Author's Note: This was a difficult chapter. The sheer amount of research I did... I have literally researched less for college papers. I had to ask myself, what are the physical effects of the event? What exactly happened? What would that look like to the doctors? What kind of tests would they do? What would the tests show? How would they treat his affliction? What would they tell his parents and Hiro himself? Then I had to research how the tests are actually performed. It was a lot. Listen, I volunteered in a hospital for about a year, but I am NOT a doctor or nurse. I've also never been hospitalized. I did my best. If some of this is unrealistic or just wrong, please tell me?

Anyway, what do you think? What's going on with Hiro's eyes? Let me know!

Kaa-san (okaa-san) = mother

Tou-san (otou-san) = father

Nee-chan (onee-chan) = older sister

-sensei = teacher/doctor

End of Author's Note

There was a knock on the door and the two broke apart as the doctor walked in.

"Oh, I apologize. Was I interrupting something?" The man's ears flattened against his head and he hovered awkwardly in the doorway, looking ready to bolt the moment they asked him to leave.

Kaa-san waved off his words and dabbed lightly at her eyes. Her voice was slightly wet when she replied, "No no sensei, it's fine! Come in! I was just telling Hiro-chan that you would explain his injuries and the tests he'd be doing."

The doctor's ears returned to their upright position and he smiled somewhat awkwardly. He cleared his throat and took a few more steps into the room. "That's right! You have a busy day ahead of you, but we'll do our best to make it go by as smoothly and painlessly as possible."

His face took on a more solemn cast and the man quickly picked up the empty chair, moved it to the foot of Hiro's bed, and took a seat. He said seriously, "Before we get to that; however, I need to change your bandages and I'd like to tell you what we know about your injuries. Raise your hand at any point if you need me to stop, and raise two fingers if you need me to explain more. Understand?"

Hiro was confused but nodded his understanding. What bandages? He hadn't looked himself over or anything, but he hadn't noticed any bandages…

Akashi-sensei smiled reassuringly and began talking. "When you arrived at the hospital Mikami-kun, you had severe swelling of your face, burns surrounding your eyes, a very high fever, along with being in a coma." He paused briefly and explained, "A coma is when you sleep for a long time and don't wake up." Upon receiving Hiro's grateful nod he continued, "The burns on your face appear to be radiation burns. Do you know what that means Mikami-kun?"

Hiro shook his head. He didn't think he'd heard of radiation before. Was it like when he touched the hot stove and hurt his hand, but on his face? That sounded pretty bad…

"Well, you know how when you stay out in the sun too long your skin turns red and hurts?" He nodded. Last summer he went to the beach with his family and, when his mom asked if he put on sunscreen, he'd lied and said yes. The lotion smelled weird and felt gross on his skin, he had not wanted to put it on. Needless to say, he came home bright red and very much regretted it. "That's a type of radiation burn. Your burns are similar but aren't from the sun. We believe a quirk caused them, does that make sense?" He nodded. (It wasn't a quirk and it wasn't a radiation burn, but he refused to think about it.)

The two adults glanced at each other before the doctor continued, "We were worried about radiation so near your brain and wondered if some of the swelling was due to your skull being broken or fractured, so we did some tests. They let us take pictures of your bones, organs, and brain. We can show them to you later if you're interested?" Hiro nodded excitedly with a grin on his face. They could see his bones and insides?! That sounded so gross and cool! Maybe he could show it to Watanuki later?

Kaa-san and Akashi-sensei chuckled. Kaa-san patted his hand and explained, "I told the doctor you'd be excited about that. We'll get some copies and take them home with us when you leave the hospital." Hiro and his mother grinned at each other conspiratorially.

Akashi-sensei allowed them their lighthearted moment before he reluctantly brought them back to the matter at hand. He cleared his throat and the two turned back to him, their smiles fading. "The pictures showed us that your brain and your eyes looked different than what we expected and that you had a lot of swelling around and of your brain. Some infections can cause that kind of swelling, so we did some tests for those as well." Here the man smiled at the boy, "Luckily those came back negative. You may be injured, but you don't seem to be sick! We were all very happy to see that!"

Akashi-sensei's smile faded and the doctor pointed at the IV bag hanging to Hiro's right. "We started you on anti-inflammatories to reduce the swelling, fever reducers, and painkillers. Luckily your fever broke yesterday and not long after that you woke up. That's fantastic of course, but we haven't seen any improvements in the swelling. We aren't sure exactly what quirk was used on you, so your parents and I agreed not to do anything more invasive without gathering more information. Now that you're awake we can find out how you feel and what you experience when we do our tests."

Hiro raised his hand and Akashi-sensei stopped talking and tilted his head curiously. "Yes, Mikami-kun?" Hiro raised two fingers. "You need further explanation of something? Is it the tests you'll be doing?" Hiro nodded and lowered his hand.

The doctor smiled and explained. "We'll be doing some simple cognitive and motor tests first. We are concerned about how swelling and other…changes to your brain affect your personality, thoughts, and ability to do things, so that's what we're going to check first. Thankfully, you seem to be able to speak just fine and don't appear to have any trouble understanding when other people talk, but we'll be doing the tests just in case. After that, we'll be doing those scans we did while you were asleep, the ones that take pictures of your insides. Once we get the results back from those we'll see where we go from there. Now, I won't be the one doing all of your tests. When your scans came back… different we called in some other doctors to take a look. I am your primary physician, your main doctor, but you'll be seeing the others as well. We've all been cooperating and talking to your parents in order to take care of you. But don't worry about that for now, first..."

The man leaned forward and steepled his fingers. The look in his eyes was severe and concerned. He took a quick breath and appeared to mentally brace himself before he addressed Hiro again. "I'm sure you're worried about your eyes. To be frank, I'm surprised you haven't said anything or complained. I know it must be terrifying to have your eyes covered and to be completely blind. You are an extremely brave boy. So, I'm going to be honest with you Mikami-kun. We are not sure exactly what has happened to your eyes. The swelling is so severe that we can't open your eyes to get so much as a glimpse at them. The scans we took show that something has happened, but we don't know what, we don't know why, and we don't know if it can be fixed. With your help, we're hoping to discover what happened and start working towards a solution. I don't want to promise that we'll be able to restore your vision but-"

The doctor kept talking but Hiro just stared at him incomprehensibly. Up until that point he mostly got what the doctor was saying. His head and eyes got hurt -don't think about it don't think about it- so they took pictures to see the owie and gave him medicine to make it better. He was still hurt, but not sick? So that was good, right? But. Hiro didn't understand now. Akashi-sensei said his eyes were covered and his eyes couldn't open. But then Hiro wouldn't be able to see. That's what the doctor meant when he called Hiro blind, right? But. But Hiro could definitely see!

Hiro's hands trembled finely as he slowly lifted them to his face. His fingertips hovered over his eyes. He could see them clearly, his short nails, his callouses from monkey bars and martial arts, a small scab where he got a papercut at school, he could see it all. Dread and confusion twisted through his mind. His breaths wheezed from his lips and his hands started trembling harder. Finally, Hiro couldn't stand the uncertainty any longer and placed his hands over his eyes.

He felt cloth under his fingers. He felt along the full length of his eyes in disbelief, they were completely covered in gauze. He was blindfolded, and yet, he could see his fingers trace along his face as if nothing was there. Hiro stared at his shaking digits and tried to breathe. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't noticed himself blinking at all. There were no flashes of black as his eyelids closed. Because right now his eyelids were stuck closed. But he could see? How was this possible?! (PAIN and burning and something was shoved into his eye sockets-!)

The heart rate monitor was going crazy and it was obvious to the adults in the room that something was very wrong. They had both stood and were hovering over him at his sides. The doctor was calling to him urgently, "Mikami-kun! Mikami-kun what's happening? Are you in pain? Do your eyes hurt? Mikami-kun!"

Hiro heard the man sniffing, likely trying to smell out what was wrong. He swallowed hard and his voice was unsteady and barely audible when he said, "I-I can see."

Akashi-sensei blinked, startled. "What?"

Louder Hiro repeated, "I can s-see."

Akashi-sensei and Kaa-san looked at each other, both bewildered and distressed. Hesitantly, she asked him, "Hiro-chan? We don't understand baby. What do you mean you can see?"

Hiro's hands clenched over his eyes. Afraid and frustrated he grit out as loud as he could, "I mean I can see! I can see my hands in front of my face, I can see this stupid hospital room, I can see you, I can see everything! My eyes are covered but I can see!" One of his hands flew to his throat as it burned harshly and he coughed uncontrollably.

His mother immediately began rubbing his back and the doctor quickly poured him a glass of water. Unseen by Hiro, the two adults exchanged alarmed glances. Akashi-sensei helped him take small sips of water once the coughing fit subsided. Silence consumed the room as Hiro laid back, his throat still burning, tired.

Gradually his heart rate returned to something closer to normal. It was then that the doctor once more leaned over him. "I believe you Mikami-kun, I do. I just need to confirm, you're saying you can see me right now? Just nod or shake your head."

Hiro nodded warily.

The doctor's fine blond eyebrows drew together. "Okay. One more thing." He lifted three fingers tipped in blunt, black claws in front of Hiro. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Instantly, Hiro held up three of his own.

Hiro's mother gasped and the doctor reeled back in surprise. After a moment of shocked silence, the man pulled himself together and addressed the distraught child.

"Okay. Alright. This is good Mikami-kun! We were worried you'd be blind, this is absolutely the better result!" He smiled widely at Hiro. It looked very forced, but nonetheless, it calmed Hiro a bit. It was good right? At least he could see? (It was unnatural. He couldn't see through things before, these weren't his eyes.)

"I'm going to try to take a look, Mikami-kun. Just a moment!" As he watched, Akashi-sensei quickly walked to the door, disappeared out of it for a second, and came back with a rolling stand and a metal tray. On the tray was a pair of gloves, gauze, medical tape, a tube, a wash bottle, a towel, and what looked like hand soap?

The doctor wheeled the tray to Hiro's side and took a seat on the bed. Akashi-sensei faced Hiro and before doing anything explained, "I'm going to clean your burns, try to examine your eyes, and then redress them. Right now you have gauze taped over your eyes. I'm going to be as gentle as I can while I remove the gauze, okay? The cleaning process will likely hurt, but I'll do my best to make it as quick and easy as possible. If it gets to be too much, tug on my sleeve or grab my wrist and we'll take a break, understand?"

Kaa-san took his hand in hers and squeezed comfortingly. She gave Hiro a shaky smile and said, "Hold my hand, dear. You can squeeze it if you need to, you won't hurt me, I promise."

Hiro nodded and swallowed nervously. He flinched slightly when he heard the snap of sensei's gloves and took a deep breath. Kaa-san squeezed his hand one more time as sensei leaned forward and began picking softly at the tape at Hiro's temple.

As the hands moved across his face, slowly peeling the tape off, the doctor continued talking. Hiro listened intently and used the calm cadence of his voice to distract himself. "I'll be using a mild soap to clean you up, that's what will hurt, but after I get that all rinsed off I have a soothing cream that I'll put on. So if you can stay strong through the cleaning, the cream should make you feel a lot better."

Finally the tape was gone and the hands lifted the gauze from his eyes. It was very strange for Hiro. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with his vision before, besides everything being tinted blue, but as the gauze came off everything got a bit brighter, a bit bluer, and sharper somehow. He didn't think his eyes were out of focus before, but it's like everything was suddenly in high definition. He could see the stitching on the doctor's lab coat, the texture of the walls, the wood grain of the restroom door across the room, tiny scratches in the glass of the window, and every single shade of blue, green, grey, and brown in his mother's hazel eyes. He looked around, amazed and uneasy. It was cool but… (they weren't his eyes) it was unnatural. The gauze hadn't blocked his vision, but apparently it had been filtering it.

He was so busy staring around the room that he forgot the reason the gauze was removed. That was until he felt the touch of a coarse towel across his cheeks and nose. "Tilt your head forward a bit please Mikami-kun." Hiro obliged and shivered when the doctor brought the wash bottle up and cool water started trickling down his forehead, over his eyes, and into the towel. It felt wonderful. He sighed and felt his nerves settle as the water soothed the sore, hot skin.

After the towel soaked in enough water that it wouldn't drip down Hiro's face, it was removed and the man grabbed the soap. He deposited some onto his fingertips and rubbed them together to get it to foam.

"You're doing great! This is the uncomfortable part now. Try to hold still and I'll do it as fast as I can."

The boy braced himself as soap touched his skin and was rubbed in quickly but gently. It hurt. It stung and made his face throb a bit, but not nearly as much as he expected. It was fine actually. Maybe it was due to the painkillers they were giving him, but it didn't really bother him at all. (Nothing could ever compare to the sheer agony of that day.)

More so than the pain, what was actually making him uncomfortable was the fact that he could see the soap over his eyes. It was unsettling because to him it looked like it should be getting into his eyes and stinging like crazy, but it wasn't. Also, he could see every individual bubble. Hiro knew for a fact that if he had tried to look at anything that close to his eyes before today it would have just been a blur. Now he could see them easily and clearly, in perfect detail, only millimeters away from his eyes, without struggling to focus at all. Every tiny bubble and the minuscule rainbows that were reflecting on them. It was the same thing when the doctor rinsed the soap off and patted him dry with the towel. He could watch the fabric come down and see every weave of thread that made it up. It should have been impossible. No one can focus on something that close to their face! It was surreal.

"Almost done, Mikami-kun. I'm going to try to look at your eyes now. Remember to grab my sleeve if it hurts too much."

Carefully Akashi-sensei set his forefinger and thumb on his upper and lower lids. With his other hand he grabbed a penlight from his coat pocket. The doctor turned the light on and brought it up before his eye. Once again, it was an odd experience for Hiro. He'd been to the doctors before and had them shine annoying lights in his eyes to check them. So he knew the penlight was supposed to be bright. But it didn't look that way to him. Maybe it was just because his eyes were closed, so his skin was blocking the light, but he could look directly into it and see the little lightbulb. The only indication he had that it was actually on was that it was glowing a bit. He felt a soft tug on his lids and the doctor attempted to open them, but nothing changed. He didn't feel his lids move and his vision didn't shift at all.

The doctor hummed thoughtfully and adjusted the penlight as he tugged a bit more. Finally he sat back and put the light away. He was frowning as he told the two, "It's no use. There's too much swelling and I'm afraid to try any harder when we don't know what condition his eyes are in. I could make things worse if his eyes are damaged or if the eyelids are attached to his cornea."

Kaa-san unconsciously gripped his hand tighter as she asked, "So what's next? Does Hiro-chan being able to see change anything?"

The doctor turned and grabbed the tube from the tray as he responded, "For now, nothing changes. We don't know why his vision is the way it is, so until we figure that out, we can't say how it may affect his health. We'll do the same tests we already have planned and do our best to gather information." He smiled reassuringly at the mother and son and addressed Hiro, "I wouldn't worry too much Mikami-kun. I consider you being able to see a very good sign!" He winked at the boy and leaned forward with the tube of cream in hand. "I'll finish bandaging you up here and we'll get started on our day! This shouldn't hurt, it should actually feel nice, but try to hold still for me again Mikami-kun."

Cold cream was gently smeared over every millimeter of Hiro's eyes, even down over the tops of his cheeks and up to eyebrows. The doctor was right, it immediately soothed the stinging and started taking the heat out of the irritated skin. It felt wonderful. The doctor's words on his eyes worried him a bit, but as long as he could see, it couldn't be that bad, right? He'd already been through the worst thing possible, so as long as he wasn't blind, he should be okay! It was just scary because his mom sounded scared.

With the ointment applied, it only took a few moments for fresh gauze to be taped over the burns. And with the additional layer provided by the bandaging, Hiro's vision dulled back down to normal. He felt like he could finally relax as his eyes were covered. The better vision had been distracting and just kept reminding him that his eyes weren't his own. Like this, he could pretend everything was normal and nothing had happened. But he couldn't help but wonder... if his vision was so much better with the gauze off, what would it be like if he opened his eyes?

He was distracted from his musings by the doctor's voice. He had removed his gloves and said, "All done Mikami-kun. How do you feel? Go ahead and give me a quick pain rating."

Well, his throat definitely hurt more than before, but his face felt pretty good. He lifted four fingers.

The wolf-man smiled brightly at the boy. "Only a four? Good! The cleaning must not have been too bad then?"

Hiro shook his head and gave the adults a thumbs up.

Akashi-sensei chuckled and patted his knee. "That's what I like to hear. Go ahead and relax, I'll clean this up and let one of your other doctors know that you're ready for your first test." He stood and left the room with the tray.

As the doctor walked away his mom leaned forward and kissed the top of his head. She beamed at him as she leaned back. Her brows were still furrowed with worry, but she was sincere as she told him, "Good job Hiro-chan! You were very brave, I'm so proud of you!"

Hiro blushed and grinned back. The next half hour was peaceful. They unmuted the TV and watched anime as they waited for the next doctor. His mom left briefly to get more ice chips and forced them on him to help with his throat. He was still sucking on the ice when a woman in a lab coat walked in. She had hair and eyes the color of sakura blossoms. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and it swayed as she bowed in greeting to the two.

"Hello Mikami-san, Mikami-kun. We haven't officially met Mikami-san," she nodded to his mom, "My name is Yukihira Keiko, I'm your neurologist." Now she smiled at Hiro. "I'm essentially a doctor that specializes in peoples' brains and nerves. I was called in to take a look at you when your scans were different than expected and Akashi-sensei didn't quite know why. I came to this hospital as soon as I heard you woke up. It's nice to meet you both."

Kaa-san hurriedly stood and bowed back. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Mikami Megumi and this is my son, Hiroko. We talked a little over video call when you were first called in. Thank you so much for your help."

Yukihira-sensei gestured to the room. "May I come in?"

Kaa-san smiled and waved her in, "Of course! Please do."

The woman walked over to the table by the window and set her things down. Littering the table now was a laptop, a tablet, a notebook, a meter stick, and a blue ball. She then moved the unoccupied chair to the table and took a seat facing Hiro. The doctor folded her hands in her lap and smiled calmly at the child. "I'll be performing your first test of the day, Mikami-kun. I'll be asking you to do simple tasks for me, and how you do them will tell me how your brain is functioning. It's called cognitive testing. We'll be able to do more extensive testing than I expected due to your newfound vision, so I was very excited to hear about your ability for many reasons!" She winked at Hiro and grinned. She continued as she glanced down at her watch. "It shouldn't take too long. It's about nine o'clock now, and your MRI is scheduled for 10:30. We should be done well before then! Give me just a moment to get ready and we'll begin." With one last smile at Hiro, she opened her laptop and started clicking around.

He squirmed and glanced at his mother before asking quietly, "C-can I go to th-the r-restroom first?"

Yukihira-sensei looked at him with kind eyes and nodded, "Of course. Mikami-san could you please press the nurse call button? Someone will be here in just a moment to help you Mikami-kun."

The neurologist smiled at him reassuringly but paused when Hiro waved his hand at her and shook his head frantically. She gave him an understanding look but said sternly, "I know you don't want help, but it's for your safety. You've been asleep for four days, you've just had a solid meal for the first time in those four days, and there are things happening in your brain right now that might affect your ability to walk or use the toilet on your own. Put up with it, okay?"

Hiro's nose wrinkled and he looked over to his mother for support only to see that stubborn look in her eye again. He slumped in defeat. There was no way he was gonna get out of it. He pouted heavily but agreed grudgingly. Great. This was going to be so embarrassing. Maybe he could just hold it forever? Sadly, it was too late, his mom had already pressed the nurse call button.

A couple minutes later they heard a soft knock and the nurse from this morning stepped through.

She looked from person to person. "How can I help you?"

Kaa-san smiled and waved her over, "Oh Aya-san! Hiro-chan here needs to use the restroom before his tests. It turns out he can actually see through the bandages, he isn't blind at all, but he could still use your help."

Aya-san's eyes widened in shock at the news, but quickly shook it off and hurried to his side. "That's fantastic Mikami-kun! Let's get you taken care of so you can do your tests, okay?"

With the ease of practice, the nurse lowered the railing on the side of the bed and pulled back his covers. She paused to fiddle with the IV stand a bit then placed her hand on his shoulder and told him, "Lean forward slowly please Mikami-kun. Your back is probably sore."

He did as she said and, true to her words, his back ached. He hadn't noticed before because he hadn't been moving much, but it felt like he'd been bruised at some point. As he sat up, the nurse's hand slid from his shoulder down to the middle of his back in support as her other hand reached for his legs. He frowned a little in confusion and tilted his head at her in question. They never said he hurt his back?

As she helped push him forward on the bed and slide his legs to the side she explained. "They did what's called a spinal tap while you were asleep. The doctors use a needle to draw out some special fluid from your back. They can test that fluid for various things. It was an important test, but unfortunately it always makes people sore for a while afterward." She smiled at him apologetically. Hiro was suddenly very glad he was asleep through that part. If it left him this sore after, he can imagine just how uncomfortable it would have been to experience in person.

With the nurse's support, Hiro shifted off the bed and onto his feet. His back twinged as he stood up straight, but luckily no more than the soreness he felt after aikido practice. Despite Yukihira-sensei's concerns, Hiro had no problems walking to the restroom, his IV pole being pushed alongside him by Aya-san. Sadly, the nurse still insisted on going into the room with him. The less said about that experience the better. Hiro thought his face was going to be red for the rest of his life from embarrassment. While he was there he did try to look at his face in the mirror, but even on his tippy-toes he could only see his hair sticking up. Maybe that was for the best? It was freaky enough knowing he could see through his bandages, he thought it would really scare him if he actually witnessed himself doing it!

Aya-san escorted him back to the bed and once he was settled, the tests began. They were weird and boring. First, he got shown various animals on the tablet that he had to identify, had to memorize and recite a simple list of words, count backward, write the hiragana alphabet, and copy drawings of a house and a clock. Next, she had him sit on the edge of the bed, close his eyes, touch his fingers to his thumbs, and touch his hands to his nose. Then Hiro was given the ball and told to throw and catch it a couple times with different hands. Finally, he was stood up, told to balance on one foot with his eyes closed, then walk in a straight line alongside the meter stick a few times. He would hear the click-clack of Yukihira-sensei typing on the laptop accompanying every task.

He leaned back against his pillows when the test was done and glanced at his mother, baffled by it all. Hiro thought tests in the hospital were supposed to be complicated with fancy machines, not...that. None of the tasks had been hard, had Yukihira-sensei even learned anything? The doctor's expression hadn't changed from calm and reserved the whole time, so Hiro couldn't tell whether he passed the test or not. Was she expecting him to drop the ball or not know the alphabet or something? Kaa-san smiled at him and patted his hand, but didn't appear concerned, so it must have been normal?

Yukihira-sensei stood and bowed to Hiro and his mother again. "Thank you for cooperating Mikami-kun, you did great! You've got some time to relax before your scan, I'll be back to escort you when it's time." With a smile and a nod, the doctor left.

Kaa-san pushed some water into his hands and unmuted the TV. After a couple sips Hiro asked her roughly, "D-did I pa-ass?"

Kaa-san hummed and her hand absently pet Hiro's knee. "That wasn't really a test you pass or fail Hiro-chan. From what I understand, Yukihira-sensei just wanted to watch how you did those things. So there was no way to fail." She leaned forward and assured him, "You did just fine, dear. I didn't notice anything odd during the test."

They got through another episode of anime and a full cup of water before they were interrupted. There was a quiet knock and Aya-san entered, pushing a wheelchair. Yukihira-sensei followed the nurse in but stayed by the door.

"Alright Mikami-kun," the nurse stated, "it's time for your MRI. We'll get you situated in the wheelchair and head out, okay?"

Hiro's nose wrinkled. Wheelchair? Those are for people who can't walk! Hiro could walk! Everyone had watched him walk! Yukihira-sensei made him walk laps around the stupid meter stick a million times!

The nurse chuckled at him. "I know, I know! You don't need it. But it's hospital policy. Patients have to be escorted in a wheelchair."

Kaa-san stood, gave his hair a kiss and told him, "Listen to Aya-san, dear. She's just doing her job. Besides, won't it be fun to roll around? It's way more fun than walking!"

Hiro very much doubted that.

Nevertheless, into the wheelchair he went. Without delay he and his IV were whisked out of the room, into an elevator, then down some hallways. It was not what he would have called fun. Aya-san pushed him slowly and went around corners very carefully. If Hiro was allowed to push himself and go as fast as he wanted, then it would be fun. Before long the four of them stopped beside two large doors. Yukihira-sensei fussed with a panel beside the doorway and when she finished the doors opened inward. Inside, in the center of the room, was a huge white machine with a long, skinny tray attached to the front. It had a hole in the center and looked like a giant roll of toilet paper. On the left wall was a series of windows. Hiro couldn't see much from where he was, but there was a man in the room in front of what might have been computer monitors. On the right were a bunch of shelves and cabinets. On the shelves, Hiro could see pads, pillows, blankets, and a bunch of large plastic things.

Aya-san rolled him to a stop beside the tray as Yukihira-sensei spoke up. "This is the MRI machine. I'm going to be in that room there," she pointed to the room behind the windows, "but what Aya-san is going to do is have you lay on this bed here," she waved her hand at the tray, "after that she's going to give you a contrast dye. She'll inject it through the IV. It'll allow us to get a really clear look at your brain and see exactly what's going on."

Noticing his frown at the word inject, Kaa-san pet his hair and Yukihira-sensei smiled reassuringly. "It won't hurt at all Mikami-kun! It might feel a little cold when it enters your body, but I've never heard anyone say it causes pain. After the injection this will be placed over your face," Here she pointed at a white, plastic arched thing that sat at the top of the 'bed', "and you'll be moved into the machine. We're going to be taking pictures of your head. During the pictures you're going to hear a loud banging noise. It's nothing to worry about, it's just the sound of the machine working. It bothers some people so we'll give you headphones and play music so it's not so bad."

Yukihira-sensei kneeled in front of him and said seriously, "The test will take about 25 minutes. Your mom will be here with you the whole time and there's a microphone that will allow us to hear you whenever you talk, so if you need anything, if anything hurts or you get too scared, you can tell us, okay?"

She waited for his nod before continuing, "The important thing is that when we tell you we're taking the pictures when you hear the banging noise, we need you to hold perfectly still. I know it'll be difficult, but it's very important. If you move our pictures won't be clear. We need you to do your very best to hold still, okay?"

Hiro nodded determinedly. He didn't want to cause anyone trouble so he'd do his best!

The doctor smiled and stood. With her final words of, "I'll let Aya-san get you set up and once you're ready we'll begin!" she left the room.

Aya-san helped Hiro onto the tray and had him lay back. He hissed through his teeth as he lay down. The table was cold and his hospital gown did absolutely nothing to protect him from it. Did they stick the 'bed' in the freezer before he got there or something?! It felt like ice on his backside!

His mom cooed. "It's cold isn't it Hiro-chan?" He nodded, grimacing. "Don't worry, Aya-san can get you some heated blankets, that should help."

The blankets did help. Well, his butt was still cold, but his front was nice and toasty. Before long the nurse had positioned him, given him the headphones, and was injecting the dye. After making sure he was comfortable, she placed the plastic thing over his face, started the music, and announced that they were ready. Kaa-san settled by his side in a plastic chair and made sure he knew exactly where she was as he was inserted into the machine. He was a little nervous, but it wasn't too bad. It was hard to stay still, especially because they were playing anime openings and he wanted to dance along to the songs, but he only had to be reminded to be still once or twice. It was mostly boring, just laying there doing nothing for ages.

It was a relief when it was over. Everyone told him what a great job he did, thanked him, comforted him, and escorted him back to his room. His next test was hours away, so in the meantime he hung out in his room and watched more TV. They didn't want him walking around too much or leaving his room, and he didn't have anything else to do, so he just laid around some more. Hiro was so used to doing something all day, playing at the park, biking around the neighborhood, training at the dojo, whatever, that he wasn't sure he liked being stuck in bed for so long.

About an hour before his next scan, Aya-san came back and gave him more dye. This dye was apparently different from the MRI one and had to be given early so it could spread throughout his body. They told him this test was a CT scan, but honestly? To Hiro it seemed pretty much the same as the first one. When it was time for his scan, he was escorted to the room by his mother and nurse, Yukihira-sensei met them there, they explained the procedure, and then it was time for the test. The only difference was that he was alone in the room this time. There was another big toilet paper machine, he was inserted into it, it was cold, he had to hold still, there were weird noises, it was boring, and it felt like it took forever.

Thankfully, that was his last test of the day. He was told Akashi-sensei would return in the evening to check in on him and change his bandages again, but until then he was free to do as he wished. He got lunch, another bland, soft meal when he was returned to his room. The next several hours were spent with his mother working on her laptop and Hiro lazing around. Kaa-san told him they hadn't expected him to be able to see, so she hadn't brought anything with her for him to do. Now that she knew his vision wasn't impeded, she'd texted Tou-san and told him to bring Hiro's schoolwork and some of his books and manga with him when he visited that evening. Hiro made sure to give her a big kiss on the cheek for that because he was already sick of watching television. Hiro liked TV, he did, but he didn't like it when he was basically forced to watch it because he wasn't allowed to do anything else.

Their peace was interrupted when Aya-san poked her head in and asked for his mother. Kaa-san set her work aside, shot him a smile, and left the room with the nurse. She was only gone a few minutes when she returned with a frown on her face. Kaa-san retook her seat and took one of his hands in both of hers.

Her eyes were wary and concerned as she told him, "Hiro-chan? The police want to speak with you about what happened."

Hiro's blood ran cold and his face paled. He was already shaking his head as she kept talking. (No! He doesn't want to think about it!)

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but this is a very important case and you're the only one they can talk to right now. Haru-chan is still asleep, remember? We can make them leave if you need us to, but please just try?"

Hiro didn't realize he was leaning away from her until his hand slipped out from between hers. He didn't want to. Hiro never ever wanted to talk about what happened. But… he swallowed nervously as he looked at Kaa-san's face. She was begging him. Her eyes were wide and pleading, her eyebrows were drawn together in worry, her mouth was tight, and her hands were held limp in front of her. He'd never seen her like this before. His mother was strong and stubborn, it made Hiro uncomfortable to see her pleading with him. Him! He was making her like this! It was just wrong!

His heart pounded as he nodded reluctantly.

Kaa-san's shoulders loosened in relief and she gave her son a small, strained smile. "Thank you Hiroko. Don't worry, I'm going to be here the whole time. I'll only leave if you ask me to, okay?" She stood and briefly stuck her head out the door, presumably telling the nurse he was allowing the police to speak to him.

Hiro looked down at his lap. His hands were shaking. He clenched them into tight fists and bit his lip. What was he going to tell them? As much as he tried not to think about it, every single second of that day was seared into his mind. If he relaxed his grip on his thoughts for even a moment the memory of it flooded his brain and attempted to pull him in. Would the adults even believe Hiro if he told the truth? That thing wasn't human! There was no way it came from Japan or even the Earth! He knew it! But who would believe that if he told them? 'Oh yeah some horrible god attacked Haru-nee and me.' It sounded fake. Like something a kid would make up. But it was the truth!

Maybe… maybe he could tell them he didn't remember? Then he wouldn't have to talk about it and they'd have to stop asking! For some reason Hiro knew, with complete certainty, that the thing would never appear again. It would never do what it did to him and Haru to anyone else. So even if he did tell the police they wouldn't be able to do anything and, since it would never happen again, there was no reason for them to need to know. What did it matter if he lied? No one was going to get hurt by him lying! Hiro swallowed hard and nodded to himself, mind made up. He'd tell them he couldn't remember anything.

Even with his decision made, Hiro's stomach churned and his heart was lodged in his throat as the door slid open and two men entered.