When I woke up, Shuichi was still asleep. I squeezed his hand softly and looked at the clock. Ten, huh? I turned to Shuichi. "Good morning, Shuichi. Are you feeling better?" I didn't expect an answer from him, but it felt like I hadn't heard his voice for an eternity. I looked down at my dress and sighed. Maybe I should go home and take a shower... When I turned to the side, I was surprised to see some spare clothes. I wonder who dropped that off. I checked in the bathroom and saw that there was a shower. Well, this is nice. After looking at Shuichi one more time, I turned to go take a shower and changed out of my torn up, bloody dress. Although the hot water was washing away the blood off my body, the horror and fear remained in my mind. He said that Shuichi should be okay, but what if he never opens his eyes? The memory of his smile as blood trickled down his face appeared in my head and caused me to cup my mouth. I sat in the shower for a few minutes trying to get the horrifying images out of my head.
When I got out, Shuichi was still asleep, but there was a to-go box and a bear on the table next to him. Pad thai? What kind of hospital serves Pad Thai? The bear was half black and half white, but while the white side had an innocent smile, the black smile had a devilish one. I smiled and looked around the room. "What an interesting hospital."
I put it back on the table and sat next to Shuichi to entangle my fingers with his. "How are you feeling, Shuichi? What are you thinking about?" I looked around the room and sighed. "I'm such an idiot... I'm sorry, Shuichi. We've only known each other for less than a year and I've already put you in danger..." I let go of his hand and turned to leave the room. Before I could take a single step, I felt something touch my hand and jumped in the air. "Shuichi!" A confused expression appeared on my face when I saw that his eyes were still closed. When I looked down at my hand, they were empty. Did I just imagine that? I huffed in embarrassment. I slowly got on the bed positioning my body on top of Shuichi. "Would you wake up already? I'm literally going crazy over you!" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. What am I doing right now?
"K-kaede?" I opened my eyes and made eye contact with Shuichi. My heart jumped out of my chest and I leaned in to wrap my arms around his neck.
"Shuichi! You're alive!" He chuckled softly.
"I am..." I lifted my head up to look at him and then leaned in to kiss his lips. The last time we kissed, I tasted blood, fear and horror, but this time, it was sweet and warm. When we separated, I rested my head on his. "I-I'm not complaining... But, is there a reason you're on top of me?" My cheeks started to turn red and I immediately jumped off the bed.
"I-I'm sorry! I-I was-" He gently reached for my hand and enlaced his fingers with mine. I looked up at him and he was looking away with a red tint on his face. I couldn't help, but smile and hold his hand tightly. "I was so scared, Shuichi... I really thought you were going to die..."
"I'm right here, Kaede."
"You are..."
"Did you get hurt?" I laughed and shook my head.
"You're still thinking about my safety when you're the one lying in the hospital bed? I'm okay, Shuichi, because of you... My hero..." Time felt like it froze as we stared into each other's eyes. Suddenly, the door slammed open and our entire friend group came in.
"Shuichi's alive!" Kaito screamed. Everyone cheered with their balloons and flowers.
"We were so worried about you, dude!" Shuichi smiled and looked around the room confused.
"Where's-"
"I'm right here." Kokichi entered the room, and my eyes widened when I saw him shirtless with bandages over his stomach.
"Kokichi! What happened?"
"I just got scratched up. Is Kaede worried about me?" I rolled my eyes at his response. Typical Kokichi. I looked back at his stomach and wondered if it was more than just a scratch
"When are they releasing you?"
"Doctor said in a month. He lost a lot of blood and... broke a few bones in his ribcage," I answered. Everyone's face twisted into a sympathetic one except for Kaito who kept an optimistic smile on his.
"Well, we'll be here so often you wouldn't even know you're in a hospital bed!" Shuichi smiled and nodded softly.
"Thanks, Kaito, and everyone else. Did you... get any updates?" I looked at Shuichi confused then turned to Kaito and the others. Rantaro nodded putting his flowers down.
"We got her, Shuichi. She's gonna be interrogated soon, and they caught Tsumugi this morning. We won." Shuichi smiled, but I could only look at them confused.
"I'm sorry, who are you talking about and what happened to Tsumugi?" Kokichi yawned loudly and sat on Shuichi's bed.
"I guess I can fill everyone in. After all, I take credit for this genius plan."
"You mean the one that put Shuichi in the hospital?" Kokichi laughed nervously then cleared his throat and explained everything from his deal with Junko all the way to their plans to catch her during the competition.
"Wow... This is like a movie!" Tenko exclaimed.
"No kidding? I can't believe you guys pulled it off," Miu commented.
"Of course we did!" Kaito exclaimed.
"You didn't even do anything though..." Maki stated and I could see a little arrow go through Kaito's body.
"Is that why you guys weren't in school?" Mikan asked to which everyone nodded.
"Junko tried to kill me..." The memories of the cold expressions on her face and her anger towards me flashed into my mind. Does that mean she's the one who killed my parents as well?! Then her voice played in my head when she said, "Say hello to your parents for me." Before my heart started jumping out of my chest, I felt Shuichi squeeze my hand.
"We got her... She won't ever hurt you." I smiled and nodded, but a feeling of despair overwhelmed me. Suddenly, my phone started ringing and when I took it out, it was Ms. Aiko.
"Give me a second." I walked outside of the hospital room and took a deep breath. I totally forgot about the competition, but I guess they've made their decision. "Hello?"
"Oh my God, Kaede, are you okay?!" Ms. Aiko shouted.
"Yeah, I'm fine! Not a single scratch on my body." Just my boyfriend in the hospital.
"I'm glad to hear... I heard back from the judges..." I took a deep breath and put the phone back against my ear. "It's kind of complicated, but... you won first place!" My eyes widened and I jumped joyfully.
"Really?!"
"Yes! Well..." She paused for a brief moment then continued talking. "You actually won second place. Junko won first, but after she was arrested, she was automatically disqualified. But if you ask me, if you hadn't injured your hand, you would've beaten her." A mix of emotions ran through my mind. " But, congrats, Kaede! Even with that handicap, you still played amazingly. You deserved it more than her." Did I really?
"I messed up. If anything, I'm surprised that I didn't get last."
"Kaede, they read the message you were sending and they could see the hard work you put into the piano."
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me, Kaede. You were the one behind the piano. And also..." Oh no. I pulled the phone away from my ear knowing that she was about to scream. "The next time you injure your hand you better tell me!" There she goes.
"H-hey, I should tell my friends the good news! I'll talk to you later, bye!" I hung up immediately and sighed. I can't believe I got first place... No, Junko got first. I got second. Junko Enoshima... You always treated me as a rival, but I always envied how amazing you were. Even after your mother died you still kept playing and you got even better. You won so many competitions, while I couldn't even touch a piano without crying. I beat you last year, Junko. Did you hate me for that? Is that why you tried to kill me? You should've been proud of yourself, loved yourself more. You worked so much harder than I did and that's why you won first place this year. If you truly did kill my parents and tried to kill me... Then, I feel sorry for you. I looked up with my eyes closed hoping to find my mother. What do I do, mom? I think I found the person who stole my happiness away from me... Am I allowed to feel happy now? Why do I feel sorry for her? Am I a terrible person for feeling this way?
I didn't want to believe it, but when I opened my eyes, my mother was standing right in front of me. "You're not, Kaede. Thank you for working so hard and please smile for us."
"Mom!" I immediately jumped to hold her, but when I opened my arms she was gone. I smiled and wrapped my hand around the door knob to Shuichi's room. "Thank you..." Everyone turned towards me with an anticipating look on their faces.
"Any good news?" Rantaro asked.
"I just heard back from the DGP Competition and I won first place!" Everyone's eyes widened and they cheered for me. The girls screamed and ran up to hug me.
"I knew you could do it!" Tenko exclaimed.
"You're amazing, Kaede!"
"You were the best out there!" I giggled and shook my head.
"Well, actually..." I explained the situation to everyone, but the first response wasn't what I expected.
"Congrats, Kaede," Rantaro said.
"But, I didn't actually win first."
"Kaede! Winning second place is still amazing in one of the biggest competitions in the world!" Tenko exclaimed.
"You were playing with an injured hand and you still did better than everyone else." I smiled at Maki and nodded at everyone.
"Thank you, guys."
"How much did you win?" Everyone turned to Kokichi in annoyance. "What? That's an important question you know."
"It's always money with you, dude. Anyways, congrats, Kaede."
"Thanks, Kaito. It's fine, I actually won $35,000." As soon as I said that, their jaws dropped. Even Kokichi's eyes were wide with surprise.
"Holy shit, $35,000?!" I nodded my head blushing softly. I turned to Shuichi and walked up to sit on his bed.
"Isn't that crazy, Shuichi?" He nodded his head.
"I knew you could do it, Kaede. Congratulations." That was the only one that made my heart jump in the air and burst into a million pieces of love. I put my hair over my lips to hide my massive grin.
"Thank you."