Second Chance

Chapter Eleven

"Hnng..."

Haruki winced a little as he woke up. He had a headache, and felt sore all over. He blinked twice and sat up.

Huh? What? Where am I? The room was almost completely bare. There was a curtained window to his left, and a door to his right. A small TV was on the opposite wall. Everything around him was pale and white.

What is this place? Haruki turned his head. A small tower was next to him. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was an IV drip. His eyes followed the tube down and around until it came to a stop on his arm.

It's a hospital? Why? Why am I in a hospital? I was at karaoke with Ren and... what happened afterwards?

Haruki rubbed his eyes with the hand that wasn't connected to the IV drip. "I wonder what day it is..."

"Haruki!!!" A small, greenish child jumped onto his bed. "Are you okay? I really didn't mean to do it! I promise!!!"

"The heck?!" Haruki nearly jumped out of his skin. "Who are you?"

"Haruki doesn't remember me?" The little child started to cry. "Wahhhh! Haruki's gonna die! Haruki's gonna die!!!"

"Please calm down, Eraza. Oh honey, I really am sorry." An older-looking woman with purple skin was standing at the foot of the bed next to a bluish lady.

"Does Haruki really not remember me?" Whimpered the girl on his lap.

"Hon, I'm sure he's just drowsy, ok?" The purple lady picked up the child and patted her on the head. "If you need refreshers, Haruki. I'm Umaran, one of the three fates."

"And I'm Eraza!" Yelled the child. "And over there is Conna!" She pointed at the bluish lady.

"Fates...? Oh, right." Haruki remembered first meeting them while he was Hana. "What happened?"

Umaran sighed. "Well... Eraza nearly cut your thread trying to move your love creation knot."

"Love creation knot?"

"It's the knot we tie when two people in love have sex, hon."

"Oh. Wait what!?" Haruki shook his head. "Whatever. Why was Eraza trying to move it?"

Eraza jumped out of Umaran's arms and back onto the bed. "Because it was irritating seeing you taking forever to realize that you love—"

 Umaran covered Eraza's mouth with her hand. "Sorry, honey, we can't tell you who it is."

"Hmph." Haruki pouted. "I was curious. Well what happened?"

"You were struck with a bout of illness. But you'll be okay, honey. It's nothing to worry about."

"Umm..." Haruki pointed at Conna. "Is she okay, though. She hasn't said a word this entire time."

Conna held up her hand. "No, I was just thinking about what to do about...him."

The three fates collectively shivered.

"Him? Who's that? Is he another god? What—"

"You're going to wake up from this dream soon, okay honey?" Umaran plastered on a smile. "Good luck!"

"Why—" Haruki's brain burned with questions, but they all faded away with his consciousness.

"Hnng..."

Haruki winced as he woke up. What? This feels like... deja vu. I've just been in this place before.

Again, he glanced around, seeing the same hospital room as in his dream of the fates. "Ith andyone ere?" His mouth felt drier than the Sahara.

Click! The door to the room was opened. "Oh, Haruki-San! You're awake." The nurse smiled. "Give me a second and I'll grab you some water, okay?"

Haruki flopped down on his bed. "It's been ages, room."

He made it home from the hospital. Apparently, he had been asleep for the entire weekend. He had been allowed to miss school on Monday, seeing as he woke up after the first bell. But he should be all better by Tuesday.

Haruki rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Ren was so cute. He giggled a little as he remembered. The hospital let Haruki call Ren shortly after he woke up, and he arrived in what seemed to be minutes. He was almost in tears when he saw Haruki. He even drove him home.

But what did he mean by that? Haruki rolled onto his side as he replayed the scene while they were driving to his apartment.

"Haruki, you should ask Shizuka out."

"But why? I thought you liked her."

"No, I never really did. But she..." Ren hesitated. "After you passed out, she was the one who took care of you until the ambulance came. She was the most worried out of everyone."

"Even more than you?"

Ren stayed silent for a few seconds, refusing to make eye contact. "Yeah."

"But... I just don't feel that way about her."

"Please, you really should. It would make her so happy."

"But what about you?"

Ren's voice became almost inaudible. "It would make me supper happy, too."

"But..." Haruki turned away. "Should I really ask her out?"

"Yeah..." said Ren, sounding slightly pained. "You really should."

Haruki rolled over once more. I guess I'll ask her out after school tomorrow. I don't really want to, but Ren seemed so insistent on it.

He rolled over again. It's weird for me to ask Shizuka out. I'm technically a girl, I'm technically Hana.

Another roll. I never really thought my life would become like this. But then again, I never really thought I'd die.

Roll. But I guess if Ren really wants me to do it, I'd do it. I trust him.

Roll. Heck, he even wrote Rosario Werewolf. He's got to have good judgement.

Roll. That reminds me, I remember he texted that his new work that he was writing under a pen name was going to become an anime soon.

Roll. I wonder what that work was. I'm sure it's fantastic.

Roll. Hopefully it gets a better anime than Rosario Vampire Did because that was... really true to the original.

Haruki sat up and stood. I should get some rest. After all, I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions tomorrow. Also, the new episode of My Savior School came out. I need to watch it.

Haruki changed into his pajamas. He watched anime for ages, even longer than he usually did. Finally, he remembered to go to sleep. He shut down his computer, switched off the light, and climbed into bed. His last conscious thought was of Ren's face when he burst into Haruki's hospital room. That was really, really adorable.