Broken Road
His life was over.
Baron wanted to cry, but there was nothing left to give. He stared at nothing but the sterile white ceiling, both grateful that he was facing that direction but incensed that he could do nothing about the itch on his nose.
Literally nothing. Even his tongue wouldn't be able to reach where it was. He growled, but there wasn't even a way for him to tap the button for a nurse.
… Well, that was one slim silver lining, at least. He'd never have to worry about shallow girls again for the rest of his life. He sighed, wondering if he should really bother letting that be longer than the end of the month.
His door opened slowly to allow one timid nurse to peek in. "You have a visitor, Mr. Gikkingen. He says he's your coach?"
"Send him in," Baron sighed, wishing that the title wasn't going to be adjusted to 'former coach'.
The nurse nodded before a large man respectfully slipped past her. He looked more like a sumo wrestling coach than a fencing one, but Baron never minded.
"Hey, Baron," Mr. Tsuki greeted him with a sad smile. "Need help sitting up?"
"Like I have a choice," the younger man tried to joke, but his heart wasn't in it.
With all the care of handling a baby, Mr. Tsuki kept one large hand on his student's chest to keep him steady as he adjusted the hospital bed and the pillows around him so that he wouldn't roll over like a potato.
Even one limb left to him could have afforded that mercy, but no. One careless driver, and Baron was even worse off than when he'd been orphaned at the age of ten. He was back in diapers, though the coach was careful about tucking the blanket around his waist.
"Baron, you're never going to believe the stroke of good luck we have," the coach informed him with a desperate smile. "I met someone that can get you back on your feet!"
"I don't have feet," Baron reminded him, trying to keep his eyes away from how flat the blanket was where legs should be.
"You will if you talk to this sophomore. She overheard me talking about what happened to you, asked some questions, and then begged me to come see you. Please just hear her out; you might be able to keep your scholarship and have your life back on track!"
Baron frowned at the tempting offer. "Sounds too good to be true. Are you sure she's not an admirer with a good imagination?"
"Positive," Mr. Tsuki insisted. "She showed us what she wants to show you, and even let me and Toto test it out. Please, before the school board finalizes their decision."
"… I suppose I have nothing left to lose," he sighed before nodding. "If she's in the hallway, send her in."
The coach beamed happily before nearly running to the door. "Baron, this is Haru Yoshioka," he introduced while opening it.
A slim girl that looked like a high schooler came in with a rolling luggage case. She stopped short at seeing him. Her large brown eyes turned wider, and he could see her lip tremble with…
"Please no pity, Miss Yoshioka," he informed her point blank. "I have no patience for it or any other nonsense. If you think you can help me, then please be forward with it."
She quickly wiped her eyes with her jacket sleeve before nodding. "I'll skip the speech then." She retracted the luggage handle and set the case on the bed where it wouldn't bother him. "Coach Tsuki, would you help me demonstrate for him?"
"Strap me up, Chicky," he ordered cheerfully while quickly walking to the foot of the bed as she unzipped the case.
Baron cried out in horror at the arm perfectly bent within amidst some clothing to pad it.
"It's a prosthetic, don't worry," Haru informed him quickly while lifting the arm out of the case, revealing the straps on what should have been connected to a shoulder. "But I'm pleased that you couldn't tell immediately. If you decide to team up with me, I can have you back on your feet in two weeks, tops."
The door flew open with a different nurse. "What's going on in here?!" she asked in a panic.
"I'm showing your patient a prosthetic I made," Haru called over her shoulder but went right to business.
Baron was morbidly hypnotized as she securely strapped what looked like a second right arm to the coach's shoulder as he kept his own arm flat against his body other than her subtle touches so she could wrap the straps into place.
For some reason, he couldn't help thinking that Haru's earring didn't suit her. It was large and black, something he'd expect out of a girl dressed a bit more flashy than this girl. The nurse that had burst in walked forward for a better look, fascinated by the arm.
"Just you wait, Baron! If the team didn't want you back, we'd still be playing with this!" Mr. Tsuki told him with a childish glee as Haru finished up.
She then looked the patient straight in the eye. "You're aware that while it's the body's job to move, it takes its orders from the brain, right?"
"That's standard knowledge," Baron scoffed, though his eyes were still glued to the lifeless limb.
Haru smiled at him before pinching that large earring until it glowed such a vibrant blue that he could see the light through her finger. "Then I'm sure you're happy that I found the right frequency, so to speak."
That limb immediately spasmed like it was from a horror film, making him and the nurse cry out, though the nurse had the luxury of being able to jump back and bump against a wall.
Haru immediately lowered her arm and waited for the limb to stop twitching. "Now, I'm not knocking on other prosthetics," she was careful to point out, though he could hear the smug satisfaction of a job well done. "But there are certain things that you can't get back with a claw or a stiff plastic hand. You make do if you have to, naturally, but what if you didn't have to constantly reposition anything, you just do it like you used to?"
She raised her hand from the elbow, taking a step to the side to give the fake arm room to do the same.
In perfect imitation, it raised like her natural arm. It flexed its fingers the way she did, and waved hello.
"Would you mind getting me two pieces of paper, pencils, and something hard to write on?" Haru asked the nurse, who had to snap out of her shock and immediately run out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
"I believe you, please let me try it," Baron begged like she was holding his life in her hands.
Haru beamed at him and used her other hand to pinch on her earring until it went dark. Since she was holding her own arm limp, it did little more than shudder before falling still again. "I'm hoping to upgrade to a small microchip to lie against the skull under the hairline so no one will see it, but this will at least do for now." She pulled what looked like a hearing aid out of her pocket, but it had a black setting like her earring.
"Wait a second, Chicky!" the coach barked while pulling out his phone. "If I can show how quick Baron will be able to rejoin the team, his scholarship is safe!"
She waited until he gave her the thumbs up, gently set the earpiece over his ear before unstrapping the arm from his coach and pulling the bands over his hospital garment. "I don't know if the straps will irritate your skin if you wear them too much, so an undershirt and boxers from now on won't go amiss while I'm figuring out something better."
"I already wear them," Baron assured her, forcing himself to not move.
Haru looked once at the camera in Mr. Tsuki's hand. "This is Baron Gikkingen's first trial run of my soon to be patented prosthetic," she announced before pressing on his earpiece.
He could hear a faint buzzing, but he couldn't begin to care about a mild case of tinnitus.
"Just let it sit for a-" Haru tried to say, but he couldn't wait.
The arm flopped with his first few attempts, but it was soon rising up and down on his command. Baron had no choice but to weep as he experimentally wiggled the replacement fingers before finally scratching the bridge of his nose with obvious relief. He couldn't feel anything, as if his new arm was numb, but that was more than a worthy price to pay.
Reaching into her pocket again, Haru pulled out some candy and unwrapped it before laying it flat on her palm where he could reach it and the cell phone could record it. "Lifesaver?" she asked with a smile, even though her eyes were analyzing his movements with delight.
"Yes, you are," he wasted no time answering, taking pleasure in being able to pick out the orange one with almost as little trouble as before the accident. He popped it into his mouth with tears of gratitude, crunching happily on his favorite candy.
Toto had fed him this more than once in an effort to cheer him up, but the sweet was infinitely sweeter when from a hand that was now his own.
"See what I mean, Baron?!" Mr. Tsuki egged with a wide grin, though his black eyes were leaking as well. "You can literally walk out of here the minute she's done making you legs!"
"They'll be a lot more 'terminator-esque' to get you walking sooner, but I can make you rough prototypes so you can live your life while I'm making permanent ones that look like your real limbs," Haru explained before glaring straight at the camera. "I might be a mere sophomore, but don't you dare think of ruining his life, because you'll have to go through me first."
For the first time since he was learning to tie his shoes, Baron felt his heart flutter for a girl that wasn't fictional.
Haru gave the typical hand gesture to shut off the recording, but then smiled at him while sitting on the bed. "So, are you ready for my proposition?"
"I will do literally anything you say," he begged, feeling strangely at ease that she was a safe person to make such a declaration to.
She blushed at his enthusiasm but laughed with a nervous smile. "Don't worry, you can handle it. Fencing requires a lot of tiny, precise movements to win, right?"
"More than right," both student and coach assured her without a thought.
"Good. I want to get this hand exact enough that if a surgeon has an accident, he won't lose his livelihood over it. I want you to be my guinea pig to make sure that everything's perfect before I present it to the medical industry." A childish grin lit up her face as she used her hands as if to frame his window. "Picture this; I use the hand, either attached to another person or to something sturdy, to cut fruit and draw a simple picture. Then I invite the board to play a little game with me to spot who has the fake limb and which before I have you and a friend come in for a duel. I want you to use as many fancy moves as you can before the grand reveal."
Baron's grin turned wolfish. "Was it perhaps mentioned to you that I am the captain of the fencing team?"
Haru laughed lightly. "I lost count how many times I was told that, and that they wanted you back more than anything. Toto in particular is worried sick, you know."
"But a lot less so now," the coach interjected, smiling like he'd never stop.
Haru grinned at him before turning her attention back to Baron. "In exchange for helping me secure a patent, you will get a lifetime guarantee of my work, no questions asked. I'm also planning on using the first paychecks to pay off your hospital bill to sweeten the deal, because you really shouldn't have to pay for someone else being an idiot."
"I accept!" Baron had trouble forcing himself to let her finish talking before offering the new hand to shake on it.
She beamed at him, but then gave a yelp of pain when their hands clasped. "Too hard!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," he immediately apologized while releasing her with chagrin.
"We'll work on it," she promised while rubbing her hand, but then the door burst open again.
Baron looked over to see his doctor, mouth literally agape at the sight of the arm as the nurse nervously poked her head around the man.
"Did you find the paper and such?" Haru called to her with a wide smile.
She nodded, though she had to slip under the doctor's arm to come forward with two clipboards.
"Thank you," Haru responded before taking one and gently resting the bottom of it against Baron's stomach and holding it at a comfortable angle for him.
The college student took great pleasure in unclipping the pen from its holder, clicking the end to open it, and do his best to write his signature. "It's not perfect, but it's legible!" he laughed, giddy at the thought of getting out of this bed and taking life by the throat once more.
The doctor drew closer to look at the signature before slowly turning his gaze to Haru. "You made this?" he asked in complete disbelief.
"Yes," she stated plainly. "This is my way of convincing Mr. Gikkingen to help me out with the kinks before presenting my work. I hope this meets with your approval?"
He kept staring at her, though he was soon making backward steps. "Whatever you do, don't leave this room," the man came close to ordering before running out of the room as well.
"Wow, you waste no time holding up your end of the bargain," Haru teased him with a breathtaking grin.
He smiled back, determined to do whatever it takes to keep this girl in his life. "Well, I've never been a slacker."