Music Playing: In This Moment by Gavin Luke

Ryuuko started to sleep a lot more and, as we looked for Memory, the Kiryuuin girl, we didn't seem to keep finding many leads. Well, we did find one more lead from an older girl named "Nui". Nui was sort of strange, I'd admit. She had blond but curly hair, with minor strabismus, slightly protruding front teeth, sort of slim-thick and lived in a pastel pink RV. She wore something of an oversized pink shirt with shortpris, said shirt having the text "Run away with me!" surrounded by hearts, along with platform sneakers. She made a bit of noise as she gesticulated because of all the bracelets she wore.

She said she remembered Ryuuko and said that our sketch looked like the Kiryuuin girl but she couldn't really remember the last time she saw the either of them, other than Ryuuko being asleep, while the older girl was just tired. Nui told us that the Kiryuuin girl was singing Ryuuko a lullaby in an alley. Ryuuko did wake up to get a better listen of what we were talking about but she didn't stay awake for very long before Nui took one look at her and asked, "Is she okay?" before telling us how pale she looked.

By that point, Ryuuko was sleeping. Nui looked at her again and said, "I don't know about you guys but, like, homegirl needs a hospital." Mako simply explained that Ryuuko was depressed was all and so slept a lot. Nui looked at Mako, then Ryuuko, and reiterated that Ryuuko needed to see a doctor. We had something of a back and forth while Ryuuko slept before Nui put her hands together, telling us, "I'll tell y'all all that I know if you take homegirl to a hospital."

She then offered to drive us to the nearest hospital or anything in exchange for more info she did have. For Ryuuko's emotional sake, we agreed and she drove us to the nearest hospital where the staff took Ryuuko in immediately. "See? I told y'all that, homegirl needed a hospital." Nui said, "Anyways, I'll tell you, like, all that I know."

While Ryuuko slept, Nui told us what more she remembered, though to keep from waking her, she took off her bracelets. "Anyways, as I remember correctly," she said, as quietly gesticulated, "I remember the older one singing a lullaby to homegirl over there in an alley. They looked like, they, um, ran away from somethin' and, whatever it was, it had to have been, er, really bad."

"Did the Kiryuuin girl have a name?"

"Um, I think homegirl called her somethin' but I don't really remember what, exactly, though, I know it started with an 'S', so her name might be 'S Kiryuuin'. What do y'all remember about her?"

"Well, she's Ryuuko's sister and our old classmate."

"Oh~, like, what was she like?"

"Well, she was timid, had messy hair, a blue sweater, and she was mixed up."

"Mixed-up?"

"Yes, I mean, she was the perfect student but she was so quick to go home and she kept stealing our lunches. On top of this, she wore a blue sweater and a long skirt even when it was hot outside."

Nui listened as intently as she could before she glanced at Ryuuko going, "Oh, homegirl's awake. Anyway, is she gonna be okay?" I expected for Nui to leave but, no, this girl stuck around. The doctor assigned to Ryuuko didn't have much to say besides that Ryuuko would be okay but her health, at the moment, wasn't, particularly for a girl her age, so she'd need to stay in the hospital. Mako tried to explain or argue out of it but the doctor said, "No, it's best that she stay here for some time, at least enough, to recover her health."

The doctor rattled off a few things wrong with Ryuuko at the moment. For one, she was sick, clearly, and that she had been malnourished, on top of this, her lethargy was concerning. "She's just depressed is all, doctor." Mako said, to which the doctor reiterated that poor health certainly won't help her being depressed. He went on to ask who her guardians were and Mako, shyly, said, "Well, she's lived with my family since she was really little." Neither Nui nor us four knew how to answer, though Nui did ask what Ryuuko's illness was.

The doctor shook his head but he did tell us that Ryuuko contracted some sort of infection that, thankfully, wasn't too severe but she'd have to be hospitalized. When doctor left the room, Nui asked us more about Ryuuko, to which Mako told her, "Well we know her name is 'Ryuuko' and that she was dropped off at our house when we were really little. She calls her big sister 'Memory' and she tends to remember her best when she's asleep. Ryuuko's depressed and her heart is broken."

"Is that all?"

"Well, no, she used to get into fights and punch things but, now, she just sleeps mostly."

"How long she been doing that?"

"Awhile?"

Nui was clearly more invested than what we'd thought she'd be and she told us something else she remembered. "I remember the older girl having a bruise on her. I wanted to, like, go bring 'em some food or whatever but, when I got to the alley, they were gone. I wondered, for the longest, what happened to 'em." Nui went on to say that she didn't think the two would be separated.

As we talked and when Ryuuko was more awake, the doctor returned with a somewhat portly woman. He explained that the woman with him was a social worker and told Mako that she'd have to produce a guardian. "Don't take Ryuuko away!" Mako cried and Ryuuko was more upset. It was a back and forth before Nui said she'd talk to them. They stepped outside with Nui and talked for awhile, while Ryuuko could only cry quietly, going, "Now, I'll never find Memory!"

Nui came back in and told us how the conversation went. "Well, I managed to convince 'em that she has a guardian but, like, Mako's gotta call her mom or y'all have to find her sister in about 14 to thirty days." It was quiet before Mako asked what would happen if we don't and Nui told her, in simple terms, that Ryuuko would be made a ward of the state. Nui suggested that Mako call her mother to come to the hospital, so, at least, we'd have more time to find Ryuuko's sister.

"My sister,..." Ryuuko barely uttered in the chaos, "...I just want her back."

Authoress Notes:

A few things:

One, Nui speaks with something that can be best described as "southernish but with some urban Valley girl speech patterns". She's also a bit older than the cast but not by too much. Also, her voice is not as shrill as it was in canon. As far as her character goes in this canon, I pictured someone with an "adorkable" aesthetic. Two, "shortpris" are what you get when you combine shorts and capris.

Three, this chapter is narrated from Nonon's view.