It means...
NEXT AND LAST CHAPTER UP IN 2HOURS. or less
>___< I wanna finish this soon.
edit: God.. horrible ending, lol. But I finally ended my very first fic, so there! >_>
I might do a better story with more interactions someday to make up for the lack of it here. I dunno...
Chapter 10 Morning came when Risa woke up, finding herself still at the peak. She stood up lazily and dusted herself off. Her next destination was returning back to the hospital. It didn’t matter to her that she’s covered in dirt, or that she haven’t changed in a few days.
Back in the white, completely sanitized building, Risa headed for her friend’s ward with a heavy heart. Seems like no one taught her to be optimistic recently. She opened the door to find the room surprisingly empty. Panicking again, she grabbed the nearest nurse outside the room and grilled the poor woman for her friend’s whereabouts. Her mood changing drastically from violent to embarrassed after the nurse told her what she wanted to hear, Risa released her hold and apologized repeatedly before running out of the building and towards the hospital park.
There, she saw Ai sitting on a steel bench with a wheelchair beside her. She seems to be looking at something, but at the same time, there’s some sort of void in her eyes. She didn’t even flinch when a kid nearby accidentally kicked his soccer ball at her direction, missing her head by an inch. Risa swallowed hard as she witnessed all or most of the symptoms of being blind. She hesitated a little, but still managed to gather the courage enough to start walking towards her friend. She quietly sat down beside Ai, her more depressed than someone who appears to have just lost her sight.
She didn’t know what to say, or what to do to comfort her friend. Before she knew it, Risa lowered her head and sniffed quietly. The stress from the past two days started to kick in, breaking her into pieces. She seems to be doing a good job in reacting to the bad news on Ai’s behalf as well because Ai seems to be perfectly fine sitting there, lost in her own thoughts while Risa cried her eyes out silently, thinking that she could get away with being weak in front of her friend.
Unbeknownst to Risa, Ai blinked and turned her head to both sides until she noticed the crouching figure beside her. Not sure why her friend was sobbing to herself, Ai just went ahead and wrapped her arms around Risa, resting her head above the younger’s own. Jerking at the sudden but comforting embrace, Risa sat up, pushing her friend out of the way softly. She then came face to face with Ai, seeing her own reflection in the older girl’s eyes.
“A-Ai… chan?”
She choked on the name, unsure of what to make of the situation.
“Yes? Why were you crying?”
Ai had a gentle smile as she looked at Risa, wiping away the wet trails under her eyes with her thumb. She was looking at her, she’s… she’s not blind? Risa stared at her friend with a dumbfounded expression, her mouth opening and closing but not a word came through. The reaction switch in her flipped upwards.
“But…but… doctor said… you… blind… the ball! Ehhhhhh?!?!?!?!?”
Risa exclaimed, her arms flailing everywhere, pointing at her friend, then at the hospital, and then at a random doctor. She almost poked Ai’s eye out too. Having not much of a clue as to what her friend was going on about, Ai pulled the thief into another hug and patted her head to calm her down. She giggled and pulled away when she felt Risa taking a deep breath, having her sanity back in her possession again.
“You thought I went blind?”
Risa nodded timidly, and looked up at Ai, puzzled.
“Aren’t you?”
“Nope. The doctor said I was lucky to have woken up from such a bad injury so quickly. Even luckier to have avoided becoming blind.”
Risa’s lips quivered from joy. As if being caught crying wasn’t bad enough, she held back on crying for joy and wanting to lunge at Ai and squeeze the life out of her with a bear hug. Maybe another day… in private and when she’s better.
“I’m... glad you’re alright, Aichan.”
“Yes well, I wanted to see you so I told myself to wake up immediately.”
She grinned and Risa turned away to blush, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.
“By the way, where have you been? You smell and look horrible.”
She turned Risa around, wiping off a patch of mud on her cheek and pulled at her dusty shirt, giving her a look of disapproval.
”Just settling some scores.”
Ai looked at her suspiciously, like a mother. The worry started to set in when Risa avoided her gaze.
“Was it dangerous? Is it that guy again? Are you hurt? What did you do?!”
“Not today Aichan, I’m beat.”
“…Fine. I’ll make sure you tell me later.”
They shared a comfortable moment of silence. Risa was still dizzy with joy and the touching things her friend said, and Ai… she’s thinking about something rather seriously. Ai interrupted the silence when she got up on her feet. A little dizzy at first from her head injury, but she steadied herself and pulled Risa up after her. She started leading the younger girl back towards the hospital, ignoring the wheelchair that she didn’t need to begin with.
“I have decided. You need a shower now.”
“Huh? What? But-”
“No buts. You stink.” Ai stuck out her tongue in disgust.
“But not here! We’re still in the hospital. I have no extra clothes!”
Stopping to consider Risa’s protest, Ai shrugged.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure the nurses would let you use the ward’s bathroom. They’re nice.”
“Aichan! You’re not getting the point. Aichan?! Oi! Are you listening?!”
<i>And they lived happily ever after, the end.
*kicks the ending*</i>