looked like, a few other beds lined up along the one you were in. Others lined the wall across from you. The beds seemed like they were made in soft white linen. Beside you was a small cup filled with what you could assume to be water.
Reaching out to it to take a sip, you winced in pain. Your arm, both of them, were wrapped heavily much like your chest. Thinking about it now, your sweater and track pants were missing, and in place of them you had some sort of Gi* on. Pushing down the pain, you were finally able to have a drink.
It wasn't until you finish what was in the cup that you realized the whispers were gone. Eyes wide, you flipped your head to the side to see what you thought were three little girls poking their heads into the room.
Surprised by your sudden attention their faces go red and they scamper away.
"Wait!" You called out to them, but they were already out of sight. You could hear their feet stomping away from the room. Just as fast as they had left, another girl appeared.
Her stern blue eyes shocked you, but what surprised you even more was when she opened her mouth to speak to you. "I know you just got up, but you're going to have to wait for Kocho-sensei before we can do anything else. I do know that you have a few broken ribs so you should lie back down." You couldn't help but squint at her in confusion. Your head tilted slightly as you lock eyes.
"Sorry, I have no idea what you just said."
Her eyebrows rose once before furrowing. "Do you not understand what I'm saying?" Now you were shaking your head. The motion bringing on a ache in your head. It was apparent to you which language was being spoken, but without any obvious subtitles, or form of translation, you were at a complete loss.
She stopped to ponder for a moment. You gave yourself another look over as a sense of panic began to rise.
You were bare under the Gi aside from your underwear. It still hurt to breath and you could see blood stains on the bandages wrapped around your chest and arms. Wiggling your toes, your feet and ankles were surprisingly fine. However, as you went to flex your calf, a sharp pain stopped you, making you wince.
The pressure on your chest came back as your breath quickened. You struggled to keep a hold of your thoughts. You were so close to death.
You were falling to your death.
Tears formed at your eyes as you continued to panic. The pain in your chest and calf only making it worse.
Remembering how painful it was to hit the ground.
There was no way-"Ah! Stop moving around while I go get Kocho-sensei."
The blue eyed girl's words stopped your spiraling thoughts. There was that name again, Kocho, maybe this person was a doctor here that treated you. You could only nod your head slowly at her as she pushed you back to lay on the bed before walking out.
You were alive.
You survived the fall.
You didn't die, and you were in some sort of hospital.
"Holy crap, I'm still alive." Sitting back up, you couldn't help yourself from looking over yourself again. "I.... I can't believe it."
The sound of someone clearing their throat shocked you, giving you whiplash as you spun to look at her standing right by the bed. Her eyes were stunning, a beautiful purple hue. Her hair started out black at the roots and slowly faded into purple, a butterfly clip keeping it up.
She had a gorgeous gown** that resembled the wings of a butterfly. Underneath was a black, purplish, uniform, similar to the one that the girl from before was wearing.
The girl from before stood a little ways behind her.
"How are you feeling?"
You stared at her blankly for a moment before squinting. "Sorry?" You watched as the girl from before spoke up.
"Kocho-sensei, I don't think she knows Japanese."
"Ah, I can see that. Uzui may be able to understand her."
So this lady must be Kocho. You stopped squinting and smiled after taking a painfully deep breath and bowed. "Thank you!" The understanding of the basic of Japanese culture was not lost on you. The act of bowing being one of the main forms of gratitude.
You weren't able to stay in that weird bowed seated position, springing back up from the pain and wincing.
"Oh! You mustn't do that. Here let me take a look." She gestures for you to lay down and you figured that she was going to check on your injuries.
Slowly, as you laid back down, you watched as she leaned over the bed and began to prod at your body. You let out a few little 'ow's here and there as she pressed on your arms. A shriek left your lips as her hand grazed your calf. "Oh my..."
You gritted your teeth as she placed a hand on your knee, the other holding the end of the bandages. "I'm going to take these off now to get a better look ok?" She tugged the end and began to unravel it from your leg. "I'm going to need you to stay still." Huffing, you tried to pull your leg away from her, the pain increasing as the pressure from the bandage lessened.
Trying to move your leg away was fruitless. The grip of her hand on your knee kept it in place. Feeling the bandage peel away from your leg made your stomach queasy. You skin paled as you turned your head away to retch. Lucky that the smaller girl from earlier was already there with a pail in her hands.
A mumbled sorry passed through your lips, but you knew she didn't understand.
It didn't take much longer for this Kocho-sensi to finish with her assessment of your injuries. You had your calf rebandaged, as that was one of your most severe injuries. The next being your ribs, and then your arms.
You watched, still shaken from the shock of blood, as Kocho-sensei seemed to ponder for a moment. The younger girl only looking and waiting for her orders.
It didn't take her long to speak up as she turned to the girl. "Let's send a letter out to Uzui and to anyone else we think that would be able to translate." She faced you with a small smile on her face. Your eyes flickered between the two. Uzui was a name that they seemed to have mentioned before. Was he a colleague of theirs?
Did you need to meet more people who you doubted would be able to understand you? You didn't want to, but by the sound of another name being called out you had no choice.
"Where even am I..." Your eyes strayed from the two and back down to your hands on your lap. Squeezing them shut, you willed yourself to remember what happened before you passes out. A hand was placed gently on your shoulder, jerking you out of your jumbled thoughts.
"Until you're healed and we can find a translator, you'll be staying here at the Butterfly Estate for the time being." Kocho-sensei moved soundlessly out of the room after her words. The other girl staying by your side with a stern look on her face. "I know you can't understand me right now, but I'll be taking care of you here! If you need anything just call out for me. I'm Aoi Kanzaki."
She repeated her name a few more times, pointing to herself enough times so that you understood that it was her name. She gestured towards you and you had to stop yourself from bowing again as you did the same. "(Y/N) (L/N)!"
You watched as she smiled, testing your name out loud. It was a little funny to hear your name being said with an accent.
*Gi - the word literally means 'dress' or 'clothes' but is often used as a term for 'uniform.' It consist of a jacket (uwagi,) pants (zubon,) and a belt (or obi.) It was introduced as a martial arts uniform.
**As the reader is not as knowledgeable of the old Japanese culture and fashion, the haori that they wear can be seen as a gown or cardigan.