Chapter updated: 01/Nov/2018.

Chapter 2: 昏睡 - Dead Sleep

It was surprising how easily Ami got into the swing of things with this new study group despite its ambiguous members. Just from walking from the pathology lab to the Student Union and towards the library she had learned a couple of interesting quirks about them. For example, Kris liked to call everyone pet names like "Hughie" and "Danny". Unlike Hugo, she had yet to ask Ami if it was okay to use her first name, but she got around that by simply calling her "lovely", which Dan assured her was a term of endearment. As for Dan himself, he was a flirt through and through. Everything he said had a charming edge to it, almost as if he was born to be an actor rather than a doctor.

In fact, the only one who stayed quiet – aside from Ami herself – was Hugo. Now and then he would make a quip relating to something the other two had said but otherwise he calmly smoked his cigarette. Then once he had done that, he walked with his hands in his pockets and remained silent.

That was until they got to the library to go over the lesson.

Ami was glad they had gone for coffee first. A chai latte was exactly what she had needed after five hours on her feet while she drew guidelines all over a cadaver, peeled away piece by piece the skin and fat. This was not the first dissection she had ever conducted but it was the first human and it had drained her. The coffee was a much-needed pick-up.

They found a group study room and got to work.

'First, let's go over the notes Ami and I made,' Hugo began, opening his own notebook with a lick of his index finger. As Ami opened her laptop and pulled out her own small notebook, he leaned over to very quickly. So close a strand of his blond hair fell over his shoulder, brushing her cheek. She eked out a gasp, which made him look at her. 'Mind if I look?' She nodded. He was so close it was hard to fight the blush rising from her cheeks. He smells amazing, she admitted to herself. Manuka honey and berries. 'Uh,' he said suddenly, yanking her out of her thoughts. His long finger tapped the pages as if searching for words. 'You… made some of your notes in kanji.'

At that, she blushed even deeper. 'It's… just so I can follow a little better. My English is fine, I assure you.'

'I never said it wasn't,' Hugo said, still leaning close to her. They stared at each other for a second, allowing Ami to properly look into his eyes. Speckled-green and olive. 'I was just being nosey,' he added. 'Anyway…' and Hugo sat back in his chair again, breaking the distance between the two of them. His sweet scene remained. 'Ami, like me, did seem to make the most notes so, why don't you two,' he glanced at Dan and Kris with a smirk, 'Tell us what you observed, and we will just fill in the gaps?'

With that, he took a swig of his coffee with a gulp of satisfaction. Ami stared at him in surprise. He noticed her impressed look and softened his smiled before looking especially at Dan, 'Chop-chop, Danny-boy!'

'Your starter for ten, no conferring,' Kris sniggered randomly, opening her own laptop. She was making a reference Ami didn't get but still, she smiled at anyway because it sounded funny. 'Or should I go first and save your gag reflexes like Hughie did while cutting into old Bernie.'

'I made incisions too,' Dan mumbled, putting out his surprisingly plain black notebook.

'Only after the rest of us had first,' Ami teased under her breath. She was already getting into the spirit of things.

Dan couldn't help but snort amusedly and Hugo cocked an amused eyebrow. 'Well, well, even Ami thinks you're a pussy, Dan.'

'Alright, alright,' Dan said, clearing his throat of laughter. 'Let's focus on the superficial thorax, shall we?'

'Calm down, Dan,' Hugo said jovially. 'You need a thicker hypodermis.'

That did warrant a genuine burst of laughter from Ami. Having got that he was playing on the western term to be "thick-skinned", which meant to take criticism better, she felt proud to have got the joke. The other two instead groaned and rolled their eyes. Hugo shrugged, 'Oh well, at least you think I'm funny, Ami.'

After that, they knuckled down and got to studying. This was where Ami shined brightest, taking in information, calmly putting down notes and even planning spreadsheets to help her and her study friends keep track of what they went over after they left the library. At one point they all got up to search for books relevant to their subject – skin, fat and nerves in a nutshell – and slowly made their way back to the table for more study.

It wasn't until she got back to the table that she remembered her "side mission".

Hugo was already back at the table, the other two absent still. Having procured the book he wanted, Hugo was very swiftly planning out a mind chart of his findings on the chalkboard, looking between his notes, the textbook and what he was writing.

This whole time she had almost forgotten how much like Zoisite he looked. Though everything about them was so similar right down to the pitch-perfect voice, Hugo's drastically different personality had almost completely blotted out her doubts about him. Now they were alone, those doubts came flooding back and she knew she had to settle this once and for all.

She purposely cleared her throat to alert him to her being there.

He continued with his work. 'I did know you were there, Ami. Most people say "hello", you know.'

'Hello…' she stopped, remembering that she did not know his last name. 'Mister, um…?'

He finally stopped and looked over to her, smiling. 'Zehren. Hugo Zehren.'

'Mr Zehren,' Ami repeated. So, his last name is a "Z"?

He chuckled, 'The only person who gets called "Mr Zehren" is my dad's uncle who we don't speak to. He's a teacher.' He put the chalk down and folded his arms, 'Me? You can just call me "Hugo", or "Hugh", or "Hughie" if you want to annoy me endlessly like Kris or my sisters do.'

'I shall say, Hugo,' Ami said formally. She had expected for him to turn back to his work, but he didn't. Instead, he continued to look at her as she walked further into the room. 'So,' she said, trying to keep the conversation going. She was reminded of something that he had said earlier and decided to ask him now. If this was some elaborate disguise, she wanted to see how dedicated Zoisite was to the cover story. Let's see how much he'll say, she thought. 'You… have more than one sister then?'

'I have three,' Hugo replied, choosing this moment to sit down again, flicking the papers of the book he had open. 'All older than me: Audrey, Helen and Sophia. They're all in medicine too.'

'Is that why you went into it too?'

'I've always wanted to be a doctor,' Hugo said quickly, almost defensively. 'Coming from a family of nothing but scientists and doctors just sealed the deal.'

Ami tilted her head, curious about how keen he seemed to be to defend his position here as a student. Once again, he seemed less like a role Zoisite could be playing and more like a normal young man with issues relatable to anyone. She could understand his type of hang-up; following family tradition rather than becoming a doctor for his own reasons.

She went to sit down again, taking the chair opposite him. 'So, your parents are doctors too?'

Hugo leaned back in his chair and looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds, eyebrow cocked. Ami noticed this was a common habit of his. 'Why are you asking so many questions?'

Her heart skipped a beat. 'Huh?'

'Questions,' he repeated. 'You're asking a lot of them. Why?'

'I-I'm just… curious.'

'Liar,' he said plainly. All the humour was gone from his voice and it scared her. 'What's the real reason?'

Ami genuinely began to wish that Kris or Dan would walk in and break the tension. She glanced wistfully over at the door before realising she had to answer the question as naturally as possible. She sighed; honesty was the best policy here. This could very well be the moment that Hugo would reveal his true colours and attack.

'I thought I recognised you from somewhere…'

Immediately Hugo's shoulders slouched, his eyes closed, and he groaned, rubbing them slowly.

'Christ! I was hoping you of all people wouldn't.' Her blood was ice cold. Instinctively she braced herself, gripping her fists, her Mercury Crystal, as she readied herself to transform at any moment. He glanced over to her, 'Where did you see it?'

Ami froze still at the question. For a moment she thought she had misunderstood his English but…!

'It?' she repeated.

'Yeah,' Hugo continued. 'Was it an article or some piece of news you saw when you got here? I mean, I don't know how long you've been here but—'

Her hand fell open, now more confused than nervous. 'I'm afraid I don't follow.'

'About my… "dead sleep", shall we say?' Hugo clarified, sitting up again as he drew a long breath. 'I'd hoped because you come from Japan you might not know about it. With everyone else, well, they're med students. They all know.'

Completely relaxed now, Ami leaned forward and rested her hands on the table.

'Dead sleep?' she tried to process his choice of words and realised it had been for her benefit. Konsui. It twigged immediately. 'You were in a coma,' she said, as a statement rather than a question.

Hugo kept his eyes down as if it would hide the somewhat crestfallen look on his face.

'Sorry,' he said slowly. 'It's just… there was a time when it was all people wanted to talk to me about. Literally, it was all they asked. Hell, doctors were doing CAT scans, MRI scans, you name it they did it after I woke up. I'm pretty sure a colleague of my mother even printed the goddamn findings in a medical journal at the same time the press printed it, hence why everyone knows about it.' He took a deep breath and looked up, 'I guess even you saw it, huh?'

Ami said nothing either way. It was better to pretend that she had known to save him embarrassment.

'I'm sorry if I offended you.'

'I wasn't offended just… fed up,' and Hugo chuckled at that. 'Sorry for snapping.' Ami blinked, a little confused at his word choice. He quickly realised his error, 'Oh, I mean, I'm sorry for yelling at you.'

'Oh, not at all,' she said quickly, realising what he had meant. 'I understand this is very personal for you. But I promise, I wasn't asking questions for that reason – you genuinely look like someone I used to… know.'

She never knew Zoisite, though. He was little more than an automaton from what she remembered – or he had seemed that way with the harshness he had dished out. There was none of that coldness in Hugo. Hell, if anything this whole thing proved how very much human he was.

'I see,' he finally said. 'Was this back in Japan?'

'Yes. Have you ever been?'

'Nope, never,' he affirmed twice. Then another moment before he (begrudgingly) added detail, 'I had wanted to go, though, when I was younger. Like fourteen or fifteen.'

'Why did you change your mind?'

He shrugged, 'Grew out of it, I suppose. Still, it'd be nice to visit someday.'

'Perhaps you could study out there?' Ami suggested, not sure why she had said it once she had. His face seemed so wistful and distant that she felt an affinity with him at that moment. 'It might be good for you to at least do a year in another country, to learn about the different medical systems.'

Hugo nodded slowly, 'I suppose. Still, I've always felt that something was keeping me here in the UK.'

'How do you mean?' she asked, leaning further forward.

'I don't know,' he shrugged, seeming to feel awkward suddenly. He was worried he was talking nonsense. 'But recently I feel like I'm close to discovering what it is…'

The door slammed open, bouncing off the wall as Kris lumbered through with an arm full of heavy books. Ami leapt backwards in his chair from the shock. Only then she realised how intently she had been gazing at Hugo, virtually staring into his eyes.

Kris looked over at them just as Hugh got up to relieve some of the load from her. 'Bloody hell, Kris, could you have been any louder?'

'Sod off, Hughie,' she said jovially. 'At least I managed to find everything before someone else got to it. We better be careful as some of these books have only two copies in the whole library. This one,' she grabbed the second from the bottom and held it up, 'doesn't even have a Reference Only copy. Can you believe it?'

'No, I cannot,' Hugo said sarcastically and placed the pile on the table. 'Where the heck did Dan disappear to?'

'Probably got lost,' Kris suggested. 'His sense of direction is worse than a bat that's had its wings clipped and its voice box removed.'

She winked at Ami, who smiled in return. Kris was very, very pretty with that long wavy raven hair. The young woman sat down next to Ami and pulled out a hair bobble to scoop it all up into a bun.

'I'll text him,' Hugo muttered, pulling out his phone. Then he swore under his breath. 'There's no signal here.'

'Yeah, I know,' Kris said. 'You'll have to go outside.'

Hugo tutted and grabbed his jacket. 'Whatever. I needed another smoke anyway. I'll see if I can find him on the way out.'

He checked his pockets to make sure he had everything – tobacco, roll-up paper, filters – then headed off. Ami watched him go and stared off into the distance once he was out of sight, a gesture that did not escape Kris's attention. 'He is a babe, isn't he?'

Ami's head spun around so quickly she cracked her neck. 'What?'

'Hugo,' Kris sighed thoughtfully. 'He's very, very attractive, yes?'

Her cheeks burned furiously.

'Oh, well, yes I suppose he is,' Ami said quickly. 'Um, I'm sorry. It was rude to stare.'

'You don't have to apologise to me,' Kris smirked. 'You wouldn't be the first girl to go all gooey for Hughie. I see lots of girls eyeing him up whenever we're out and about...'

A rather awkward thought occurred to Ami. She blushed as she asked her next question, 'Is Hugh your boyfriend, then?'

'Nope,' Kris beamed. 'I just fancy him a bit. Hell, I think Dan fancies him a bit. He's very "fanciable", don't you think?'

Ami bit the inside of her cheek. 'I wouldn't know. I've not really thought about it.'

She had obviously noticed that Hugo was very handsome, but she had spent most of her time comparing him to Zoisite – who had also been handsome – and trying to work out if there were any differences. Perhaps she had taken a moment or two to admire how attractive he was but that certainly hadn't been at the forefront of her mind. Now Kris had drawn her attention to it, she knew she would never be able to un-see it again.

'And who would Hugo be more likely to respond to?' Ami found herself asking. 'You or Dan?'

Kris burst out laughing, 'Neither. Hugo is very charming but he's pretty boxed-in if you know what I mean. He keeps himself to himself. I guess it's all the stuff he's been through.'

'Like the coma?' Ami asked.

'So, you know about that?' Kris said with interest, but again the other woman said nothing. 'Yeah, there is the coma but just life in general. Anyway, it's not really my place to say but… yeah, don't hold your breath for someone like Hugo to look your way else you might suffocate. God knows I almost did when I first met him.'

Ami looked back to her study notes.

'I have no intention of asphyxiating myself over anyone,' she assured her study partner with a smile. 'But I am curious to know how you first met Hugo and Dan. You already seem pretty good friends.'

Kris tilted her head, 'Really? Well, I didn't meet Dan until Fresher's Week. Hugo and I met a bit before in summer school. There isn't much to tell, really.'

'And did you know about his…?'

'Coma? Sure, everyone knew. I think he took a liking to me because I didn't ask him about it constantly. Dan was the same. I think that's why he's taken you in too. Hughie hates questions about his past.'

Yes, Ami had already learnt that the hard way. She made a mental note never to push the issue again. It had been nosey of her, she supposed. If Hugh had looked like an average Joe, she would probably have been quiet as a mouse around him or at least wouldn't have stared as much. She just hoped that having been caught on the spot by him earlier hadn't damaged her credibility with him. Not that she should mind anyway; if he wasn't Zoisite, he couldn't do any harm to anyone.

'I haven't heard much about it,' Ami admitted to Kris. 'I would have been in Japan at the time when it happened.'

'Again, that's probably the appeal for him too,' the slightly older woman added then she quickly assured her, 'N-not that you aren't likeable on your own. I'm just saying, you know, Hughie is a bit odd about picking study partners.'

Ami nodded, and decided to leave it at that. 'Speaking of studying,' she said slowly, 'shall we get back to it? The boys can't be too much longer now.'

Kris picked up her click-top pen and smiled, 'Sure. Let's.'

Hugo and Dan did eventually come back. After that, the study session went like it should, cooperative work to help them take in all the information they had learned from examining Bernard. They went on in this vein for another couple of hours before bit by bit they began to part ways.

First, Kris decided to leave. 'We have an early lecture tomorrow and if I don't get at least nine hours sleep tonight, I'll be cranky. Goodnight, my darlings.'

They all murmured their goodbyes before looking to each other, wondering if they had better well and truly part ways.

'No point carrying on without Bel, eh?' Dan asked, glancing at Ami.

'I think I will stay in the library a little longer,' she told him, and then slowly looked towards Hugo, who still had his head down, writing. 'I'll probably go to the quiet study area and do some revision for tomorrow's lecture.'

'Good for you,' Dan smirked. 'Hope to see you tomorrow, Ms Mizuno.'

'You can call me Ami.'

He nodded, smirk widening. 'You can call me Dan, then. Have a nice night, Ami.'

She nodded as she gathered up her things slowly in almost silence. Once she was done she looked between the two young men. 'Good night, Dan,' she said to Dan, who gave her a pleasant little smile. Then Hugo looked up as she turned to say goodbye to him, 'You too, Hugo.'

He smiled tiredly. 'Don't stay out too late, Ami.'

'I won't,' she replied, smiling back.

Ami made her way towards the Silent Study room on the other side of the library, which was on the same level as the journals and archives. This meant she could kill two birds with one stone. She truly did want to do some revision for tomorrow, but she also knew she couldn't relax until she looked information about Hugo's coma. One thing she kept wondering about was – why? Thousands of people slipped in and out of comas every day, so what had been so special about him?

First, she ran a search on the library computers to try a pinpoint the case. One thing she knew about this university was its highly detailed and expansive collection of magazine articles, newspapers, journals and essays, as well as their unrivalled book collection, all searchable on the library computers – the height of technology. Every day new items were added to the library catalogue. With any luck, if this case was as well-known as it was implied to be, it would not take long.

Yet once she sat down in front of the computer, she felt too embarrassed to type in his name. Hugo Zehren. It was almost as if his name was taboo or she was scared he was looming over her shoulder, watching her every move. Her first instinct was to pussyfoot around the issue and type 'coma' into the engine. Naturally, it came back with more results than she could funnel through. The sidebar offered her a few refined options: 'coma case studies', 'comatose patients', 'coma symptoms', 'coma diagnosis', 'coma classification'… it took her a moment to get her head around them all. In the end, she ticked 'coma case studies' and saw the results narrow significantly as did the sidebar suggestions.

Ami chose for the computer to focus just on journals and articles of case studies surrounding coma patients. It brought back a fair few results but upon narrowing the date range from "all time" to a five-year gap suddenly her eyes were drawn to the result a couple of items down. It was a case dating from February 19XX that took place in the United Kingdom, the only one she could see from there. There were other cases from around the time – one in Canada, one in Australia, one in xxx (undisclosed) – but this was the only one she saw that took place here, in England. All in all, she found at least three possible leads.

Jotting down the locations of the said articles, journals and one newspaper clipping, Ami decided to very quickly check them out. After I do this, she told herself, I can forget about this forever.

She went through the articles first, skimming the long, long shelves of confusing categories and numbers before she finally located the files ranging between Jan-Mar 19XX. Pulling out the massively heavy red book, Ami decided to just sit down there on the floor to finger through the pages rather than drag it to a desk to read. Again, a part of it was the fear of being caught looking it up by Hugo or even Dan and Kris. In a weird way, it felt like a betrayal even though she had no reason to be loyal to them. She only fully met them today, for Serenity's sake!

Then she found it, the article written by some unknown medical writer. It read as followed:

"Physicians and surgeons across Europe are stumped as a fifteen-year-old male comatose patient shows no sign of waking. The young man was found unconscious on a park bench in XXX. A thorough examination was conducted upon his arrival at XXX Hospital yet there was no apparent sign for the boy's state. His vitals are normal, and he is currently being kept stable through intravenous therapy."

Ami jotted down a couple of notes into her miniature computer, deciding to keep a comprehensive record of her findings. It seemed illogical to continue to distrust Hugo when he had done nothing wrong, but she pressed on.

Next was the newspaper report. Understandably, the names had been blacked out, but she knew just from skimming the beginning that it was referring to the same incident:

"THE SLEEPING DEATH? XXX XXX, 16, continues to sleep on after a full year in a coma. Dr XXX XXX, 52, who is treating the boy stated that his vitals continue to read normal – indicating that what young XXX is experiencing is not unlike a dream. 'His metabolic processes remain unchanged,' the doctor says, 'While medical intervention is needed to keep his bodily functions healthy they are not needed to keep him active; his brain is as lively as if he were awake and moving about.' According to his mother Dr XXX XXX, 54, 'The reason for my son's state is a mystery to us all. I wish I could ask him what he went through before he fell into this state. I hope one day soon he will awake that I might still find out.' His father, Dr XXX XXX, 57, a renowned neurosurgeon was unavailable for comment."

This fit in with what Hugo had told her about his family – or had failed to tell her explicitly but had heavily implied – that his parents were doctors. That this patient's father was in neurology was especially interesting not least because he was a surgeon. It made her wonder if Hugo had thought about his speciality yet…

The last key piece of information was an extract from a much longer journal, possibly the one Hugo had alluded to, describing the moment the boy had woken up:

"There was no outward change in the patient's vitals as they had continued to be strong as ever they were. At around eleven forty-two on the morning of 28th May 19XX, a few days short of his seventeenth birthday, XXX woke suddenly from his coma. His actions were harried and panicked as if awoken from a nightmare. He initially appeared unable to make sense of his surroundings. When asked if he remembered his name, the patient's reply was vague. […] It was not until 31st May, a few days later, that XXX finally seemed to regain his memory…"

Ami tried to remember if any of those dates were significant, but it was hard to off the top of her head. She decided she would correlate it once she got home. But now was enough. She seriously had to knuckle down and prepare for tomorrow while still getting home before eleven-thirty, have a shower, go to bed and wake up bright and early for tomorrow.

She checked the time on her watch. It was nine fifty-seven – plenty of time.

Grabbing the books, she wanted quickly, she settled down in the Quiet Study area – completely empty but for herself – and tried her best to take in the chapters of ethics she had re-read at least four times so that she would not be caught on the spot by Dr Roser tomorrow. She couldn't imagine anything worse than being made to look like a fool by the doctor she considered to be a mentor—

Suddenly, Ami felt a deep unease. It was a sensation like she had not felt for a while now, that gut feeling she always got when an enemy was nearby. Then she nearly had a heart attack when her Mercury notebook began to flash, warning her of danger. Despite being alone in the Quiet Study area she was still conscious of the noise it was making. She whipped it out quickly and tried to pinpoint the location of the dark activity.

It was right outside the library.

Getting up immediately, Ami pulled her transformation crystal from under her skirt and rushed down the back stairs towards where the evil energy was. She wondered whether she should transform straight away and surprise this wickedness or assess the situation first. Either way, she was more than a little nervous. Never had she really had to face enemies all alone. She had always had her girls with her. While her attacks were not as weak as she had once feared, she would be severely limited if the enemy was immune to her Aqua Rhapsody.

As she neared the backdoors to the library, the alarm sounds became more frantic and Ami herself more nervous. Pen clutched in her hand, she burst through the doors to face the foe—

Then the alarm stopped, and she saw nothing.

All around her was just an empty courtyard surrounded only by the library's many buildings, plant life and a couple of benches with cigarette bins beside them. The sickly feeling was gone. There was no enemy in sight, nothing to fear… and that made Ami even more anxious. She scanned the area frantically to see if the energy had moved but no – it had just disappeared. 'That's illogical!' Ami mumbled frantically in her native tongue. 'What happened to it?'

She heard footsteps echo from around the corner. On edge, as she was, Ami was poised to call on the powers of the Planet of Water. Her eyes were focused on the long-stretched shadow as it grew taller and taller in the moonlight, coming closer to her. Then it disappeared as the man it belonged to darted around the corner.

Ami sucked in her breath.

Hugo!

He immediately caught sight of her. Pulling his scarf down, he cast a somewhat puzzled look around the courtyard before his eyes settled on her properly. 'How long have you been out here?!' he said in a strangely harsh tone.

She scowled, 'I just got here.'

'Huh. Then I guess it wasn't you then,' he mumbled.

'What?' Ami said, half-hearing him.

Hugo shook his head, 'Nothing, I'm just talking to myself. What are you doing still here? I'd have thought you'd have gone home by now.'

As hard as she tried to focus on him, she felt no evil energy whatsoever. Still, wasn't this an odd coincidence? That she would feel those feelings just before finding him alone near the place where it had been most potent? There had to be a connection, surely?

It was hard not for her to "snap" as she replied. 'I could say the same of you.'

'I like studying at night,' Hugo said nonchalantly. 'I guess you do too, huh?'

'I just like studying,' Ami said tartly.

He came closer to her. She held herself taunt and still. Yet she felt nothing wicked surrounding him. He was just… Hugo. The same guy she had spent the whole day with. Suddenly, she remembered her little side research into his possible background and she felt a twinge of guilt. That evil energy didn't come from him, Ami told herself. It was more than she secretly hoped it hadn't.

Hugo eyed her up a little longer before glancing off to the side. 'It's late. Come on, I'll walk you home.'

Her heart skipped a beat. Was this a trick?

'It's not far,' Ami began to say. 'I can go by my—!'

'I insist,' Hugo said firmly. His voice startled her, reminding her of when he had so plainly asked her why she was questioning him so much. He did not feel dangerous, though. Even if he turned out to be, she remembered as grasped her pen, she would give him one hell of a fight!

Ami conceded. 'If… it'll make you feel better.'

'It will,' Hugo nodded. 'I just feel it might be… dangerous.'

She tilted her head. If he hadn't caused the evil energy, then had he somehow sensed as she had done? Perhaps that was giving him too much credit. If he was a normal civilian there was no reason he would have picked up on those readings, not least because he did not have the technology to pinpoint it; Ami knew she would have had trouble were it not for all her tech. Maybe it was just… human intuition? Either way, it was kind of funny considering that if they were attacked by some evil entity, Ami would be the one protecting him.

'Let's go then,' Ami sighed. 'I just need to get my things.'

Hugo nodded, and they walked back into the library, him closely following her.