It had been a few days since I had awoken from my accident.

My condition has improved, but I was still very stiff.

Most of the grazes had begun to fade, and the bruises were disappearing, but I was still banned from leaving the room without supervision. It was rather boring actually.

Sitting up, my eyes drifted around the room. No one had been in to visit yet this morning, but it wasn't a surprise; they did have lives after all. I found my gaze settling on a charm sitting on the bedside table.

"...I hate needles."

The room had been silent up until that point. A moment passed before I heard a sigh of relief come from the man next to me, before he slumped down into the chair behind him. It took me a minute to register the person as my brother.

"Thank god you're okay".

The sentence was nothing more than a whisper, unheard by the rest of the room.

I could remember waking up, the first few minutes of it at least. The rest of it was nothing more than a blur, and by the time the room eventually fell silent again, I could feel my head starting to hurt.

Kaori left the room, brushing past Asano on her way out. She seemed to mutter something to him before exiting, but I couldn't catch it.

Naoki also stood.

"I need to call Erinn" he stated. "She doesn't know about the accident yet."

I could hear the sound of regret in his voice.

Eventually, the only people left in the room were Asano and myself; he still hadn't spoken a word.

He started to move, approaching the bed slowly. His face was full of remorse, and his eyes were red. Reaching into his back pocket, he drew out a charm. It was purple and decorated with flowers.

"You scared the hell out of me Aki" he said, laughing slightly. He took the seat that my brother had occupied earlier and grabbed my hand, pressing the charm into it.

"they sell these at the shop downstairs; it's supposed to be a sort of good-luck charm."

I let out a laugh at the sight of his face. He'd turned bright red, nearly matching the colour of Karma's hair.

"Thanks, Gakushuu-kun".

The door slid open smoothly, breaking me from my memories. The now-familiar man who was my doctor entered the room, clipboard in hand.

"This should be one of your last check-up's Matsuoka-san" he stated. "You should be ready to go home by the end of the day if everything is in order".

I nodded, ignoring my stiff neck for the moment.

"And what about the school trip?" I inquired. "I asked you about going a few days ago; do you know if I can yet?"

There was a nod. "I have talked to your teacher and guardian about it, and they have both agreed to the terms."

"Terms?"

"You are to refrain from any strenuous activities such as running, and take care around crowds. If you can manage to keep from being injured again, you will make a good recovery."

I thought this over for a minute. Kyoto was supposed to be rather crowded, wasn't it?

"though," the doctor continued, "I will admit that brother of yours was rather adamant about you staying home". There was a small chuckle. "he is rather protective, if it's not too rude for me to say".

I laughed in return. "of course he would say that."

The door slid open once again, and a nurse entered.

"Ready for the check-up?" she inquired, and I nodded, gingerly climbing out of the bed. My joints were stiff from not being used, but I could support my weight well, considering the injury on my hip.

The check-up was standard; making sure my stitches were right was the top priority.

Afterwards, I was left alone again. I fiddled with the purple charm, tracing the flowers in my head.

Only a few more hours until my results came back and I would be released.

===

I left the hospital that night. The school trip was in three days and I hadn't even looked at the pamphlet yet.

Naoki had brought over a pair of clean clothes for me and though not the most flattering, the baggy track-pants and sweater were comfortable, even with my injuries.

We talked in the car ride home, him filling me in on anything he hadn't told me already. For once in his life, it almost seemed like he couldn't stop talking. He used to do that; I could remember when he was he was still a teenager with no mouth filter. And sitting in the car like this, I felt like I was seven again.

We pulled into the driveway, and I could see lights on in the house.

Erinn greeted me upon our arrival, pulling me into a somewhat awkward hug.

My mother still wasn't home. She'd been overseas since before the accident and wasn't back yet. I doubted Naoki had even told her about it.

Erinn coughed when she entered the kitchen.

"Sorry, I tried to vacuum the place before you got home, but I must have inhaled a bit much dust" she joked, smiling at the both of us. I heard her stifle a few more coughs before walking around the bench and taking a seat on the couch. Naoki pulled a few things out from the cupboard and set them on the bench.

"Aki-san, you want to help with dinner?"

I nodded and began preparing. Naoki and I had settled on making a kind of stew, so I peeled the potatoes while he cut up the other veggies.

"How was your day Nii-san?" I questioned. "You too, Erinn-san".

Naoki let out a hum of thought and Erinn was the first to respond.

"The baby should be due any time in the next month or two Aki-chan," she laughed. "You were so excited about it a few weeks ago".

I nodded my head enthusiastically.

"You're going to make great parents you two," I said casually, momentarily surprising the two of them. "I mean; you practically raised me for the past few years".

Naoki laughed. "And haven't you been hard work" he joked. "getting hit by cars, you would have thought we'd have taught you how to cross the road properly".

I punched him.

=====

After dinner, we had basically run out of things to talk about. I had gone back to my room, and Erinn and Naoki were down in the living room. I sat on my bed surrounded by various items from a laptop, to books and even a cup of tea, the room only illuminated by the golden glow of the lamp beside me.

I had contemplated studying, but I was exhausted. Not to mention the sheer thought of school work was nearly enough to send me to sleep by itself. Instead, I had settled on listening to music and catching up on the manga updates I'd missed.

The door was slowly pushed open, rays of light spilling in from the outside. I looked up and was faced with the silhouette of my brother's fiancee.

"Can I come in?" Erinn inquired quietly. "Naoki's down there watching some action movie; you know they don't interest me."

I nodded, and she entered, closing the door behind her.

"You really did give me quite the scare Aki-chan" she said, sitting down at the foot of the bed. I moved my book and laptop off the bed for the time being, and sat facing her with my cup of tea in my hands.

"Sorry..." I apologised quietly. Erinn laughed, reaching over to ruffle my hair.

The woman sat back again, her dyed lavender-blue hair falling over her shoulders. "I heard from Naoki-kun that you and Asano made up?"

I became flustered at the mention of the orange-haired boy.

"If you exclude the fact I got hit by a car afterwards." I defended. "Must have been bad karma"  There was a pause before I spoke again, more softly than last time.

"But yes... I suppose you could say we made up".

Erinn clapped her hands.

"That's good news Aki-chan, it was really starting to bug you anyways".

The conversation turned into a back-and-forth of defensive and joking statements. We'd talked and talked; neither of us realised the amount of time that had passed. In a small break from the discussion, I went to drink some of my tea, before realising it had already gone cold.

"We did talk for a while Erinn-nee, I might have to go make myself another cup of tea". I said, standing up from the bed. Erinn did the same.

I had opened the door, light coming back into the room. We both stepped out into the hallway, and I got a better look at Erinn.

"Erinn," I asked cautiously. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes were red with bags under them, and her entire face, though smiling, was screaming 'tired'.

She laughed.

"Is it really that scary that I took off my makeup?"

I stood silent, not really sure how to react. Luckily, she continued talking.

"I didn't really get much sleep after I found out you were in the hospital," she apologised, "hence the amount of housework I got done." the bluenette waved her hands. "not that I'm saying it's your fault or anything!"

I nodded, heading down the stairs to the kitchen. I did feel guilty, but I knew Erinn wasn't doing that just to make me feel bad. Erinn gave me an awkward hug in the kitchen, trying to avoid my injuries. She felt more like a mother to me than my real mother; someone who was never even here and only cared for my grades.

I didn't want to let her go.

=====

I arrived at school the next day. A few days had passed since I'd last been, due to my stay in the hospital and all. It was a Friday now, and I had begged my brother to let me stay home for the last day of the week, but he had insisted.

Kaori met me at the front gate. Naoki had dropped me so I wasn't walking the whole way, and hadn't left until he knew Kaori was there.

"Aki-chan~" she called from across the road. I waited till the road was clear this time before crossing, not wanting to repeat what happened a few days prior.

"Congratulations on being released!" she exclaimed, quite loudly compared to her normal manner. A few students gave us strange looks at the outburst, but Kaori laughed it off.

We made our way to the main building and up to Principal Gakuho's office. Naoki had told me before we left this morning that he'd requested a meeting.

I knocked on the doors and entered once again. It seemed like I'd been in this office more than my classroom.

The talk was the standard "Welcome back to school, don't fail your exams" skit that we'd all heard a million times before. It seemed like a customary thing rather than genuine concern for a student who'd been in the hospital.

I left the office as soon as he was finished talking, passing the black haired man from the e-class again. This time he had two others behind him, dressed in suits and everything.

I paid them no mind.

The most awkward thing about the whole day actually came up upon my return to the d-class.

I slid the door open and walked in, bowing my head briefly to the teacher and apologising for my lateness.

Whispers went around the classroom as people spotted the bandages peeking out from under my jacket sleeve and down my left leg. I took my seat per-usual, but couldn't block out the whispers.

The day went by in a flash, followed by the next, until I was eventually sitting in my room once again on Sunday night, contemplating what I was supposed to pack for the trip the next day.

The next morning I didn't get to say goodbye to Erinn; she had gone to visit a friend for a few days. Naoki dropped me off at the train station, and after a small "don't get yourself injured" lecture, I left.