Dr. Kawa was sitting beside Wren's bed, as she did every Saturday afternoon, staring intently at her patient.

"So," Dr. Kawa began. "You believe that this Krad person…had feelings for your grandmother…?"

Wren rolled her eyes. "It's all right if you don't believe me, Dr. Kawa, but I'd like you to at least humor me on this one."

"It's not that I don't believe you, Wren," the doctor leaned close to her patient. "It's just that I don't get these stories very often…"

Wren nodded. "I understand that," she murmured. "But it just felt so awkward. I had been waiting to see him for weeks, and when I finally did…"

"You were lost for words," Natsuki finished. She smiled. "That's very normal, Wren. Everyone feels lost for words at sometime in their lives. It's part of being human."

"But what about when he leaned toward me to kiss me?" Wren buried her face in her hands and uttered, "Maybe that was the wrong move—"

"Absolutely not, Wren. Krad was out of line. He only saw you as he saw, and still sees, your grandmother. And that was no reason to foolishly jump into a kiss," Natsuki concluded.

Wren looked down. "Then why do I feel so horrible?" she asked her psychiatrist.

Natsuki looked at Wren's IV bag. "You're halfway done," she rose from her seat, sat her clipboard down onto the cushion, and walked around the bed to Wren's right side. She picked up one of the three syringes on the table next to the bed and injected it into the saline tube. "That should make the pain go away,"

"Mental or physical?" Wren asked sarcastically. Natsuki smiled weakly and stroked Wren's silky, sandy-blonde hair.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," she soothed. "Just go the way the river flows. That's the smartest thing you can do right now."

Wren nodded. "Thanks, Dr. Kawa," suddenly, there was a soft rap on the door to the room, and Mona poked her head through the small opening in the door.

"Sorry to bother you, Dr., but Wren," she turned to the sandy-blonde. "You have another visitor,"

"Oh," Wren straightened up in her bed and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked back to Natsuki. "Would you mind if…?"

Natsuki shook her head and chuckled. "Of course not," she stood. "It's time for me to leave, anyway," she smiled and ruffled Wren's hair. "Take care of yourself, kiddo, and I'll see you next week at this time."

Wren grinned brightly and waved goodbye as the doctor left the room. As soon as Natsuki was out the door, Mona opened the door to let Wren's visitor in.

"Riku! How are y—" Wren stopped mid-sentence when she realized that it was not Riku who she was face-to-face with. "D-Daisuke…? Daisuke Niwa, right?" that was right! He was in her homeroom class at Azumano Middle School.

The spiky, red-headed boy smiled a goofy smile and stepped into the hospital room. He held a large bag that hung over his shoulder.

"Yeah," he answered. "It's Daisuke. How are you?"

"I…I'm fine, but…how did you know that I was sick?" Daisuke froze. He hadn't thought about that.

You dolt!

"I…uh…Miss Riku…yes, Miss Riku…She told me that you were in the hospital, and I was worried." He sighed, relieved.

Nice save.

"Oh," Wren smiled warmly and nodded. "Well, thank you for coming to see me,"

"You're welcome. Here," he set the bag down in the chair that Natsuki had sat in and took out a large, plastic container filled with grilled fish soaked in sake with various herbs and spices, chicken-fried rice, and cooked vegetables with a pair of wooden chop-sticks. "I brought you some home-cooked food. I know how bad the hospital food can get."

Wren took in the sweet aroma of the food like it was oxygen. Her eyes lit up brightly. "Thank you so much! This looks wonderful!" she broke the chop-sticks and started to eat the vegetables. "These veggies are amazing!" next, she ate a bite of her fish rolled in the rice and squealed with joy. "THIS IS SO GOOD! Thank you so much, Daisuke! Who made this meal?"

"My mom and Towa, that's our maid."

"Well, be sure to tell them that their food ROCKS!"

Daisuke laughed. "I will," he promised. All of a sudden, the door to the room opened and Dr. Wong Dao strut into the room.

The doctor glared down at the red-haired boy without approval.

"And who are you?" he demanded.

"Uh…I…I'm…"

Wren groaned. "Stop scaring all of my visitors, Dao," she droned. "Riku almost didn't come back after she first met you." She continued to eat her food. Dao's eyes widened behind his thick, black-rimmed glasses at the sight of her food.

"What do you think you're eating, Wren?" he attempted to take the container away from her, but she snapped her chopsticks at his hand and he drew back quickly.

"No touchy!" she ordered. "I'm eating actual food, not this artificial crap that you're stuffing down my throat. You know, sometimes it's nice to eat real food, Dao, letting your patients feel something other than constipation from all of the broccoli you pile onto their plates."

Dao grunted. "That food is not on your diet—"

"Diet, schmiet. Do I really care about dieting right now? Not really!"

"Well, you should! Your illness calls for a specific diet that you must follow if you expect to give your body the energy necessary for it to perform essential functions!"

"I see fish for protein, herbs and spices for my immune system, grain for my heart, and even veggies that give you that satisfaction that you're still making me constipated. What more do you need?"

Daisuke felt very awkward standing there while Wren and her doctor, Dr. Dao, as he was called, bicker like two siblings.

Suddenly, the door opened and the two Harada twins stepped inside. Wren turned away from Dao and beamed at the twins.

"Riku! Risa!" the three girls squealed and Riku and Risa ran to Wren and hugged her. "I thought you guys would be halfway to Hokkaido by now!"

"We were going with our parents," Risa started. "But then Riku explained to them that you were in the hospital and that she wanted to stay with you. When she said she would stay, I couldn't just leave her behind, and plus, I wanted to see you, too!"

Riku nodded in agreement then noticed the container of food in Wren's lap. She frowned. "Wren, where'd you get that food from?"

Wren grinned and pointed behind her friend.

"H-Hello, Miss Riku…Miss Harada…" Daisuke squeaked. Riku's eyes widened and she ran to her boyfriend and threw her arms around him. The redhead blushed furiously.

"Niwa!" Riku exclaimed. "You're here! How did you know that Takimoto was in the hospital?"

Wren cocked her head. "Niwa, I thought that—"

IDIOT! NOW WE'RE GONNA GET CAUGHT!

"Y-You told me, M-Miss Riku!" he half-shouted.

Riku furrowed her brow. "I did? Hm. I must have forgotten…"

"U-Uh huh…!" Daisuke nodded, trying to convince her. I don't like lying to Miss Riku… he told Dark.

I wouldn't like lying to a pretty face either, but Takimoto can't know about us, even though Riku and Risa do.

Yeah, Daisuke agreed, snapping back into the conversation.

A loud cough sounded from the back of the room and everyone looked up at the white-coated doctor.

Wren rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah… You two remember Dr. Wong Dao, right?"

Risa nodded. "Oh, right! You're Takimoto's attending physician, right?"

Dao pushed his glasses up to the brim of his nose.

The twins bowed respectively and Dr. Dao left the room.

The conversation shifted to what classes each student had that following semester. The new school year was fast approaching, and every student must pick his or her own classes that he or she should take the following school year.

"What classes are you taking, Riku?" Wren asked the reddish-brown-haired youth.

"Well, I'm taking the required classes; math, science, history, grammar, and PE. But I also want to take home economics and additional sports."

Risa rolled her eyes. "Of course," she added. "There isn't a year where you don't take sports. Is PE not enough for you? Geez."

"What about you, Risa?"

"I'm taking the same classes as Riku, except no sports."

"Well, duh!" Riku placed her hands on her hips. "You haven't worked an extra day in your life!"

"Not true," Risa interjected. "I did the nature hike when we went on the class trip, didn't I?"

"Yeah, after Niwa carried your pack for you and you stopped at the waterfall!"

"Miss Riku, Miss Harada—" Daisuke started, but Wren stopped him with a shake of her head.

"I wouldn't," she warned. "Those two get into heated arguments really easily. Sometimes it's just best to let the argument run its course."

Daisuke chuckled and smiled. "I guess…"

After a few minutes, the two sisters obviously got tired of fighting and split up into separate parts of the room, Risa moving to the corner opposite Wren's bed.

The patient sighed. "I'll take Riku. You take Risa."

Daisuke frowned. "Why don't I take Miss Riku and you take Miss Harada?" he suggested.

Wren stared at him like he was the dumbest person in the world. She then lifted up her right hand and flicked the IV tubes on her left. "Because I can't move and Riku's closer than Risa. It won't get you into any trouble with your girlfriend, I promise," and she pushed him gently towards the younger of the Harada twins.

Daisuke placed a hand on Risa's shoulder to acknowledge his presence. She whirled around, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Niwa," she said seriously. He was startled by her sudden concentration.

"Y-Yes, Miss Harada?"

"You're good friends with Hiwitari, right?"

Daisuke was caught somewhat off-guard by the question. "Well…" he started. "Yeah, I guess you could say that—"

"Then can you tell me what this means? Hiwatari stopped me at the hospital entrance." Daisuke froze. "He told me that there were those who would like to see me get hurt, but he wasn't one of them. What does that mean?"

What do you think of it, Dark?

Sounds like Hiwatari wants to protect Risa.

But from who?

Dark shrugged. How should I know? Do I look like Hiwatari's personal secretary?

Well, no, but—

I don't know what Hiwatari meant, but I have a feeling we should keep an eye on Risa as well as Wren. Having both under close watch could give us a chance to encounter Krad and ask him about this madness ourselves.

I agree. But for now, I think we should leave. The red-haired youth smiled at the younger Harada twin. "I don't know exactly what it means, Miss Harada, but I do think that you should be careful. If Hiwatari says that someone wants to see you get hurt, then it's probably true."

Risa looked down. "Yeah…I guess you're right." Daisuke smiled again and went back to Riku. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Well, I think I'm going to go,"

"Aww," Riku pouted. "I didn't even get to spend much time with you,"

Daisuke gently pushed a piece of Riku's reddish-brown hair behind her ear and grinned at her. "Then we should try to get together again," he suggested. Riku brightened up and hugged him close. Daisuke blushed slightly but then relaxed. Riku let go and Daisuke waved goodbye to Wren and the Haradas and left the hospital room.

Wren caught Riku by her arm and pulled her around to face her. "He is so sweet!" she exclaimed. "Hold on to him, Riku. Guys like that are WAY hard to find. You're lucky."

Riku blushed. "Yeah…he is great, isn't he?"

Risa folded her arms. "Mr. Dark is much more romantic," she retorted. Wren laughed.

"I'm sure he is, Risa," Takimoto pulled her two best friends into a hug, still laughing.

a heart-felt chapter, i think...i do enjoy the comedic-ness. XP ENJOY! AND THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR UR FEEDBACK! and if you haven't reviewed yet, YOU HAVE COMMITTED A SIN AND THEREFORE YOU MUST REVIEW!

thankyou! XD Shadeslayer390 XD