Homura's bed was surrounded by sheets of curtains to give her some privacy and the amnesiac girl was sleeping on one of the beds in the Nurse's office. Homura curled up in her bed, holding tightly onto her pillow and her body wrapped up in a thick blanket. An empty bowl and spoon sat on the table beside her with Homura's bag sitting at the base of it. The look on her face was that of a peaceful girl in comparison to earlier, and if one were to look closely, she was in absolute peace as she slept. The 'tick-tock' noise from the clock above her made her shift periodically on her bed.
The others were outside the curtains, resting from the chase Homura had made them do. Tateyama and Makoto were rubbing the bruises on Hideki and Yuri with wet towels given to them by Narita as Takuya and Tomura watched from the sides. Yuri was calmly handling the pain as Makoto stroked her cheek with the towel, but Hideki was not, despite having experienced worst beatings before.
"Ow!" Hideki winced, sitting on a small chair opposite of Tateyama, "Be gentle with that."
"Sorry," Tateyama said before slowly rubbing a big, red bruise on Hideki's cheek with a wet towel. Hideki's eyes were shut tight and Tateyama carefully ran the towel on the scratches and bruises on his face. Tateyama looked almost as if he was used to doing this.
Legs kicking in the air while he sat on a chair, Takuya wanted to do something instead of just sitting idly by. So he stood up, went up to Tateyama from behind and peered over the white-haired boy's shoulders, "You want me to get the bandages?" he asked.
"No need," Tateyama bluntly replied and calmly placed the towel in a bowl of cold water, soaking it thoroughly and wringing it tight. Tateyama had rolled up his sleeves this time so they wouldn't get wet, "We'd just be wasting them again."
"How about some drinks?" Tomura added and Makoto raised his hand.
"Orange juice for Yuri and myself, please," Makoto politely requested and took out his wallet to pass Tomura a few wads of cash, "You can buy one for yourself and your brother, too. My treat."
Hideki had the urge to give a dry comment, "Look who's being gener- Ouch!"
"Hold still," Tateyama nonchalantly said, wiping a bigger bruise on Hideki's forehead. He grabbed the side of Hideki's head to keep him from moving and gently did his work, his face close to Hideki's as he did.
Tomura wheeled out of the room with Takuya following him and the boys continued to do their work. After a few more minutes of wincing, Hideki got used to the pain and patiently sat while he was being treated. He looked pass Tateyama's shoulders and at the curtains Homura was behind. Hideki still couldn't shake off the feeling that he was responsible for Homura's accident. Rubbing his arm, the room felt chilly without his school jacket that he had lent to Homura.
Tateyama could see Hideki's guilty expression return. Nonchalantly, he grabbed Hideki's cheeks and brought his face back so that he could avert Hideki's eyes from the curtains and give him some simple advice. Tateyama's tone sounded soft and almost assuring, also quiet enough so that Makoto nor Yuri beside them wouldn't hear, "It wasn't your fault. Don't beat yourself up for it."
But somehow, Makoto manage to hear them and also gave his own advice, "If there's anything you should do, it's to try and help with the situation in hand."
Even though their club was not exactly on good terms with Makoto's ever since the semester had started months ago, Hideki and Tateyama had to agree with the senior. From the very start, Makoto's club was one of the clubs that was actively agressive towards them, but the senior had never actually participated in their childish conflict. If anything, Makoto was one of the only few who had interest in antagonizing the Freelancers and only confronted them when needed.
Hideki let out a small sigh, "Right. Thanks."
Behind the curtains where Narita's desk was located, the school nurse had briefed both Mamoru and Minami about her past experiences with Homura as the two were reading a set of files about the girl. The files were passed to them after Minami had called over one of her junior council members to print them out and the pair had been vigorously reading them for a while now. Everything they had on her, they printed it out to try and get an understanding on her past to see if it would do anything to help get back Homura's memories.
Narita had explained that in the past, Homura's parents had been caught in a accident in a fire accident which killed both of them in an instant, but left Homura as a traumatized survivor with a heart problem. Due to being in a wealthy family, Homura had always managed to live by herself without any financial problems bothering her. On the other hand, Homura had been known to be very timid and nervous around others as a kid, and due to her growing heart problem, Homura had to be hospitalized at one point of her life. She had only recently been discharged from the hospital.
"So... her parents... are gone? " Mamoru quietly asked and Narita slowly nodded in affirmation. He closed the file and the boy rubbed his temples, settling the file on Narita's desk as didn't want to read any more. Mamoru motioned to walk out of the curtain without a single word, until Minami forcibly grabbed him by the arm. Mamorú looked over his shoulder, his narrowed eyes meeting Minami's cold glare.
"Don't you even feel anything for her?" Minami's tone was serious, "I mean, do you even know what's it like to lose your own parents? To lose two of the most important people in your life...?"
"Minami, leave him alone," Narita ordered, the school nurse taking out two cups from the drawers at her feet and a few packets of coffee.
Hesitantly, the student president slowly released his arm. Minami looked like she was going to apologize for her actions, but she kept it instead and crossed her arms, moving her cold glare onto the floor.
Mamoru fixed his wrinkled sleeve, calmly saying, "It's not like I don't feel anything for her. But, I am... very customary to hearing these sort of things, Morikawa. I understand her plight, but I have seen many like her. Almost too much," he peered out of the curtains to look at his friends outside before he gave a slight, apologetic bow and left Narita's workstation, "Excuse me."
Once he had left, Minami fell back onto a chair behind her and leaned back on it, folding her arms for warmth as she murmured in frustration and confusion, "What does he mean by that...?" Minami looked aside to see Narita handing her a fresh cup of coffee which she graciously accepted and brought to her lips. The hot drink was a welcome addition in the cold atmosphere of the nurse's office and warmed up Minami's hands as she held it.
The school nurse spun on her chair to face her desk this time and sorted out some documents. She shuffled some papers and clacked them on the table twice, "Don't worry about Mamoru. He may come off as uncaring, but he's quite sympathetic to these sort of stories. He has a soft spot for them, since he, too, has his own problems," Narita picked up the cup next to her arm and sipped her coffee.
Minami stared at her reflection that she could see in her cup, muttering,"Won't he at least say something? If he feels that way, why can't he just spit it out...?" she tightened her grip around her cup and frowned. She couldn't really believe what she was hearing, but since it came from Narita, who had been watching over the boys the entire time they were here in school like a guardian, it could only be true, "Idiot..."
"He would. But only to his friends."
Minami continued to feel the warmth the coffee brought to her hands before she finished her drink and placed the empty cup on Narita's table. She thanked the nurse for the drink, just as the curtains were suddenly pushed aside with Makoto being the one to open them. The two turned to him and the boy bowed to greet them before he placed a empty bowl and a few towels on the table beside him.
He put his hands behind him and stated, "I think it's time we decide what we do with her."
The two nodded in agreement. Narita settled down her coffee on her desk beside her papers and the two followed Makoto out of her workstation. Everyone had gathered back in the office as Takuya and Tomura returned with some drinks. Yuri was quietly sitting down on a chair next to Tomura, who was reading a book in his wheelchair with drinks in their hands. Takuya was sharing his drink with Mamoru as they talked and Tateyama was sitting back-to-back with Hideki on one of the beds with his computer on his lap. Hideki could be seen gazing at the direction where Homura's bed was.
The Council President loudly cleared her throat to gain their attention and all eyes looked to her. Minami thought of the words to say and began, her posture upright as if boosted by some newfound confidence, "Alright. While Akemi is like this... What are we going to do with her? Where is she going to stay?"
"From what we know, she has no relatives of sorts," Mamoru answered. Tateyama had check the database for her information and was told this information just now. Mamoru expectantly looked to the nurse, requesting, "Can you take care of her for the time being, Miss Narita?"
"She can stay at my place," she replied with a bit of doubt in her voice, "But, she would have to stay in my office for the entire time if I'm going to keep an eye on her; the same goes for after school."
"And that won't help her get back her memories," Makoto added, bringing a finger to his chin and looking contemplating on the floor. Makoto began to think. He would suggest a hospital, but the unknown environment and people might not be a good idea for a timid girl like Homura was at the moment, "Minami and Yuri would be occupied with their work in the Council, especially since the tournament is coming up, and I would be busy with training club. Miss Narita could still give her a place to stay... but who would keep an eye on Akemi at all times if Miss Narita has business to tend to?"
As Mamoru, Narita, Minami and Makoto discussed, the rest kept silent and watched while they continued bringing up ways and solutions to their problems. The rest didn't really have anything to add to the discussion or any suggestions to give. Takuya tried to ease the atmosphere by playing a few games with Tomura, his little brother offering even Yuri to join in since she began to look helpless from not doing anything to help. Tateyama glanced at Hideki and saw his fingers fidgeting like he had something to say.
Tateyama nudged him in the arm, placing a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, "Do you want to say anything?" he whispered.
Hideki looked reluctant. Implying as if his solution would do more harm than good, "Well..."
"Just do it," Tateyama assured him, turning back to his laptop to work on whatever he was doing, "It's better than doing nothing. If you want to help, do it."
Hideki looked at the Fujimaki brothers and they had also noticed how he wanted to say something. They gave an urging gesture for him to speak what was on his mind and with a quivering lip, Hideki mustered up the courage he needed. The blue-haired boy got up, stepped towards the discussing group and stated his offer as calmly as he could, "We'll... We'll take care of Akemi."
"Declined," Minami was quick to shoot him down, "Not after what y-"
"Let him speak, Minami," Narita interjected with a wave of her hand and Makoto concurred. Minami kept quiet and Hideki continued.
"It was my fault that Akemi is like this," he admitted, his hands at his sides tightening, "Yeah... It was my fault. It was my idea to kick the cart into the hallway and it's because of my stupid mistake that this happened," his eyes narrowed and his tone turned serious, "Since we are the ones mainly responsible for this, don't we have the right to fix this mess?"
Mamoru visibly agreed with him, "His reasoning is sound. We are the Freelancer club, are we not?"
"Yup!" Takuya agreed, excitingly raising his hand with Tomura smiling at his enthusiasm, "You can count on us!"
"We have the most time in our hands. We'll take care of her," Tateyama added.
Minami looked back to both Makoto and Yuri for their opinions as both of them gave out their own comments on the matter at hand.
"I-It could work," Yuri slowly nodded, worried that her sister would scold her for not taking her side.
"Or, it could get worse. But, this is the best solution we have in front of us," Makoto looked at the school nurse, asking, "How about you, Miss Narita?"
She folded her arms and gave a nod of affirmation, a small smile appearing on her face, "They do deserve a second chance, don't they?"
Whether Minami disagreed or not, it was the best idea they had come up with. She didn't want to leave Homura to the boys responsible for her current condition, but their offer to help was sincere and there was really no one else that could take care of Homura right now. After moments of silent pondering, Minami finally gave in with a defeated sigh, "Fine. Do what you want. But-" she crossed her arms and swept her gaze across the room, looking at all of the Freelancers, "You boys better take care of her and make sure she doesn't get hurt," she then turned to the door and slid it open to leave, "Yuri, we're leaving."
"The same goes for me," Makoto excused himself and followed the two out of the room. Giving one last look at the boys, he gave a small bow to all of those in the room, "I'm glad we all peacefully agreed to this. You all have my faith in taking care of Akemi. Good luck," he gave a small, appreciative nod at Hideki and he was caught off by the sincerity of the gesture. Makoto then finally closed the door and left the room.
Now that the three had left and business was over, Narita turned her attention to the five boys, "Now then, Takuya, I want you to make sure Tomura gets to school on time. I'll be meeting with his principal when the afternoon session ends, so I'll watch over Homura in the meantime," she stood up from a chair she was on and showed the five out, "Come on. Akemi needs some peace. The rest of you should head back to class and calm yourselves down, too."
"We appreciate the help and the support, Miss Narita" Mamoru gave a bow of thanks and walked through the door with his friends. In the hallway, Takuya and Tomura went the direction opposite of where the others headed since they had to get Tomura to his school. As the remaining three walked back to their classroom, Tateyama looked at his blue-haired friend and saw that the look of guilt on his face was gone. It was replaced, as he now looked accomplished and finally at peace.
Tateyama went to his side and asked, "You all right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I am. If feeling like I'm being smashed with a karma anvil counts, then I'm a-o-k," he replied in a sarcastic tone which made what seemed like a hint of a smile cross Tateyama's face. He was definitely back to normal. Or at least it somewhere close.
"Hideki," Mamoru interjected, "I applaud you for your actions there. It was impressive. But, there is something I would like to ask you once Takuya comes back. It's important," his somewhat serious tone earned a few looks from Hideki and Tateyama. They were unsure if this was going to be about Homura or Hideki.
Exiting the school main doors, Tomura and Takuya headed out of the building and saw that the rain outside had already stopped. Puddles of water formed on the school pavement and on their left, they could see the place where the accident had occurred. Minami's Council members were picking up pieces of the smashed bench and placed them in plastic bags as a few gathered up the strewn tools and tossed them into the cart.
The brothers tried to ignore the scene and continued walking, when Takuya suddenly spotted something on the floor and crouched down to look. He slowly ran a hand on the concrete, narrowing his eyes to look closely at a bunch of holes on the pavement.
"What's wrong?" Tomura asked, stopping for his brother.
Takuya took a closer look at the holes, digging his hand into them. He felt something inside and plucked out what seemed to be a small, metal round from a gun. Dropping it to the floor, Takuya shrugged off his brother's worries and continued escorting his brother to his school. As they left, a small ripple of energy surged through the round on the floor, smoke billowing from its surface as it melted away from the light of the sun.