Sleep wouldn't come to me that night. My head was too filled with thoughts and worries that I just couldn't get rid of. Tossing and turning under the covers, I stared into the complete darkness that surrounded me.

I didn't leave the hospital until around 2AM the night before. The nurses encouraged me to leave sooner, but I wanted my mind to know for certain she was alright. I was probably overthinking; it was only a fever. Miyoshi even said she gets them regularly each winter, but this felt different somehow. Like it was more than just the average fever.

"Sir, it's getting late," a nurse had said to me. "We can't permit you to see Yui, so it would be best if you go on home."

I wouldn't meet her eyes. "I understand. I just want to stay a little longer if that's alright."

"You can stay as long as you like; but I'm not allowed to let you see her I'm afraid."

"I know."

"Then why stay?"

My mouth opened, then closed again when I realized I didn't have a reason. Why was I staying? I had school tomorrow, but maybe I could
skip for the day. It's not like my dad would find out. And the baseball game- I would have to talk to Okito about what happened.

When I looked up, the nurse had left. I sighed and closed my eyes, putting my head in my knees. A throbbing pain the back of my head started to distract me from my wave of emotion. In my mind I thought of all the things I would do with Yui once she got out ot the hospital. We would go to the river and watch it freeze over, and wait for the first snow of the season to come from her bedroom window. Once she got better, I would take her to whatever movie she wanted, and buy her ice cream, or maybe I could teach her how to play chess. Sure, she couldn't move the pieces on her own... but I could do it for her.

When she got better, I'd do anything she wanted.

As I lay in bed, I decided I would ditch school the next day. I made a mental note to get money for the subway to get to the hospital, and at some point I fell asleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The train was mostly empty, which was a huge relief. I didn't know how long I'd be able to handle the usual screaming kids and grumpy adults. I sat in the back away from everyone else. The trees passing by the window were shades of orange and red, a singnal that winter would be coming. Unlike most people in Japan, I loved the wintertime. I loved the feeling of being chilled, and the way snow covered the ground in blankets. I wonder if Yui was the same way. I had a strong feeling she was.

I slept most of the ride to make up for my lack of sleep the night before. I had to force myself to stay half awake though, so I wouldn't miss my stop. The hum of the train tracks was soothing and comforting to me. The noise made my eyes heavy.

Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I felt a sudden tug in the pit of my stomach. My eyes flew open.

I recognized the feeling. It was the same pulling feeling I felt when I saw Yui for the first time, like I had a connection to her somehow that I couldn't explain.

But Yui wasn't on the train. My eyes set on a boy who looked about my age, holding hands with a young girl. The boy was tall and had red-orange hair with eyes to match. The girl was much shorter than him, but her silver hair was long and her eyes were a shocking shade of gold. She looked small and frail in a way that reminded me of Yui.

I was almost certain I didn't know either of them personally, but that same strange feeling was definately there. I had met both of them somehow. Just like I knew Yui...

I had to fight the urge not to walk up to them. I didn't want to bother them, especially if it turned out I was just imagining things. That would just make me look awkward.

They sat down a few rows in front of me. The girl was very pretty with her blue T-shirt and short white skirt. She smiled at the boy and leaned her head against his shoulder. That boy didn't know how lucky he was, being able to take things like that for granted. Feeling her warm hand squeeze his, and having her body lean against him.

But why should I envy him? It was stupid of me to even have a thought like that...

The next half hour I couldn't get my mind to think of anything but the couple. Where had I met them? Why did I feel like I was so close to that boy? Almost like we were best friends... Like I should walk up to him and give him a high-five like we were good pals.

"Hospital main enterance ," the voice boomed over the loudspeakers, announcing my stop. "Begin to gather all of you're belongings, and thank you for choosing us."

I grabbed my leather backpack off the floor. This is my chance... I would say something to them as I walk off the train. Yes, and if they didn't recognize me, it wouldn't be a big deal.

I zipped up my jacket and swung the backpack over my shoulder. Standing up, I slowly started to walk towards them, not deciding yet what I would say.

Doesn't matter, I thought. Just say songthing!

I outstretched my hand, just about to touch the boy's shoulder. But as I was about to speak, both of them stood up and started to walk off the bus.

They must be going to the hospital too. They looked about my age, so whoever they were seeing must be important enough to skip school for. I watched as they exited the door, never separating their hands.

Obviously they were a couple. But I had a feeling I should know that already, but why? I had never met these people before; how did I know so much about them?

"Sir!" One of the subway workers outside the train was looking at me through the doors. "If you're getting off, you need to do so now!"

"Oh," I said blankly. "Right! Sorry."

I hopped off the train onto the platform. The subway station near the hospital was large and very noisy, which made sense. Lots of people must come in and out each day to see loved ones.

I stood on my tiptoes to look above the large crowds of people. If I could just find them...

I glanced to my left and right, darting my eyes around looking for any glimpse of the boy and the girl. I needed to be quick or I'd lose them.

To the people around me, I probably looked stupid, but I didn't care. Those two must be linked to Yui somehow. Maybe if I could talk to them, I could figure out what was going on.

Suddenly I spotted the girl's silver hair far off to the right, and the boy was right next to her.

I ran, pushing the people around me out of the way, yelling "Sorry!" and "Excuse me!" Most of the people gave me dirty looks, and I tried to look as apologetic as I could.

"Hey!" I shouted to them, now only a few yards away.

The girl turned her head, and her big eyes widened when she saw me. She said something to the boy that I couldn't hear over all the people, and he turned to stare at me too.

I made the last few steps towards them slow. Close up, I knew instantly I had met them before. Those faces looked so firmilliar it drove me absolutely crazy.

"Umm...Hi," I smiled awkwardly. "Have I met you two before?"

The boy smiled back."Yeah... I'm sorry I don't remember your name though."

I extended my hand. "Hinata."

His mouth parted, as if suddenly having a memory. "Yes..." He shook my hand. "I'm Yuzuru, but you can call me by my last name, Otonashi. This is my girlfriend Kanade."

Those names... They sounded so firmiliar. "Angel... Right?" The words spilled out of my mouth without thinking.

Her mouth opened slightly. "How did you..." Hearing her talk for the first time, I noticed her voice was very soft and gentle; almost like a child.

"Some of my friends call me that as a nickname," she said, barely a whisper. "But I don't think I've ever met you before."

I swallowed. "I... I don't know where that came from," I half laughed, deciding to change the subject. "So the reason I came to talk to you was, I know how weird this'll sound, but I feel like you have some sort of connection with..."

What was Yui to me? A friend? More than a friend? Over the short ammount of time I had known her, she suddenly became one of the most important people in my life.

"One of my friends," I finished. Instead of staring at me like I expected, Kanade smiled.

"So it's not just me," she said. "I have the same feeling... Like we had met in another lifetime."

I hadn't ever thought of it in that way. "You feel it too?! That's crazy," I rubbed the back of my neck. "Maybe we did meet... It can't just be a coincidence anymore."

"I have the same feeling," Otonashi said. "It's strange."

"But whats wrong with your friend?" Kanade asked.

"Her name is Yui. She's paralyzed, and yesterday I took her to one of my baseball games. Apparently she felt really sick and decided not to tell me, and she doubled over. Her mother told me she gets really bad fevers around this time, but this looks a lot worse."

Re-telling the story made my heart sink a little. "So I when I first met her, I had the same feeling like I had known her for a long time. I thought maybe if you guys saw her, we might remember what's going on here."

Kanade nodded. "I remember when I saw Otonashi for the first time. I saw him at the park sitting on the yellow bench in the summer, and how close I felt towards him."

"Yeah, let's go see her," Otonashi agreed. "We can wait to visit Mikuzu right?" He looked down at Kanade. She gave him a small nod.

"Who's Mikuzu?" I asked, even though I felt like it was none of my business.

"My mother," Kanade said softly. "She's very sick. She's going to have heart surgery sometime soon so we were on our way to see her."

"Oh," I said blankly. I looked for any words of comfort, but "sorry" just didn't ever seem sympathetic enough. Perhaps it was just me, but I always hated when people said "I'm sorry," because I knew they really weren't.

"I really hope she gets better. I mean it," I placed a hand on her soulder. "I... I know how hard things like that can be."

I didn't say anything, but my grandfather had died in the hospital a few years ago, just days before he was supposed to have surgery. I was still young, so I didn't fully understand why everything had to happen like that. Why everything had to be so... unfair.

We agreed to walk to the main hospital enterance to take the elevator. I took out the card that the nurse had given me, which told me the room number Yui was in. I pressed the 3 button, and the elevator doors closed. The walls were reflective mirrors, and I had the first look at myself since yesterday. My eyes were tired and drowsy, my hair messier than usual and my shoulders were slumped. In other words, I looked pretty bad.

We exited the elevator and walked down a few hallways to find the waiting rooms. I strolled up to the front desk and recognized the nurse that sat in the chair.

"Hi, I'm back," I tried to sound happier than I really was. She looked up at me. "It's Hinata. I was here yesterday and you gave me this card," I slid the piece of paper across the desk. "We'd like to see Yui."

"Oh, yes, Hinata," she seemed to remember me. "I have some bad news."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "What... what is it?"

She swallowed hard before giving me a nervous smile. Hesitating, she said, "I'm afraid Yui has told me she doesn't wish to see you."

Again, thank you guys for being so patient. School has been so busy it's hard to get writing in, but over Christmas break I'll hopefully have enough time to do a few chapters. Thank you for all the reviews! I'm glad so many of you like it as much as I do :)