Chapter Four – Reunion

As I entered the hospital, I adjusted my backpack to take some of the pressure off of the injured part of my right shoulder. I would have let my left shoulder carry the whole thing, but the sheer weight of the books required the support of both shoulders. Maybe I should have planned better and only brought a few…

After checking in at the nurses' station, I took the elevator to the second floor and made my way to Room 225.

I lowered my pack to the floor and removed a first-year history textbook from inside. "Hey, Fuuko," I greeted the unconscious girl with a smile. "Thought I'd help you with your first-year classes. Of course I can't help you with attendance but…" I hefted the book as though to show it to her. "At least I can help you pass the tests."

Fuuko didn't answer, as expected.

"All right, Chapter One…"

I started my summer break that way; traveling to the hospital as often as I could, sometimes sleeping in the lobby to save train fare and washing my face in the restroom. Eventually, I worked up a good routine: I'd spend the weekdays at the hospital (trying to stay under the staff's radar), either reading to Fuuko, talking to her about stuff, or just sitting there quietly, holding her hand. On the weekends I'd stay at Furukawa Bakery (Nagisa had worked things out with her parents) and help out around the place, as well as pick up what I would need for the next week at the hospital.

At first I thought it would be boring; after all, how much fun can it be to sit and read to a sleeping person?

But somehow, it wasn't boring at all. I think it was because I was doing something for someone I cared about. Knowing that I was making a difference in someone's like made it all worthwhile, I guess.

Because of how much reading I had to do, I could only cover one subject per day. So on Monday, I would cover English. On Tuesday it was Japanese. Wednesday was Math. Thursday, I covered history.

Or, at least, I tried to; I sucked at history.

Anyway, Friday was a catch-up day, when I'd cover anything that I wasn't able to finish on the other days. Finally, Saturday morning was what I'd call a 'fun day', when I'd just spend time with her. I usually wouldn't talk much since I'd been reading all the other days and would feel a little hoarse. On those days I'd hold her hand or just be there, watching her or the machines work on keeping her alive. I did what I could.

One Saturday, I realized that her birthday was coming up. I just couldn't remember when. So I called Kouko-san from Nagisa's place.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Kouko-san."

"Okazaki-kun, good morning!" I liked how Kouko-san always sounded happy to hear from me. "What can I do for you?"

"I hope I'm not calling too early."

"Not at all. Yu-kun and I were just finishing breakfast. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you would tell me Fuuko-san's birthday. I'd like to do something special for her, if I could."

"Certainly! That's coming up soon, isn't it? Let me check to be sure…let's see, it's-right, it's July 20th."

"Thanks. Hey, can you tell me what day of the week that falls on? I don't have a calendar."

"Just a moment…Yu-kun, would you check the calendar for what day July 20th falls on? Saturday? Okazaki-san? It falls on Saturday this year."

"Thanks. I appreciate it. I'll try to do something nice for her, but I don't have a lot of money."

"That's okay. You're already doing a lot for her, and I'm sure she appreciates it. I know that I do."

I felt a little awkward. "Thank you, ma'am."

"And don't worry too much; Yu-kun and I will be there in the late morning, so you won't be celebrating alone."

I hadn't considered that, but it made sense that they would be there. "I'm looking forward to seeing you two again. Take care."

"Good-bye, Okazaki-san. Take care of Fu-chan for us."

"I wish you would start breathing on your own again."

I sat by Fuuko's bedside, holding her hand. I had brought textbooks, but had very little motivation to read this time. I'd felt this way a couple of times already, so I figured that I'd be back up to it tomorrow. I ended up spending most of this particular visit quietly holding her hand and thinking.

"Did you exhaust yourself by projecting yourself into the school? Did you make all of those stars and attend your sister's wedding at the cost of your own health?" I noticed my voice starting to tremble; it matched the rest of me. "We were just getting to know each other. You kissed me on the cheek. We celebrated your sister's wedding before the actual wedding. I bought you a party hat." I wiped a hand across my eyes. "Is that going to be it? Are you done fighting, then? Are you giving up now? Is this how it's going to end?"

I got up from the chair and looked down at her face. "Fight, Fu-chan! You overcame so much to make those starfish and give them to everybody, even though you knew no one would remember! You fought for your sister, now fight for yourself!"

Crap. I was losing my composure. "Please, Fu-chan; don't give up. There are people here who love you; Kouko-san, Yuusuke-san..." I sighed sadly. "…me..."

As the end of visiting hours came I gently placed her hand back at her side, caressed her hair, and headed to the door. "I'm going home for now. I will not give up on you. Please…don't give up on yourself, either."

I left the room and leaned heavily against the wall next to the door. "Damn. Do I love her, or am I just obsessed?"

Maybe a bit of both.

It was summer break and a Sunday, but I broke into the school anyway. I needed someplace quiet to think but Dad was at home, and Nagisa's parents were…well, Nagisa's parents. So that left the school.

Before I knew it, I was standing with my hand on the door to the classroom where I first met Fuuko. It hadn't even been two months but I still felt a wave of nostalgia; a lot had happened in that time, after all. I sighed and pushed the door open.

I took two steps into the room and froze, and all of the feelings I had for her rushed back at the same time. "Fu-chan…?"

Before me, Fuuko sat at a desk. Instead of working on carving starfish, she appeared to be working on an enormous blanket of some kind.

She looked up at me. "Why is strange guy here?"

"F-Fuuko?!" I stammered. "How-"

And then I noticed something odd, even under these circumstances. Her voice sounded kind of like an echo, like she was talking into a tin can. When looked more closely, I realized that Fuuko was partly transparent. It didn't seem to affect her ability to hold the blanket, though.

"Okazaki-san, why are you here?" she asked, rephrasing her question.

"I-I came here to think." Relief washed over me. "I-It's good to see you again! How are you? Are you better?"

She stopped…whatever she was doing. "Fuuko's tired, but okay otherwise." I noticed that she didn't try her usual boasting.

That didn't stop me from being concerned, however, as I sat at the desk before her. "Are you sure you should be out here? I mean, being out like this could have been what caused you to stop breathing…on your own, I mean."

"Fuuko…had a setback. Fuuko's making a blanket now." She held up the blanket; it was a thick cozy-looking blue blanket, with two golden starfish sewn onto it, near one corner. "Fuuko's better with a needle than a knife."

I smiled. "Maybe you should have made starfish plushies for the school instead of carvings."

She smiled awkwardly. "Maybe."

I remembered that she appeared for an important reason before, which got me thinking again. "What are you making the blanket for? Is this for something important to you, too?

It was hard to see for sure since she was only half-visible, but I thought I saw a blush creep onto her cheeks. "Very important."

"Are you going to be making a whole bunch of these to give away, too?"

She shook her head. "No. Just one."

"Is it for yourself?"

She shook her head again. "No."

"Who's it for?"

"Not saying." Did her face just get redder?

"Okay."

I cautiously reached out my hand toward her to see if I could touch her, or if my hand would pass through her.

She saw my movement and smiled shyly before putting down the needle and reaching out with the hand that didn't have the bandage on it, laying it on the desktop, palm up. I chuckled when she wiggled her fingers as if to say 'come here'. I reached further out to rest my fingers on top of hers.

I was glad to find that my fingers found hers instead of passing through them. Trying to hold back a wave of emotions, I said, "It's been a long time."

"You've missed Fuuko."

I admitted it with a nod. Visiting her in the hospital wasn't like being able to actually talk to her, though I was less hesitant to hold her hand while there.

"Thank you for visiting Fuuko at the hospital. Fuuko doesn't mind that you've been holding her hand, either."

That was a surprise. Not just that she was okay with it, but that she was even aware that I was doing it in the first place.

Wait, if she didn't mind it there… "W-What about here?"

"What?"

"W-What about holding your hand here? Would that be okay, too?" I looked at her hopefully. Jeez, I'm pathetic.

Fuuko said nothing at first, but gazed briefly at me. Then she looked at our hands, bit her lip and slowly curled her fingers, causing mine to start curling around hers. I finished the motion, and we were holding…well, fingers.

"Thank you." Other than that, I wasn't sure what to say. We'd held hands before, sure. She'd even kissed me on the cheek before, but that seemed like a spur-of-the-moment thing. Really, I was just happy to see her; being able to hold her hand was like the icing on the cake. "It's…really good to see you again."

"Thank you." No bravado this time, either. She looked like she was trying to compose herself, though. "It's good to see weird guy again, too."

Eventually, we released each other's hands so she could get back to working on her blanket.

I got the impression that she didn't want to let go any more than I did, but that could have been my imagination.