"Is he ok?" a voice came out of nowhere, filled with motherly concern.

Hotaru heard murmured voices in the background. Then the same voice spoke again, "How bad is it? Bring him into the emergency room."

He was lying on something soft and he could feel himself moving. Footsteps echoed to the sides. He struggled to open one eyelid. The surroundings were strange to him – white walls. Am I dead, Hotaru wondered, panicking. He willed his body up an inch – "He's moving!" – and he fell down just as quickly, world and mind blacking out.

Beep beep, beeeep… The sound continued on and on, unendingly. Hotaru could feel something on his face, like a suction cup, and he could hear his own breathing - long, deep gasps struggling to keep going, yet his body urged on. After a few minutes of silent peace, Hotaru slightly opened his left eye and looked around.

He was on a cot in a fairly small room that was white everywhere. The walls, ceiling, and floor were painted white. Strange devices were in one corner - that must be where all the sounds are, he thought – and there were wires connecting to them. His eyes traced the path of the wires… leading to him.

His eyes widened in fear at first – then in relief. It means I'm alive, he thought. He almost cried out in happiness but as he did, his throat felt as if it collapsed on him and unbearable pain enveloped his throat and mouth areas. Hotaru stopped moving for a few minutes, trying to take everything in. His clueless-ness finally found the answer – he was in a hospital!

Creak! Hotaru could hear a sound coming from the near end of the room and saw a door swing open. By now, his open eye was getting more exhausted by the seconds, and barely stayed awake. A woman dressed in a white dress came near him and he could hear a slight whisper, "Oh, he's awake."

She pulled out a needle – Hotaru gasped slightly, but the woman didn't notice – and she swiftly injected it into Hotaru's arm. His eyes widened for a second and quickly closed. A calm serenity overtook him as he fell asleep.

3 Days Later…

Hotaru's eye peeked open with a new burst of energy. It was the same room as before, 3 days ago (which was, to Hotaru, a minute or so). He turned his head to the left and saw a clock there that read: 8: 49.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Hotaru saw Ichirou and Aimi rush in – well, just Aimi. They huddled around him and Aimi burst out before anyone else could say anything, "Are you ok!? How are you!?" She exploded with nonstop questions at him.

"Ayahhh! Yeah, I'm fine! I'm fine." Breathing heavily, Aimi calmed down and smiled. Hotaru turned to Ichirou and waited for him to say something. They stared at each other for a moment and Ichirou, unable to bear Hotaru's face looking at him, broke the silence.

"Feel better," he said in a quiet voice, and with that, he silently left the room. Hotaru watched him leave, crazy with anger at Ichirou's rudeness. Hotaru leaped up off the cot and ran towards the door.

As he went, he yelled to Ichirou, "Hey, you! Come bac-" a sudden pain in his throat stopped his words and body, and he fell to the floor, coughing. Aimi rushed over and helped him up, Hotaru didn't notice it, but Aimi's face showed her care for Hotaru for the first time. When he turned to her, her face quickly changed. He scratched the back of his head and leaned back awkwardly, "Well, Aimi, uhh…"

Feeling the same way, she nodded and quietly whispered, "Feel better." She jogged out the door and down the hallway. Hotaru sighed and went back to the cot. Just another day, he thought, and fell asleep.

2 days later, Hotaru was almost completely healed, a surprise for everyone. As a short celebration, the 4 members of the squad ate out for dinner.

During the middle of the meal, Hotaru spoke out, "So, that man, Natsuki or whatever, what did he want?"

Aimi and Ichirou stopped eating and watched their instructor, waiting for an answer. Katashi gulped down his food and laid down his bowl. "Well, before we get any deeper, I want to tell you that the whole entire thing was a trap…" The 3 young ninjas stared even deeper at instructor Katashi. "And we fell for it."