Earth-chan's favorite flower was the Aster.

She didn't know why she loved the flower so much. Maybe it was how it smelled, how it looked...maybe she just thought it had a really cool name. She loved the flower though and held it above all else, always making sure that there was a vase of them wherever she went.

And even here in her hospital room, she had Asters.

Earth-chan sighed and opened her eyes, squinting as sunlight filled her bedside window. It was morning, light pouring in and coating the room in a bright spotlight. Earth-chan liked her room well enough, even if it was a temporary one in-

"SCHOOL!" Earth-chan shouted, realizing her mistake. It was a Thursday and she had overslept. Earth-chan began to shake. "Oh man, oh man..." she muttered, scanning for her bag. "I have to get to class...Sun-sei is going to kill me!"

Earth-chan saw her bag at the right side of her bed and stretched for it, wincing as she tried to close the gap between her and the bright blue satchel. She was halfway to it when she noticed the IV inserted into her right arm, stretching all the way up to an IV drip filled with a blush-green solution matching the color of her hair.

Oh, right. Earth-chan thought, leaning back. I'm stuck here.

Earth-chan had been trapped in the hospital room for over a week now, recovering from another mutation in her condition. It wasn't anything abnormal for Earth-chan anymore, it was just frustrating. To be kept up like this, and now of all times...

A knock at the door caught Earth-chan's attention. "Come in!"

The door opened to reveal two figures. One was a tall, fair lady with silver-white hair and kind gray eyes, dressed in a nurse's outfit. The other was a younger girl with golden hair, faint yellow eyes and otherwise a figure very similar to that of Earth-chan. In fact, it wasn't just similar - It was her twin!

"Venus-chan!" Earth-chan almost jumped for joy, remembering her IV at the last second. "It's so good to see you!"

Venus-chan dashed over to her sister and gave her a hug, minding the drip like she had countless times before. "It's good to see you too." Venus-chan replied, smiling.

Earth-chan scowled, seeing the look in Venus-chan's eyes. "Don't be like that." she muttered, nudging Venus-chan in the shoulder. "I'm not dead."

Venus-chan's expression saddened but she nodded, squeezing her sister's hand tight. "I...I know. I'm just glad you're okay."

Earth-chan nodded, squeezing back. She turned to the other woman in the room. "Polaris-sama, good morning."

Polaris-sama smiled back, warm and tender. "Good morning."

Now it was Venus-chan's turn to scowl. "Don't 'good morning' her. Her mornings would've been way better if you had let me in here in the first place!"

Polaris-sama shifted her glare, uneasy. "I know that, Venus-chan. I just didn't want to risk it until now. You know how it is."

Venus-chan raised her eyebrows in doubt but said nothing, turning back to her sister. "Is your head feeling better, Earth-chan?"

Earth-chan nodded, feeling above her head. A new bandage had been wrapped around her forehead and she felt it: Warm to the touch. "Yeah. I'm still a little hot but nothing I can't handle. Are the others doing okay?"

Venus-chan rolled her eyes. "Meh, what do you think? Just as I was leaving to see you Uranus-chan had already tried to grope Neptune-chan four times, five as I was shutting the door. I swear, I don't know why Neptune-chan even sits next to her anymore..."

Earth-chan nodded, blushing a bit. Uranus-chan was effectively the class pervert, groping and obsessing about all of the girls and their more...interesting parts. She especially had it out for Neptune-chan, going about it all day without remorse.

"Hey," Venus-chan clicked her fingers, smirking. "At least you're flat, she doesn't come after you."

'I'M NOT FLAT!" Earth-chan yelled, much to Venus-chan's amusement. "Besides," she muttered, not looking her sister in the eye, "I don't see you doing any better, Venus-chan."

"You act like I care."

"You do too!"

"Venus-chan." Polaris-sama put a hand on Venus-chan's shoulder. "I need to talk with Earth-chan, you should go back to class."

"Fine, fine." Venus-chan got up and walked to the door, looking back before she left. "Get well soon, Earth-chan. It's hell without you."

Earth-chan laughed. "I don't doubt that." she admitted, waving. "Bye, Venus-chan!"

Venus-chan left, leaving Earth-chan alone with Polaris-sama. The latter picked up the clipboard attached to Earth-sama's bed and pulled out a pen, clicking it on. "Alright, Earth-chan. Are you ready?"

Earth-chan nodded, glancing at the vase to her right. "As ready as I'll ever be."

From there her and Polaris-sama did the daily routine of making sure Earth-chan would get through the day: A quick blood test, spit test, some questioning about how Earth-chan was feeling, a urine sample, fever measurement, breathing check and finally a full physical. By the time Earth-chan had been awake for an hour everything was done, earning her a lollipop.

Polaris-sama smiled, satisfied. "Good job as usual, Earth-chan. You seem to have almost completely recovered aside from the usual symptoms. It looks like that specific mutation was an anomaly after all, there's nothing to suggest it'll happen again.

"Thank goodness." Earth-chan sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This mutation felt awful, worst one I've had in a year. Good to know it isn't reoccuring."

Polaris-sama nodded, putting her tools aside. "With that said though..." she looked back at Earth-chan's vitals, her expression faltering. "You're still getting worse. Same rate, if just a little bit slower."

Earth-chan didn't say anything. She looked at the IV in her arm, watching the bluish-green fluid slide into her bloodstream.

Polaris-sama noted the tension and backpedaled, quickly scanning for good news. "On the bright side, though..." she found an opportunity and took it full force. "Your breathing has improved considerably, I think your lungs are starting to recover."

Earth-chan glanced up at Polaris-sama. "That's just how it works every year." she reminded her, looking back at her arm. "I'll get worse again once Fall comes around."

Polaris-sama looked down, guilt-wracked. "My apologies." She said, turning toward the exit. "I'll leave you alone now, I think I've said enough."

Earth-chan watched Polaris-sama go, biting her lip. She felt bad for being so forward to her, especially since Polaris-sama was one of the kindest people she had met. But still...

I don't need a reminder. she thought, shifting so that she could reach and pull out an aster from her bedside vase.

I don't need a reminder, because I trust them with everything I have.


Author's Note: Wanted to write this. Earth-chan is actually a pretty sensitive topic for me because I really do want her (and by that, the Earth) to get better; to that end I wrote this up to try and express that concern. Really, all I have to say is this: Protect the Earth, it's done too much for us to kill it now.