It is an ungodly hour and I am at a hospital with very little sleep in the past sixty hours. If anyone could humor me for a chat, that would be pretty fucking awesome. Apologies for any grammatical errors and continuity slips.
~BRC
She could faintly hear prolonged beeps, one after another. A few moments after she heard the rhythmic sound in the background, her nose identified that distinctive cold, sanitary scent. She already had an idea of where she was, and to confirm her suspicions, she slowly opened her eyes. The abundance of light invaded her vision. There was a woman in a white uniform watching her on the other side of the glass. This woman had a look of pleasant surprise on her face and rushed away. In mere moments, the woman and a man in a long thin white coat came bursting into her room. They were grinning.
"Good morning, Ms. Fujino."
"Mother, where are we going?" Shizuru asked the tawny-haired woman driving the car. Her mother came bursting into her glass-walled room shortly after the nurse and doctor when she first woke up. She was immediately assaulted with a hug. Naturally, Shizuru was apprehensive and refused to recognize her mother at first. Her mother frowned and flicked her forehead slightly. It took quite some convincing but at the end of the day, Shizuru accepted this woman—who she noticed bore a bit of physical resemblance with—as her mother.
"To a ramen restaurant. It's small but the ramen they serve is delicious," her mother answered.
They drove for a little bit more and came to a stop in front of a small restaurant with a blue cloth banner hanging from its eave. Ramen in big, white letters was written on the blue banner. It had long glass windows and it seemed as if it was mounted on the short white walls of the restaurant. From the outside, Shizuru could see there were four tables situated inside and a bar with four stools.
"And here we are," Shizuru's mother said.
They exited the car and walked to restaurant. Shizuru trailed behind her mother.
The sound of their arrival alerted the redheaded girl serving the only customers of the restaurant. She looked up and saw Shizuru's mother waving slightly at her.
"Mrs. Fujino!" The girl exclaimed.
"Hello, Mai-chan. You and Takumi are doing well, I hope?" Shizuru's mother greeted in turn.
"Of cours—," Mai abruptly stopped as she noticed Shizuru just behind and looking around the restaurant. "Shizuru-san!" She launched herself on Shizuru and hugged her tightly. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!"
Shizuru stared at the redhead that had hugged her suddenly. People liked hugging her apparently.
"Oh, I'm sorry I just jumped on you like that. I've just been so worried," Mai said as she leaned back.
"Please, don't worry about it," Shizuru responded, not knowing what else to say.
Suddenly, the door behind them creaked and in came another person. Mai's and Mrs. Fujino's faces lightened upon seeing who came in.
"Hey Mai," the newcomer greeted.
"Hi Natsuki! It's nice seeing you here today," Mai replied. "Looks like I need to go back to the kitchen now, let me know if you need anything though!" Natsuki nodded at the girl.
"Mrs. Fujino," Natsuki bowed slightly to the other woman. She was about to speak to Shizuru before Mrs. Fujino interrupted her.
"Ara Natsuki. I'll leave Shizuru to you, yes?" Mrs. Fujino asked of Natsuki. Both Shizuru and Natsuki looked at the older woman with confused looks.
"But mother, what about lunch? Are you not hungry?" Shizuru asked.
"Don't worry about me. I will be sitting on the bar so I may chat with Mai-chan. It has been a while since I've spoken with the lovely lady," Shizuru's mother replied.
Shizuru looked skeptically at her mother. "Well, if you say so."
Her mother left both girls standing by the entrance awkwardly.
"Uh—um," Natsuki mumbled and coughed slightly after.
"My name's Shizuru. Shizuru Fujino," Shizuru said as she held out her hand for Natsuki to shake. Natsuki's brows furrowed at the introduction and the hand. The brunette noticed and slowly retreated her hand. "I suppose you don't want to shake my hand."
"No!" Natsuki took hold of Shizuru's hand before it retreated fully by her side. "S-Sorry. I'm Natsuki. Natsuki Kuga."
"It's nice to meet you Natsuki," she said. "Shall we get a table?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. You go ahead and pick one."
Natsuki followed Shizuru to a table farthest from the entrance with the most sunlight. Shizuru sat gracefully on the seat while Natsuki did so loudly. The latter had a full view of the bar and gave the only woman sitting on it a questioning look. Shizuru's mother simply smiled.
"Ara. Does Natsuki fancy my mother?" Shizuru teased; she could not help it for the life of her. "I can help her if she'd like."
"Wh—No! Of course not!" Natsuki replied in horror. "Goodness woman! You have a sick mind!"
Shizuru giggled at Natsuki's reaction. "I'm just kidding."
"Yeah, yeah."
"In all seriousness, a beautiful girl such as yourself can't be single. If you don't mind my asking, are you in a relationship? I can't help but be curious." Shizuru said after her giggles died down.
Natsuki blushed slightly at the praise. "I, well, I, yes. I am with someone. Or maybe I was in a relationship is more appropriate."
"Hm? How does that work?" Shizuru asked.
"Let me tell you a story." Natsuki said.
"I love stories," Shizuru smiled.
"There were two girls named Haru and Aki. Haru and Aki went to the same high school. At first, Haru was pretty rough. She liked skipping classes for reasons unknown and going to dingy bars. She was failing classes because of her poor attendance. Aki, who was in the disciplinary action committee at the time, met Haru because she constantly had detention," Natsuki said.
"This Haru sounds quite the delinquent," Shizuru said.
"Oh yes, she was. She even had a matching badass bike. But Aki saved her, I guess. Because of detention, they constantly saw each other and the two became friends. They became really close during high school. Before Aki left for college, she confessed her love for Haru." Natsuki said.
"But they're both girls, aren't they?" Shizuru asked. "Though, I certainly would not mind myself if I had a chance to date a girl as beautiful as Natsuki."
"Shush, woman," Natsuki blushed. "Anyways, on to the story. Aki confessed and Haru was shocked of course. She could not accept Aki's love but she could not decline it either. Aki was too important to her. So she told Aki to wait. Aki waited for a year and Haru followed her to college. There, Aki confessed and asked again. Again, Haru did not give a straight answer and this time she could not ask Aki to wait. It would have been too selfish. Haru started dating other people in college and Aki did the same."
"Aki waited for that long and she decided to just give up?" Shizuru asked. Natsuki nodded reluctantly. "That's disappointing."
"If you say so," Natsuki smiled. "So anyways, they were in college and dating other people, right? All of a sudden, Haru's mom goes ahead and refuses to help her financially. That left Haru in the shits, without much money and a job in the middle of a metropolis. Can you imagine how lost and angry she was?"
"Haru must have felt so sad."
"Yep. But as you may probably have guessed by now, Aki came to the rescue. She picked up whatever broken pieces Haru had and helped her put them back together. Haru dropped out of college for a year to save up money and got a job while she lived with Aki to help ease the costs. During their time living together, Haru and Aki learned things about each other they never would have if this situation had not happened. Haru slowly began to return Aki's love. However, Aki was already graduating from college and had to move to another district in the city for her new job. This time, Aki did not confess and ask Haru."
"Poor Haru! Just as things were starting to get better," Shizuru said.
Natsuki smiled fondly at the woman across her. "Haru, who felt her time slipping away, gathered up her courage and confessed her feelings to Aki. She asked Aki whether it was too late, whether she still loved her and if she didn't if they could still be good friends. Aki just said that she still loved her all this time."
"Aki is a patient person. But I don't understand why she was romantically involved with other people if she loved Haru at that time."
"I think Aki might have thought that she would be able to keep her mind off of Haru if she saw other people. Aki probably did not want to freak out Haru, you know. What if she lost control of her sexual frustrations and stuff and let it out on Haru?" Natsuki said and laughed shortly after.
"That is a fair assumption," Shizuru replied. "Where are they now? Did they get a happy ever after?"
"Now, Haru is sitting right across a beautiful woman in a ramen shop," Natsuki answered. Shizuru blushed slightly as realization hit her faster than a speeding bullet. "About that happy every after... That is only possible if Aki is willing to resume writing their story. Aki, just like Haru, is sitting in this very same ramen shop on the very same table."
Natsuki allowed a moment for the ending to sink in. Perhaps this was a fabricated story to pass the time. But the look of seriousness on Natsuki's face and the lack of hesitancy in her voice quelled the doubts Shizuru had.
"Shizuru, you waited for me for such a long time. This time, it is my turn to wait for you. However long it takes."