Even so, we are living in the present

Chapter 8 – Devilish Apparel

Just before 9:00 in the morning.

While Kyosuke was visiting the dance school, Yuu finally awoke.

He had fallen asleep so quickly that he hadn’t even noticed the nurse coming to check on him in the middle of the night.

When the sun rose and the nurse knocked, he still hadn’t emerged from the depths of sleep, but once the curtains were swept open, the sunlight brightened the room, and the shift from darkness to light jolted him into consciousness.

The anesthesia that had been injected into his whole body had already worn off. When he lifted his eyelids timidly, his right eye gradually opened. The view he hadn’t observed in a long time was a bright white ceiling, contrary to the scarlet that illuminated the darkness he had last witnessed.

“…”

He stared at the ceiling for a short period of time, but his vision was somewhat off.

“Ah…”

As he realized that his left eye was not functioning, a faint voice leaked out. However, he promptly recalled that his eyeball had been removed and sighed softly.

“Good morning, Sonohara.”

A nurse who recognized Yuu’s voice approached the bed, stood on the right side so that she was visible, and called out calmly. His right eye caught a glimpse of her, and his gaze wandered back to the ceiling.

“… Hello.”

When he responded in a gruff undertone, the nurse moved to his left side this time.

“I’ll change the IV. The doctor will be here soon.”

“…”

He struggled to have a clear view of the IV connected to his left arm, but his vision was too restricted to do so. The fatigue around his right eye soon became evident and he shut his eyelids. Perhaps the IV had been changed, but the nurse’s presence was shifting. Just then, a knock sounded at the door and someone stepped in.

“Good morning, Sonohara.”

The doctor in charge approached him, giving the same greeting as the nurse.

“… Hello.”

Muttering the same words as before, Yuu opened his right eyelid. He already recognized the voice from last night and glanced at him without any particular doubts.

“How are you feeling? Are you experiencing any pain around your eyes, headaches, nausea, etc.?”

“… No.”

“Do you have an appetite?”

“I have…”

“Okay, I understand. Now, let’s take a look at your surgical scar, and I’ll apply some antibacterial eye drops and switch the bandages.”

With that, the bed recliner gently raised Yuu’s upper body and the bandages were removed. Unless he moved his right arm, there would be no pain. The doctor in charge meticulously examined the scars of the surgery, which Yuu himself could not discern, and pulled out an eye drop and applied it to his left eye. As the name “Fenestration” indicates, the prosthetic eye has a hole in the pupil, allowing for convenient application of eye drops. After the eye drops were applied, the doctor carefully wrapped a clean bandage around it. He then proceeded to bring the recliner back up.

“I prefer to remain sitting…”

The words came out unexpectedly, and the bed immediately halted its movement. His upper body, which had been lowered slightly, rose to the same height as before.

“Is this okay?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

The nurse was as generous as ever, even with his tsundere attitude. With a soft smile, she left the room with the attending doctor. His breakfast was expected to be brought out soon.

When he was seated, it was clearer to note what was going on around him, and he understood that his right arm was stuck in an orthopedic cast and his left arm was attached to an IV. For a while, it was a quiet and solitary period. While silently waiting for his meal, someone knocked on the door and entered. However, Yuu frowned at the figure, who was dressed too rough for a nurse.

“Excuse me.”

The one who stepped in, sending a lighthearted greeting into the room, was Saiki.

“… Who?”

His cautious question pierced Saiki.

“Eh? Isn’t that quite an ordinary greeting?”

Yuu’s expression grew suspicious at the high tension of the other party from early in the morning.

“Shut up. So, who are you?”

“… Do you really have no idea?”

When asked again, Saiki put aside his previous tension and asked back with a timid countenance.

“…”

Yuu stared at Saiki in silence for a while, but then he tilted his head slightly and replied with an attitude that suggested he had no knowledge of him.

“Seriously, is this because you were in shock? I am Saiki, from your class.”

Lowering his eyebrows deliberately as if to say he was hurt that his existence had been erased, he settled on a folding chair propped up on the edge of the hospital room near the bed.

“…”

The moody gaze of his right eye penetrated Saiki’s eyes as if to say, “What are you doing here?”. Without bothering with such behavior from Yuu, Saiki’s face broke into a mean grin.

“Are you disappointed that it’s not Ichinose who’s here?”

“… Ha?”

Sensing that the question was being asked in a half-mocking manner, Yuu cast a question mark in his full grumpiness.

“Well, don’t worry, he’ll be here in about thirty minutes.”

Either because one of his eyes was obscured, rendering it difficult to distinguish his expression, or because he didn’t care about the reaction, Saiki still didn’t seem to be intimidated. Instead, he seemed to be undaunted by everything. When the other party chewed on such a margin of feeling, Yuu exhaled deeply as if to suppress his exasperation.

“What are you talking about? I am not really worried about it.”

“You know, it’s not easy to eat alone with a broken arm, right? So I thought I’d help you out.”

Yuu snickered at the suggestion. “I don’t need your help because they’ll serve me a meal that I can eat with my left hand. Is that all you came for? Bye.”

“Oh, you’re pushing me away like that? How sad.”

When Saiki was still trying to stay with his mouth on edge, Yuu smiled sweetly at him.

“Yeah, goodbye. You don’t have to come here anymore.”

“Ugh…”

Yuu’s eyelid drooped in satisfaction as he regarded the other person, who seemed to have finally struck a chord with him upon having been shunned by him with an exceedingly indifferent tone of voice.

“I’ll ask my brother about everything. See you later!”

After saying that, Saiki left the hospital room with no further action.

“… Hah, I am exhausted.”

It was natural to act tough in front of others. Nobody would like to see their own weakness. But even Yuu was beginning to have difficulties in maintaining a strong stance.

Maybe I was right to kick Saiki out.

Although his visual nerves were worn out, he was still suffering from a severe mental breakdown. Yuu shut his eyelid again to rest until breakfast arrived.