"It has been a week and she didn't wake up", sighed Otoya feeling down.
He has been depressed since the day that Haruka suffered an accident, and his sadness and depression was so bad that everyone from his class could fell the dark aura around him.
"…Nothing new?", asked Tokiya.
He never met the girl that his friend always talked about (at least talked, as he did see her in coma), but he still felt concerned, as she had a great effect on his friend humor.
"Huh… I guess that after this last class I will visit her again, maybe she's awaken now?", he said with a half smile, like he was trying to reassure himself that everything would be alright.
"Huh… Right, maybe she is", Tokiya said with a bit of reluctance as he didn't want to give false hopes but he also didn't want his friend to be down.
-00-
When he arrived at the hospital he saw a familiar long red haired girl, waving weakly he gave a soft greeting while the girl did the same, giving a nod and a crooked smile, she looked tired and it seemed that she was talking with the doctor.
"Hey… Did she get better?", he asked hopefully, but when he saw the girl shaking her head his half smile disappeared.
"No, nothing changed", Tomochika answered sighing, "I asked the doctor what could be the reason for that, but he said that she seems normal"
"Normal?", Otoya blinked.
"Yes, her injuries are healed and we didn't identify any harm to her head or any trauma that could justify this weird coma", the doctor explained, "Physically she's ok."
"Physically?"
"Well, another theory is that she isn't waking up because of a trauma", the doctor said with an unsure voice, "At the beginning, she seemed scared and turned a lot, but now she doesn't react at all"
"Could it be…", breathed Tomochika softly, in a barely audible tone, which Otoya caught on.
"Do you have any clue to what could it be?"
"Huh… I'm not sure", said the red haired female in deep thought.
"I see… Well, it's a shame, she looks like a nice girl"
"Yes she is…", both said looking down.
-00-
"Hey, Tomo-chan", called Otoya, as they became best friends(maybe not at the level as with Tokiya but…) in these last days, "You looked as if you thought about something, do you have any clues?"
"Well, it a guess", replied the female when they were out of the room, "… You told me that she ran as soon as you caught her singing right?"
"Yes"
"Then it must be..", she started to mumble, but felt in silence after that."
"…"
Otoya was also in total silence, scared to break the girl's concentration, as she furrowed her brows in deep though.
"… You know", she whispered after a while.
"Huh?", he blinked.
"She really wanted to tell you that she was the one that was singing", Tomochika said glancing to the door where her friend was, "To be truly honest, she wanted to say a lot of things to you… She trusted you so much that she was willing to tell you everything about her"
"…"
"I think… That the reason for her being scared isn't because of any of her traumas or she would be in coma much earlier", said the red haired girl now looking at him, "She was scared of you"
"Me?", he asked dumbfounded, "But why? I wouldn't do anything to harm her!"
"I know, and that's the reason", she said with patience, "You're always nice so she must felt scared when you discovered her secret, she was scared that you would hate her for keeping it"
"I would never hate her!", he said with a pained voice, looking at the floor with interest, "I… Suspected that she was the person behind the voice that I always heard but… I thought that she had her reasons, so I didn't ask anything"
"Yes, but she doesn't know that"
"… What can I do?", he said with a sad and broken voice.
"Tell her that you don't hate her"
"But… Would she ever hear me? After all, she's in a coma", he asked with reluctance.
"If it's you then I bet that she will", said Tomochika with a reassuring smile, "Please, ask her to come back"
"Yes… I will try…. No, I will do it!"
-00-
'You… Sing?'
"I'm sorry… I didn't want to hide it… I wanted to tell you"
'Your voice… I recognize it'
"I didn't mean to fool you, I… Just didn't have the courage…"
'It's the voice that I was looking for'
"Sorry… Sorry, SORRY!", Haruka said nonstop, hugging herself sitting in the middle of nowhere.
She didn't want to end like that… And worse than the pain that she felt when the chunks of wood fell on her was the pain in her chest…
She could hear the mean voices again, telling her how small and useless she was, but she didn't pay any attention to them, to be truly honest she wanted to listen to them rather the constant voice of her friend, that was questioning her.
"I'm sorry…"
"...Futari de tsukuridasu
Kono melody ni nosete
Mirai ga kyou ni kasanaru yo
Kawarazu gyutto
Kono furezu mitai ni
Hanashitakunain da…"
"Huh, what's that…?", said Haruka looking up, still seeing total darkness, "Someone is… singing?"
She closed her eyes and stopped crying, the warm of the unknown voice gently engulfing her.
-00-
"…I met only you", Otoya finished, sitting on the corner of the bed while gently pulling a strand of Haruka's hair behind her ear, "Hey Nanami… Can you hear me?"
The girl in question didn't move, but he wouldn't give up, taking a deep breath he held her hand on his, softly wrapping their fingers.
"I wished to hold your hand before…", he said with a guilty voice, "I said that you would be fine, but I failed to hold your hand on the festival, to protect you… And now I failed again"
"I'm sorry", he said holding her hand close to his head, letting some tears fall on her cheek.
"… I know that I already said sorry, but I want to say it again", he continued, his voice barely a whisper, "I… Shouldn't have pressed you when I saw you singing, to be truly honest… I suspected that you could talk"
She didn't stir, but her face looked pained.
"I am not mad", he added quickly, a surge of hope when he saw her reaction, "E-Even if I suspected it I knew that you had your reasons, and I would wait until you wanted to tell me!"
He shook his head.
"No… To be truly honest, it would be fine even if you never tell me".
She stirred, but the movement was so little that it went unnoticed.
"…The only thing I wish right now is to see you open your eyes", he whispered touching her forehead with his while closing his eyes for a moment, "Hey… Everyone is waiting for you… Could you come back to us?"
No, it wasn't what he wanted to say.
"…Please, come back to me"
"I…"
He opened his eyes startled when he heard the soft voice, letting a gasp when the orange haired girl slowly opened her eyes, which were still hazy.
"Na…Nanami!",he cried with relief, while embracing the girl, that returned the gesture with a bit of reluctance.
"I… Am sorry", she said softly, "For not telling you the truth"
"It's ok, I'm just glad that you're fine!", he said hugging her tighter, feeling his heart beating fast because of the sheer happiness and relief that he felt.
Nanami leaned more on his embrace and closed her eyes, letting a sigh of relief as she felt her heart beating fast, because of the decision that she made, especially after hearing his words.
"… Otoya-kun", she called with an unsure voice.
"Huh?", he blinked while looking at her, surprised as it was the first time that he heard her calling him by his first name.
"I… Want to tell you everything"
"You don't need to, you know?", he said with a hint of concern, feeling very touched.
"No", she shook her head, "You deserve to know everything as you're kind of part of it"
"… Go on", Otoya said with an encouraging smile, receiving a nod as a response.
"Well…"
-00-
"Before I lived here, I live on the countryside, in a quiet and calm place, so… The first time I was here, in the big city, I felt scared; there was so much noise and flashy signs… I felt lost"
"I could only imagine", he said with a tone of sympathy.
"Yes", she nodded, "But… The people were the scariest"
She shuddered.
"Where I lived everyone greeted with a smile", she trailed off, "Here, there was only serious faces and people running around, not noticing you or caring for that matter"
"…"
"That started my issues with crowds", she continued, "…I thought that I would get better after I befriended Tomo-chan but… An incident happened"
She shut her mouth after that, trembling a bit before she felt her hands being held, her fingers being intertwined with others.
"Continue", Otoya gave her an encouraging look.
"W-well… I take piano and music courses", she looked at their hands with interest, "I was considered the best student so… The teacher asked me to play in front of the class"
Haruka closed her eyes, as the memory was very unpleasant.
"M-my anxiety paralyzed my fingers", she stuttered, "I tried to play it a lot of times, but everytime I was paralyzed because of my fear and failed"
She sobbed, despite trying her hardest to hold back.
"Haruka…"
"You're a failure, You shouldn't be here, You cheated… You don't have a talent", she repeated all of the nasty comments that she remembered by heart, "Every day I saw everyone looking down on me, constantly saying that I shouldn't be there and that I don't deserve any of the praises that the teachers gave me"
"…"
"That's why… I lost my voice", she said after a long pause, "I felt too scared to even talk with people so my fear also paralyzed my voice"
"Ssh… It's ok", Ittoki hugged her, trying to soothe her with his gentle voice.
He frowned, he wasn't the kind to be mad at other people, but he felt his blood boil everytime he heard about the nasty things that these assholes said to her.
"Yes…", the soft voice replied, "I'm ok… And thanks to you."
"Me?", he blinked with a puzzled look.
"After they started to seriously bully me I escaped to the park", she gave a shy smile, her cheeks red, "And… I heard your song"
"Brand New Melody"
"Y-Yes, it was so cheerful and full of life… That I couldn't help but stop and listen", her face got a deeper shade of red, and she started to fidget, "Before I noticed, I was singing along"
"I see… I'm happy that I could help you"
"You did more than help me", she giggled, her eyes showing how grateful she felt, which made him blush, "You saved me, and you made me like singing… Ever since I found this place I started to sing"
"Hehe… It's funny how I attracted you with my voice and you attracted me with yours", he also laughed, stopping when he noticed what he said, "W-When I said 'attract' I didn't mean it in 'that way'!"
"It's ok, I understood what you meant", she giggled again, "Thanks for appearing in my life, for rescuing me, for giving my voice back… And especially for all of the happiness that I now feel! I'm glad to finally be able to say that!"
"Haruka…"
"I also…", she stuttered, smiling a bit and deciding that the last part could wait, "…Sorry, I still don't have the courage to say the last part, but I promise you that one day I will say it"
"I can't wait to hear it!", he grinned which made her laugh again.
'If you only knew', she smiled fondly, shaking her head.
I love you.
And I hope to say it someday.
-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00-
-BLUSHES LIKE A TOMATO-
OH MY GOD! THIS WAS SO EMBARRASSING TO WRITE!NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE SO FULL OF FLUFFY THAT YOU SEE AS MANY HEARTS AND THE END OF SEASON 2!
…
Ok, I don't think I can manage to do that, can't surpass the acid trip that episode 13 was.
Now review time!
SnowwolfwarriorKrysta- Hahah, I like to reply to everyone reviews even if they say! Update!
18Madison81- I hope you like this chapter as much as I felt embarrassed to write it!HEHEH, thanks as always! ^^
Brandnewmelody- DID I KILL YOU WITH FEELS? Because I'm dying! XD
…
Wait, who else you're showing this corny? OAO
