Her stomach churned. Mukuro had been sitting next to Sayaka for the past few hours, but regular visiting hours were coming to an end soon. Unless Junko got back to her quickly, she would be kicked out for the night.
According to the doctors, Sayaka would be just fine, but she would be stuck overnight in the hospital. She was still passed out in her bed, unlikely to move until morning.
Mukuro's fingers itched, as she checked her phone yet again. Junko still hadn't responded to her increasingly more frantic texts, in fact, she hadn't even seen them.
She looked back up at Sayaka. Her leg was in a cast, but besides some bruises and cuts, she had no other injuries. The car that had crashed into her had been lucky not to do worse.
Mukuro looked down. The Delivered message had been replaced with Read 7:38PM. Suddenly, her phone buzzed, reading Incoming call from Junko-chan .
She quickly answered it, and hissed, "Why are you phoning me? I told you, you're not supposed to do that in the hospital!"
Junko gasped, "You're in the hospital?"
"Didn't you read my texts?" Mukuro replied.
Junko sounded sheepish, "I just saw the twenty-eight text messages alert and decided it was easier to phone you. What's going on?"
Mukuro sighed, "Maizono-san got hit by a car-"
"She what?!"
"She's fine!" Mukuro said, "Her leg's broken, though. And… I kind of need a really stupid favour."
Junko said, "What do you need?"
Mukuro gulped, "I kind of need two golden rings, and I also need you to testify to the fact that Maizono-san and I are married, should you have to."
Junko spluttered, "Wh-What?! Muku-chan, what the living hell did you do?"
"Only relatives are allowed to spend the night," Mukuro mumbled, "and I kind of told one of the nurses that we're married."
Junko was quiet for a long second, then burst into laughter.
"It's not funny, Junko-chan! They're going to kick me out at eight-thirty if the nurses aren't convinced!" Mukuro hissed, "They already saw my ID, and we don't look enough alike to claim that I'm her sister."
Junko slowly calmed herself down to a small giggle, "I'm sorry, that's just… kind of hilarious. Why were you with Maizono-san tonight, anyways?"
Mukuro said quietly, "I wasn't. I'm just her emergency contact after her father, and he's away on a business trip."
" Oh?" Junko said, drawing out the syllable.
Mukuro grumbled, "We're just friends, and you know that."
Junko snickered, "Suuuure you are. Muku-chan, you're her second emergency contact. What about her bandmates?"
"Can you bring the rings or not?" Mukuro said, ignoring her sister.
Junko paused, "Well… I'm kind of at the airport?"
Mukuro slumped, "Kind of?"
Junko replied, "Well, I mean, I'm heading off to Australia on a photoshoot. My flight leaves at nine, and I can't leave now."
Mukuro bit down on her lip, "That's fine… I'll have to figure out something else, then."
Junko added, "I'll still testify that you're married if you need me!"
"Thanks, sis," Mukuro said, "Call you later?"
"I'll phone you when my plane lands!"
Junko hung up, and Mukuro shoved her phone back into her pocket. What could she do? She was running out of time, and she didn't want her lie to be exposed.
Her phone buzzed from her pocket. Mukuro pulled it out again to see a text from Junko waiting.
Junko-chan : shit shit muku-chan! I forgot!
Junko-chan : i know a guy who can bring u some rings :oo !
Mukuro nearly dropped her phone.
Mukuro: Why didn't you say so?
Junko-chan : i forgot! anyways his name is hajime hinata and he's,,, wonderful
Mukuro: I didn't know you were dating anyone at the moment.
Junko-chan : lmao i'm not :oo he's just cute!
Junko-chan : the point is if i ask him he'll do it ! where r u?
Mukuro sighed quietly.
Mukuro: Kyoto City Hospital.
Junko-chan : ok great! he says he'll be there in twenty minutes !
Mukuro tucked her phone back into her pocket, shaking her head. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes for her to hope and pray that the nurses wouldn't be able to kick her out.
Hajime Hinata looked incredibly ordinary, aside from the large chunk of spiky hair that stuck up from his head. Mukuro wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but he looked far too normal for someone who apparently hung out with Junko.
Mukuro got to her feet carefully, and smiled weakly at him.
Hajime extended a closed fist, and opened it to reveal two rings. Mukuro cried, "Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver."
She took the rings, and pulled one onto her ring finger, then slipped the other onto the still unconscious Sayaka's hand.
Hajime shrugged, "It's no problem. I mean, it's kind of weird. Kind of really weird, actually, but it wasn't a problem. Your sister didn't actually explain on the phone, why did you need those?"
"Gah," Mukuro muttered, "I kind of lied to the hospital staff and said that we were married. I really didn't have any other options at this point besides carry on with the story, and hope for the best."
Hajime looked at Sayaka, then back at Mukuro, "Well… good luck, I guess. I don't really have anything else that I can say to you guys. Hope your friends heals soon."
"Thanks," Mukuro said.
Hajime waved, "Night. See you around, maybe."
Mukuro sighed, and quickly sat back down in her chair. This was going to be a long night.
At eight-thirty, the door opened.
"E-Excuse me!" a tiny voice squeaked.
Mukuro turned. The nurse standing at the door was a different one than before. She had long, dark hair that was thicker and choppily cut near the top.
The nurse said, "All n-normal visitors need to leave n-now."
Mukuro gulped, "Ah, I'm her wife, actually."
"That's w-what I wanted t-to tell you," the nurse whispered, "I looked i-into Maizono-san records, and she's n-not married."
Shit.
Mukuro hadn't accounted for the hospital records. Before her nerves got the better of her, she looked to Sayaka and blurted, "Did you forget to change your records, sweetheart?"
She was mercifully still asleep, and Mukuro forged on, "Oh Sayaka… you're such a scatterbrain sometimes."
Mukuro leant down and kissed Sayaka gently on the forehead. She didn't stir, to Mukuro's immense relief. It had felt so strange calling her friend by her first name, but it wouldn't be at all convincing otherwise.
The nurse bowed, "I'm s-sorry! P-Please forgive m-me!"
"No, it's fine-"
The nurse said, "P-Please make sure h-her medical records a-are fully updated in case of a-another incident!"
Mukuro nodded, "I will. Thank you."
The nurse nodded, and rushed out of the room.
Mukuro sighed.
"That was close, huh, Maizono-san?"
Sayaka awoke just after seven in the morning. Her eyes flickered open slowly, and she groaned quietly.
"I-Ikusaba-san?" she murmured.
Mukuro waved, "Hi. You feeling any better?"
Sayaka mumbled, "What happened?"
"You got hit by a car," Mukuro replied, "Your leg is broken, but besides that, you're fine."
She rubbed her eyes, then froze, "Why am I wearing a ring?"
Mukuro bit down on her lip, "Ah, funny story. I kind of-"
She broke off, as the nurse from the previous night entered the room.
"Good m-morning, Ikusaba-san, and… Maizono-san?"
The nurse flicked through the chart, "I t-thought you two were m-married."
Mukuro shot Sayaka a look that read, 'Don't say anything,' just before she could shout out.
"Neither of us chose to change our last name when we got married," Mukuro babbled, "Sayaka's is important to her profession, and if I changed to her's, then people might confuse us."
The nurse skeptically raised an eyebrow.
Mukuro continued quickly, "Having different last names is something that runs in my family anyways, my twin sister's last name is Enoshima, and my younger sister's is Otonashi. Neither of them are married."
"E-Enoshima?" the nurse gasped, "A-As in, the m-model?"
Mukuro nodded.
The nurse beamed suddenly, "H-How wonderful! I'm glad t-that the two o-of you decided to c-carry on a family t-tradition!"
Sayaka smiled weakly, "Yeah, that's exactly what we did. It's special to Mukuro, and so I wanted to make her happy."
Shivers ran down Mukuro's spine. It was oddly cathartic to hear Sayaka say her given name.
Mukuro leaned over, and kissed Sayaka delicately, "I love you, dear."
Sayaka surprised her by grinning, and whispering, "I love you too."