She hated this. So much.

She was emitted to a hospital three weeks ago after suffering a rather horrible case of the flu. But, in her mind, she knew that she didn't just catch it out of nowhere.

Three weeks prior, she had discovered a spell that could bring back the dead; in a book filled with magic of all kinds. Of course, this spell was black magic, the most dangerous type.

She just wanted to bring back her friends. In an alter dimension, encased in a old, rotting school, three of her classmates and her teacher had perished in it's walls. And she blamed herself the most; all because of a friendship charm she had found online. But because of it's poor guidelines, they had failed the charm and were transported to the school known as Heavenly Host Elementary.

When the five remaining survivors escaped the school, they had to accept fate in the real world. Nobody else knew their fallen friends. The curse of the school had erased their existence.

Months after, she had found a mysterious book in the old home of Yoshie and Sachiko Shinozaki; her alleged blood relatives. When her and one of the survivors, Naomi Nakashima, tried to perform the spell in the home, it ended in failure, and the ultimate death of her dear sister.

But she hadn't given up. She returned to the school for a second time, sided with her three classmates. But what they discovered almost ended their lives.

Luckily, all four were able to return to the real world once again, but not without deadly costs. With her use of black magic, and going against the curse of the school, she became deathly ill the next day, and was eventually sent to the hospital.

She hadn't heard much of the two of three other survivors since the second incident. Naomi Nakashima, from what she had been told, had isolated herself in her home, refusing to go school. Her eye wound probably wasn't helping either, now forced to wear an eye patch.

Much to her sore heart, her other classmate, Satoshi Mochida, had visited the Nakashima household within the past week, and heard news of the two finally getting together. She had crushed on the brun male, and tried to get his attention. But he was clueless to her flirting, and was always focused on Naomi instead.

She felt jealousy, yeah. But she realized, that she would never be able to win his heart.

She didn't get depressed over it though, she had other problems.

She laid there, in her uncomfortable hospital bed, on her side as her back faced the door across the small room. She was slowly recovering from her flu, the main affects of it subsiding and now leaving her with a horrible cough and an ache to her joints. Her tired eyes stared out the window, only able to see the tops of tall buildings and the blue skies.

Her room was mostly silent, the walls thick and the door heavy. It was that way so patients could have peace and privacy, but it was driving her insane. She couldn't stand complete silence, not after what she had endured in Heavenly Host. Silence had once been golden to her, but now, it was a sin.

A faint knock on the door caused her to jump a bit, and the heavy door opened up. She peered behind her, only to see her other classmate, Yoshiki Kishinuma. The blonde male visited her every day since she had been emitted, though, he was warned that she was contagious. He didn't seem to care. And, a small part of her mind thanked him for visiting her all the time. It got very lonely in there quite often.

"Hey. How are you feeling today?" He asked, walking up to her bedside. In his hand were a few colorful flowers. He brought them with him every few days. She liked it too, it made the boring room seem a bit more brighter than before. She sat up as he walked over and placed the flowers on the small table next to her bed.

"Oh... just dandy," She replied sarcastically. She wheezed before going into a coughing fit. She couldn't even talk without setting it off. He frowned sadly at her, before she managed to settle down.

"I'll take it that you aren't doing good at all," He muttered and she let out a wheezy sigh. Her lungs started getting bad about a week ago, but she knew it was the black magic playing her. She really hoped she wasn't going to be like this for the rest of her life.

"Enough about my exciting life, how are you Kishinuma?" She was wheezing pretty badly. The idea of keeping her quiet came to mind, but she would be stubborn as always and defy him.

"Nothing really new. Just another school day come and gone," He replied nonchalantly, waving his hand in a lax way.

"You aren't skipping classes again, are you?" She deadpanned, giving him a hard stare.

"No! I've been keeping up with my studies... it's just a bit harder without you or Nakashima there. Satoshi is kind of taking it hard too," The mention of Mochida's name made her skin prickle, but she knew she shouldn't hold a grudge against the guy. There's plenty of other guys out there, probably having the same good nature as him.

"Oh... Nakashima hasn't come back yet?" She decided to ignore the thoughts in her head and go on another topic. He had pulled up a chair and sat down in it, shaking his head.

"She's going to try to return next week. She's really afraid she'll be teased for the eye patch," He scratched the back of his head, glancing at her.

"Ohh... If I only I was better... I would be by her side to defend her," She hissed at the thought of her other classmates. The rest of their classmates already didn't like them, treating them like shit for their weird behavior and imaginary names the four always mentioned. It wasn't going to help the brunette any better, now with her eye injury.

"Don't worry, we'll be by her side. You need to recover first before you even think of stepping foot into Kisagari again," He warned, sitting forward. She glared at him, letting out a huff.

"I want to get out of this hospital so bad. It's so boring in here!" She wheezed again, the last part of her sentence causing her to go into another coughing fit.

"Hnng... I-I'm in no c-condition to... d-do so though..." She admitted, her shoulders drooping. Even if she wanted to go, even if she was allowed, her health would get the better of her; she wouldn't last a day.

"You just need to keep fighting it, okay? I know you don't like it in here, but you need to get better before you get out," He tried to reassure her, but was failing.

"Y-You're so blatant about things, you know?" She glared at him, and he smiled nervously. She let another wheezy sigh, and went silent, looking down at her lap. His presence made her seem a bit better, but, it made her curious.

"Why do you visit me everyday?" She finally broke the silence between them, and he blinked, dumbfounded. She noticed a tint of red spread across his face.

"Friends stick by each other, don't they?" He inquired nervously. She raised a brow.

"Nakashima and Mochida don't visit me all the time... my parents don't come to see me this much," She acknowledged, and he felt himself growing incredibly antsy.

"Nakashima won't even come out of her own house, Shinozaki. Satoshi has really been the only one to get to talk to her," He retorted, and her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, and look where they are now,"

"Shinozaki..." He trailed off.

"What is it then? Tell me, please," She demanded, not taking her eyes off of him. He let out a small gulp, shuffling his hands in his pockets. He could feel the heat in his cheeks growing hotter. He guessed now would be better than never.

"I-I guess I can't h-hide it from you any longer..." He was stuttering. She kept silent, waiting for him to fess up, noticing how his face was growing redder.

"Shinozaki... I-I like you... l-like... really like you... more than a friend..." He murmured, his head down so that his bangs covered his eyes. He was blushing quite heavily now.

She blinked, a heat rising to her own cheeks at his confession. She looked away, her eyes down cast as she took in this new information.

Then it clicked. Everything made sense. How he was always there to help her out, to protect her. He wasn't doing everything because he was a friend, he was doing it because he cared about her... he loved her.

And she realized that she had treated him poorly, always blaming him for her problems. Yet, he still came back to her.

"Y-You... like me?" She wheezed, finally glancing back at him.

"D-Don't make me r-repeat myself, Shinozaki..." He stuttered again. He was becoming more and more nervous.

More silence came over them. The air became thick and uncomfortable for both of them, and he finally rose from his chair, walking away as he was finding the situation awkward and unsettling.

"W-Wait... Kishinuma...!" She called out to him, her voice cracking again at the pitch of her voice. She mentally cursed her sick lungs. He stopped, slowly turning his head to her.

"P-Please... don't leave... just like that... We need to talk..." She pleaded, her brows furrowing as she frowned.

"What is there to talk about, Shinozaki? It's already clear that you don't like me back, so it's best if I just left you alone..." He muttered, but it was loud enough for her to hear.

"I never said I didn't return your feelings..." She began, and his breath hitched. He turned completely, staring at her.

"B-But... I thought you liked Satoshi-"

"Oh, come on Kishinuma. Don't be a dumbass. Yes, I liked him... but he's with Nakashima now... and I think it's best if it stayed that way..." She spoke the truth. She would move on.

"Then... do you like me... back?" He then asked, stepping forward a bit.

"I didn't say that either..." She replied, and he felt his heart shatter.

"O-Oh..." His eyes went downcast.

"But..." She started, finding the strength to get out of bed and walk over to him. It was a bit difficult, from lack of daily exercise and simply walking around, but she managed to come over to him.

"...It doesn't mean we can't try to work something out," She finally reached him, wrapping her arms around his torso, hiding her face in his chest.

He wanted to yell at her when she rose from bed, but was quickly stopped when she hugged him. Not only that, but she was willing to try out a relationship with him. He wrapped his arms around her small form, realizing how thin she had grown since she became sick.

"Shinozaki! Why are you out of bed? Get back before you fall!" He finally broke their embrace, realizing that she didn't need to get out of bed to do this. She let out another wheezy huff, pouting as she walked back over and laid back down.

"You seriously worry about me too much," She muttered, covering herself over with the thin blankets.

"I think I have a purpose to do so now," He smirked at her, and she snorted, but couldn't help but lightly blush.

"Thank you," She looked to him, softly smiling. He blinked a few times, looking somewhat confused.

"For what?"

"For being there for me. I don't think I would've been able to make it through Heavenly Host without you... and, after all of this, you still came to me, even when I treated you like trash... I'm... so sorry Kishinuma," She didn't want to look at him, she felt tears start to swell in her eyes.

He smiled sadly at her, he saw that she finally realized everything. Leaning forward, he wrapped his arms around her shivering form, resting his chin on her shoulder. She tensed up at the embrace for a moment, but relaxed seconds later.

"We'll make things better, I promise," He whispered in her ear, her spine tingling at the closeness.

"Yeah," She muttered back, closing her eyes from his warmth.