tw: blood, vomit, surgery.


"Do you have any update on Takehisa Hinawa?" Maki asked the nurse for the fifth time.

"My answer is the same as the last four times," she told her. "Once I get an update, I will call for you."

Maki sighed and pushed herself away from the desk. She knew it did no good for herself worrying. She had barely gotten any sleep through the night, and she knew she wasn't the only one.

"Arthur, Tamaki, let's go see if there are any kids who can do with entertainment," Shinra said.

"I'll come too," Iris said. "I'll pray for the sickest ones and ask that they can find peace."

Obi rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't too keen on the idea of three of his most troublesome company members leaving his sight. He leaned down to talk to Iris.

"Please keep them in line the best you can," he said.

"I'll try, sir."

Iris walked down the hall to where they were waiting on her. She and Tamaki began talking amongst themselves, leaving Arthur and Shinra to talk.

"Maki, I know you're worried," Obi said, standing beside the corner where she had holed up, "but you need to give Hinawa some credit."

"His surgery was this morning," she pointed out. "It's been eight hours. Why haven't they told us anything?"

Obi threw his hands up. "I'm not talking to her," he said.

Lisa walked over to her. "Maki, you need some rest."

Maki knew she was right. Her body was screaming for sleep, and her chest ached. She longed to throw up the pink camellia petals that were building up. She stood up from her seat — the only available one by the window, where she was watching the rain roll down the glass — and headed to the bathroom. She barely made it into a stall before she vomited a small amount of blood, and a lot of cherry blossom petals into the bowl.

My mouth… my throat! I can't speak, she thought. She quickly flushed the toilet; why did she suddenly have a second flower? She coughed slightly and felt a single blue primrose fall into her hand. She crushed it and threw it into the garbage.

I need to wipe this blood off of my mouth, she thought. She grabbed a paper towel and wet it, running it over her mouth and lips. She splashed water onto her face and stared at the running stream, wishing everything was different.

"Maki, Obi sent me in here to see if you're okay," Lisa said.

"I'm fine," she said.

As if to prove it, she squeezed past Lisa and headed back into the waiting room. Tamaki stood up from her seat in the window.

"We got halfway down the hall and realized that we should be here waiting," Shinra explained.

"This waiting is starting to bore me," Vulcan said. "I'm going to head down to the cafeteria. Anyone want to come with me?"

"I'll come with you," Shinra offered.

"Yeah, same," Obi said. "Come on, Arthur," he told the blond knight, dragging him to a standing position.

"If anything happens, someone come get us, okay?" Vulcan said to Lisa.

"Sure thing, Vul!"

Maki wrapped her arms around her knees. "I don't need to be baby-sat," she said.

"Then quit acting so gloomy!" Lisa told her. "He had an operation. He didn't die!"

Maki propped her head on her knees. "I just… I want to know everything is okay."


Hinawa grimaced in his sleep. He felt like he had a heavy weight on his chest, and he couldn't move. He reached up to move it off of him but felt his arm get stopped.

"Looks like you're coming around," he heard someone say.

He tried to speak, but he had a tube down his throat. Then he remembered: I had surgery.

He slapped at the tube, wanting it out. His throat was already sore from his injuries. He had to admit; the past week was the worst for him.

"Can you cough?" someone asked.

Of course, he thought. He coughed, coughing up the tube that was in his throat, helping him breathe.

But he didn't cough up flowers.

He looked down at his chest for the concrete proof that he had had the surgery. The covered incision on his chest made him hyperventilate.

"He's still coming around, so it's best if you go in two at a time," a nurse said from outside his room.

He looked toward the glass-paned door and could barely see the members of Company 8. He saw Obi and Vulcan putting on paper hospital gowns and masks.

"I'll leave you to visit with your friends," his nurse said, slipping out.

"You gave us a good scare," Obi told him. His face was pale. "You need to start taking better care of yourself."

"Yeah, I will."

"Maki was the worst one. She was more worried than anyone else," Vulcan said.

Maki? Hinawa looked outside the door again and saw her clutching her paper medical gear. He hesitated. He knew there was something about her, but didn't know what it was. "I didn't see her for a minute. Why is she holding that bag so tight?"

Obi looked over at Vulcan, who looked back at him. "I guess it's just nerves," Obi said.

"Shinra and Arthur are coming in to see you next, so we're heading out," Vulcan said.

As Obi and Vulcan left, Hinawa waited for Shinra and Arthur to come into his room. He caught another glimpse of Maki — that was her name, right? — outside his door and again tried to place her in his heart. He found that he couldn't. But everyone else was easy.

"Hey, Lieutenant Hinawa," Shinra said, dragging Arthur into the room. "Arthur and I both aren't good in these types of situations. But we promise not to give Maki a hard time while she's filling in for you as the Lieutenant."

"If she's filling in for me, she must be an excellent Fire Soldier," Hinawa laughed.

"Uh… you hand-picked her yourself, sir," Shinra said.

"I did?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Yes, sir. She was your underling in the military."

"Never would have guessed it!"

Shinra sighed. Obi and Vulcan were right. His memory of Maki has been erased. "Come on, Arthur."

Hinawa waved goodbye. His attention was drawn again to Maki, who was pacing away from his room. He noticed the other girls were watching her with worried glances.

My chest, it hurts, he thought. The more he watched Maki, the more he hurt inside. They took it away, what I felt for her. I can barely remember her. It's not fair.