fox on the run | miya osamu

the boy and the daisies

hiii, I'm back from my hiatus!  <3 sorry for keeping you waiting.

Despite wanting to stay for her comfort, it's time for Osamu to leave. "They'll be here soon," Suiren tells him in an effort to make him feel less guilty. He glances at his phone clock, 7PM, it says. "You're sure?" he confirms, speculating.

"I'm sure, 'Samu. Mom will be here," she reassures him, now attempting to smile. The words of the doctor broke her heart but worrying Osamu would be the last thing Suiren wanted.

"Text me, okay? Text me if something happens, or, even if nothing happens. Just-" he stammers with worry, "Just text me, Chuunchun."

"I will," she promises, now smiling. Perhaps it's a genuine smile this time.

"Take care on your way home, 'Samu," she adds as the grey-eyed boy hangs his bag to his shoulder, "Text me, too, okay?"

"Yes, yes, I will," says Osamu. He faces her before walking to the door.

"Also," he adds.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, 'Samu," she responds.

"I'll come see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Okay. I'll be waiting."

As he takes his leave, as soon as the door shut, Suiren grabs on the thighs, then near her injured ankles. Everything still hurt. She just wanted to hide it, at least in front of him.

Meanwhile, on his way out of the hospital, near the nurse station, Osamu spots a panicked stranger. This man was nowhere as tall as he is, but weirdly, he looked a lot like Suiren. He tries to pay it no mind, until her name comes out of his mouth. "Tsutsui Suiren," the man says.

"Relation to the patient, Sir?"

"I'm, I'm, her brother," he answers. His hands, which are as shaky as his voice, grabs on his jacket pocket, and fishes out his I.D.

"305, Sir," the nurse informs.

The man heads straight to the said room, looking left and right to check the room numbers. "Can I help you?" the nurse asks, referring to Osamu this time. The grey-eyed boy is simply staring, clueless and confused.

"Sir?" she repeats.

"Oh, no, nothing," Osamu answers, shaking his head as well.

It turns out that the man earlier isn't the only one panicking now. Osamu's in a dilemma.

"Should I go back to her room? But what for? Who is that man? What if he's someone dangerous? But her mom is coming soon, I might see her," Osamu asks himself.

"Ugh, fuck it," he curses before turning around and heading back to the hallway leading to her room.

"I just want to protect her, that's all," he says to himself as he walks back there.

Upon reaching her room, Osamu's hand reaches out to the door but he stops himself before he even touches it.

"Now what?" he wonders before taking a step back.

"San, Sanjiro-nii?" he hears Suiren exclaim. With the door still closed, he could barely hear anything else.

"So, he really is her brother," Osamu sighs in relief. He takes a seat in the nearby benches, still deliberating if he should leave already.

On the other side of the door resides a mix of emotions, coming from both Suiren and her brother. "I, wow, it's been, it's been years," Suiren gasps.

"I'm sorry" is all he could say.

"Where have you been? What have you been doing?" she asks, unsure if the heavy feeling in her heart is happiness or anger. Maybe both, even.

"And, does mother know? And Sumi? She'd love to see you," she adds, filling the uncomfortable silence in the room.

"I can't. And I can't stay here for long, I just wanted to see you and if you're okay," he answers. Vague, unsatisfying, and distant.

"Mind telling me how you're doing, at least?" she asks, bargaining for answers to her endless list of questions. She never really understood her brother. And with his reappearance, it's all blurrier.

"You're the one in the hospital bed here, Sui."

"I know. Ironic. I know."

"You're the same old Sui. You haven't changed. Well, if you're really curious, I've given up on that silly restaurant dream."

"It's not silly," she protests, remembering Osamu. "Oh. Right, 'Samu," she whispers, wondering if he had gotten home already.

"I'm Miya Osamu," Osamu introduces himself just outside her hospital room. While Suiren and her brother speak, he has his own encounter with two more of her family, her mother and sister to be specific.

"And you're here because?" she asks in a stern, intimidating tone.

"I'm her, uh, schoolmate. Yes, we go to the same school," he answers.

"You're not the boy who gave her daisies just the other day, are you?" she asks, "Or was that the other day?"

"Oh, the daises, heh," he chuckles, not knowing how to answer.

"What a terrible prank on my Suiren," she sighs, shaking her head in annoyance, "That boy is dead to me." Osamu only responds with a nervous smile, wanting to leave.