"RIKO-CHAN!" Chika called out, waking Maki from her small nap. Looking up at the door, she saw the group of girls crowding around. Chika had her hands covering her mouth; her expression said, 'I can't believe this is actually real.'

"Hey, don't make too much of a scene. Come inside," Maki said sternly, but groggily. The eight girls walked in, with Chika rushing over to Riko's bedside.

"Maki-san," Chika said as she sniffled, "is…is Riko-chan going to be…alright?" Chika was struggling to keep her composure. Everyone else was also worried for Riko's health as well. However, the bond that she and their leader shared was something very special. It only makes sense that the people with the closest bonds with Riko would be talking about her.

"I know you are worried, Chika-chan." Maki placed a hand on the orange-haired girl's shoulder. "She's going to be okay. The damage to her brain, while somewhat concerning at first, has gotten much better. The swelling has gone down considerably, and she should be waking up soon. I'm predicting that she'll be out of the coma by the end of the month."

"That's so far away," Chika said as she kept her attention on her red-headed friend.

It was a bit overexaggerated, but she wasn't wrong. Her talk with Riko's mother, Umi, and Rin was about a week and a half ago. "I don't mean to be rude, but why have you guys only been here today? I thought you would have been here on the first day."

"Well, we were supposed to," You replied. "Chika was the first one to hear about Riko's accident. She told all of us, but we all had pretty busy schedules. I had a swim meet, but coach told me to take off a few days when I told her about what happened."

"Maru-chan was on a break, so we were in the studio making music. We were wondering why Riko-chan hasn't been around, and we only learned because of Chika-chan."

"My father let me take as many days off as I wanted to. The shop was quieting down because it was getting a bit too cold for people to swim. So, that helped, I guess."

"Mari and I had some business meetings coming up, but we pushed them back. If they tried to make us meet now, we told them that we would be breaking our partnership with them. It would be their loss, anyways."

"There was a big tournament coming up, and my organization was really pushing me to attend. Once I heard the news about Lily, I told them that I couldn't go. She might have been skeptical of my career, and she may have called it 'childish'…but only this time was she right!"

There was a chorus of light giggles from Yoshiko's story coming from the room. Even in a depressing situation, the Fallen Angel knew how to liven the room. Even if it was only for a second.

"How about you, Chika-chan? I know you have classes and other things," Maki asked.

The orange-haired girl nodded as she was still watching Riko. She was hoping that Riko would be awake soon. "I finished all of my assignments and readings once I heard about Riko-chan. I wanted all of us to be here for Riko-chan. We're a group, and it's nice to wake up and to see all of your friends around you."

Maki dryly chuckled at hearing that. "'Friend,' huh. I don't even think I can be that to her anymore." She sat in the same chair she's been in for a while and stared out the window.

Those words dragged You and Chika's attention away from Riko and onto Maki. "Maki-san, you can't say that," You bluntly said. "Of course you're still a friend to her."

"Huh?" Maki turned her head to see You and Chika (she took some time to remember the names of all the girls from Aqours. She knew that they would be coming to see Riko) walking over to her. "You all saw our break-up. Her mother said that she still loves me, but that's all a lie-"

"It was not!" Chika grabbed Maki by the shoulders. "She's never stopped loving you! She only broke up with you because she felt it was the best decision. You are both busy people, and it's hard to work out everything so you can be happy together while keeping up with your work. But if you guys can learn to handle that, you will both be back together in no time!"

The words she was listening to was so familiar and so comforting. Just like something Honoka would say. "Do you mean that?"

"That's not the first time you said that to one of us," Dia spoke up to respond, which caught Maki's attention. "I know Chika means it. And so do I. You guys just have to get on the same level. Talk about what went wrong. When Riko wakes up, we'll all be here. And we'll support you two, no matter what happens."

"Do-"

"And yes," Dia interrupted the doctor, "We mean it."

Maki smiled at the girls. "Thanks. Riko…has some good friends."

"And you do as well," Chika said, "You have us!"

"What?"

"You were able to be friends with Riko-chan, zura," Hanamaru said. "And Ruby-chan and I knew of you because of Nico-chan and Honoka-chan."

"And a lot of us are fans of Muse," Kanan said, being the voice of reason to help Maki. "If we aren't, we would just be happy to get to know you." Maki saw the two girls that were unfamiliar with Muse nod (You and Yoshiko).

"That's good to hear." Maki relaxed herself in the chair and almost dozed off. She kept herself awake, as she had to tend to the other girls in the room. "Now that I feel a lot better, now what?"

"Well," Chika said, "We were planning to stay in Akihabara for at least a week. I was planning to stay with Riko-chan until she woke up-"

"Chika, you have classes." Kanan interjected.

"Jeez, Kanan-chan. I know, I just want to be with her."

"I don't think you need to worry about being with her, Chikachi," Mari said to her orange-haired friend. "Dia, Kanan, and I will be here."

"We should be able to stay as well, zura," Hanamaru said, motioning to herself and Ruby.

"Aww!" Chika crossed her arms and pouted. "I wanted to be by Riko-chan when she woke up, but I can't now!"

"Hey, Yoshiko and I can't be here with her as well," You told her childhood friend, "We all have classes. I'll be sure to drive us all back here when we are able to."

"I…I guess…"

"And besides, there is someone much more important that'll be by Riko-chan's side." You smiled, which made Chika remember about the red-head doctor.

"Right!" Her energy seemed to come back to her as Chika stood up and held Maki's hands. "I'm resting Riko-chan's safe recovery to you, Maki-san!"

"Wasn't I already doing that?" Maki asked.

"Y-Yes, but you are the-"

"Chika," Dia said, interrupting the Aqours leader, "She gets what you mean. You're just adding more pressure on her. Stop that."

"Sorry, Dia-san."

"Please don't worry about anything, Maki-san. You just keep being the good doctor that you are and just help the girl we all love."

Maki smiled. "I will."

The rest of the day was uneventful. To be honest, the weekend while Aqours was with Riko was uneventful. Since there wasn't too much to do at the hospital, the room of girls resorted to talking amongst one another. Some alleviation came in the form of Eli, Nozomi, and Arisa. Even Umi and Rin came to the room. It was crowded, but Maki made it work so that she could tend to Riko and converse with the other occupants. From Maki's point of view, the people with similar personalities (according to her) all grouped up together. The people with the calmest composures (at least when Umi isn't panicking at small types of affection) were talking, with Kanan and Umi talking. Although she was younger, Kanan seemed to have a smooth charm to her, which was making Umi blush. The younger bluenette probably couldn't even see how suave she was being. Mari was talking with Nozomi. She was a bit afraid as she saw the two of them as the most devious people in the room, but she figured that it would be harmless. For now. Rin, Yoshiko, and Chika were all talking. The three energetic/eccentric girls talking wasn't a big surprise to her. The last four girls seemed to be talking about Hanamaru's idol career. Made sense; Hanamaru and Ruby knew the ins and outs of being a full-fledged idol, Arisa was a huge fan of idols, and You was the girl to go with the flow.

This left the red-headed doctor with Dia and Eli. To be honest, it was the best possible outcome. Eli always seemed like a second mother to her, and Dia was very nice when she was talking with Maki before.

"Are you not going to freak out this time, Dia?" Eli teasingly said. It's been a while since the Aqours girls met the ones from Muse. Maki and Riko's break-up didn't make them pick sides; however, it just seemed that it was comfortable to be with the ones you knew for a while.

Dia crossed her arms and huffed. "I thought you were more mature, Eli-san. It's not my fault that you're my favourite member…wait, that doesn't make sense…" Both Eli and Maki giggled at the black-haired girl's confusion.

"She freaked out before?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, at the…concert…" Eli said, but started to trail off. It has been a couple of weeks since then, so it was a bit of a sensitive subject.

"Of course, at the concert." Maki sighed. "I missed that, just like I missed everything else." She sat in the familiar chair that she has been sitting at for almost two weeks and reached for her water.

"Maki-san, are you really still like this?" Dia asked worriedly. Even after the talk with her friends and giving their blessing, Maki was still acting like a depressed mess. "We've given you assurance; you don't have to feel so guilty."

"I know," Maki exasperatedly said. "It's just…I'm always going to know that it was mostly me that made us break up. Yes, Riko has some fault as well, but it's just screaming at me that it's all my fault. Even if I get past that, I don't even know if Riko would forgive me. Her mom said she's so trusting, but I don't even think she could trust me after what I put her through."

As Maki took a long sip of her water, Dia and Eli shared a look of concern. Their stares were fighting as to who would talk to Maki first. Eli expected herself to win, but the innocent eyes of Dia made her submit.

The blonde sighed. "Maki, you've been doing this to yourself for such a while now. You have to stop blaming yourself for everything. No one has any ill will against you."

"I understand that, Eli. But, that won't help me through this. I want to make up with her. I want to be with her so, so much. There's just this nagging feeling that's telling me 'no.' I don't know what to do about it, and I don't think I can be convinced otherwise."

Eli hung her head. She had a creeping suspicion that Maki would just hole herself up, and it was true. "Your turn," she whispered into Dia's ear.

She didn't notice the shiver that was sent down Dia. Despite having a girlfriend, having your literal idol whisper to you seemed too good to be true. She recovered quickly, as she had a bigger problem to attend to. Making Maki open up.

"Dia, I appreciate the attempt to cheer me up or whatever." Maki saw the black-haired girl walking over to her, and started to stop her. "I don't think it's going to w-"

"Maki Nishikino. Talented singer, dancer, pianist, doctor. In Muse, you were always the one who looked the most confident. You had an elegance to you that was unrivaled by anyone. Your attitude was brutally honest, but you always had a sense of truth and confidence in the words you said."

"I…"

"Looking at you now, I'm surprised that I can give you even a small chance to be with Riko-chan again."

Eli's eyes widened when Dia said those words. Maki thought that Dia's slew of words was going to somewhere that would give her some confidence. But, that was quickly proven wrong as she got the worst insult she could hear right now.

Maki steadily, but angrily started to speak. "What makes-"

"It's true that Riko-chan trusted you a bit too much. And with how you are right now, I can tell that it was a big mistake. You have none of that confidence that you exuded while in Muse. You're putting yourself down, and it disgusts me. Someone who always was so truthful can't even be true to herself. I can't believe that I even looked up to you."

Maki gripped the arm rests of the chair, almost leaving dents. 'How could she just turn her personality arou-'

"I asked you to be the one to help Riko-chan because we all love her. But if I was her, I wouldn't want you even close to me."

Eli cringed when Maki roughly pushed herself out of the chair and angrily glared at Dia. But, there was a good reason to do so. Dia did cross a big line.

"Listen here, you stuck-up brat." Maki venomously said. She wasn't one to express her anger often. But, Dia telling her that Riko would hate her after everything she's heard that was the complete opposite. That was the trigger. "I'm doing my damn best to help your friend. And not just your friend, but my true love. I might put myself down, but it's to protect myself from people like you."

The rest of the girls saw the commotion starting and rushed over to stop it. However, Eli held them back. 'God, Dia. You really screwed yourself here.'

"A girl who seems so nice on the outside, but is ready to strike and use anything and everything to make someone feel awful. What a good friend to have. That isn't going to work on me, got it?! I love her with all of my heart, more than anyone. You, Chika, even her own mother can't compare to the love I have for her! And for you to insult me because you can't see that. You disgust me. I'll love her when she's out of this damn coma, and I'm going to put my hardest effort to make her love me again. It may take a few days or a few years. But I'll make sure that you'll never be able to say those words to me ever again. And that's me being truthful."

This confrontation made Dia's back hit a wall, and Maki was towering over her. Dia's eyes stared into Maki's angry violets. The black-haired girl gulped, but poked Maki in the chest. "That's what I wanted to hear."

"…"

"What?" Maki asked. The whole room was stunned from hearing Dia's words after Maki was finished talking, including the doctor.

"I wanted to hear those words from you. Riko-chan always had so much trust in you, but in this you. She wouldn't trust you if she saw you acting like how you were before. You were acting too much like herself; self-pitying, depressed, isolated. She needed to open up to us, just like you needed to. She wants this Maki back. The one that she fell in love with. And I want her to be with you as well. After you smooth out everything that went wrong; after you can split up your time to be with her and your work; after she learns to have faith in herself and to split that with you, I can assure you that there won't be any more problems. And yes, I do mean it."

Maki was trembling as she held Dia's shoulders. Her mouth was dry, probably because all of the water was in her eyes. She was streaming tears and she could barely stand up. She couldn't say anything, so she instead collapsed onto Dia and cried her lungs out. All the while, Dia was there patting her back and giving her assurance.

'I can't believe that worked,' Eli thought. 'All she needed was to hear how we see her right now. Just so she could have confidence. It was a harsh reality check but…You're a genius, Dia.'

The two stayed like that for a while, with the rest of the girls watching them.

"Is Maki-chan okay, nya?" Rin timidly asked Eli.

The blonde had a small smile. "She will be. She needed something like that."

After about 45 minutes, Maki seemed to settle down. Dia led her to the familiar chair, and pushed her a bit closer to Riko.

"Thanks…Dia. I wasn't being myself, even with how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise." Maki said.

"It's no problem. I want Riko to be with someone I could consider the best for her. The way you were acting…it would have ended badly, I feel." Dia said. "No offense."

Maki slightly smiled. "None taken."

As Dia took a step away from the chair, she fell to her knees as she put a hand to her mouth.

"Dia!" Mari quickly rushed over to her girlfriend's side. "What's wrong?"

"Saying all that stuff to Maki-san, and then having her scream everything to me…I'm not really feeling too good." Dia shakily said. "Can…we got to the washroom…for a bit?"

"Of course!" The blonde helped Dia to her feet and walked over to the washroom. The sounds coming from there weren't pretty, but Dia deserved it.

"All it took for you to break out of your shell was someone to insult you that much, huh?" Eli said.

Maki took a hold of one of the bed-ridden girl's hands and gripped it tightly. "I guess so. Sorry for being…well, that."

"It's okay. You had your reasons." Eli said. "Just…be more confident. You are both at fault, but you have to accept it and not shut yourself off because of it. We're here for you if you need someone to talk to."

"Yeah. I get that now. Thanks." Maki looked at her ex-girlfriend, but smiled. 'If what they said is true, you'll make me the happiest girl alive. If it isn't, I'm going to hope that you'll forgive me. And we'll make us work out.'