Chapter Three: Under the Cherry Blossoms

Izumi walked out of the subway and to school. She walked to the outside campus and sat outside on the bench, under cherry blossom trees. The scene of Kouji reeling to the ground yesterday kept repeating in her head. She tried taking it out but it wouldn't. She felt like it was her fault, but it really wasn't. It was something no one could prevent from happening. She sat there; the cherry blossoms petals falling around her. One landed in her lap. She gradually picked it up. Somehow, the petal seemed to become the form of Kouji's face while she held it with her fingers. The wind gently blew it away as Izumi gently let it go. She wondered if Kouji had woken up yet and seen the things she had given. She stared at the school clock. It was almost seven. Time seemed to be passing very quickly today for her. People gradually started entering the campus, so Izumi stared walking around the school. She saw Takuya on the field playing soccer with his friends as usual. Junpei was also with his small group of friends introducing some new tricks he'd been working on. Tomoki was on the elementary side of school, sitting on the swings with Teppei and Katsuharu. Kouichi just came from the entrance and noticed Izumi walking with a forlorn expression. He walked up to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"No," Izumi murmured.

"What's wrong?"

"It's… your brother, Kouichi."

"Yes, I know, his father called my mom last night about it. We're visiting him today. Hey, wait a minute, how do you know about it?"

"Because I was there," Izumi said, walking slowly away with the hint of sadness on her face.

Kouichi walked away. "How was she there?" he thought and went to class. He met with Takuya, who looked parched from playing too much. Junpei was walking with him. Kouichi caught up with them.

"Morning, Kouichi," Takuya said brightly, chugging down a bottle of water quickly.

"Hi," Kouichi said.

"Hey, where's Kouji?" Takuya asked, discarding his water bottle.

"Well, there's something to know."

"What?" Junpei asked.

Kouichi sighed then said briefly, "Kouji was hit by a car and is in the hospital right now. That's why he's not with me right now."

Takuya and Junpei looked at him, very shocked. "What happened?" Takuya questioned.

"Izumi knows more than I do, so you should ask her."

"What does she have to do with this?"

"Kouji's parents didn't find out till hours later. She was the only one looking after Kouji as what I'm guessing."

"Oh," Junpei said, walking to his class. The three of them walked to class as the school session began. Izumi was not listening attentively in class like she usually did. Her papers were blank as she was supposed to be taking notes. She sat there on her desk, her fingers tapping the side. She kept think of Kouji and how he was today. Kouichi and Takuya were worrying about Kouji's health as they hadn't seen how his condition or what he looked like at all. Junpei on the other hand, who didn't like Kouji at first was thinking what Kouichi said earlier. "Izumi knows more than I do."

"Izumi..." Junpei thought.

Kouji finally had someone to fetch the card for him. He opened it with his right hand and pulled the card out sloppily. He read the card five times through. "Orimoto," he thought. "Why would she give me a card?" he thought, touched by her thoughtfulness. He looked up to the balloon looming above his head and slightly smiled. He sighed and put the card back on the nightstand as the nurse came in with his breakfast. As he ate his scrambled eggs, he thought, "Orimoto is really thoughtful. If it weren't for her, I'd probably be dead right now. I wonder what I'm missing at school. Oh well." He concluded his thoughts and turned on the television.

When school was finished, Izumi walked quickly out the school gate to the subway on her way to Jiyuugaoka Hospital. She found some spare change lying around on the bottom of her backpack and used the remains of it. Kouichi, Takuya, Junpei, and Tomoki met after school so they could go see Kouji.

"Hey, isn't Izumi coming?" Takuya asked.

"I think she left already. I barely saw her today," Kouichi said.

Junpei looked at the sidewalk and thought of where she would go.

They headed for the subway to Jiyuugaoka Hospital. It was crowded, so only Tomoki was able to sit down.

"Hey Takuya, what happened to Kouji?" Tomoki asked.

"He got hit by a car," Takuya said quietly. Tomoki didn't say anything else and stared outside the moving subway window. When they arrived at the hospital, Kouichi asked the front desk for Minamoto Kouji's room number then went on the elevator.

Meanwhile, Izumi arrived to the fourth floor and walked to his room. She slid the door open

"Hello, Kouji," Izumi greeted as she closed the door behind her.

Kouji lifted his head and said quietly, "Hi, Izumi."

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, pulling up a chair next to his bed.

"Uh… yeah," Kouji said placidly, staring at his bed sheets. Kouji wanted to say thank you for her thoughtfulness of the card and the balloon, but he couldn't get himself to say it. He slowly tried sitting up, but it was too painful.

"Can you sit up?" Izumi asked, sitting at the edge of her chair.

"Here, let me help you," Izumi said, getting up from her chair and lending a helping hand to his right unharmed shoulder. She slowly let Kouji sit up, her hand on his shoulder and spoke saying, "There, are you okay now?" Kouji nodded, as he felt strange having Izumi's hand on his shoulder. Just then, the door opened with Takuya, Junpei, Tomoki, and Kouichi standing at the doorframe, staring at her. Izumi and Kouji turned their heads to the door.

"Izumi," Takuya said from the doorframe.

End Chapter 3: Under the Cherry Blossoms

Onto Chapter Four.