Kanna slowly swung his feet back and forth as we waited in the chair. The waiting room was tense. Takumi ground his teeth anxiously, waiting to hear the news. Both his aunts were there, too. And his cousin Matoi and his cousin Syalla. However, they didn't do much to comfort him. No matter what he tried to do, one word kept echoing through his mind.

Afraid.

No matter how hard he tried to hide it from himself, it was undeniable. Kanna was afraid. In fact, he was very afraid. Because he had some questions and he didn't know who they were for. He wasn't religious. It wasn't like he had someone to worship or to seek guidance from. No, he just went through his life praying to no one and being thankful for everything but only to himself.

So when he had questions for someone to answer but no one to ask, of course he was afraid. Who was going to tell him the fate of his brother? Who was going to tell him what he needed to do to help his father? Who was going to tell him why he deserved to have his mother and brother so cruelly snatched away from him?

But there was no one to ask. So at that moment, Kanna just let himself swing his feet and remained seated in the chair. Because he was powerless to do anything. And there was nothing he could do about it.

Eventually, a doctor walked into the waiting room and called out for Takumi. As Kanna followed, he threw a glance back to the other sad and scared-looking families in the waiting room. I'll have good news when we come back, he thought to himself as they turned the corner. Even as the hallways seemed to turn an even darker shade of gray as they walked on, Kanna refused to let go of the stubborn feeling of positivity clinging to him. And after several minutes, he was ushered into a room alongside his father. At the far side was Kisaragi, his body prone.

Kanna rushed over to his brother's side, his mind racing. "Kisaragi!" he shouted and he jumped up and down. "Kisaragi, wake up!"

Takumi shushed his son, but quickly broke off as the figure in the bed stirred. Slowly, Kisaragi sat up and rubbed his head. "D-Dad…? Is that you?"

Before he knew it, Takumi rushed forward and embraced his son tightly. "What the hell happened?" he demanded hoarsely as tears rushed down his face.

Kanna saw his brother stare blankly into space. Even though Kisaragi was looking right at him, his brown eyes were unfocused. A chill surged through Kanna.

"I was…" Kisaragi trailed off. "I…" He struggled to swallow as he recalled what had happened earlier. He felt tears well as they spilled over the confines of his eyelids. "I don't know what I was thinking," he answered. "But I know now that it isn't worth it." He exhaled softly and looked at Kanna. "Sorry, little brother," he whispered softly.

Kanna bit his lip and stared at Kisaragi. "Welcome back."

The two stared at each other for a few moments before Takumi got up. "I'll go ask the doctor to fill me in," he said as he exited the room. Kanna walked over and sat on the side of Kisaragi's bed.

"What happened?" he asked Kisaragi.

"I just…thought about stuff," he answered, thinking carefully. He didn't want to upset his brother. "And after thinking for a while, I decided to take matters into my own hands."

Kanna remained quiet, his grey eyes fixed on the bone-white sheets they were on. Silently, he tried to wrap his head around Kisaragi's words. What did he mean by such a thing? For some reason, he was reminded of some man he saw on the news once a few years ago. Something about him jumping off something. But before Kanna could pay much attention, Takumi had hurried over and shut the TV off. "We don't need to hear anything about that," he recalled his father saying.

Kisaragi hugged his brother gently. "Kanna," he said softly, "I'm sorry."

Kanna knitted his eyebrows, his gaze confused. "What do you mean? Kisaragi, you're not making any sense."

Kisaragi chuckled softly despite himself. "I don't think I've been making much sense to you lately, have I? Well, that's no matter. All you have to know is that you won't have to worry about me anymore. I'm smart enough to know not to get myself in these stupid accidents anymore."

Kanna bit his lip as tears welled. "Stop making me mad, Kisaragi!"

Kisaragi froze and looked at his brother in shock. "What…?"

Kanna got to his feet and glared at his brother. "You think you're so smart, the way you're acting! You keep smiling in this arrogant, smart way that all the adults give me!" He broke off as he started sobbing. "You keep saying everything's going to be all right, but it's not! This isn't you! Stop giving me that smile and start acting like yourself!" He sniffled. "Because… Because… You're my brother… I miss when you used to smile with me when we played shogi. I miss the way you laugh whenever I got upset when I lost. And I miss the way you always smiled. You used to show all your teeth. Now you're just giving me that sad look…" He drew in a large breath. "Stop making me mad," he sobbed.

As he finally quieted down, he heard a small chuckle. Quickly, the chuckle turned into a laugh. Kisaragi's shoulders were bent as he hunched over. Tears seeped out of his eyes as he bellowed loudly. Slowly, he pushed himself out of the bed and walked over to Kanna. "You always know how to make me laugh," he said mirthfully.

Kanna tackled him with a hug. "Don't scare me like that!" he squealed.

Takumi suddenly walked into the room. "What's going on?" he asked. The doctor behind him ushered Kisaragi back to his bed.

Kanna smiled. "We were just getting along like brothers should."

Takumi smiled and knelt down. He grasped Kanna's hands. "Kisaragi's going to be fine," he said. "Since I have to go wrap up some stuff with the doctors, I want you to wait in the waiting room."

Kanna grinned to himself and flashed a secretive look at Kisaragi as a nurse escorted him out. After walking back for a few minutes, he found himself in the waiting room again. He sat down in the first chair he saw and smiled to himself. After a moment, he heard someone scoot over next to him.

"What's your deal? Why are you so happy?" a boy with brown hair and green eyes asked him.

"My brother's going to be just fine," Kanna said, partly to himself.

"What happened to him?" the boy inquired.

Kanna frowned. "I'm not sure. I think he fell off the roof." He turned his head to look at the boy sitting next to him. "Why are you here?"

The boy crossed his legs and leaned back against the chair he was sitting in. "My uncle. He was hit by a car."

"That sounds awful!" Kanna gasped. "How's he doing?"

"I'm not sure," the boy answered. His bright green eyes suddenly seemed dull and jaded. "They won't let me see him."

Kanna noticed the boy's clothes. They were slightly dirty and had holes in a few places. "Are you from the poor part of town?" he asked.

The boy remained silent, though his cheeks picked up a subtle shade of red. "Yeah," he admitted. "I'm not sure if we can afford the hospital bill."

"I'm not sure, either," Kanna replied. "To be honest, I haven't thought about the hospital bill until now." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Now I'm worrying." He quickly jerked his head to the side as Takumi walked back into the waiting room. "Uh, gotta go," he said quickly as he hurried to his feet. "What's your name?" he asked.

"It's Rontao," he replied as Kanna hurried off. "What's yours?" he asked.

"Kanna!" he shouted as he caught up with Takumi. Takumi smiled to himself and ruffled his son's hair.

"Did you make a new friend?" he asked.

Kanna smiled broadly. "Yep. His name's Rontao. He seems my age."

Takumi put his hand on Kanna's shoulder. "Come on. Kisaragi's going to be released later today. As for right now, I have to go do my community service. I'm gonna drop you off at home for a few hours until I come home."

Kanna hummed softly to himself as they left the hospital. And for the first time in a while, he knew everything was finally starting to return to normal.

Okay, this took me a really long time to finish. I've been nonstop busy since I released the last chapter and I have barely had any time for writing at all. And this fic kinda seems like a soap opera. But from here on, there shouldn't be any more sudden drama. Things should calm down and I'll try and wrap up a good ending early on. On the last chapter, when it's released, I'll make a little announcement about where my fanfiction account will be going in the future. And for those who don't finish this fic, I'll make sure to put it on my profile as well. I don't want to talk about it now, but I'll elaborate in detail afterwards. Hope y'all enjoyed~