Midari's mom arrived at the academy entrance. Before entering the car Midari looked at her arms. Mostly clean, some dried blood marks still appeared. She thought the copious amounts of soap and water used in the women's bathroom would suffice but apparently not. Thankfully she had a backup ball of bandages in her beautification bag. So much medical material used in a single day. Some blood seeped through the bandages. Midari does not have many layers of bandage as her scars have been fully healed for over a year now. The bandages now are more for aesthetic rather than for treatment. Unfortunately Yuriko will share a part of Midari's look. She wished this look was shared under better circumstances. These recent bloodstains shouldn't be easily noticeable. Midari entered the car. Her mother was more cheerful than usual. "Hello sweetie. How was your day?" Midari responded with a somber tone. 'Exhausting.' "Did you learn anything new today?" Midari smirked. 'I learned how to communicate constructively under sustained pressure with a new friend.' Her mother smiled. "Ouu, you made a new friend. What is her name?" 'Her name is Yumeko Jabami. She is a second year student at Hyakkaou Academy. And no, she is not a member of the Beautification Council.' Her mother nodded her head. "Is she nice?" 'I think so. She has quite the bubbly personality. It makes me feel different, confused even.' Her mother's right eyebrow elevated. "Do you like her?" Midari's pupil contracted. Her cheeks started to turn red. 'I...don't know.' "It's okay sweetie. There is nothing wrong with being confused. I was young once before. I remember liking a girl in my first year of junior high school." Midari displayed a surprised expression. 'You never talked about this before.' "Well, I never really had a perfect moment to discuss my experience. You are a 16 year old girl Midari. You are no longer a child anymore. You will always be my sweet, little Midari but I believe that I should talk to you more like an adolescent rather than a preteen. In a couple years you will be an adult so I want to better prepare you for a complex world with ambiguous concepts and institutions. But I also want you to be true to yourself and not become compliant to the status quo. Always ask questions Midari." 'So what happened between you and the girl?' Her mother's smile went away. "Her parents found out about our relationship and they sent her away to a private school to separate us." 'Sorry to hear that.' "That's okay. Never hide your feelings sweetie, you will have fewer regrets in the end."
They reached the home driveway. "Well here we are. I think for dinner we should make an exotic dish. We could go Italian, Polish, Egyptian, Brazilian, Chilean, Canadian, South African, Indian. Oh how about something from Portugal?" Midari's eye began to tear up. "What's wrong Midari?" Midari decided to be honest with her. 'I discovered my friend with her wrists and upper forearms cut similar to mine. I stitched up her wounds to prevent further blood loss and wrapped up her stitches with multiple layers of gauze to sustain pressure. Yumeko helped me by keeping each arm up and flat in the air. I kept having flashbacks to my 14th birthday. I kept calm and firm but the sensation of fear and despair was gnawing at me while I was stitching her up. It was just such a sad thought that if we did not find her she could have died alone. Being in similar shoes before, I was able to be like you when I was in my lowest moment.' Midari's mother began to sob. "Oh my dear Midari. I'm so sorry you had to experience that." Midari unbuckled her seatbelt and hugged her mother. The sensation of sadness overwhelmed Midari, she joined in the sobbing. 'I didn't know how to tell you. I was pondering whether to keep the experience to myself…' "No. It's good you told me. I wouldn't want to bury that experience in my mind as a 39 year old let alone a 16 year old. Do you need to see Dr. Nijimura?" Midari calmed her mother's spiraling thoughts. 'Mom I am fine. I have not had any suicidal thoughts lately.' That was a lie. 'Today was just a reminder of a dark chapter of my life.' She looked her mother in the eyes. 'Please believe me.' Midari's right eye was glowing with passion. Her mother took out a couple tissues from her bag. She wiped Midari's tears then her own. "I believe you." She suddenly noticed the time on the dashboard. "How about we get inside. You can take a shower to clean yourself up and I'll make you something special for dinner. How does that sound?" Midari smiled. 'I'd like that.' Both exited the car and headed to the house.
In the living room Midari took off her loafers before going upstairs. 'I guess she noticed the bloodstains,' she mumbled to herself as she went up the stairwell. Before entering the bathroom she decided to go to her bedroom. Midari took off her custom bow headband and forearm sweatbands and placed them onto the dresser. She left the bedroom and headed to the upstairs bathroom to take a long shower. Upon entering, she looked into the mirror. Slowly she detached the strings of her eyepatch. The final destination would be the bathroom trash. Midari followed by undoing the bandages wrapped around each forearm. The bandages met the same fate as the eyepatch. Next was the clothes. She opened the closet door which contained a laundry hamper. First to come off was the school sweater vest. The white dress shirt followed with her grey bra, black and grey houndstooth pattern skirt, purple panties, and black socks coming off her exhausted body. She balled up all the clothes and threw them into the hamper. Finally naked, she entered the shower. Only the cold water was needed for today. The first ten minutes she spent sitting on the shower floor with both knees up and her head down. She was disgusted with how well she could lie. Most people are fair game but her mother was different. Midari has a conspiracy to solve and the last thing she needs is her mother's concern. 'Get up.' She told herself with a furious tone. 'If I'm to be true to myself. Self destruction through chance is a part of me and I have no intention of changing that.' Tears began to form from her right eye. 'I'm sorry mom.'
After another fifteen minutes in the shower and a trip to her bedroom, Midari came downstairs dressed in a plain dark green v-neck and grey shorts, over the pajamas was a custom midnight purple satin long kimono robe. She laid down on the living room couch. Midari decided to text her assistant Mako Igri that she would not be at the academy tomorrow, including why she will not be present tomorrow. The next person she decided to text was Sayaka Igarashi, Secretary of the Student Council about what had occurred. With the tragic event occurring when most of the students and Council members have already left the academy, the news has not exactly broken out yet. Although, gossip and news are practically one in the same. What they both share especially is velocity. Midari cringed at the idea of how Yuriko will be talked about at the academy. Even at the Council, transmission of gossip is not absent. Sayaka is given permission by Kirari to clamp down on derogatory theories and hearsay. However, once Sayaka and the president leave the room, Runa and Yumemi start moving their damn lips. Fuck this day. Midari texted Yuriko's mom, Nanako Nishinotouin. Hopefully the hospital informed her of Yuriko's emergency admission. By now it's been about an hour. Hi Ms. Nishinotouin. Are you at the hospital? A couple minutes passed before a response appeared. Midari my dear, are you okay? My little Yuriko just got out of intensive care. Thank you so much for saving my daughter. It is quite difficult to recognize the emotional expression of a text message. How did you know it was me, Ms. Nishinotouin? Is Yuriko awake yet? A pit was forming in Midari's stomach. No honey she has been unconscious the entire time. The doctors have assured me that Yuriko will recover from those traumatic injuries. I recognized the bandages wrapped around her forearms. You have a similar aesthetic. You two have been good friends for years. If I could count on someone to help my daughter at a time of crisis, I know I could always rely on you Midari. The pit started to go away. What replaced it was a sense of gratitude and a genuine smile. Thank you Ms. Nishinotouin. Would you mind if I visit her for the day tomorrow? She should get some flowers for Yuriko. Of course my dear. She is in room 311 on the sixth floor of the Igri Memorial Hospital. Igri? Mako Igri? No, that has to be a coincidence. Okay, thank you Ms. Nishinotouin. Thank you Midari, see you then.
Midari was so focused on the discussion that the fumes coming from the kitchen escaped her. She could hear her mother turn off the stove, dinner must be ready. She could see her mother walking towards her with a knife, fork, spoon, and a deep blue colored dinner bowl. Her mother places the bowl onto the coffee table. "Here you go sweetie. I hope you enjoy it." Midari's mom decided to make Francesinha, a well known Portuguese sandwich founded in Porto. This sandwich consisted of bread, cured ham slices, beef steak, and linguiça. She decided to toast the loaded sandwich with mayonnaise before placing it in a bowl. Next she covered the sandwich with melted smoked gruyere. Once the cheese firmed up a little she poured a generous ladle of thick tomato sauce which consisted of salt, white pepper, onion, cloves, port wine, worcestershire sauce, and blonde beer. There was an option to place a fried egg on top of the sandwich but her mother figured that there was enough richness already contained within said sandwich. Midari sat up straight before eating. She took the spoon to first get acquainted with the base of the dish, the sauce. After one sip Midari immediately grinned with satisfaction. The melted smoked gruyere perfectly complemented the complex tomato sauce. 'Wow.' Her mom chuckled. "Try the actual sandwich dear." Midari took a napkin from the napkin holder placed on the coffee table. She placed her spoon on the napkin before picking up the knife and fork. While the sandwich may be a little more moist than most sandwiches the cheese sauce poured on the sandwich created a pseudo barrier, a structurally flawed barrier but one nonetheless. Midari decided to meticulously cut the sandwich into six pieces. With the cutting part finished she licked the knife clean, thinking to herself how rich this dish is as the grease met her tongue. The fork penetrated the upper left piece of the sandwich. She twisted the fork counter clockwise to immerse every untouched crevice of the bread in the tomato sauce. The piece entered her mouth and chewing commenced. The sharpness of the linguiça stood out first before being met with the cured ham slices and tender beef steak. This dish caused Midari to have an out of body experience. 'This dish is amazing. I can't believe I never had this before.' Midari's mother was pleased. "I am so glad you are enjoying it sweetie. I think the last time I made this dish was when I was studying abroad in Portugal for my second year at university. Recently I started having memories from that long ago reemerge. I cannot explain why but I decided that this dish would be perfect for a day as peculiar as this one." 'Oh man, I hope you have more memories coming back soon because I think this might be my new favorite dish.' Midari slowed the pace of her eating, wanting to savor each bite. After the both of them were finished with their meals Midari asked her mother if she could spend the day tomorrow at the hospital to be by Yuriko's side. 'Hey mom. I was wondering if you could drop me off at Igri Memorial Hospital instead of Hyakkaou tomorrow? I know you don't want me to miss a day of school but I feel like I should be by Yuriko's side.' Her mother pauses for a couple seconds before responding. "I guess there will not be too much harm done if you miss one day of school. You are not exactly spending the free time playing video games, going shopping or getting your nails done at the salon." Her mother turned her head to look Midari in the eye. "Being there for those you care about is a valid reason to not attend school tomorrow. I'll drop you off at the hospital in the morning but I will pick you up in the afternoon on time as if you were at school." 'Thank you mom.' "There is never enough love in this grey world of ours. Learn from today and tomorrow, build these experiences into your character." 'I will mom, I promise.'
The next day Midari got dropped off at the hospital entrance. She was directed by a security guard to where the closest elevator was. She entered the elevator alone while holding a bouquet of flowers, asagao or morning glory to be exact. A beautiful blue flower with purple streaks that form a thin star-like shape. The leaves that form with the flower are heart shaped, signifying the bond of love. The elevator doors opened, exposing the lobby of the third floor. Midari was directed by a receptionist to where room 311 was. Upon arrival Midari stood frozen, seeing Yuriko peacefully asleep. There was no sign of Yuriko's mom. She might be getting breakfast at the cafeteria. Yuriko's forearms are still wrapped up well with bandages. Midari pulled up a chair and placed it close to Yuriko and the floor to ceiling window. Midari decided to break the silent atmosphere with her words. 'I know this sounds weird coming from someone like me but I miss you. It has not even been a day since the last time I saw you yet it has felt like a month has passed by. I am not going to lie to you, I was not sure if you were going to survive your wounds despite my emergency stitch-work. However, looking at you now, I am relieved to know that you have pulled through despite such odds.' Midari paused. 'I don't know what I would do without a friend like you around, my dear sweet Yuriko.' No response came from Yuriko, who seemed to be still sleeping. Midari placed a few strands of Yuriko's hair into her mouth. Looking out to see the view of the hospital grounds from the window, a familiar voice filled the room. "Hi silly. I've missed you too."