"…she puts a lot of trust into someone she connects with. Too much trust."

Mom…you don't mean that, do you?

Maybe I do…

"…I know that she still loves you."

Of course I love Maki-chan. I told you that.

"I've been staying overnight with her…since the accident."

Accident? I was in an accident? And…why would Maki-chan be with me?

"You're afraid to hurt her again, nya?"

I don't want to hurt her either.

"Friend, huh. I don't even think I can be that to her anymore."

Maki-chan, I don't want to be friends. I want to love you so much. We'll always be friends.

"You are both busy people…But if you guys can learn to handle that, you will be back together in no time!"

Chika-chan is right! I want to be with you again, Maki-chan!

"...I don't even know if Riko would forgive me."

I would, Maki-chan!

"I'm surprised that I can give you even a small chance to be with Riko-chan again…You're putting yourself down, and it disgusts me...But if I was her, I wouldn't want you even close to me."

Dia-san! How could you just say all of that to her? Maki-chan is so much better than that!

"I love her with all of my heart, more than anyone. You, Chika, even her own mother can't compare to the love I have for her…I'm going to put my hardest effort to make her love me again."

Maki-chan…you don't have to put in that much effort. I love you already. And… you show Dia-san!

"That's what I wanted to hear…"

Dia? What do you mean?

"You were acting too much like herself: self-pitying, depressed, isolated."

I'm really like that?

"…I want her to be with you as well. After you smooth out everything that went wrong…after she learns to have faith in herself and to split that with you, I can assure you that there won't be any problems. And yes, I do mean it."

You said all those things just to have Maki-chan tell you guys everything. No wonder you were the student council president, Dia-san.

Dia-san is right. I have to trust myself. I can't rely on Maki-chan so much.

Maki-chan. We made mistakes. But, I want to make up with you.

I want to talk about everything. I want us to fix what went wrong and make it better.

I want to be together again.

It was nearing the end of the month, and Riko was recovering incredibly well. As Maki observed her brain, there was almost no sign of swelling. 'I think I kept this promise. You'll get better very soon, Riko.'

Maki couldn't stay in Riko's room as more and more people started to come into the hospital. Thankfully, she had the help of most of the Aqours members. Since Riko's recovery was going well, there wasn't too much to take care of. So, she told the five girls to just watch over Riko and take care of her needs. Things like baths were taken care of by Hanamaru and Ruby. The oldest girls also assisted in taking care of Riko's body. They were also responsible for checking over Riko's vitals and to call when there was an emergency (despite how low the possibility of something going wrong was).

On a normal day of being with Riko, Hanamaru and Ruby were doing their normal job of washing the red-head.

"Hey, Maru-chan," Ruby said from one side of the bed.

"What is it, Ruby-chan?" Hanamaru replied.

"Are you going to be excited when Riko-san wakes up?"

It was a weird question, Hanamaru thought. "I'll be happy when she does, zura."

"Me too! I'm excited because we'll be able to work together again!" Ruby excitedly said. "It been a while since we've been able to talk to Riko-san, let alone work with her."

"You're right, zura! We'll be able to make new music with Riko-san's amazing piano playing, zura!" Hanamaru felt Ruby's energy flow into her. Once Riko woke up and had time to rest, the three girls would be back to having fun and writing music again.

"You two sound excited. I guess it will be fun when you can write music again, huh?" Kanan said to the two girls. They both happily nodded.

"How could you not be, Kanan?!" Mari said. "She's been asleep for so long; how could Riko-chan not be excited to do things again?!"

Kanan giggled and patted Mari's head. "I know. We'll have a big feast when she's awake." The sweet interaction was interrupted by her phone buzzing. "That's Chika's eighteenth message. I know that we're close to the end of the month, but she's been like this since the past week."

"It makes sense," Dia interjected, "Riko is Chika's best friend, after all. It's only natural for her to be anxious. Riko could wake up anytime, it's just a matter of when."

"Right, right. I'm just getting a bit tired that only I'm getting the messages. She really hasn't talked to any of you? She has your numbers, right?"

The room laughed, but the five girls felt like they were hearing a new voice. After their hesitant laughter died down, they heard a small cough and a pained laugh. Looking to the bed, everyone's eyes opened wide.

"That's…just like…Chika-chan…" Riko said, her voice was coarse and pained.

The whole room was speechless.

'Riko's awake. Riko is AWAKE!'

The first person to recover from their shock was Dia. "Kanan…tell Chika and them that…Riko is awake. Don't forget to tell Chika to tell Riko's mother. I'll…tell Maki-san. You three…stay with her."

"Hai," the four others managed to say.

Dia and Kanan went outside; Kanan slowly started to message Chika while Dia went around and looked for Maki. She forgot that Maki told her to call instead. The shock of Riko waking up made Dia think that telling her in person would be better. 'This doesn't count as an emergency, right?'

Meanwhile, the three other girls could only stare at Riko. The newly awoken girl was getting a bit worried that her friends were just sitting there.

"Umm, hi," was all Riko managed to say.

The three girls started to cry, with Hanamaru and Ruby carefully hugging Riko. The bed-ridden girl was about to wrap her arms around the two girls, but she felt a sharp pain in her right arm.

"C-Careful, Riko-chan!" Mari worriedly said. "You hurt your arm in the accident."

"Oh, okay." Riko was reminded of what happened. She remembered that she was in her car and the light turned green, and then she saw darkness. There was a lot of pain that she was reminded of; a pounding headache, pained breaths, and her right arm feeling numb. Thankfully, that numbness went away, but it still hurt a ton. "How long has it been since the accident?"

Mari used her fingers to figure out the math. "About a month."

"A month?!" Riko exclaimed. "Was it really that bad?" She felt Ruby and Hanamaru's grip tighten.

"It was, Riko-san." Hanamaru said through her tears. "You could have died!"

"D-Died?"

"It was bad at the start, Riko-chan." Mari started to tell her the situation. "Your brain started swelling since you hit your head. Maki-san said that you would be okay, since they caught the swelling early. But, you don't have to worry about that now." Mari started to walk over and gently hugged Riko. "You're back. And no one could be happier. Just relax for now, Riko-chan. Chikachi, your mother and everyone else are coming soon."

Instead of saying anything, Riko relaxed into the warmth of the hugs. 'They're right. I'm awake now. And I can be with all of my friends.'

…

"I'm sorry, I don't know where Nishikino-san is," the receptionist said, "I can call her on the PA, if that's okay."

Dia, after hearing this, shook herself and remembered what Maki told her. "I apologize, it's fine." She bowed to the receptionist and started to walk back to Riko's room. She shakily dialed Maki's number, still in shock from seeing Riko wake up. 'Maki-san said that she would be awake soon. It's just…this soon?' She put the phone to her ear and waited for Maki to respond. After hearing the message that she was busy, Dia took a seat outside of the room. 'She has to be tending to a patient. I'm surprised she didn't respond. She told me to call her only when there was an emergency. It's weird-'

RING!

Dia almost dropped her phone as it rang, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Hello?"

"Dia? What happened with Riko? I was with a patient, I apologize."

"It's okay, Maki-san."

"Now, how bad is Riko's condition? I thought that she would be fine. I'm rushing over there now."

"Maki-san. Riko is doing good. Great, actually."

"Now you aren't making sense. I told you to call for emergencies only."

"This may count."

"What?"

"Riko woke up."

"…"

"Umm, Maki-san?" Dia asked. It was nearly a minute of silence from both sides. However, Dia was just waiting for a response.

"…Do you know when your other friends are coming?"

'That's a weird question…' Dia thought. Kanan was still outside, so she asked her friend when Chika and the others were coming. "Kanan said that Riko's mother and the three other girls are coming today. Is there any reason why you need to know?"

"…You guys talk to her first."

"I think she would want to see you. You were her doctor, and she probably wants to talk to you."

"I can't, at least not right now."

"Maki-san, I thought we went through this. You have to be confident."

"I know, Dia. I'm not afraid to talk to her…well, I am a bit. I just want to collect my thoughts. I can't mess this up."

Dia sighed a breath of relief. "I guess that's fair. If you need to talk, call me. Or Eli-san."

"Yeah, I will. Go be with Riko. She would want to be with her friends."

"Okay. Take care, Maki-san."

"Bye."

…

"RIKO-CHAN!" Chika wailed as she rushed into her friend's hospital room. She hugged the red-head gently, but buried her head in the crook of Riko's neck. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!"

"Me too," Riko said. Dia was about to scold Chika for being too rough with the red-head in her state, but Riko put a hand up to stop her. "It's nice to see you, Chika-chan."

Chika was a babbling mess, and all she could do was rub her cheek against Riko's neck.

"Oh god. Riko, you're okay." Her mother came over to the bed and hugged her daughter, while also giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I'm happy that you're awake."

"I am too. I love you, mom."

"I love you too, sweetie."

The rest of the day was filled with Riko getting told about what has happened with everyone while she was in the coma. It was nice to be with her friends for real, and to not be a potato. As the excitement of Riko being awake died down, Dia suggested that they let Riko have some rest. She has been sleeping for quite a while, but she told everyone that they could meet up with her tomorrow, since it was the weekend. The whole room agreed and said their goodbyes to the girl.

As the eight other girls shuffled out of the room, Riko's mother was beside her daughter.

"So, are you feeling okay?" The mother asked.

"I could be better. I'm happy that I didn't miss any classes. I still feel some pain; I'll manage, though. Thanks for being with me, mom."

Riko's mother smiled. "I'll do anything I could do for my little girl. Even drive back home to pick up Chika, You, and Yoshiko."

The two giggled as the other girls watched the mother/daughter interaction. They 'awwed' before heading out of the room.

Mari was holding Dia's hands while Kanan was beside the couple, but the black-haired girl stopped when she felt a pair of hands ono her shoulders. Turning around, she saw a sheepish looking Maki. "Maki-san?"

"If it's okay with you, could you come with me when I talk to Riko?" She nervously asked.

"Huh? Me?" Dia confusedly said.

"I think you might be able to help me if things go wrong."

Mari and Kanan had a mutual understanding. They were going to go out and venture through Akihabara. However, they both understood that Maki was worried about her relationship with Riko.

"Dia, you can go with Maki-san," Mari said.

"We can go out some other time. We'll still be here over the weekend." Kanan reasoned.

Maki breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for under-"

"No. I won't go with you, Maki-san," Dia sternly said.

"Wh-What?" Maki was surprised that Dia firmly shut her down, and was preparing to go tell her off.

"This is your problem to figure out with Riko. And it's Riko's problem to figure out with you." Dia kept poking Maki's chest, but the words were poking Maki's heart. "If you want to figure out what went wrong, you need to do it by yourselves. I'm not going to be there all the time. No one will be. Have some damn confidence in yourself and talk it out. You do this, and you'll be okay."

Maki couldn't believe that she had to be told that twice by the same person. 'What's wrong with me? I have to do this myself!' She was wrapped in an embrace from Dia, which she happily accepted. "You can do this. Be the Maki-san that Riko fell in love with."

"Right…Right!" Maki nervously, but proudly said. "I…I need to talk with her alone! I need to tell her everything!"

"Now go. Tell her everything. And…good luck, Maki-san," Dia told her senior.

"Thanks. Sorry to hold you up!" Maki said as she went into the hospital room.

"You really know how to encourage someone, Dia," Kanan commented.

"Good to hear," the black-haired girl said proudly.

"Now, let's EAT!" Mari said excitedly.