Love Is Blind

Chapter 1 - The Patient

Misato looked out the dirty window, an sigh reaching her lips as she furrowed her eyebrows. 'Did I have to take time off my summer for this?' Misato thought, her tired eyes staring out of the dirty window. She turned around, placing her hands in her lap as she thought about her predicament.

If only she studied for her exams. She tried to get good grades, she really did, but it wasn't exactly her fault that she got sick on the days of the exams. What was her fault was her missing the perfect opportunity to use her time to study more. But of course, she didn't. While she was sick, a massive headache tormented her. She did try to study at one point, but all the words and formulas seemed to become a blur in her pulsating pain.

Long story short, she found herself staring at Ds and Cs on her exams.

Misato wanted to lay down in a ditch and die when she got her results. All of her friends got decent or amazing scores, smiles on their faces. But [Name] found herself biting her lip as her mother yelled at her in fury.

"Miss Tagini?" Misato looked up at a nurse who stood amidst the room of visitors. She walked toward the nurse, her gaze downward as she soon stood beside the nurse.

Upon Misato's presence, the nurse seemed to direct a glare at her while leading her to the patient. They silently traveled through the blindingly white hallway, with the occasional squeaks of Misato's shoes. It was certainly awkward, to say the least. "Err . . . who is the patient?" Misato questioned, in hopes of breaking the silence. The nurse glanced at Misato before looking back down at her clipboard.

"...Your patient is 17 and sustained a head injury which affected His vision. His name is Arata Akiyama." Misato nodded, processing the information in her head.

Misato didn't exactly expect who to take care of, but it was surely better than nothing. Nothing meant Misato had to see her mother, who repeatedly insisted that hospital volunteering will help steer eyes away from her terrible exams. So, heading home with news like that would only cause Misato to come running back. Therefore, she had to make sure she landed with a patient before her classmates.

Misato let out a sigh, making the nurse look at her for a brief second with a slight scowl on her face. Misato certainly noticed this tempered reaction, and figured that this particular nurse held a sensitive personality. Nevertheless, she stiffened and looked on ahead.

How. . . embarrassing.

Misato continued to look on ahead, attempting to avoid any other angered responses from the nurse. Though there was no one in sight, Misato felt embarrassed at the thought of her being given a warning- if any- from anyone.

After all, she was always one of those kids. The ones that would cry at a simple scolding from an elder. The ones that bawl at the sight of an exaggerated movie death. Indeed, that was the type of child she truly was. She may be a high schooler at this time, but she would always act otherwise.

And at this moment, she felt like crying.

A pitiful human Misato was. Even Misato admits it herself. Yet, somewhere in her mind Misato urges herself to jump into danger. To save someone, be a hero she always wanted to be. And at times like this, she utilizes that to wipe away her tears and save herself from crushing humiliation. Misato wiped away her emerging tears, urging herself to continue on.

"We're here." A curt voice broke through Misato's thoughts, causing her to raise her slightly puffy eyes to the white door. Misato took a deep breath, whispering a thank you to the nurse, and opened the rather large door.

Inside, she found the boy, Arata, sleeping in his hospital bed. Bandages wove their way around his head, causing Misato to infer that he was involved in a recent incident. Misato shut the door behind her, hearing the object emit a long groan in response. At the noise, he turned his head toward her. His clouded eyes dully directed themselves to her direction, unnerving Misato as she felt fear creep through her body.

It was as if all of the confidence that she possibly held was sucked out of her.

"E-Excuse me . . . I'm a hospital volunteer and I'll be taking care of you for a bit." Misato shakily said, Arata's gaze still directed to her. Eventually, he laid back down. Misato let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, and sat in the conveniently placed chair next to his bed. She didn't know what to do. In the beginning, she figured that the patients would be. . . chattier than this.

Misato fidgeted, her gaze lowered to her lap as she felt useless to Arata.

'He may have thought he would get a more helpful volunteer than. . . this.' Misato thought, internally sighing as another negative thought crossed her mind. '. . . all of my visits are gonna be this awkward, aren't they?'

Misato continued to stare down at her lap, finding her dancing fingers very interesting.

Silence ensued, soon turning into what seemed to be hours of awkwardness. Eventually, she spoke.

"A-Akiyama-san?" Silence. 'Perhaps he is asleep?' Misato thought, standing up as she did so. She flinched as the chair made a dull sound, scraping against the tiled ground. 'I suppose I can get food for Akiyama-san when he wakes up.'

Before Misato could take any more steps, Arata spoke.

"Don't go." Arata turned to his side and directed his impaired gaze toward Misato. "If you're gonna be taking care of me, at least try." Arata said, before laying down once again. Again, silence. Misato awkwardly stood in the middle of the room, feeling helplessness and slight anger surge through her.

Misato clenched her fist a bit, feeling rather humiliated. "-I was gonna get you food." Misato  blurted out, feeling as if the boy perceived her attempt to leave differently.

"They'll give me food soon, anyway. Don't waste your money on anything." Arata responded, turning his head toward Misato. This made Misato stare down at her feet before speaking in a monotone voice that surprised even herself.

"The hospital has shit food."

At this, Arata let out a chuckle, surprised at the brunette's ability to curse. Even Misato was surprised.

"I-I didn't mean to say that-" Misato stuttered, hoping for Arata to not see her as that type of person.

"Honestly, it's funny how the soft spoken girls are the ones with the worst language habits."

"E-eh?!"

Thanks for reading!                                            

I'll try to get chapter 2 out by November 15th, 2016 But no promises!  <Already 

(Just kidding, i'll try.)