Kotonoha opened her eyes.
A soft beeping came from her right side. She tried to get up, but her body wouldn't obey. It took all her effort just to turn her head.
When she did, she saw a monitor.
Was that…
A heart rate?
What the hell?
Where was Makoto? And Sekai? And the beach?
She saw her heartbeat go up on the monitor.
Kotonoha tried to sit upright, but her muscles were too weak.
There was no one around in the… the…
Hospital room.
Did something happen to her?
How was this possible? How did she end up here? Did she faint?
But then why had they taken her to a hospital? Fainting was no big deal. She just had a minor iron def-
The sound of footsteps derailed her train of thought.
Someone entered the room. An older man dressed in a white lab coat.
He looked at her, completely stunned.
"Wh-" Kotonoha tried to speak, but her mouth was incredibly dry.
"It's okay," the man said. "You'll be fine."
"Wha-"
"You were in a coma," he explained. "Try to calm down."
"C-Coma?" her voice was starting to work again.
"Yes. You had a cardiac arrest. A good thing Itou was there to reanimate you. You wouldn't have made it otherwise."
"Where… Where is he?"
"He was just here. I'll see if I can catch him," the man promised. "Try to lay still for now."
Odd. Why wasn't Itou by her side?
Was he too busy with Sekai? Or maybe he had gone to sleep.
The… doctor? Nurse? Anyway, the guy did some checks. Everything seemed to be in order. Then he said:
"I'll be right back. Don't panic."
"O-Okay."
The man left.
Where the hell was Makoto? After everything she had done for him, was he really going to leave her-
No, no. She shouldn't think like that.
He was probably taking care of Kokoro. Yes, that made sense. He-
Hold on.
That nurse. He was speaking Japanese.
Had they flown her back to Japan?
This made no sense. How long had she been out?
Kotonoha took a deep breath. Let's just stay calm until Makoto arrives.
The minutes ticked by. Another doctor came to check on her. She didn't dare to ask him anything.
Then, eventually, Makoto arrived.
"You're awake?" he asked, completely stunned.
"Makoto. Where were you?"
"Uh. On my way home?" he said. He looked very confused.
"Home?"
"Yes," he spoke slowly. "You okay?"
"I… I don't know."
Something was wrong. Really wrong. And not just about her being in a hospital bed.
"I'm surprised you remember me," Makoto said.
"What?"
"Could you hear me during your coma?"
"H-Hear you?"
"I hope not. It's kinda embarrassing."
Oh no.
A terrible suspicion came to her.
What if…
Kotonoha swallowed hard. "Could you answer one question for me?"
"Of course."
"How long have I been in a coma?"
"Uh… has to be… fourteen now?"
"Days?" she asked, dreading the answer.
"Months."
No. No, no, no. Fuck.
"I uh… I often talked to you," Makoto said. He sat down on the chair next to the bed. "I came here after school and talked about… anything really. I guess I felt a little responsible. The doctors said I did everything I could, but…"
"When did it happen?" she asked.
"We had just met on the train. I walked you to school and you acted all weird. As it turns out that was arrhythmia. And then you went into cardiac arrest and… coma."
So everything after that was… was…
"Take it easy," Makoto said. "I know it's a lot to take in all of a sudden. But everyone is fine. You're fine. Your family should be here soon."
"My family?"
"Yes. Your parents and your lovely little sister."
"My… My parents."
"They come to visit every week. More at first, but you know. You didn't really show much improvement in your condition, so…"
"What about Sekai?" she asked.
"What does my girlfriend have to do with this?"
"Your… Your girlfriend?"
"Yeah. She's here with me sometimes. Oh crap. You could hear me, couldn't you?"
"No, no. It's… It's not that."
It couldn't be. Was all of it fake?
Why had she woken up? Couldn't she just stay in that fantasy world forever?
She didn't want to believe any of this was true, but it made far too much sense.
She heard the voices of Makoto and Sekai, so she made them the main characters in her coma dreams. And when her parents began to visit less and less, she lashed out in her dreams and…
The reality of her world had deteriorated more and more as she was sleeping. Soon, nothing made sense anymore.
Given she was in a coma, she was also incapable of having an orgasm. That probably explained why everything had gotten so sexual.
She felt the tears well up.
"M-Makoto?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"Can you help me take a shower? I want to get cleaned up."
"I… I'm not sure-"
"Please?"
"Your body is quite weak. I don't think it's a good idea to get up."
"Which is why I need your help."
He sighed. "Fine. I'll help."
Kotonoha mustered whatever strength she had left. With Makoto's help, she managed to get out of bed. He guided her into the bathroom.
The walk-in shower had a shower chair installed. Makoto gently put her down on it.
"Here we are," he said. "I'll see if I can find you some clothes-"
"Wait. You need to help me."
"What?"
"Please. I can't do this by myself."
"But…"
"Please?"
"Alright then."
With hesitant moves, Makoto helped her out of her hospital gown.
Her body was a mess. The hair on her armpits, pubes and legs had grown to a wild length and her smell was a mixture of sweat and disinfectant.
Makoto turned on her shower head. He waited until the water was warm enough before he started to gently spray it over her.
The warm water soothed her somewhat.
"Can you find a razor around here?" Kotonoha asked.
"Uh. Sure. Hold on."
He handed her the showerhead. Kotonoha simply held it loosely.
Makoto searched around at the sink. Eventually, he found one.
With Makoto's help, she cut off the worst of the hair. He also helped her wash the hair on her head and put it up in a ponytail.
As they worked to get her presentable, he was getting more and more comfortable.
"You should be a nurse," Kotonoha said.
"I'm studying to be one."
"Cool."
A silence fell.
"Makoto?" she asked. "You and Sekai."
"Yes?"
"Are you close?"
"Well she's my girlfriend," he said.
"And things are going well?"
"Very well," he smiled. "We're about to take a trip to South France. To the beach. And just last night we-"
He caught himself before saying it.
"Had anal sex?" Kotonoha suggested.
"Damnit. So you could hear me?"
"Just… little bits."
"This is awkward," he said. "I just started talking to you about anything, and since you never said anything back it just kinda… got out of hand."
"It's okay."
Makoto's stories must have guided her dreams.
"Sekai's a little jealous actually. She wanted me to visit you less. Well actually she wanted me to stop visiting you at all. I think she uh… I think she tried anal last night to convince me. I came to say goodbye today. And then that nurse said you woke up right before I reached the exit. What a coincidence."
"Yeah."
"If I had known, I would have left way earlier."
"Yeah."
A sound outside disturbed them.
"Kotonoha?" a familiar voice asked.
"One second," Kotonoha called back.
Makoto helped her put on a bathrobe. He tied it for her. Then, he helped her get up and walk to the door.
Her mom was waiting outside.
"Kotonoha?"
"Hey mom." She blushed. A little awkward to meet your mom after you killed her in your coma dreams.
"What are you…"
"Makoto was just helping me get cleaned up."
"Cleaned up?" her mom asked.
"Well I gotta look presentable, don't I?" Kotonoha said.
"Huh?"
"Did you bring any clothes for me?"
"Kotonoha. You need to-"
"I'm not staying here."
"I have to agree with her," a new voice said.
They turned.
"Sorry," the doctor said. "Didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"What do you mean?" Miss Katsura asked.
"It's best for her if she can recover in a familiar environment. I'd like to keep her here a bit longer to run some tests and see if she's stable, but once she's cleared, she can go home. She should go home."
"Right," Miss Katsura said slowly.
"Great," Kotonoha said. "Let's get started."
The sooner this crap was over, the faster she could start on her most important mission:
Seducing Makoto.