His Lie in April - 四月の彼の嘘 (Shigatsu no Kare no Uso) (COMPLETE)

A Lost Soul/Metaphorical Trigger

CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING: More strong language, and a rather grotesque account as to what Kousei went through this time.
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Indeed, in the days that followed Kousei's third and most severe accident, there was much chaos among Kaori, his father Takahiko, and even Hiroko Seto, over what had happened to him now. Their whole world had been turned upside down.

The day after, Kaori found out what had happened to Kousei on the TV news. If what had happened to Kousei in the past few months was shocking enough for her, she would be in for quite the rude awakening here.

As she finished up playing Bomber King (AUTHOR'S NOTE: called RoboWarrior in North America) on her Famicom, she started looking for another game to play when she turned off the video game console, and there was a TV news report showing.

The TV news reporter stated:
Yesterday afternoon, teenage piano prodigy Kousei Arima, who has seen two accidents happen to him in the space of several months, was reinjured, this time being struck by a Toei bus, which caused him to fly several feet/meters into the air, eventually hitting his head onto a concrete curb. He was taken to the Tokyo Neurological Center for brief investigation on his neurological state. The medical staff at Totsuhara Hospital are working on him frenetically at this time, to make sure that some semblance of his mental capabilities can function again, but while he will survive, thanks to the quick response of an ambulance that happened to be driving around the area of the accident, it is believed now that alongside with an unspecified disease he has, it is likely that the damage that has already been done on his brain will likely be damaged further, and his speech, already permanently affected, will be diminished even further; in addition, part of his spine was also damaged, and potentially broken....

Kaori just broke down and cried over all this. "Godfuckingdammit! This has been a rough few months for me and Kousei! This guy was looking oh-so-happy a few months ago after I see him, and now he just keeps getting into these fucking accidents?! LIFE IS CRUEL!" Her sobbing was loud enough that Ryoko and Yoshiyuki heard her. They were also aware of what was happening to Kousei and were as equally as heartbroken as her over him. 

However, since it was likely that their daughter would ask her to leave her alone angrily if they dared talk to her, they just left her be for the time being. Ryoko expressed sorrow over all this to Yoshiyuki. "Our poor daughter...... she's just so heartbroken over Kousei. He was such a talented pianist, and a nice person." Yoshiyuki sighed and said, "We cry for her...." The two just looked at their daughter lamentfully as she sobbed. Their hearts sank for both Kousei and their daughter.

Meanwhile, Takahiko Arima was called back home as he needed to know what his son had gone through now. Kousei's mentor, Hiroko Seto, also wanted to know what was going on with him. The two were at Kousei's residence, on the phone with the hospital. Information was coming in slow on their end. "Slow down.... a fracture to his skull? Broken spine?!" Takahiko demanded to know. Some indistinct chatter would be heard on the phone with the doctors. 

Hiroko tried to calm down Takahiko. "Takahiko, I know this is a serious situation for him, but please try and keep yourself together." Takahiko then barked out "Goddamnit, his brain has malfunctioned? Nerve damage? What is it?" Hiroko just sighed and was feeling lamentful for Takahiko's son going through a slow-motion demise in the space of several months; the once-talented piano prodigy was now going through a very painful ruination, what with having her mother's disease and the head trauma episodes having aggravated it further; this was in addition to his damaged spine. "I don't want that bullshit out of you, I want to get a clear picture of what's happening to my damn son! What exactly happened to him, skull fracture? His spine is damaged?! I want to know if he's going to survive!"

Tsubaki and Watari were at Watari's when they saw the news. In shock, Watari said, fighting back tears, "Oh, my god.... This is the third accident poor Kousei has gone through. Is he dead?! I hope he's not fucking dead!" Tsubaki was sobbing, as well. "Our biggest friend.... His head is not the same..... he's no longer the Kousei we all knew for so long, and this fucking sucks!" Both then hugged each and sobbed.


~ONE WEEK LATER~
While Kousei did survive this whole ordeal, his eyesight and hearing had faded even further, as had his speech; it was now slurred and somewhat unintelligible. He also could no longer walk again or stand up again (as a result of his partially broken spine, which is why he felt the numbing sensation in his feet and legs; and he was also emaciated, almost looking like someone that was malnourished and had quite a few bruises on his head, with his head being dented in a few places. Kousei was, if not fully becoming a vegetable, was slowly heading in that direction. It was now August, and it was still warm. This was now becoming the most tragic summer for Kousei's friends.