Unlimited Chances

|4| Exploration

{} Aria's POV {}

        When I regained consciousness, I immediately wanted to go back to the lovely embrace of numbness called unconsciousness. My head hurt, ... A LOT! Like I was hit by a freight train. Mondo packs quite a punch. I groaned and lifted a hand to my forehead, only to frown when coming in contact with something cold and made of fabric.

        "Makoto! She's awake!" I heard a female voice happily announce. Wha..?  My thoughts sluggishly processed. I opened my eyes to see two pairs of relived eyes looking down at me. I blinked at them, once, twice, till the realization that the eyes belonged to Sayaka and Makoto hit me. "Good to see you awake, Aria!" Sayaka smiled brightly.

        "Hey, are you alright?" Makoto asked, looking a bit more concerned than Sayaka.

        "Mostly," I respond, slowly sitting up and removing whatever was on my head. I look down to see it's one of those blue ice bag things. Then I looked around to take in my new and unfamiliar surroundings. I'm in a small simple room with red wallpapered walls and blue tiled flooring. To the left of the room, and the side of the bed, where Sayaka and Makoto are, is a door on the wall. A hallway leading to another door, and across the room is a counter with a round table next to it with a key laying on top of it. The right side of the room holds basically nothing, while behind me and the bed I'm sitting on is a desk with a chair facing covered windows. And of course a security camera sits above my head and a monitor next to the wall door. "Where are we?" I ask the two next to me.

        "Your room. Sakura brought you here after you were knocked out cold." Sayaka explained, taking the ice bag I had set down and placing it on the counter behind the bed.

        "Oh..," Was all I said in reply, and now that the pain was slowly ebbing away, I was able to think clearly. "Wait why are you two here in my room?" I questioned them.

        "We came to get you." Sayaka smiled. I raised an eyebrow at her in question.

        "We came to check up on you to see if you were awake. And if you were, to tell you to come to the dining hall. Everyone is gathering there right now." Makoto answered my look.

        "Uhh, how long have you been here?" I directed the question to both of them.

        "About five minutes or so." Sayaka calculated. I swing my legs over the right side of the bed and stand up to stretch.

        "It's probably best we get going then." I said after I finished my stretching. I pick up the keys with my name on it on the table, and pocket it before going to leave my room. Sayaka goes through the door first, and I go to follow but...

        "Aria," Makoto calls out to me hesitantly. I look over at him with a confused tilt of my head, urging him to go on. "T-Thanks for protecting me." He says as he rubs the back of his head sheepishly with a small smile. I return it with a smile of my own.

        "You're welcome. Now come on, Sayaka and the others are waiting." I pointed out and walked through the door, beckoning him to follow with a wave of my hand.

        "Oh right." I heard him hastily say behind me as he followed. Sayaka and Makoto guided me down the hall of dormitories towards the dining hall. I noticed that my room was between (and this is completely random) Junko and Celeste on the way. When we enter the dining hall, only one person is there.

        "Ah, Aria! Your awake! Glad to see you're alright." Taka smiled brightly upon my entrance. I smiled politely back, and nodded my head in acknowledgment to his greeting. Then as if our arrival was a cue, people started trickling in. When they entered, they took a seat. I took a seat at the end of the table next to Sayaka. When Mondo came in and we locked eyes, he turned his head away, looking a bit guilty as he took a seat between Makoto and Junko.