Chapter 8 - Repercussions Pt 1
Many people struggle with admitting their feelings about a certain someone. Sometimes all it takes to unleash their true thoughts is one crucial moment.
And the emotion they feel…
Is something that others might call love.
—————
Two Hours Later
Yamai was locked up in a juvenile detention centre. The room itself was pretty cozy. There was a bunk bed, all the basic necessities, the wallpaper was a nice colour and it also had a window.
Shortly after Onemine's mother learnt that Yamai was the girl that hurt Onemine, she alerted authorities. Yamai's mother had been caught up with legal issues while Yamai herself was out in a detention centre until her trial.
—————
The door to her room opened. Two police officers walked in.
"Hello, Ren Yamai. You're being taken in for questioning. Can you please come with us?"
"I don't care…"
She was sitting on her bed. Getting up she followed the police officers. "Onemine-san, it's all her fault."
Yamai was brought to a room down the hall of the detention centre. It was a bit darker than the rest of the building and had fluorescent lighting, unlike the other rooms which had warmer lights.
Yamai sat down on a table in the middle of the room. There were four seats and her mother was next to Yamai. The two police officers walked to the two chairs on the other side and sat down on them.
"Ren Yamai, you have been prosecuted for battery, assault and attempted murder to Nene Onemine in a classroom at roughly 3:20 this afternoon. The girl in question is now in hospital for many injuries including a broken femur," said one of the police officers.
"This has to be a misunderstanding, I've told you, Ren would never do something like that!"
"The victim in question is still unconscious so we can't question her, maybe this is a misunderstanding. However, a witness has stated that they saw Ren Yamai trying to swing a baseball bat at Nene Onemine's head," the other officer replied.
"Ren… did you really attack this girl?" asked her mother.
Yamai stayed silent for a couple of seconds. "Yes. I did."
Hundreds of emotions went through Yamai's mum at that moment. Sadness. Anger. Confusion. Nervousness. Surprise. Shock.
"I'm guilty, might as well get this over with as soon as possible."
"So you admit to all charges that were accused of you?"
"Yes, and more. I also hit her leg with the bat so she would be in more pa-"
"REN! STOP!" her mother cried.
The first officer said, "Listen to your mother, don't add more guilt."
"Why did you assault Nene Onemine?" the other policeman questioned.
Yamai's mother had grabbed a handkerchief out of her pocket and was drying her eyes.
"She touched Komi-sama."
"Who is 'Komi-sama' that you are referring to?"
"She's a goddess. Komi-sama is perfect."
"Can you give us Komi-sama's full name?"
Reluctantly, Yamai responded, "Shouko Komi."
"Ok, we will question Shouko Komi later. Ren Yamai, you will stay in your detention centre for up to five days while your court hearing is being issued."
—————
8 PM
Onemine was lying unconscious in a hospital bed. Her leg had a cast on it and was propped up with an extra pillow so the blood wouldn't flow to her broken leg. Suddenly, she woke up.
"Huh, where am I? A hospital?" thought Onemine as she got adjusted to her surroundings.
She sat up on her bed, shifting her leg. A huge burst of pain shot through her thigh.
"Ahh!" Onemine shouted.
A nurse walked into the room. "You're awake! That's brilliant!"
The nurse was holding a plate of food.
"W-what happened?"
"You were knocked out. A boy found you and ran you over to the hospital with your mother. They've both gone home now."
The entirety of the day's events flooded back into Onemine's mind. "Oh yeah, Yamai-san, the baseball bat, Tadano-kun… Did Tadano-kun bring me to the hospital?"
"D-do I have any injuries? Can I go home?"
"Um, you had many bruises and cuts, a broken nose and a fractured femur. We cleaned up the bruises and did surgery on your femur so it is fixed. You will need crutches to walk, however.
Onemine looked down at her lap. "I can't… walk?"
She to get up but her leg prevented her from doing so. "Ow!"
"This can't be happening… I don't want this, no!"
Onemine started crying. She placed her head in her hands. The nurse looked at Onemine empathetically, feeling bad for the girl.
"You will most likely be in hospital for two weeks and then in crutches for 3-6 months. However, we can do physical therapy to shorten that time."
"Ok… Can I have some time alone, please?"
The nurse nodded. "Sure, I will go tell Dr Martinez that you are awake. Make sure to eat your food and get a lot of sleep."
The nurse started to leave the room, placing the plate of food on the bedside table next to Onemine.
"One more thing, who was the boy who brought me here?" Onemine called out as the nurse was leaving.
"Um, if I remember correctly it was Hitohito Tadano. Good night!"
Onemine looked over. There was a glass of water, some vegetables and kimbap, a dish made from rice, vegetables, fish, and meat rolled in dried sheets of seaweed.
She bit into one of the kimbap. It was quite tasty, but Onemine's reaction was indifferent. She wasn't hungry and her mind was focused on other things.
"Tadano-kun brought me here, and he saved me from Yamai-san…"
She felt a strange beating in her chest. "Tadano…"
Onemine thought back to the last couple of months of her life. "Nakanaka's house, the festival, when I helped him with class representative work, at my house. He's always been so nice…"
Onemine had a slight smile, remembering all the fun times she had with Tadano. She started to contemplate the thought of Tadano being more than a friend.
"What about Komi-san though? She likes him and I wouldn't want her to be angry or jealous like she was before I told her I didn't like Tadano-kun. That's assuming I could even compete with Komi-san."
"Why is this so hard!" she thought, shaking her head.
Onemine decided to finish off the kimbaps and go to bed. She would leave her dilemma until tomorrow.
—————
"I'm going to end your pain now," said Yamai, swinging the baseball bat at Onemine's head.
Suddenly, the room fell apart. Onemine fell down a rainbow spiral. Yamai's face appeared wherever she looked. She looked down at her leg. It was snapping into tiny pieces.
The pictures of Yamai were replaced with her family at a funeral. Then Tadano, Komi, Otori, Nakanaka and Najimi all sat at a table. None of them seemed happy. Slowly, each of them started walking away from each other.
"You deserved it…" whispered Yamai in Onemine's ear.
—————
"AHH!" Onemine shouted, waking up in a cold sweat.
"It was all a dream…"
It was 6 AM and the sun was barely up. Onemine instinctively grabbed at her phone as she would always do in the morning. Tadano had left it on her bedside table when he went home the day prior.
"Message from Mum and Tadano," read Onemine, clicking on the notification and unlocking her phone. They were both sent the day before.
Her mother's message read, 'Hello, Nene, as you will know by the time you see this, you're in the hospital. Your friend Tadano brought you there. I want to say I will come to the hospital tomorrow at around 8 AM. Hopefully, you'll be awake by then. I'm also bringing Kaguya, Nana and Nono.
Finally, I have alerted authorities about the girl who assaulted you and they have arrested her. I'll try and visit you every day but I might not be able to because of court issues. I love you Nene, get well soon!'
Onemine read the message over and over again. "Wait, Yamai-san got arrested… I know she did all this to me but I can't help but feel… bad."
Onemine laid back. "Huh."
Next, she read Tadano's message. 'Hi Onemine-san, have you told Komi, Nakanaka, Otori and Najimi about it? If not, do you want me to tell them?'
Onemine typed back her response. 'Can you tell them, please? Thank you!'
—————
A Couple Of Hours Later
The nurse from yesterday walked into the room. "Good morning, you have visitors!"
Onemine had just waited for 8 AM, browsing her phone in the meantime. Her mother walked into the room with
Kaguya, Nana and Nono with her.
"Onee-chan! Is your leg alright?" asked Kaguya.
"Hi Kaguya, and not really. It hurts whenever I move it," Onemine replied.
"Nene, the hospital called me last night that they were going to do surgery on your leg, did they do it?" said her mother.
"Yeah, they did that while I was still unconscious."
The four of them (plus Nono but she didn't know what was happening) talked for about 15 minutes.
"Hey Mum, can I ask you something? Preferably without my siblings here?"
"Um, sure," her mum replied. "Hey, say bye to your sister, we have to get going soon and get you to school."
"Bye Onee-chan!" said Nana.
"Love you Onee-chan!" exclaimed Kaguya.
The Onemine siblings left the room, waiting for their mother to come out as well.
"Ok, what is it you want to ask me?"
"Um, about the text message you sent. You said that Yamai-san, the girl who assaulted me has been arrested, right?"
"That is true, I alerted the police after leaving yesterday."
"I know she attacked me and all, but I feel bad for her. Why's that? After what she did I feel like I should be angry but I'm just… not."
Her mother paused. "Nene, I think you're just a very forgiving person. That's not a bad thing."
"But I feel really bad for Yamai-san-"
"You shouldn't be. She did something horrible and she's getting punished. None of it's your fault so you shouldn't feel responsible."
"I guess you're right… thanks, mum!"
Her mother smiled. "Bye Nene!"
—————
30 Minutes Later
"Hello, Onemine-san," said Dr Matinez, the doctor who was assigned to Onemine.
There was another person with the doctor. She stepped forward. "Hello, I'm Ruby! I'm going to be your physical therapy coach for however long it takes for your leg to heal."
Ruby had a bubbly way of talking, orange hair, blue eyes and a bland white outfit with an expensive-looking emerald necklace.
"Hello, Ruby-san," Onemine replied.
"Onemine-san, you are going to learn how to use crutches so you can walk when you leave the hospital."
Onemine nodded her head.
"Ok, we'll start then!" Ruby said.
—————
"First off, let's see if these are the right size for you," said Ruby, grabbing Onemine's hand and giving her a pair of crutches.
Fortunately, the first set they tried was the correct size. The two of them started doing some basic exercises such as getting out of the hospital bed and walking around.
She took a step forward. Onemine lost her balance a bit and fell forward. Ruby caught her.
"So close! Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks."
"You can do this, a couple more attempts and I think you'll be able to use them for walking longer distances."
—————
After 20 minutes more of practice, Onemine was feeling more confident using crutches. She could get in and out of a chair and walk around a solid distance.
The whole ordeal had been exhausting for Onemine and she had accidentally put pressure on her leg sometimes.
"Ok, I think your session should be over for today. We'll continue tomorrow. Ok, Onemine-san?" Ruby stated.
"Sure, I'm starting to get the hang of these!"
Ruby laughed. "Even if you get the hang of them, you still have to stay in hospital to let your leg heal. Bye, Onemine-san!"
—————
At School That Day
Tadano arrived at homeroom. Placing his bag next to his desk, he sat down. "Good morning, Komi-san!"
'Good morning, Tadano-kun. Where's Onemine-san?'
"I've been procrastinating telling her about it. I should have just texted them all last night."
"Yeah, about that. Onemine-san's in the hospital for a broken femur. Yamai-san attacked her at school."
Komi froze. "Onemine-san…"
She hastily scribbled down her response. 'Is she alright?!'
"Um, she's going to be in hospital for a couple of weeks then be in crutches for a few months."
'Do you know any more details about what happened?!'
"I only saw the very end of it. All I know was that Yamai-san had a baseball bat, was aiming for Onemine's head and she was already bruised up."
Komi paused. 'Can we visit her tonight?'
"Sure, I guess we could try."
Komi nodded her head, her metaphorical cat ears sprouting. 'One last thing; what happened to Yamai-san?'
"I honestly don't know…" Tadano replied, uncertain of the yandere's fate.
—————
3 PM
School had finished. Tadano had told Otori, Nakanaka and Najimi what had happened at lunchtime that day and now they were on their way to visit Onemine in the hospital.
"Hey, we should probably bring her something right?" said Tadano.
"That sounds great!" Najimi replied. "I'll go and buy something now!"
Najimi dashed off instantly, sprinting towards the nearest supermarket "There's… food we can buy at the hospital," Tadano sighed.
"Oh yeah, they have vennnding machines, don't they?" Otori stated in her song-like voice.
"Never mind, we shall proceed to visit Onemine-san!" Nakanaka boasted.
—————
In Front Of The Hospital
The group was standing outside the hospital's entrance, waiting for Najimi to come back. A couple of minutes later, three hurled their way towards the others.
"Osana-kun, there you are. What did you buy?" asked Tadano.
Najimi held up a huge block of fruit and nut chocolate. "This!"
'Oh, that looks nice," wrote Komi.
"Yeah, thy looks delicious!" Nakanaka exclaimed.
Otori was looking up at the sky, admiring the hospital and surrounding buildings. "These look really pretttty!"
Tadano paused. "Um, Osana-kun, she doesn't like fruits and nut chocolate," he said in the nicest way possible.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, she told me that the day of the festival when I bought her chocolate."
Najimi smirked. "What's this about you buying her chocolate?"
"I bought Onemine-san and I chocolate after the festival when I was walking home," Tadano replied.
"Tadano and Onemine sitting in a tree, K, I, S-"
Nakanaka snickered. Otori suddenly came back to the conversation, wondering what was happening. Komi was confused since she didn't know what Najimi was trying to say.
"Shut up, Osana-kun. That's not the point anyways, the point is she doesn't like fruit and nuts chocolate."
"Fine, what do you think we should buy then?"
"She likes caramel chocolate, and I remember seeing that in a vending machine in the lobby."
"Ok, I'll just eat this then. Anybody else want some?"
Komi shook her head. "No thanksss," said Otori. Nakanaka gladly snapped off a section of the chocolate.
Finally, they entered the hospital they had planned to enter 10 minutes earlier.
—————
Caramel chocolate in hand from a vending machine, Tadano asked a receptionist if they could visit Onemine.
"Nene Onemine you say? Are you her friends?"
Tadano nodded.
"Sure, come this way!"
—————
"Onemine-san, you have some visitors!" said a nurse, opening the door to her room.
"Oh, did Mum come again?"
Tadano, Komi, Otori, Najimi and Nakanaka walked into the room. Onemine was ecstatic. The nurse left the room. "I'll leave you to it."
"You guys! Hello!"
"Nene-chaaaan!" Otori exclaimed.
Onemine held Otori in an embrace. Soon after letting go, Najimi made a swinging-like motion to her leg.
"Ahh! Don't, please!" Onemine exclaimed, panicking.
Najimi burst out laughing. "Haha, I wouldn't do that!"
Nakanaka slugged Najimi in the arm. "Oww, that hurts!"
"So how are you, Onemine-san?" Tadano asked.
"Yeah, I'm good. I've had surgery and have started doing physical therapy. I'll be out of the hospital in about 2 weeks hopefully! I have to wear crutches though."
"That's great news!" Tadano responded.
'Hello Onemine-san,' wrote Komi, showing Onemine.
"Hi, Komi-san!" Onemine replied. "I didn't expect you guys to visit."
"Of course, thy are your friends!" boasted Nakanaka.
For a little bit, Onemine forgot all about her leg. All about Yamai and what had happened.
"Oh, we also brought you some chocolate," said Tadano, handing her the caramel chocolate.
"Thanks! This is my favourite! Do you want some?"
"No, you eat it," Tadano said.
—————
15 Minutes Later
The group of friends talked, Onemine ate her chocolate and explained what had happened, including how Yamai was arrested. She left out the bit about Yamai's friends, however.
"Oh, that's… surprising," said Nakanaka, dropping her chuunibyou voice.
"Yeah, I feel bad too," said Onemine.
The room turned quiet. "Well, I should get going now!" said Najimi.
'I forgot to tell my mum, so I should go home as well.'
"Well, I guess we'll all go thennnnn," stated Otori.
"Oh, ok! Bye, guys!"
"See ya, Onemine-san!" said Tadano.
"Tadano-kun, can I talk to you, alone?" asked Onemine.
"Oh, uh, sure," Tadano replied.
"Huh, what's that about?" thought Komi.
—————
"So, what's do you want to talk about?" said Tadano.
Onemine reached as far as she could without moving her leg and hugged Tadano tightly.
"He's very warm. It's almost calming…"
"Huh? What?" exclaimed Tadano, confused at what was happening.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, for everything," Onemine whispered, starting to cry a bit. "I thought I was going to die."
Tadano didn't know what to say. Instead, he reciprocated the hug. After about 30 seconds, Onemine broke off, smiling at Tadano. "Bye, Tadano-kun…"
"Bye, Onemine-san!"
—————
Author's Notes
Firstly, reader count update. 1500 now! As always thanks to everyone who reads this story!
Secondly, sorry if this chapter feels like filler but I just need a lot of words to bridge the gap between the Yamai incident and the sports carnival.
Thirdly, this chapter is also going to be a two-parter since this chapter was very long and I didn't want to edit all of that before posting.
Finally, a huge school holiday coming up. I plan to write a lot in that so chapters will come out quicker then.
Bye, new chapter soon! (=・ω・=)
Next On Bonding Over Homework: Repercussions Pt 2
