Not long after, Kuroda and Kijima came back bringing delicious Japanese street food which had always been Miki's favourite.
"YUM!" Miki exclaimed when she saw what Kuroda and Kijima brought. "You still remember what I like, Kijima!"
Kijima grinned widely, "of course, anything food related, I can never forget."
Miki laughed, "Ah of course, I first thought it was just because I was special to you".
"And that, too," Kijima winked at Miki to which she winked back. The rest of the guys laughed.
"Enough talking! Let's eat!" Kuroda chimed in. "I'm starving now after smelling the food all the way here."
The group enjoyed their food while chattering about random stuffs. Mainly catching up on what they had missed in the past five years.
Kuroda had become a coach of a top Japanese chess club. Aoyama worked in the defence industry. His sentai experiences helped him masterminded a lot of state-of-the art defence equipments. Kijima continued to work at the zoo but had now become the top guy at the biggest zoo in Tokyo.
For a moment Miki had forgotten her problems. It felt like the old days where they were sitting around chatting and enjoying their meals except there was no talk of Deathdark and how to destroy them. There was only happy talk. Unfortunately, her happiness was short-lived. A nurse came to remind them that it was getting late and the visiting period was nearly over.
"It's resting period soon," she said.
"Does that mean we have to leave?" Kijima asked.
"Well, we don't encourage visitor during resting period so the patient can rest. One family member is fine to stay to accompany her," she explained.
"Got it, nurse!" Kijima gave the nurse a thumb up. The nurse smiled at the gesture and left.
"Well, I guess we've got to go, guys" Kijima told the group.
"Will any of your family come to accompany you, Miki?" asked Kuroda.
"Ah, I've got none…," she replied softly. "But I'll be fine!" she put on a happy face although inside she was rather disappointed that her friends had to go. She hated hospitals and hated it even more when she had to be alone.
"What about your grandma?" Akama asked. Miki's immediate family members had passed away in an unfortunate accident just a little before she was picked to become Goggle Pink. She then lived with her grandmother.
"She had just passed away earlier this year," Miki broke the news. "Old age I guess," she added before anyone asked.
"I'm so sorry, Miki," Akama felt bad now for asking.
"No, it's fine you guys. I'm used to being alone!" she gave them her biggest smile hoping it would convince them to stop worrying about her. The last thing she wanted was to trouble them.
"Alright then, we should probably go," Kijima said. "Before we get in trouble with the nurse."
They said their goodbyes and exchanged contact details and promised to keep in touch before they left.
The room suddenly became so silent it gave Miki goose bumps. She sighed and played with her bed's elevation. She tried different angles but somehow couldn't get herself comfortable. Frustrated, she tried different buttons to see what they do. One of them made the bed go up and down.
"Cool," she mumbled to herself and kept playing with the buttons like a little child.
"You're going to break the bed that way," a deep voice startled her.
"Akama! Why are you back? Did you forget something?" she asked, happy to see him.
"I forgot you," he tried to joke but Miki didn't get it.
"Look, Miki, I came all the way to Tokyo to find you. I can't just leave knowing you're in this condition and have to bear it alone," he explained. Akama could see the disappointment in her eyes when everyone had to go and the hint of sadness in her voice when she said she had nobody. He couldn't bear to see Miki this way. "I have just finished a climbing trip and have no immediate plan, I'm happy to stay and be your company while you're here if you let me."
"Ah Akama, you haven't changed the slightest bit, always so thoughtful," she remembered how much she respected the man standing in front of him because of this quality of his. "But I'll be fine. Really. I can't keep you here. Who knows how long I have to stay here."
"It doesn't matter," he said. "As I said, I have no immediate plan. Plus I live out of town. I was planning to spend sometimes in Tokyo anyway."
"Akama, I really appreciate it but I really don't want to trouble anyone," she persisted.
Akama put down his backpack on the chair nearby and walked over to Miki's bed. "No trouble at all. That is if you enjoy my company."
"Of course I do!"
"Then let me stay."
"But…"
"Say no more," he opened up all the cupboards in the room one by one searching for something. "Ah here they are!" He found several pillows and brought them over to Miki.
"Here, let me," he puffed them and arranged them behind her back. "Better?"
Miki rested her back and head on the soft pillows and let out a chuckle, "Much better".
"Somehow you pop up whenever I'm hurt or in trouble," the reminiscences of their days of fighting deathdark came flowing back in her mind. Akama would always save her at the most critical moment. Without him she would have not survived. "Today is no difference."
Akama smiled. "It was my job."
"But it's not your job anymore…," she hung her sentence.
"I must have a feeling then," Akama said. "I always have."
"That I'm about to get hurt?" she asked.
Akama laughed. "I guess."
"Tsk," Miki pretended to be annoyed.
"Don't frown," he used his hand to lightly touch her forehead and then her chin. "Smile."
Miki nearly jumped at the touch but hid her surprise well. She couldn't help but feel that Akama treated her so specially. She quickly shook this thought. He was probably just being his usual sweet caring self. He would have treated anyone the same way.
Akama busied himself with packing up leftover food and cleaning up. Miki just watched from her bed. A warm feeling washed over her. She was glad he stayed.