The school day couldn’t have ended sooner. As the bell rang, I rolled my shoulders trying to loosen up from having sat for the long period of time. “Hey Senku,” I looked up, Hina standing with a bright smile and the other members of the band. “We heard Ria can have some more visitors now. Mind if we tag along?”

I hummed, I was planning on going to the lab, though there isn't much point without Ria being there to accurately document everything for me. I sighed, picking up my bag. “Sure, she would like that,” I smirked and the members high-fived each other.  “Just don’t be too loud. I think she still gets freak out by them.”

Most likely a form of PTSD from the gunshot, but when something loud would go off, I noticed she would cover her ears and start to shake. “Oh, don’t worry,” Yuna assured holding up a carry bag. “We just thought she might like to play cards and eat some treats.”

Even without me, it’s nice to know Ria would still be taken care of by other people. She certainly did become a social butterfly during preparations for the school festival. Hanging out with the graft club for Yuzuriha to make her outfit, working with the school’s band to ensure all the equipment was up to scratch and teaching the science club about using liquid nitrogen to create sweets. Yes, Ria truly was known in the school though none of them know why Ria was in hospital.

She asked us to keep it quiet as nothing had been covered in the news yet. Her grandfather most likely pulling some strings as not to tarnish the family name. We agreed though with an upcoming trail, I wondered if Ria would be able to keep it secret for long.

---

We met up with Taiju and Yuzuriha outside of the hospital and after using the hand sanitizer and checking in, made our way to Ria’s room. As we got closer, I noticed talking. English? Who would be speaking English with her? I knocked on the door before opening it. Ria was talking to an elderly woman, clearly not Japanese and continued the conversation in English. The elderly woman laughed, pointing to us. Ria turned, blushing before coughing in an attempt to compose herself. “Hi everyone,” She greeted before gesturing to the woman. “This is my grandmother from England, Edith.”

I looked around, the others clearly not familiar with English or so I thought. Yuna giggled walking up to Edith and started to speak in English. “It’s nice to meet you. I am Yuna, a friend of Ria’s.”

Edith laughed getting up and giving a bow. “I speak Japanese don’t worry,” Ria laughed at her grandmother’s actions and Yuna’s embarrassment. “But I thank you for the curtesy.”

“My grandmother is visiting while we make, um, arrangements,” Ria’s voice quietened as she spoke.  “Anyway, what have a done to deserve such a crowd today.”

Taiju smirked holding up some of the carry bags. “We brought cards and treats,” He smirked. “Let’s have some fun.”

“Thanks Taiju, everyone,” Ria, tanked a small tear falling from her cheek.

“I’m juts going to head to the bathroom,” I said placing my bag on the near by table. “Back in a moment.”

Ria nodded, waving me off and in English I could hear, “Is that the boy?” from Edith.

“Grandmother, he knows English please be quiet!”

I smirked, hearing Ria be able to have some fun and listening to her get flustered at being teased is always funny. I walked into the men’s room, running the tap to wash my face. I shook my head looking into the mirror, trying to fix the front of my hair. Then I noticed him. A clearly foreign looking person. He looked at me as if her knew me. “Can I help you?” I spoke in English, assuming he would understand.

“you’re Senku, right?” I blinked; he knows me. That means he knows Ria. A sentence Ria said came back to me the day we went to the arcade. That means this guy's Ria’s bo - “You’re Emiria’s boyfriend!”

“Huh?”