12:43 p.m.
I strolled down the hospital hallway, scrolling through my phone.
Another video due by the end of the week. Alright. Manageable. Totally fine.
I wasn't avoiding anything. Definitely not avoiding a certain nurse with caramel-colored hair and a smile that could ruin my cardiovascular system for the past few days.
As I approached Mom's room, faint giggles leaked through the door. Soft, angelic, music to my ears.
Ayase-san?!
My entire soul stiffened.
I was not emotionally prepared to see her. I still hadn't recovered from the spoon incident. I needed at least seventy-two hours and a therapist.[1]
"And then he started—" Mom's muffled voice drifted out.
I blinked.
Started…?
"He said that like he was a poet—"
My heart stopped.
I mashed the door panel like it owed me money and when the door finally hiss open—
"Mother!!" I burst into the room, battle-ready.
Both of them jerked upright like they'd been caught engaging in federal crime.
Mom blinked innocently. Ayase-san nearly dropped the clipboard in her hands.
"Ah, Rion," Mom said sweetly. "I was just telling Risa about—"
"WHY MUST YOU BETRAY ME?!" The words flew out before I could stop them.
Mom looked at Risa, pointed straight at me, and said, "Yeah. He sounded kind of like that."
Ayase-san's lips trembled. She tried—she really tried—to hold it in.
But a tiny giggle escaped.
Then another.
And another.
Her shoulders shook as she covered her mouth, eyes shimmering with suppressed laughter.
She looked adorable.
This is a threat.
I straightened my back, attempting dignity even though I'd basically kicked the door in.
"Mother," I said stiffly, "everything you told her is a lie, a fabrication, distortion, exaggeration—"
Mom raised a brow. "I didn't even say anything yet."
"I can sense betrayal," I hissed.
Ayase-san finally lifted her gaze to me, cheeks slightly pink from laughing. "Rion… your mom was just… um…" She swallowed back another giggle. "Sharing a funny story."
I glared at Mom. "I trusted you."
Mom shrugged. "She asked how your night went. I answered."
Ayase-san's eyes widened. "I-I didn't— I mean, I didn't ask ask—she just—um—mentioned—"
Her flustered rambling threatened to short-circuit my heart all over again.
I pointed dramatically. "Mother. Cease communication with my acquaintances."
Mom waved a dismissive hand. "You're overreacting."
"I react exactly as much as the situation demands," I declared.
Ayase-san snorted.
Snorted.
I spun toward her, mortified and in awe. "Ayase-san—d-don't laugh—this is my honor—my dignity—my—"
"You tried to crawl under my bed." Mom added.
Ayase-san slapped both hands over her mouth, shoulders shaking violently.
I, Meguriya Rion, has been stripped clean off my dignity,
By my own mother,
In front of the woman I fell for.
I lunged for the door. "I'm leaving!"
"You just got here," Mom said.
"I MUST RECOVER FROM SLANDER." I barked, turning so fast my neck might snap.
But Ayase-san called out softly, "Rion—"
I froze.
Her voice alone was enough to shut down all my systems.
She smiled, soft and warm. "You're adorable."
My brain instantly blue-screened.
Mom looked proud. Smug, even.
I stood there, overheating like a broken android.
"…I'm aborting mission," I whispered at last. And collapsed onto the armchair in defeat.
The room settled into a warm, gentle quiet as both Mom and Ayase-san finally calmed down—the earlier chaos dissolving into soft laughter and steady breaths.
Ayase-san reached for the food tray, lifting it carefully from the overbed table. "Well. I'll take this away," she said, sliding Mom's medication toward her. "Don't forget your meds, Meguriya-san."
Mom nodded, her smile far too innocent to be trusted. "Thank you, dear. It was fun betraying my son with you."
I felt lightning shoot through my entire spine.
This woman…
I love her. Truly.
But sometimes I want to smite her with divine judgment.
Ayase-san giggled—light and sweet, impossible to be mad at. "Alright, I'll see you later." She waved. "Later, Rion."
"Uh—yeah." I waved back, looking and sounding like someone who just forgot how to be a functional human being.
***
I held up my phone to the vending machine's sensor. It beeped in recognition.
My hand hovered over the dozens of options.
Chocolate milk...
I pressed the panel and a metallic thud followed.
I bend down, reaching into the chute. When my hand made contact with the carton, I heard steps so familiar my heart rippled.
I've heard those steps almost every day when I'm here. Light, rhythmic, and recognizably hers. They came closer, and closer. I didn't turn. I did not dare to turn. For I still haven't outlived my miscalculation and my mother's betrayal.
I froze for a moment, hoping for the storm to pass harmlessly. But her voice reached me.
"Rion,"
I twitched and with cold sweat forming on my temple, I turned.
Ayase-san stood a few paces away, wearing her trademarked grace.
"I haven't seen you around these past few days..." She clutched her digi-pad closer, then lowered herself to my gaze. "Is everything okay...?"
Her brows tightened, and her wide, glistening eyes—soft with concern—cut straight through whatever composure I thought I had left.
I opened my mouth, but my breath hitched, and before I could speak—
"If you're having trouble..." She leaned closer, just a little. "Would you mind sharing it with me?"
"...No—Yes—I mean... Sure..." I stumbled.
***
We sat together on the bench beside the vending machine—its quiet hum filling the silence between us. A soft column of orange light spilled onto us from the rear exit.
"What's the matter?" she asked, voice small but steady.
"I... Uh..." My fingers tangled with one another, restless, useless. "I was unstable."
"Unstable?" she echoed, turning slightly toward me.
"I just... needed time for myself." I averted my gaze away.
Silence followed, just for a beat. But that beat felt excruciatingly long.
"Were you... avoiding me?"
Her words struck me dead center.
I swallowed. Hard.
Then came another unbearably long beat.
"When I come to her room, and you weren't there..." Her voice shook, ever so slightly.
My neck strangled me, forcing me to face her right this instant.
"Meguriya-san would say you were just there..." She continued. "She told me that the next day, and the next..." Her hands started to tremble.
She lifted her head. Her eyes—wide, glistening—searched for mine. "Did I do something to upset you?"
Ayase-san...
You are the loveliest person I have ever laid my eyes upon.
"...No." The answer escaped before I could think. "You can never upset me."
"Then why...?" She leaned closer, just slightly. "Why were you avoiding me?"
"...I—" My lungs had given up. Her question. Her voice. The look she had on her eyes... crushed my lungs.
She lowered her gaze, back down to the floor.
"I was so happy," she murmured, "when I finally got to spend time with you outside the hospital... Outside of work." A breath trembled out of her.
"But then you disappeared..."
She faced me fully—her knees angled toward mine, her gaze pinning me like a hand to the chest.
"Don't go missing like that!" Her voice cracked, barely, but enough to break me clean in two.
I am a fool.
A complete, heart-wrenching imbecile.
Making the woman I fell for worry like this.
Running from her because of my own cowardice.
Betraying the trust she gave me…
I don't need time. Not for myself.
"Forgive me, Ayase-san... for making you worry like this." I lowered my gaze as I prepare to confess for my crimes. My chocolate milk creaked as I tighten my grip.
"The truth is..."
[1] It has, in fact, been 72 hours since their last encounter... Actually, It's closer to 63 hours, but oh well.