WARNING: There are triggering topics in this chapter involving medical terms/equipment, child abduction, child endangerment, violence towards children, and violence in general.

-Hina-

Watching your child struggle is something no parent should ever want to see, whether it be with school, love, or emotions… even worse as they fought for their lives. Hina felt her heart speed up with each and every heartbeat that sounded on the monitor. She had never seen Kuri look so small and weak before, but this reinstilled that fear of being a horrible parent. She had to stand by and watch her child get hurt by some thug and then couldn't do anything to comfort her. She had to watch her child cry out for help, cry out for her in such a broken voice. It sounded like Kuri had been yelling, crying out, for hours with the way her voice cracked when saying "Mama" over and over.

Upon the arrival at the hospital, Hina was immediately separated from Kuri as they hurried the girl to surgery to be patched up and to have the bone in her hand reset. Trembling, HIna messaged the boys. 'Where are you guys? Kuri was taken to surgery.' 5 minutes passed without a response. 'Gummybear? Where are you?' There would be 15 minutes of silence until Fatgum and the boys showed up a panting mess in the waiting room. Hina's eyes were red and puffy from crying, her makeup had run down her cheeks.

"Where were you?!" She demanded. In any other situation, Hina wouldn't be acting like this, but they just nearly lost their daughter and Taishiro was nowhere to be found.

Taishiro had a guilty look on his face as he looked at his wife. "I-I froze up." He didn't want to elaborate further. For someone who normally had his act together in high pressure situations, he definitely seemed to be out of it currently. "I'm sorry."

"I was scared, Tai! And alone here!" She took a deep breath and ran her hand over her face, taking a moment. "They said she'll be fine, by the way."

Tai looked over his wife's face; the experience had obviously drained the teacher, but he hadn't a clue on what more to say to her. It felt like after the incident all over again. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to make this better? There wasn't a way to make this better. The only thing they could do was wait. After what felt like hours, he spoke up, "Hina… It was my fault. I failed as a father and a hero. I should have been more careful and-"

"Stop. We both know there was no way to know she'd get off at that stop." She had to take another deep breath. "Neither of us could have even known… the best thing we can do now is to just make sure she's okay."

"This is the second time I've let you down though. Before you interrupt, I-I felt just as helpless as I did when you got hurt. You were right there and I couldn't do anything. I left you alone now when you needed me the most. I'm a hero, but I can't even-"

Hina cut him off with a harsh smack to the shoulder. "Snap out of it, okay? I… we can chalk this up to a learning experience, but we have to be open with these kinds of things now." She led him over to the waiting area and they sat there as time ticked by slowly.

-Kuri-

Hours later, Kuri was wheeled into a room to await the medications to wear off on their own. Her eyes were heavy as she began to wake up from the anesthetics about 15 minutes post operation. The heart monitor spiked to life as she saw unfamiliar surroundings yet again. Coughs wracked her body as she realized there was a tube in her mouth and throat to help her breathe better. The nurse that was currently in the room rushed out to get a doctor to remove the device.

A flurry of people came into the room: a doctor, two nurses, and two other people that couldn't be picked out at the time. In a matter of minutes, the tube was removed and Kuri could feel like she could truly breathe again. Once the ordeal of having that removed was over, the doctor encouraged the extra people to step out for a moment and requested for the nurse to fetch some water for her. The bed was lifted so Kuri was in a sitting position as she was handed a cup with a straw, or rather, it was held up in front of her to drink.

"This should help your throat feel better," the doctor explained.

Kuri could almost cry at the sense of relief that came with how good the water felt as she swallowed. Throughout the ordeal she hadn't realized how thirsty she was and now she greedily drank the rest, quickly asking for more in a hoarse voice. The doctor left to get more water himself, pausing at the door and seeming to talk to someone just out of view.

-Hina and Taishiro-

Once a nurse came to tell them that Kuri was out of surgery, Hina practically jumped out of her seat, having to be held back by Taishiro nearly. Hina could feel her heart skipping beats as she just wanted to be all together again. The pair went to the room as quickly as they were allowed, having to be asked to wait outside for a few moments longer. Taishiro's eyes fell on his daughter and he understood what Hina had felt; all he wanted to do was scoop up his little girl, hold her, and never let her go.

Watching their daughter being able to sit up and be active after the incident was a relief. Kuri's arm was in a cast and her neck was bandaged. After her second cup of water was chugged down, the little girl looked around and saw her parents.

"Mama! D-Daddy!" Her voice sounded so scratchy as she called out and coughed afterwards.

"Easy, Sunshine!" Taishiro warned as he stepped closer and rubbed her back. Hina went around to the other side of the bed. "How do you feel?"

"My throat hurts and my arm hurts too…" she whimpered slightly and readjusted the way she was seated on the bed.

Hina ran her fingers through her daughter's hair as she took in everything. It was an unspoken moment between the two as Kuri leaned into her mother's touch. Taking a moment, Hina asked, "sweetheart… why would you get off of the bus at the wrong stop?" Kuri seemed to tense up at the question and looked down at the bed sheets in front of her, kicking her legs beneath the blankets. "Kuri?"

"I wanted to see mommy and daddy…"

"Baby? We were gonna pick you up from the bus-" Taishiro started.

"No," she interrupter, "MY mommy and daddy… before you and Ms. Hina… I-I-" A small sniffle escaped the girl. "Mommy and daddy went away and left me… w-was I a bad girl? Why didn't they want me anymore?"

A gasp escaped the new parents before they sandwiched Kuri gently between them in a hug. Hina spoke first, "You were not bad! Why did you think you were bad? You're the best little lady we could have ever asked for."

"Everyone else in class has someone related to them… I-I'm the only one left… they're all gone…" she whimpered as she held onto Hina to the best of her ability.

"Hey…" Tai started, "You've got us now. We're not gonna leave you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."