Chapter 25

Suguha's POV

It had been a couple of days since I met Kikuoka but now that I know him, I seem to see him everywhere. I will be walking down the hall of the hospital, and I'll see him making his rounds. I have never seen him do it before, or at least, not that I took note of. So it's a little weird that I am so aware of it now. My seeing him is not strictly confined to the hospital though, which is the weirdest part of the matter. I occasionally see him in public, and I get the feeling that he sees more of me than I do of him. I can't explain it, but I feel like he has his eyes on me.

It's been a day more since I met that creep in Shino's hospital room and believe it or not, he's more unnerving than Kikuoka. Sure, I feel like Kikuoka is watching me, but that Shinkawa boy was an enigma. I still remember his face with immaculate clarity. But one thing stood out in my mind above all things: His eyes. When he whipped around, they held all the intensity of a wild animal. Not only that, but I still couldn't place what was hidden behind his eyes. If I were ever to meet him again it will be all too soon.

Right now though, I am neither at the hospital or at home. I am at a Kendo tournament. I had just won a round, which qualified me for the semi-finals. I love Kendo and I should be so focused on the tournament that there are no other thoughts in my head. Unfortunately, that is not the case. My head was instead, filled with thoughts of the two strange people that I had met: Kikuoka and Shinkawa.

My name was called, and my match was announced, to which I barely took any notice; I was incredibly distracted. I did, however, have the awareness to know that I had to get in the ring. I quickly threw on my headgear, securing it in place, and grabbed my Kendo sword. The very one that Kazuto had brought back from the shop those months ago, toting Shino with him. I smiled as I recollected the memory.

I will spare the details of the match, and instead just say that I lost… Miserably. I'm sure I could have won, too, had my head been in the match. Instead, it was centered elsewhere and because of that, it more likely than not cost me the match and maybe even the tournament. Instead of myself, the winner turned out to be some girl named Saeko Busujima. From the looks of her, she couldn't be much older than me, but she beat a muscle-bound boy who had no shortage of skill on his side.

After the loss, I went on to the third-place match and that, I won. So the tournament wasn't a complete disappointment. I was, after all, bringing home a trophy. When that match was over I packed my bag, putting away all my gear and getting ready to leave with a quick call to my mom.

After a few rings, my mom picked up. "Hello?" she answered.

"Mom, it's Suguha. I'm done at my tournament. Can you come get me?" I questioned.

"Sure honey. I'll be there in a little bit. So how'd you do? Did you place?"

"Yeah, I got third. I probably could have done better, but my head wasn't in it in the semi-finals. I just wasn't completely focused." I probably sounded more down that I intended to. It's not like third place is some huge disgrace, but I really was upset that I could have done better and didn't. If it was unquestionable that I gave it my absolute best, I wouldn't beat myself up over it. But when I know that I could have done better, I just get so aggravated with myself.

"That's amazing Sugu!" she cried out from the other end of the line. "That Tournament was huge! Getting third out of over fifty is amazing!"

She sounded so impressed and excited that I couldn't even force myself to be upset over the loss if I was trying, desperately trying. Regardless of the situation, my mom always had a way of making everyone see the silver lining.

"Thanks, mom." I responded, a small smile gracing my lips. "So when do you think that you'll get here?"

"Oh, fifteen to twenty minutes. Give or take. Kinda depends on traffic." She said. I heard a rustling in the background and the small, metallic jingle of keys. "I'm leaving right now, so I'll see you in a little bit, okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be waiting in front of the building for you."

"Alright honey, see you soon." she said, hanging up the phone.

With that, I slipped my phone back into my pocket, gathered up my bag, and started on my way to the door. Before I could make it to the door, however, I was stopped by the boy I had beaten in the third-place match. Having been to plenty of tournaments, I knew this meant one of two things: He was going to congratulate me on a good match; or he was going to have some snide remark, made in spite of his loss to a girl. I have been on the receiving end of these two too many times to count. And in the latter case, more times than I care to count. Normally, I ignore the latter case; it is, after all, just an attempt to patch their hurt ego.

Much to my surprise, neither of these scenarios played out. "Hey, Suguha Kirigaya, right?" He asked. His voice was almost void of any determining emotion that would help me to predict what course the conversation would take. He bowed slightly. "I'm Hiro Sonozaki. You did really well today."

Now, I know I said that the conversation did not take either course. By that, I didn't that the conversation was completely unlike those that I have had before. The next part of the conversation was where it became unusual to me.

"Thank you. You did really well too." I responded cheerily, bowing in return. Then I turned back in the direction of the doors.

"Hey, uh… um… I was wondering…" I turned back to face him once again. His face was slightly flushed and he was fidgeting. His behavior in that moment did not at all match what one would imagine of him. His posture was like that of a, well, nerd talking to his crush. Whereas his build would make you think he was a jock who had no problem talking to girls. "Would it be at all possible… for me to have your number?"

I was more than slightly taken aback by the request. I stared at him, wide-eyed.

"I know that I literally formally met you just thirty seconds ago and that I have no reason to assume that I would ever even see you again. But I would like to talk to you sometime." He explained. "I'm terribly sorry if that comes off as strange, or weird… or creepy…"

In complete honesty, I think that under different circumstances, I would have given him my number. But being that I don't know him at all, excluding the formality of his name, the prospect of giving him my number was a little unnerving to me. I don't want to seem rude by telling him no and I can't just tell him yes either. I had to resolve myself to one of these options.

"I'm really sorry. You seem like a nice guy, but I don't really know anything about you. It would just make me feel uncomfortable giving you my number." I had chosen to tell him no in the gentlest way possible.

He didn't seem disheartened, but he by no means seemed happy. "I completely understand. If I were in your shoes, I would probably say no too. Again, I am terribly sorry for making you feel uncomfortable." He said all of this with an apologetic motion and bow. After that, he simply turned around and walked away.

I finally turned back to the doors to make my way out. This time I was not stopped by anyone. I made it to the door and exited the building.

The tournament started early in the morning and ran until the evening. Because of this, I had not yet made my visit to Kazuto or Shino; Something that I did every day and absolutely refused to skip. I would sooner commute to the hospital through a typhoon than miss a single day of visiting those two.

When I got home I rushed to the bathroom and took a shower, getting ready to go to the hospital. I rushed through the shower, only taking long enough to make sure that I was adequately cleaned from a long day of Kendo. After that, I threw on some clothes, barely taking note of what I was actually putting on. I ran down the stairs, right past my mom and to the front door.

"You're leaving again already?" My mom asked.

"Yeah. I want to get to the hospital and see Kazuto and Shino before visiting hours are over." I explained.

"You aren't even gonna stay for dinner? Visiting hours won't be over for a few hours. You have plenty of time to eat something. What have you eaten all day, if anything?"

At the mention of dinner, I realized just how hungry I actually was. I thought for a moment, then came to a decision. "No. I'm just gonna go to the hospital. I'll stop and get something to eat on the way there or on the way back."

Under normal circumstances, my response probably wouldn't have been the "right", or acceptable answer. However, my mom has become incredibly lenient about anything involving Kazuto. If I told her I wanted to visit him, regardless of the circumstances, she would let me go. This situation was no exception. She definitely didn't seem happy about me choosing to skip dinner. But she didn't stop me. She turned and headed toward the kitchen.

"Be sure to tell him that mom said hi!" She called over her shoulder as I was opening the door.

"I will!" And with that, I was off to the hospital.

I wasn't even halfway to the hospital before I begun to have that strange feeling again. The feeling that someone had their eyes on me. Someone that I couldn't see. I figured that this would happen. I just didn't care enough for it to stop me from seeing Kazuto and Shino. No, that's not quite right. I thought to myself. It's more so that I care too much for it to stop me. I care for Kazuto and Shino to the extent that I don't fear what is happening in the world around me.

I continued onward toward the hospital, the ever-present feeling of being watch nagging at the back of my head. Occasionally, I would see someone out of the corner of my eye. One second I'd see someone, then in the next second, they would be gone. It almost seemed supernatural, like those weird anime where the spirits show up and disappear, almost in the same instant. Whether this was my imagination or not, I could not tell. I wanted desperately for it to just be my imagination, but I seriously doubted that I'd be that lucky.

I sat there in Kazuto room, just staring at him. Normally I have so much to "tell" him, but today, I just wanted to see him. I already told him about the tournament, so now there just wasn't anything left to say. Besides, it feels good just to visit him and to see that he's still fighting, still holding on.

I headed to Shino's room after some time with Kazuto. It was a very unwelcome surprise to see the Shinkawa boy there again. I don't exactly know how to go about this situation. There is absolutely no chance of me leaving before I see Shino. However, on one hand, I could avoid Shinkawa, and wait until he leaves. On the other hand, I could brave the encounter and sit there awkwardly with him in the room. It would be different if it were someone that didn't seem like they could be patient from the psychiatric ward, but unfortunately, he fits that bill.

I decided that I would have to deal with it. I had spent a long time just sitting there in Kazuto's room. So now, there were just over two hours left in visiting hours. And who knows how long Shinkawa plans on staying.

"P-pardon me." I say as I walk into the room.

He was facing away from me, so I couldn't see his face. He didn't respond.

I walked the rest of the way into the room and sat in a chair next to Shino. Then I looked at Shinkawa. He's asleep. I thought. "Thank god..."

I proceeded to tell Shino all of the same things I told Kazuto, but again, fell short on much to tell. The tournament was just about the only thing that was worth telling about. After that, I just sat there. Looking at Shino, like I looked at Kazuto. I must have sat there for an hour, getting lost in my thoughts.

I'm not sure exactly when, but at some point, I became aware of this low, eerie, and dark mumbling. At first, I didn't know were it was coming from. I couldn't make out the words at first, so I just wrote it off as some noise coming from a machine. But after a while, I started to pick up on certain words, "brother" and "dead" being the clearest. I look away from Shino and at Shinkawa. He was awake now, and it was plainly obvious that he was the source of the frightening voice.

His face was contracted in a strange mix of grief, pain, and something else, something scary. He was fidgeting uncontrollably, and looked, as I described prior, like a patient from the psych-ward.

I debated internally on saying something to him, maybe to snap him out of it, or just leaving and reporting him to the hospital's security. In the end, I may or may not have chosen to do the right thing. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna leave Shino in that room alone with Shinkawa.

"Hey," I started slowly. "Are you alright?"

The psychotic mumbling stopped abruptly. His head whipped around to look at me. His face fixed in a smile that is analogous to the Joker's from Batman. The only notable difference between the two is that Shinkawa's smile was much, much, scarier.