Wakiya stared at me as if I had just asked him to walk my pet rock. 'You seriously need my help to open a teeny weeny cap?'
'I can't open it.'
'Wow. You're weak.'
'I know.' I was always asking my brother and father for help to open tight bottle caps in my real life.
Wakiya did help me open the bottle cap. Then he ran away as if afraid that I might ask him for another peculiar favour. I drank from the bottle.
I wondered why Kairi seemed to dislike Wakiya so much. Was it because of his bragging? Or did she dislike rich people in general?
I walked to my usual spot in the cafeteria. To my astonishment, I saw Kairi and Tamiko. Arguing.
'You leave my sister out of this!' said Kairi.
'Tell your friend to stop seeing Shu or I'll make Sakura's life miserable,' said Tamiko.
I had never felt so angry in my life. Was Tamiko seriously threatening Sakura, an innocent little girl, if Kairi didn't stop me from seeing Shu?
I don't quite remember what happened next. But I could more or less guess. Because the next thing I knew, Tamiko was dripping in orange juice and my bottle was empty.
'You... You monster!' said Tamiko.
'Oh, so now I'm the monster? A minute ago you were threatening to ruin Sakura's life unless Kairi stopped me from seeing Shu. Hate to break it to you, but Kairi isn't the type of person who gives in easily. She would have told me in secret and we would have found a way to defeat you without harming any innocents.'
Some people clapped. I bet that they were pleased to see Tamiko taken down a peg.
Tamiko's face turned scarlet. She grabbed my hair and started pulling.
We broke out into a fight. I tried to fight back, but Tamiko was bigger than me, and it seemed that Wakiya was right. I am weak.
Tamiko glared at me. 'You'll pay for this,' she said. And then she made a fist. Everything went black.
~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~
I woke up to a white ceiling. Where was I? Just then, everything came rushing back to me. I sat up in bed.
I realized that I was in a hospital. Had Tamiko knocked me out?
I pressed the call nurse button. Soon, a young lady came into the room.
'How are you feeling?' she asked.
'Confused,' I told her. 'How long had I been unconscious?'
'Well, you were brought to the hospital four hours ago.'
'Four hours? I was knocked out for four hours?'
'Yeah,' said the nurse. 'Your parents are here. Should I call them in?'
Before I could say anything, my new parents burst in. 'Rose, thank goodness,' said my new Mom. 'I was so scared when I got a call saying that you got into a fight at school.'
I just sat there numbly. To be honest, I would be a thousand times happier if my real parents were here. I needed to know what happened when I was unconscious. 'Is Kairi here?' I asked.
'Yeah, but she's in the waiting room,' said my new Mom. 'Are you alright?'
'I feel fine,' I said. 'I want to see Kairi.'
'Not now,' said my new Dad. 'You need to rest.'
'I'm fine,' I insisted. 'I want to see Kairi now.'
In the end, my new parents gave in and let Kairi come in. As soon as she saw me, Kairi burst into tears.
'I... I thought that you were dead! You just suddenly went still and didn't move at all. Even Tamiko was frightened when she saw what she had done. She kept fretting that she was going to be arrested for murder. Principal Shinoda saw everything and gave Tamiko a one-week suspension. Serves her right, though.'
'Am I in trouble?'
'No, I told Principal Shinoda that you were only defending me. And Wakiya of all people called 911 for you. He told me that he helped you with an orange juice bottle earlier. Valt looked like he was going to be sick and Shu looked a little scared. He must be really fond of you.'
I was grateful that Kairi didn't bring up our relationship as usual. Just then, Kairi's face grew serious.
'I was a coward. I should have defended you the same way you defended me. Tamiko gets so fierce sometimes. It scared me.'
'It's all right. You don't have to apologize. I don't blame you for not wanting to be involved.'
'But I should have protected you. You could have been seriously injured or worse. All because I was too scared.'
'Kairi, if you had stepped in, you would have gotten hurt too. And I'm not that hurt. I will be alright.'
Kairi smiled. 'Thanks for protecting me. You were amazing.'
The nurse came back into the room and shooed Kairi out, insisting that I needed rest.
~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~🌹~
The last time I was hospitalised in my real life was more than ten years ago. I don't even remember it happening.
The hospital food was disgusting. I almost gagged when I saw the porridge. It really annoyed me that I couldn't go home. Apparently I had to stay at the hospital overnight for observation.
Just then, a little boy with black hair and purple eyes peeked in. 'Hi,' he said.
I stared at the boy. I had t a feeling I already knew who he is. 'Ryota?' I asked.
'Yeah, that's me,' said Ryota. 'I came in here earlier when you were unconscious. My brother told me that you got knocked out my another girl.'
So Daigo had come to visit Ryota and told him about me.
'Ryota, it's not any of my business, but why are you in hospital?'
'I had cancer.'
'What?'
'Yeah, but it's gone now. I had surgery to remove the cancer. My parents were scared that I wouldn't survive, but I did. But now I need to stay in hospital to make sure that I don't have a relapse.'
'Oh. I'm sorry about that. I hope that you'll be alright.'
'It's all right. I think that I'm all right now.'
'Well, that's a relief.'
Just then, a nurse called Ryota, telling him that his bedtime was soon. I decided to go to sleep too. It wasn't as if there was anything else to do.