Chapter 13: Cost of a Miracle

A pleasantly cool breeze drifted throughout the town, gently shaking the young leaves of the many trees that were speckled about the area. The ground was no longer hidden beneath a layer of snow nor was the sky regularly overcast with gloomy grey clouds. Now the sky was a soft blue with a few fluffy white clouds that lazed about in the morning sun as they overlooked a town that was becoming dotted with fresh new greenery. Winter had finally released it's grip and was being replaced with the embrace of spring.

Although it was still somewhat early in the morning there was one apartment in the town that held within a flurry of activity. Inside Kyou's apartment the kitchen was being pushed to it's absolute limits. The size of Kyou's kitchen was small, even for an apartment of that size. Years of practice and Kyou's amazing talent though made it so that the kitchen's limitations didn't even faze her. She simply utilized every inch of space she had as she continued to dart between the multitude of dishes she was preparing simultaneously.

Even though she was so busy that she didn't even have a minute to stand still there was no sense of urgency or curses of stress from Kyou. Instead there was a joyful humming and a beaming smile from Kyou as she whirled about. Today's complex and extravagant meal had a purpose that caused such excitement that it made the complicated task a joy instead of a chore. Today was March 21st, Kale's birthday, and Kyou was making a birthday meal for her boyfriend.

'Boyfriend...' Kyou paused for the briefest of moments, smiling and blushing as she mulled over that word. Even though they had confessed to each other over a month ago the concept still felt almost unreal. "I, Kyou Fujibayashi, am the girlfriend of Kale Saunders," Kyou said to herself, testing out the feel of the words. A pleasant tingle ran up her spine, a joyful giggle escaping at the same time.

This past month had indeed been filled with joy but it had its fair share of hardships as well. The first few days had been especially difficult. Kyou, like many others, hadn't realized that waking up from a coma wasn't a quick thing. Not long after Kyou had confessed to Kale he slipped back into unconsciousness. Kyou had then been burdened with the notion that she had lost Kale once again. The doctors informed Kyou that this was actually to be expected. They told her that when waking up from a coma a person usually would only be awake for a short while then become unconscious again. They would repeat a cycle of waking up and going unconscious , staying awake a little longer each time until they reestablished a standard sleep cycle. The fact that Kale had been as responsive as he had been on his first awakening was a miracle in of itself.

That wasn't the only miracle that Kyou witnessed. In the first few days of awakening from his coma Kale had severe memory issues and was very easily confused. The doctors told Kyou this also was a standard thing when waking up from a coma. What wasn't standard though was that whenever Kyou was around Kale's memory improved drastically. Kale was able to remember everything that Kyou talked about during their visits and his long-term memory was also better around her, especially if the memory involved her. To Kyou this was just more proof of how wonderful their love for each other was.

A sudden loud sizzling noise accompanied by the first whiffs of a burning smell wrenched Kyou's attention back to the present. She had stayed still for too long and one of the dishes had begun to burn. Kyou gave a little yelp and quickly attended to the dish. Acting quickly she was able to stop the dish from becoming ruined entirely, only a small portion becoming burnt.

"Alright, no more daydreaming," Kyou told herself. "This is for Kale so I've got to make this meal the best I've ever done." Her determination renewed, Kyou kept her focus completely on the meal from then on. She still went about the task though with a smile on her lips and a song in her heart. The rest of the cooking went well and soon enough Kyou was putting the food into a multi-layered bento box.

Much like how Kyou had wonderful cooking skills she also had a similar skill level in arranging the food in the box to make it aesthetically pleasing. Almost all of the dishes she had no doubt in how to arrange. She paused though when she was partway through arranging the rice. Kyou had made designs in rice before many times so she didn't doubt the quality of her current work in progress. She had colored some of the rice a soft pink and arranged it in a heart shape and surrounded it with normal white rice.

"Am I really going to do something so embarrassing?" Kyou asked herself, looking down as the pink heart stared back at her. She had done this type of design for others when trying to set them up with someone. Never had she done it for herself to give to someone else. Kyou's face blushed as she imagined Kale opening the lunch to see a heart she had made for him.

"W-what am I, an idiot?" stammered Kyou out loud in a effort to clear her head. "I'm Kale's girlfriend! I love him and he loves me, I don't care what anyone else thinks!" A sudden knocking on her apartment door made Kyou jump a little in surprise. The feeling quickly faded though since she had been expecting visitors this morning. Kyou quickly made her way to the door.

Upon opening it she was greeted with the sight of Nagisa and Ushio standing by Tomoya who was carrying in his arms multiple packages wrapped in brightly colored wrapping paper. Ushio was holding a package herself, clutching it tightly against her chest.

"Good morning," greeted Nagisa and Tomoya, the later's voice somewhat muffled by the pile of packages blocking his face.

"Good morning," returned Kyou. She squatted down so she was eye level with Ushio and looked her student in the eye, giving a warm smile. "Good morning Ushio."

"Good morning Sensei," cheerfully replied Ushio.

"I see you brought a present for Kale as well," said Kyou, nodding to the package Ushio was gripping so tightly. "Is that gift from you?"

"Uh huh!" confirmed Ushio with an enthusiastic nod. "Mama and papa took me shopping and I picked it out all on my own!" Kyou couldn't help but laugh a little. Ushio's face was absolutely beaming with pride at her accomplishment.

"Good job Ushio-chan," praised Kyou. She rubbed the top of Ushio's head with one of her hands, Kyou's already joyful smile brightening even more. "I'm sure he will love it." Ushio's own smile grew as well, a cheerful giggle being given by the little girl. Kyou stood up from her squat and motioned to the Okazaki family, beckoning them inside.

"Come on in," she said, stepping to the side to allow them easy passage into her home. "I'm almost ready, it will just be a few more minutes." Tomoya, Nagisa, and Ushio all complied with Kyou's directions and came into the apartment.

Unlike her parents, who seemed unfazed by entering Kyou's home, Ushio looked all around her with eyes full of wonder and curiosity. The apartment looked quite similar to the one she and her parents lived in but it still felt different, mystical almost. This was a place she had heard about but never seen, the place that her teacher called home. It called out to the little girl and she soon began to wander about to inspect more of it.

"Ushio, stay by mama," called Nagisa. "We don't want to be rude."

"It's alright," chuckled Kyou, waving assuredly at Nagisa. "She's just probably fascinated because it's the home of her teacher. When children are her age they seem to think that their teachers live at school. It must be odd for her to see that I actually have a home."

"I suppose..." said Nagisa. Although her words indicated agreement their tone spoke of continued reluctance.

"If Kyou says it's alright then it's alright," stated Tomoya. Normally the words of her husband would be enough to calm Nagisa's worries. Their effect seemed to be muted this time however. Nagisa continued to look at Ushio as she continued to explore the apartment.

"Seriously, it's alright," comforted Kyou. "There is no need to worry. What's the worst that could happe-"

"Mama!" suddenly called out Ushio. Although there was no sense of distress in Ushio's voice her call was enough to cause the three adults to look towards her. Their gazes found her in Kyou's kitchen, standing on tiptoe at the counter to look into one of the bento box layers.

"Sensei made a really cute heart in the rice!" reported Ushio, excited at the discovery. Before either of Ushio's parents could even think of reacting Kyou was already in the kitchen, slamming another layer of the bento box on top of the layer that held the rice. Kyou was leaning on the box, using her body weight to keep the embarrassment sealed as tightly away as possible. Kyou hung her head low and towards the ground, using her long purple hair to hide her face that was blushing a brilliant crimson.

'Nope, I care. I actually do care what other people think!' Kyou silently thought, her mind thinking back to what she had said to herself a few minutes ago. Head shaking from the effort it took to rise while burdened with embarrassment, Kyou looked up at Nagisa and Tomoya with a shaky smile.

"H-h-how about you wait outside after all," she stammered. "I'll be ready in just a few minutes."

Kyou was true to her word and within a few minutes she was prepared for the day. In one hand she carried the multilayered bento box wrapped in a cloth that kept the contents safely away from young and overly curious prying eyes. Over the opposite shoulder she carried a bag that held what supplies she needed from her home for that day's class. After waking up Botan the group started to make their way towards the hospital.

It was still somewhat early morning so the group kept their conversations to a minimum, not wishing to disturb anyone who might still be asleep in their homes. Kyou was quite thankful for the lack of conversation, her earlier embarrassment being quite fresh in her mind still. By the time they reached the hospital though Kyou's blush had mostly died down since her excitement now far outweighed her embarrassment.

"Alright Botan, we have to go inside now," said Kyou as she turned to her pet. "Don't worry, we'll be back out before it's time to go to class."

Botan gave an understanding "Gof gof!" then crouched low to the ground. This allowed Ushio, who had ridden Botan during most of the walk, to slide off the boar's back and land safely on her feet while still clutching the present she had chosen for Kale. Giving a brief look of pleasure at the back rub she got from Ushio sliding off of her, Botan then trotted over to the nearby grass by the walkway and nestled into the dew-kissed greenery.

"Alright, let's go find Kale," prompted Kyou, already turning and walking into the hospital. Ushio was just a few steps behind her teacher while her parents stood still for a brief moment at the entrance to the hospital. Nagisa was softly giggling at what she had seen while Tomoya looked on with mild surprise at the same subject. Much like how Ushio was tightly clutching the gift she had chosen so too was Kyou holding onto the elaborate lunch she had prepared, exhibiting the same child-like excitement that seemed to be impossible to contain. Tomoya and Nagisa then realized they were being quickly left behind, Kyou's pace quickened by the excitement they had observed. Nagisa and Tomoya started walking after them, going as fast as the pile of presents in Tomoya's arms would allow.

"It's wonderful to see her so happy," said Nagisa.

"Yeah, I guess it is," replied Tomoya, giving a slight shrug as he tried to feign disinterest. "Didn't think I'd ever see her act like this though."

Although Nagisa said nothing out loud in response, in her mind, she disagreed with her husband. To her, falling in love was something that could affect anyone at anytime. When that love was reciprocated then it would make your very soul want to sing out in joy. Such a wonderful feeling was too powerful to be hidden, even by someone as headstrong as Kyou. As Nagisa turned her head to gaze lovingly at her husband she felt that very joy fill her heart. That joy was indeed impossible to hide and thus a smile adorned Nagisa's face.

"What is it?" asked Tomoya, looking back at Nagisa with a puzzled expression on his face. Nagisa giggled again then softly shook her head.

"It's nothing," she simply said, the smile still on her face. Nagisa turned her attention back to the task of attempting to keep up with Kyou and Ushio.

While they walked through the hospital corridors the student and teacher did not feel their earlier eagerness lessen. It in fact was growing, so much so that it could not be contained and was now spreading to Nagisa and Tomoya. Nagisa's earlier smile had only grown and her pace was quicker now, urged on by the excitement. Tomoya's own walking speed was increased though if anyone were to say it was a result of excitement Tomoya would try to deny it by simply saying that he was eager to not carry the presents anymore.

The group's eagerness made it so that it took less time than usual to walk to Kale' room. As soon as they arrived Kyou flung the door open and marched into the room.

"Good morning Kale!" Kyou bellowed. Somewhere out in the hall Kyou heard a loud shushing noise from a nurse, the noise traveling through the room's open door as the Okazakis came in. No acknowledgement came from Kyou other than a slight softening of her voice to avoid being kicked out. Other than that Kyou's full attention was on Kale.

Thankfully Kale was already awake. In her excitement Kyou hadn't even considered the possibility that Kale might still be sleeping at this early morning hour. It wasn't clear how long he had been awake. What was clear was that for at least part of the time before they had arrived Kale had been reading. The back of his bed was raised and in his left hand Kale was holding a book. Or, to be more accurate, he had been holding a book. In response to Kyou's loud and unexpected entrance Kale's whole body had jolted and the book fell out of his hand. There was also a sharp hissing noise as Kale sucked in a breath through his teeth, eyes clenching for a moment as his left hand started to reach for his right arm.

"Oh Kale, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" asked Kyou, her face quickly switching from excitement to worry. She was walking towards Kale when he gave a pained smile and waved his hand dismissively at Kyou.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he assured. "It's just my arm, that's all." Drawn to it by his words, Kyou's gaze turned to Kale's right arm. There she saw the external fixation device that had first been placed two months ago, shortly after he had been injured. It's multiple pins still pierced into the arm to hold the pieces of bone together to aid in their healing.

"Is it bothering you today?" asked Kyou as she looked back up to Kale.

"Yeah, it's been hurting since last night," sighed Kale. The dark circles under his eyes validated the statement. Kyou's brow furrowed at this observation.

"You didn't sleep very well last night, did you?" she questioned. Kale shook his head which prompted a sigh to come from Kyou. "Didn't they give you any pain medicine?"

"They did but it didn't seem to help much," Kale replied. "They think my arm might have some sort of of infection so they've started me on some antibiotics." His explanation did little to help with Kyou's concern which was showing now through a frown on her face. "It's alright though, it should clear up soon enough. Really, I'll be fine."

"Well... okay then," said Kyou after staring at him for a few more moments. "Anyways, Happy birthday Kale!" Kyou's face changed back to its previous happy expression when she said those words.

"Happy birthday Saunders-san," said Tomoya and Nagisa.

"Happy birthday San-san!" called out Ushio. Already she was beginning to slide her gift into Kale's lap.

"Aw, is this for me?" said Kale as he picked up the gift with his good hand. "Thank you so much Ushio."

"These are for you too," Tomoya grunted, dumping the pile of presents on a nearby table.

"There are so many..." said Kale. His eyes were widened with surprise when he looked at the mound of brightly wrapped gifts.

"Well of course there are!" huffed Kyou. "You mean a lot to so many people and since they couldn't all make it today they had us deliver the gifts." Kyou's grin faded away and her eyes shifted side to side. With her free hand she scratched at one of her cheeks as they became tinted with a obvious blush. "And...well...You mean a lot to me too so, um...I made you this..." Timidly she raised her hand that held the cloth-wrapped bento box she had worked so hard on that very morning.

"Thank you so much," softly said Kale, a similar blush spreading across his face. Wincing a little, he took the bento box with his left hand and rested it in his lap. Silence now hung between the two of them, both Kale and Kyou too embarrassed to say much else. The silence was soon shattered by Ushio.

"Sensei made a really cute heart in the rice!"

"Ushio!" exclaimed Kyou. The exasperated teacher looked to Ushio's parents only to see Nagisa giggling and Tomoya grinning mischievously. Kyou's already considerable blush spread, turning her entire face a brilliant crimson.

"Come on!" she exclaimed, ushering Ushio towards the door of the room. "We have to go now, can't be late for school!"

"But I want to see San-san open up the present I got him," moaned Ushio in protest.

"Don't worry, I'll wait until after school," called Kale to Ushio. This seemed to placate the kindergartner who submitted herself to Kyou's directions and proceeded out the door, her parents taking a hold of her hands and going with her. Before Kyou was through the doorway Kale called out to her.

"Kyou?"

She stopped and turned back towards Kale while in the doorway. As she turned she saw that Ushio and her parents were already down the hallway some distance. Without their presence Kyou felt her embarrassment lessen just enough that she was capable of coherent speech.

"W-what is it?" she asked.

"There is...Well..." Kale paused and rubbed the back of his neck with his good hand, his habit for whenever he was embarrassed. Even without the action though, embarrassment could easily be divined from the blush on his face. "There is something that could help me...You know, forget the pain."

"And what might that be?" she asked. Kyou took a few steps towards Kale. Although she had been the one to ask the question Kyou deep down already had a pretty good guess as to what the answer was. It made her heart begin to thump powerfully in her chest.

"Well, I do feel good whenever we...you know..." Yet again Kale's voice trailed as he fought with the embarrassment. The struggle was a brief one however and soon his eyes met Kyou's and would not look away, no matter how much he blushed.

"Whenever we kiss," he said, finishing his earlier statement.

"W-w-what kind of idiot are you, asking for something so embarrassing in the morning?" stammered Kyou as the intensity of her blush increased. "Asking for a kiss...What would make you think I'd even want to do such a thing?"

"If I had to guess I'd say that it's you came closer while talking about it," said Kale.

Kyou looked down at herself and realized what Kale said was true. While she had been verbally protesting her body on its own had walked right up to the side of Kale's bed. Sighing, she sat herself by Kale's left side.

'S-stupid..." she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper. She leaned towards him and felt her eyes instinctively flutter shut. With every inch that disappeared from between them as she leaned forward Kyou felt more and more of the warmth that came from Kale. The warmth from the blush on his face in particular could be felt strongly. It was a beckoning force as powerful and undeniable as gravity and Kyou did not wish to resist it. Nor did she. In a few scant moments the distance between their faces was entirely gone as Kyou pressed her lips against Kale's with a paradoxically gentle firmness.

Kyou was no stranger to the concept of romantic kissing. In the past, when trying to set people up with each other, she had attempted to put them into situations that would prompt such an action. However, the idea of herself being a participant in romantic kissing was still somewhat alien to her still. Such newness did not frighten her though, in fact excited her. It added to the feeling as her whole body tingled as their lips made contact. The pleasant sensation was not just from the physical contact, it also came from how she felt them connect in a deeply personal and emotional way.

The feeling she felt throughout her entire body and mind, it was thrilling, addictive even. Here, at this point in time that seemed to stand still, it was just the two of them. They were alone together in their own personal paradise. It was a moment in time and space that could not be intruded upon by anyone else.

"Mama, Papa! Sensei and San-San are kissing!"

Ushio's voice proved Kyou's thoughts wrong, piercing through the moment and shattering it completely. Kyou tore herself away from Kale and turned towards the door with such speed that her hair whipped in front of her face, blocking her sight until she hastily brushed it away. When she did she saw Ushio standing at the doorway peeking into the room. Kyou's face felt her heart pound harder now though this time it wasn't because of the excitement of love; It was due to sheer embarrassment.

"Ushio!" exclaimed Kyou, already running to the door. With a bright red face she again ushered her student out of the room. This time though she did not leave her side. Not once did she look back as she firmly guided Ushio down the hall. Kyou was simply too embarrassed to look at Kale right now. She had even forgotten to give a proper farewell to Kale before she made a hasty retreat.

Kale didn't mind though. This was the kind of woman he had fallen for so he expected it. Embarrassed himself but with no one around to see it, Kale was able to smile and chuckle a little. Looking down he saw the wrapped bento box Kyou had prepared for him still in his lap. Picking it up with his left hand he shifted to place it on the bedside table at his side. Doing so sent an extremely powerful cramping-type pain through his right arm. He winced, hissing for a moment from the pain.

"Seems it didn't work," sighed Kale to himself. Even with the still lingering pleasure from the kiss on his mind and lips his whole right arm continued to throb in severe pain.

"Sensei, why are you singing? I thought we were done with singing."

The sudden sound of a student's question brought Kyou and her distracted mind back to reality. Looking to her side Kyou saw one of her students standing there, peering at her with a head cocked to the side in a puzzled manner.

"Takuya-kun, I already told you that we are done with singing." This time the voice came from Tomoyo who was across the room helping another student.

"But then why is Sensei singing?" responded Takuya. His voice did not contain any intentional defiance to Tomoyo's efforts as a teacher's assistant. What could be heard and seen from the student was the innocent curiosity of a child that was unsatisfied by previous answers.

"It's really simple,' said Kyou as she squatted down to Takuya's eye level, using one of her hands to gently rustle the hair on top of his head. "I'm just feeling really happy right now."

"Oh, ' replied Takuya. The curiosity was replaced with a grin that spread across his entire little face. "That's good to hear that Sensei is happy!" Humming to himself now, the little boy went back to their other students and joined them in the task of getting ready for the end of the day.

What Kyou hadn't admitted is that she hadn't realized she had been singing. Intense focus wasn't required at this point in the day from Kyou since her students, with the assistance of Tomoyo, were occupied with cleaning up and gathering their belongings before they had to head home. This had allowed Kyou's mind to become lost in their own thoughts. Apparently while distracted thus, Kyou without realizing it had switched from cheerful humming as she had done periodically throughout the day and instead had started to softly sing to herself.

'How could I not start singing?' silently mused Kyou to herself. Today after all was an incredible day! Everything just seemed to go right for her, even the little things. She hadn't even been interrupted by her cellphone during class. An amazing day like that was only made better by the fact that it was Kale's birthday.

"Oh, that reminds me," she mumbled to herself. "Class, don't forget to leave the birthday cards that you made for San-san here. I'll make sure to take them to him after school."

"Yes Sensei!" replied all of the students. Kyou smiled at her students and went about preparing herself for the end of the day as well. She was about to begin humming to herself again when she heard the door to the classroom open. Turning to the door Kyou saw a staff member she recognized as someone that works in the administration office.

'Fujibayashi-san?" said the staff member. "There is a call for you on the office phone."

"Can it wait?" asked Kyou. "We're busy with getting ready to end today's class." To this the staff member shook her head.

'"It can't," they said. "They say that it's an emergency."

"Very well, have it transferred to the phone in here," directed Kyou. The staff member nodded in reply and left the room. As she waited by the landline Kyou felt her previous joy start to be tainted with concern. What sort of emergency demanded her attention? Before she could start to guess what it was the landline rang and Kyou answered it.

"Hello, this is Kyou Fujibayashi," she greeted.

"Onee-chan? Oh thank goodness I finally got a hold of you." The voice was that of her sister and it was bursting with worry. That same emotion now started to spread throughout Kyou. She felt her heart begin to beat rapidly.

"Ryou, what's wrong?" Kyou asked, her voice now entirely devoid of her previous happiness.

"We've been trying to call you all day!" Ryou's voice was nearly frantic now.

"Call me?" said Kyou with confusion. "What are you talking about? I haven't gotten any calls all d-." Her words died instantly in her throat. As she had been talking to Ryou she had used her free hand to reach into her pocket and pull out her cell phone to see if it was on silent. When she glanced at it she saw a notification that informed her she had missed twenty-six calls. Taking a quick glance at the details she saw that all of the calls came from the same two numbers: Ryou's personal cellphone and the number of the hospital that Kale was staying at.

"What's going on, did something happen to Kale?!" Kyou spoke louder then she intended, her voice rising due to the dread that now gripped her heart. She spoke loud enough that it got the attention of some of the other people in the room.

Tomoyo's attention in particular was grabbed by the tone in Kyou's voice. From across the room she turned to look at Kyou. Being so far away Tomoyo couldn't hear either the phone or Kyou beyond her initial outburst. Even if Tomoyo had come closer to hear Kyou's side of the conversation she wouldn't have heard anything. For almost the whole phone conversation Kyou remained a listener and said next to nothing.

Her face however spoke volumes. With each passing second of the conversation her eyes widened and her face became more pale. Kyou's free hand shot up to her mouth to stifle a gasp while tears started to form around her eyes. Seeing all of this made Tomoyo's heart stand still. Every second slowed to an agonizing crawl as Tomoyo was left with emotion to fuel speculation and no information to rule out horrible possibilities.

"I'll be right there!" Kyou exclaimed over the phone. Tomoyo wasn't sure how much time had passed since she had started to speculate and when she finally heard Kyou speak. Before Tomoyo had time to ask any questions Kyou was hastily heading out the door.

"Tomoyo, watch the children. I have to go!" Kyou didn't even take the time to turn her head back to look at her class. The only things that caused her to pause for even a brief moment was when Tomoyo called out to her.

"But Fujibayashi, what's-"

"I don't have time!" interrupted Kyou. "I have to go, now!" The last few words were yelled so they would reach down the hall back to Tomoyo who was now standing at the classroom entrance. Tomoyo was given no chance to say or ask anything else. Kyou had gone into a full-speed sprint and was already out the main entrance doors. Tomoyo continued to look at the doors until a gentle tugging from behind her drew her attention.

"Sensei?" asked Ushio as she looked up at Tomoyo, "Did something happen? What's going on?" Tomoyo wanted so badly to give an answer to Ushio, to try and dispel the concern that was evident in her face. There was nothing Tomoyo could do though except answer honestly. The problem was that Tomoyo knew that wouldn't be enough for Ushio because it wasn't enough for herself either.

"I don't know Ushio," muttered Tomoyo. "I don't know what's going on."

A dire need to get to the hospital, absolute panic, just enough sense to tell where she was going, and the memory of the phone conversation on repeat in her head, that was what Kyou's entire world consisted of right now. In her haste Kyou hadn't spared even a second to talk with anyone in the school about her sudden departure. Even Botan wasn't given an explanation. When Kyou had run past her, Botan had made an attempt to follow her master. The boar soon found that she was unable to keep up. Dread was driving Kyou forward with such intensity that she outran Botan and was out of sight after just a few turns.

Kyou didn't notice any of this. She simply continued to run as fast as was physically possible for her. She did not feel the pain in her muscles as they overexerted themselves or the burning in her lungs as they tried so desperately to supply her with oxygen through ragged breaths. Even the stares from bystanders went unnoticed. As she made another turn at a corner her momentum continued to carry her the previous direction. Her shoes skidded across the walkway and she used her hands to push off the wall she had been about to crash into. Course now corrected, she sprinted forward as the phone conversation between her and Ryou played itself in her head again.

~"What's going on, did something happen to Kale?!"

"Yes, something's happened to Kale." said Ryou. "Not longer after you left the pain in his right arm got worse and we saw that the whole forearm was turning even more red. It was happening too fast for it to be an infection like we first thought."~

Kyou made another turn and was now at the foot of the hill the hospital rested on. Without pausing she continued her sprint and started up the hill.

~"We thought it might be a deep vein thrombosis in his arm, so we ran some tests to find the clot. We found one and started treatment immediately. Even with treatment though his arm kept getting worse. It-"~

The memory paused for a moment as Kyou realized she almost ran into someone coming down the hill. Swiftly moving out of the way, she continued on without an apology.

~"-it started to turn blue. We ran more tests and found that there wasn't just one blood clot, there were multiple. We tried to do more treatment but it just wasn't working. There were too many clots and parts of his arm were beginning to turn black. We tried to perform a fasciotomy along with a thrombectomy to remove the clots but..."~

Kyou had reached the hospital now and ran through the doors. Stopping at the front desk she yelled at the receptionist, demanding to know where Kale was. Ryou had told them ahead of time that Kyou was coming so they gave her the location without question. Instantly Kyou was running down the halls, ignoring the hospital workers that called out to her to not run.

~"There were just too many clots, most of them were so big. He was starting to develop multiple occurrences of venous gangrene. Parts of the inside of his arm were dying faster then we could treat it. If we didn't do something his own body was going to kill him. I'm sorry Onee-chan, I'm so sorry. The only way we could save his life was by performing a transhumeral amputation."

"You mean you..." Kyou had been unable to finish the sentence.

"Yes," said Ryou.~

Kyou had finally reached the recovery room. As she burst through the door and skidded to a stop she saw Kale laying there still asleep from surgery, thick bandages covering where there once had been an elbow and forearm connected to the rest of the arm. As stood there, frozen in horror, the last bit of the phone conversation she could remember ran through her head.

~"We had to amputate his arm."~

After the effects of the anesthesia wore off and Kale's condition proved to be stable he was moved back to the room he had been staying in. There the doctors did their best to explain to Kale and Kyou what had happened. They explained how the multiple large blood clots had caused a rapid onset of a condition called Phlegmasia Cerulea Dolens. The condition progressed far faster then it normally would have which, along with the fact that Phlegmasia Cerulea Dolens was rather uncommon especially in the arm, caught them by surprise. That surprise had a catastrophic effect since by the time they tried to administer the limb-saving treatment it was far too late. With how fast the condition had progressed they weren't sure if early and aggressive treatment even would have been enough. The doctors said that they were lucky to just save his life.

While they were able to explain why the amputation was necessary they couldn't answer the question that burned in both Kale's and Kyou's mind: why had the clots formed in the first place? All the doctors had were theories and none of them could be answered definitively now. Whether it was a complication of his fractured arm healing, blood clots that had been forming during his coma, or some other unknown cause, it didn't matter anymore. The effect it had was known and permanent, Kale's right forearm and elbow were gone.

After the doctor's explained everything they left Kyou alone with him, only intruding upon the two of them when they needed to monitor his condition. Kyou almost wished that they came in more often. The entire time she was alone with him the room was silent except for the beeping of the medical machines that continued to monitor's Kale's health. It was frightening to Kyou how much it reminded her of when Kale had been in his coma. Here she was again in Kale's room, unable to think of what to say. The only difference this time was that Kale was awake. Despite maintaining consciousness though Kale was as silent as Kyou was. All he did was stare out the window that was to his left. It seemed to Kyou as if he was turning his head away as far as possible from his right arm.

The silence felt more and more suffocating to Kyou as time went on. It was starting to bring back clear memories of the horrible emotions she had struggled with during her bout with depression. Desperation began to set in. She had to say something to break the unnerving silence, not just for herself but Kale as well.

"I'm so sorry Kale," she said quietly. She waited but there came no response. Looking up she saw that Kale continued to stare out the widow. Had he not heard her?

"I'm sorry that this happened to you Kale," Kyou said, this time a little louder. "I'm just glad you are alive." Again, no response. Kyou leaned to the side a little and confirmed that his eyes were indeed still open so he definitely wasn't asleep. There was also no way that he hadn't heard her either. Kale was simply not saying anything.

'What could he even say?' Kyou thought to herself. This wasn't like with his coma where there was a slim chance of recovery. His life and body had forever been altered, set upon a path he could never leave. What could he or anyone else say when such a traumatic event had scarred him so irreversibly and unexpectedly? This was certainly a horrible gift from the universe to receive on his birthday.

"Hey, let's open some of the gifts you got." It took Kyou a few moments to realize that those words had come from herself. She paused for a moment, stunned that she had spoken without meaning to. What had caused her to speak without even thinking? Kyou wasn't sure but she decided to roll with it. Maybe one of the gifts would help lift his mood at least a little.

"Here, let's start with this one," said Kyou as she walked over to the pile of gifts. She grabbed the one Ushio had been so excited about and put it on Kale's lap. "I know Ushio was really excited to give you this."

Kale finally reacted to the outside world by slowly turning his head and looking down at the gift. For a minute all he did was stare at it. Kyou waited patiently by his side, not sure what else she could do. She felt that any offer from her to help open the gift would only cause Kale more grief. Eventually Kyou's patience was rewarded and Kale started to make an attempt to rip off the wrapping paper.

It took far longer than it normally would have. There were points where Kale paused as he tried to reach out with two hands only to remember again that he now had only one. Each time this happened Kyou felt her heart ache as grief tainted Kale's face. Using only one hand when he used to have two also made it so that the task was far less neatly done than normal. Such roughness caused something to fall out of the package as another patch of wrapping paper was ripped off.

"You dropped something," pointed out Kyou. Without waiting for a response she bent down and picked up the dropped item. Quickly she realized that it was a homemade card. Judging by the uneven cuts and the messy penmanship Kyou guessed that it was made by Ushio. As she stood back up Kyou read the card.

'Dear San-san,' began the card. 'I'm very happy that you are getting better. Use this present when your arm is all better. I'd be very happy if you drew more Big Dango Family. Happy Birthday. Love, Ushio Okazaki.'

"Big Dango Family? What is she talking about?" Kyou mumbled to herself. A faint 'plip-plap' sound caused Kyou to look up from the card. There she saw Kale, head bent forward with quiet tears falling upon the gift and the remaining wrapping paper. The gift was a simple sketchbook and some nice pencils. At that moment Kyou remembered in a flash the time at the New Year's party when Kale had drawn pictures after he was asked to display his talent and how he had told them of his dream to become an artist. She also remembered how he had shown his dominant hand was his right and how he couldn't draw with his left.

Kyou stood in stunned silence, her own eyes now beginning to weep tears of sorrow. She had been robbed of the ability to do anything but cry by a sudden and horrible realization.

The amputation of his right arm had saved Kale's life, but it also had killed his dream.