red string || sano manjiro/ mikey

chapter xliv: a sister figure

"hello?"

senju was glad that it only took two rings for mikey to pick up his phone. she stands outside the room with the door closed, a doctor and a nurse examining kazua inside to make sure that she's in proper care.

unable to contain her happiness, she enthusiastically told him the news. "kazzie's awake!" she said with a wide smile. "the doctors are checking on her right now. are you guys still coming?"

"...what?"

she giggled, finding it amusing how mikey wasn't able to process the new quick too. even she was still in shock of what just happened. they truly believed that it would take her so long to come back, after all.

"kazzie's awake, brain-rot. get your ass over here quick with the food."

"sazu's awake?! oi! sazu's awake!"

"WHAT?!"

"HELL YEAH! LET'S GO ALREADY!"

"WE'RE BRINGING THE NEW YEAR TO HER!"

"THE NEW YEAR MIRACLE!"

"MY EMA WORKED PRETTY QUICK THERE!"

senju couldn't help but smile at the other voices that came from mikey's end of the line. so many people were glad to know that she's alive, and senju will make kazua realize just how important she really is to many people.

kazua chose to go on, and she will do everything in her power to help her fall in love with life again.

"haha! senju, we'll be there in a bit! we're leaving the shrine now!"

"alright." she ended the call, letting out a small sigh that released the rest of the tension left in her system. sighing, she tucked her phone in her pants' pocket and peeked through the vertical window on the door.

kazua turns to her direction, softly smiling and gesturing for her to come inside. she didn't hesitate to enter after receiving her gentle expression, bowing politely to the doctor and the nurse standing by the foot side of the bed.

"hello," the docotor kindly greeted, "your friend here is currently stable. there are no negative side effects drawn after your comatose, which is quite the miracle. we have expected some setbacks, but for now, all you will need is some time to recover your strength. it might be a bit difficult to walk around, so we will need you to stay here for another week more to track your vitals and make sure that you're good to go."

"that's nice." kazua nodded. "thank you. you can place the bill on my account before i get discharged. i'll handle it."

"are you sure? maybe we should have your guardian in."

"i..." kazua lightly smiled at the doctor. "...i don't have a guardian. i'm emancipated."

"i see. i am sorry to hear that." he frowned. "nurse emi here will take care of it, then. you're all good. congratulations."

senju and kazua smiled at each other, both relieved to know that there aren't any complications to deal with.

"i'll leave you two now. happy new year."

"thank you. happy new year."

as the doctor goes to leave, nurse emi herself went to the edge of the bed and embraced the fragile girl. tears flowed down her cheeks rapidly, staining kazua's shoulder once again.

"you scared the hell out of me, kazua-chan." she cried. "when i saw that mikey kid carrying you in the er, only heaven knows how much i prayed. why do you keep getting yourself in trouble?"

kazua awkwardly patted her back like how she did with senju, glancing at the albino for help. senju only raised her hands up to chest-level and looked away. she didn't want to stop the nurse's scolding. it could knock some sense into her.

"i didn't want to see you again, not here." emi sniffled. "you reckless little girl. how'd you even get stabbed?"

"funny story, really." kazua awkwardly laughed, scratching the back of her head. "someone may or may not have been stalking me."

"stalking you?! again?!"

"hey, it's not my fault!" kazua raised her hands defensively after emi pulled away to glare at her. "i handled it pretty well, you see! they sent a few men for the first two weeks, and i tried to get something out of them after i dealt with it."

"and you just didn't think he'd use underhanded tricks?"

"well, yeah. that flew out of my mind." kazua innocently grinned.

"you're so reckless. you're gonna drain all the money you saved up for yourself if you keep getting yourself thrown in the hospital." emi sighed, a little annoyed that the girl keeps getting herself into trouble. however, she cannot really tell her off either. kazua has been living by herself for so long now. trouble would always find its way to her even if she tries to avoid it.

"investing is the way to go, my dear friend." kazua had a pleasant expression plastered on her face, one hand forming a thumbs up of approval. "that, and 5comp competitions. the cash prizes are crazy, you know?"

"KAZUA!"

the door bursted open and revealed a whole bunch of excited teens trying to one-up each other by coming in first. it resulted to them being stuck by the doorframe instead, making senju laugh and take a picture of the scene.

"hey! i told you, i'm going in first, ken-chin!"

"ha? who agreed to that?!"

"mitsuya! stop pulling my hair!"

"stop pulling my collar, then!"

"guys, please. let's just come in one by one." takemitchy cried behind them with a snickering chifuyu by his side, sounding hopeless as emma and hina laughed at the scene.

"shut up, all of you!"

emi's scary voice was enough to stop their bickering. they all backed away from the doorframe and bowed apologetically to her.

"we're sorry."

with a sigh, emi turns to kazua and found her looking genuinely surprised that they were there to visit. "only 2-3 visitors are allowed."

"b-but—"

"usually," emi scratched her head, "but i'll make an exception tonight. only for tonight, so keep it quiet. there are other people in the hospital."

patting kazua's head, she gains the girl's attention and had her eyes fall on her. "don't push yourself too much, okay? you can't be full, too, so watch what you eat." she said, a sisterly tone developing. "enjoy this night with your friends. they've been worried sick and have been visiting you for a week to check up on you."

"emi-neesan," kazua glances at her friends by the door, a small smile tugging at her lips, "i must be really lucky to have them, huh?"

"they're lucky to have you, too, kiddo."