A Forgotten Story =?

DAY 4 - [Shine Sun Sakae - Hospital]

"I know what your disease…is" Otome declared, making the woman look at her in anticipation. "Bad news is… The medicine is out of stock and you'll need it soon. I mean very soon. I'll start procuring an alternative for you."

"No. It's okay… It's okay." She smiled as she looked down, gripping her crochet and crochet needle. Otome stared at her, analyzing the woman's reaction. It looked grim and desolate that was well-covered with a smile. Fortunately, the woman had something to vent her emotions – doing crochet. Otome gave her a black and white colored yarn, asking her to try out the art of crochet. 'A brilliant blue crochet needle is all you need to start maybe?' Well that was what Otome told her. Maybe the brunette believed it. Twirling the crochet needle in and out of the yarn to make a pattern out of yarn, she already made a black and white table cover for her side table. Right now, she's making a white and black fox plushie? "I'm fine."

"Hello beautiful." Someone greeted her. Looking up, she sees a familiar young man with his matching cap and business suit. Her eyes widened, she wanted to cry and hug him for all its worth. But that wasn't the best responds to a lover right? So she placed both hands on her lap, give a cheery smile and greeting to invite him to go by her side. He walks silently towards the nearby seat and looks at her with worried eyes. "Sorry if I've been gone for a long time."

"No. It's okay. Thank you for staying by my side even if you're a tad late, but that's you, isn't it?" She smiled, trying to show that she's okay. But the man knew she wasn't. I mean the last person who went in this room was her friend turned nurse, who must have talked to Joe's best buddy Kacchin. Kacchin then told Joe that she was deathly ill, but she knew right now that she was fine. Wanting to break his line of thought and the awkward silence, she randomly said the unthinkable. "Hey Joe? How was work? Did you have a hard time persuading suppliers to make a contract with the company?"

"Joe visited." A reaction occurred. Eyes widened with a mix of shock and worry, her brown eyes stare at Otome for her next statement. Otome sighed, she's been sighing a lot due to her private patient. "He's completely fine, don't worry. Should the doctors tell him about your condition?"

"Are you kidding me? It was a piece of cake. Well… that is until the catastrophe happened." Joe joked, watching his girlfriend giggle but ended up coughing badly. Joe went to her aid, giving her a glass of water by the table. She smiled and said a soft thank you. Joe sighed, holding her hand with his. She looks up with a familiar puzzled face. "Please get better okay?"

"No… I mean." She fiddled with her crochet material, thinking what she really meant. Otome waited, standing with her usual arm grabbing mannerism when something goes awry. Looking up, a strand fell to cover partially her left eye. "I trust you to tell him to what extent he needs to know. Please don't let him worry, especially on the day of the apocalypse."

"Of course. I'll be back standing in no time." She gave a thumbs-up with her free hand, but the response she got was a pat on the head. Looking away, she realized the weirdness of having dull yellow curtains in a hospital. Joe must have noticed the curtains to and tied it together for more air ventilation. "Being cooped up here makes me start to miss your jokes, even if its horribly written."

"Are you kidding me? My jokes are awesome!" Joe exclaimed, protecting his 'pride'. The brunette rolled her eyes and refuted his claims of this so called 'awesomeness.' But thanks to her keen eyesight, she spotted a rip on his jacket. Joe also noticed how her girlfriend stared at that area and tried to think of an excuse. "Oh I... I don't know what happened there. Heheh."

"Joe… That looks like a hole. I thought you stopped doing parkour!" She ranted, Joe tries to explain that parkour is a very useful as well as cool technique for guys like him. Too bad, she didn't want to hear it and reached out to tug his jacket off. While the couple began to get comfortable with each other with their bickering/ lively conversation, Otome was outside holding her clipboard. Shaking her head, Otome decided to walk off. Taking a closer look, the clipboard had a lot of diagnosis with several medicine brands crossed out.

"Drowning in her dreams, the girl is covered in poison."

[Sapporo – TV Tower]

"Hey Keita… I was wondering, but do you think we can visit Osaka?" Hinako asked. Her smile was really contagious for ordinary people, but Keita isn't ordinary. He was really grumpy and playing Tekken 7 with his PlayStation 4. Yes, that's right. He set up in the middle of winter under a tower even, his PlayStation 4 to finish a single game (mini-generator included.) But what's wrong with that? Nothing really, just that this isn't the only thing that the two did wrong, their clothes are also a problem here. Revealing clothes for the woman and shorts for a young teen, this would surely get them sent to a hospital for possible incurring frost bite/ hypothermia. Resting under the tower, both teens were hiding from random Jps members. Hinako scratches the back of her head, irked with their condition at hand. She certainly knows that the noises from the boy's game will eventually attract unwanted attention. "There are a lot of other characters here and they are starting to get on my nerve. And oh I know, YOU ARE NOT HELPING ONE BIT."

"Whatever you say woman. Leave me alone with my game. I'm about to finish this." Keita muttered, pressing the buttons very quickly to make a combo move. With a blank face, the boy watched the final boss' transformation to her second form. Raising an eyebrow, Keita continues in a bored tone. "I don't get the trend of color alteration to gain immense power, even if I'm an albino. Meh. Not my problem."

"If you are so bored with the game… Why begin the game in the first place?" Hinako asked as polite as she could, yet she heard no reply from her friend. Looking at the miniature flat screen TV, the credits start to roll. "Wow, you're fast. You finished the game already?"

"Yup. Let's roll." Keita stood up and waved his hand over the console, generator and TV. As the items disappear, Keita suddenly shivered, making the orange-haired dancer laugh. Lightly jabbing Hinako's shoulder, Keita sent Hinako few spaces away from him. "Shut up hag! Let's get out of here already."

"Whatever you say Keita~" Hinako taunted, walking behind her friend who was rubbing his arms. But before they could get out of the tower's perimeter, some Jps member held out a phone and asked for their identification cards. One of them turned which was Keita, he had an 'Oh-really?' expression towards the person. Regrettably, Hinako didn't turn, she just vanished from thin air. While the officer looked surprised and started looking around, Keita saw a figure behind the man with a fan landing straight down the head. Seeing the man fall, Keita went back to his direction and continued walking. Hinako ran towards him, catching up to hear the boxer agreeing on her earlier suggestion. "Let's visit Osaka. I miss hitting the punching bags there."

"Woohoo! I knew Osaka was the best. Team Osaka forever~!" Hinako cheered, raising her hand open-handed to make it land down hand clenched like a victory pose. Keita agreed quietly, the Osaka blood still stirring in him to accept the statement. While walking, Hinako began acting like an older sister which means Keita is the younger brother. "When we get there, don't pillage the game stores alright blossoming gamer boy?"

"You can't tell me what to do." Keita retorted, turning silent later to say another statement. "It's normal to pillage at the end of the world so my ethics are justified."

"And you got that from being in the apocalypse. Not sure how to feel…" Hinako taps her fan on the top of her head, thinking whether to allow Keita to join a child development facility. After much thought, Hinako thought against it. Seeing the buildings get covered with snow and no Jps member felt at a spiritual radius, Hinako relaxed her shoulders and walked casually. 'Hmmm…. Let's go on with life then.'