□ TW: mention of attempted suicide □

~Kazuha's POV~

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It smells like a hospital.

Hm? Hospital?

Why am I in a hospital?

Something fluffy lies on my arm.

Slowly, I open my eyes.

White ceiling, white walls, white curtains, way too much light, and... a cherry head?

Wait... Heizou?

Is Heizou really sleeping on my arm right now?

I chuckle a bit before composing myself again so I won't wake them up.

Tomo used to lie here when I was ill...

But even these little movements woke Heizou up.

They lift their head and look at me with sleepy eyes with bags.

I see the gears working in their head, then they sit upright and look at me, very awake now.

"Kazuha! You're awake!"

"Yeah... what happened?"

"Well, I found you on the floor and called an ambulance... they brought you here, and you were out for about a day or so."

"Oh... really." Not a question, more like a statement.

"Yeah..."

They look away, as if what they will say next is very awkward. I've never seen something like that with Heizou.

"Umm... so... when I found you... you were bleeding from the wrist... did you... did you... try..."

I sight at the sight of seeing him suffer.

"Yeah... I tried to take my life." With no emotion, just a fact.

They look at me as if this information is new.

"But... why?"

"Really?"

What a stupid question.

"Okay... yeah. Sorry."

I sigh again and look out the window.

It's spring, the birds are singing, and the light only starts to be warm.

"Kazuha..."

I look back at Heizou.

They look very sad, and tears glitter in their eyes.

"Are y-"

They cut my words off with a hug.

I'm only able to sit there in shock.

"Wha-"

"Please don't do something like that ever again. I don't want to lose you. I don't want anyone to lose you because you're a blessing in everyone's lives. If you feel bad or down... please talk to me or someone else. But please stay..."

The rest of their words drown.

Feeling tears in my eyes as well, I slowly lift my arms despite the stinging pain to return the hug, on what they embrace me tighter.

With that, I bury my head in their shoulder and let the tears roll down quietly.

Seems like I'm not out of tears... but this time, there is a positive feeling in the mix.

It's gladness.

I'm glad that I have friends like Heizou and that I didn't die...

After a while, Heizou lets me go and sits down on their chair.

"And you, have you been here the whole time?"

They scratch the back of their neck.

"Actually... yeah..."

I chuckle.

"Who would have thought that I matter so much to you?"

"The other band members visited you too, as well as your parents, your uncle, and a couple of other people who claimed to be your friends and they all told me to go home and sleep, but... I somehow wanted to stay?"

No wonder they told them that.

"Well, I would've told you to go to sleep too, so I'm not surprised."

"But I slept! You saw i-"

"For how long?"

"Well... four hours?"

I half sight half chuckle.

"You are hopeless."

"Maybe I am." They says while smiling with that beautiful smile of them.

Wait, what?

"Say, Zuzu..." They interrupt my thoughts.

"Hm?"

"Let's go at ice cream with the band when you're out of here."

I smile a bit and nod.

"Okay, we can do that."

In that moment, a door opens, and a doctor comes in.

'Baizhu' reads his name tag.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Kadehara, how do you feel? Do you feel any physical pain or discomfort?" With how much he coughs, it's a mystery why he's a doctor.

I listen to my body.

"My arms sting a bit, but nothing major."

The doctor nods and makes notes on his clipboard.

"Good..."

After he takes a bit of my blood, he leaves, and another person comes in.

Smiling, I instantly realise who it is. I mean, I would recognize this large hat everywhere.

"Scara! What are you doing here?"

He wears a black hoodie with red ornaments, black jeans, black boots, and, of course, his signature hat, also with red spots plus the red eyeliner, and it's perfect.

I have to admit, this emo has style.

"Visiting you, dumbass."

Hah, how I missed that attitude.

"How did you know?"

"Lyney."

How does-

Nevermind. Lyney always knows.

He sits down on the other side of the bed from Heizou.

"Anyways, the bigger question is, what are you doing here?"

"Well... you know that Tomo... passed away?"

"Yeah, but- oh." He says as I show him my wrist.

He hugs my arm.

That's very unlike him...

"Don't you dare do that ever again..."

Huh... does it affect him that much?

I don't answer.

He releases my arm and looks at me.

"Do you remember Nahida?"

"Your childhood caretaker? Yeah, what about her?"

"Well... she changed jobs and is a therapist now. Would you like to speak to her?"

I think for a moment.

"That's... It's not a bad idea, actually."

"Good, I'll call her then, when she's off."

Nahida is like a second, or rather third, Mom to Scara.

"Thanks."

I mean, it couldn't harm, right?

Scara nods at Heizou.

"And who's this?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce you guys. Scara, that's Heizou. The bassist in our band. Heizou, that's Scaramouche, a friend of mine. Be nice to each other."

I look at Scara. He looks back, slightly offended.

"And hold back with your flirting, alright?"

I tell Heizou, half joking, and they chuckle.

"That will be hard, he's such a pretty boy." They say and wink at Scara.

He just huffs, and there is a change on his face so minor that only close friends could notice.

This leaves me speechless.

"What's with this huff? If someone compliments you, you have to say thank you." He continues the teasing. "Has your mother taught you nothing?"

Scara flinches at this and glares at Heizou before lowering his gaze.

I look at Heizou and shake my head softly.

"Oh... sorry." They're not joking this time.

"It's alright... I guess..." He looks up. "You couldn't know."

After that, we chat about random stuff until the nurse kicks them out.

~~~~~~~~♡