Chapter 18: Bad News
Tokyo.
A certain private hospital.
Haruka brought Shoko here.
Seeing that Shoko was a little nervous, Haruka smiled. "Relax, it's just a checkup. In the future, we'll have to do this kind of checkup every week. It's for your own good."
"If things go well..."
"Maybe I'll be able to hear your voice often in the future."
Shoko's eyes lit up, and her small head nodded repeatedly.
However, as if remembering something, she subconsciously touched the hearing aid in her left ear.
Haruka led her into the facility known as the Yamada Hospital.
Haruka hadn't chosen this hospital at random. It was one of the higher-end facilities in all of Tokyo, boasting plenty of elite medical resources.
As for how he knew about it, this hospital had cooperative relationships with many universities. Graduates from Meiji University's medical department often came here to apply for jobs. He had only made up his mind to come here after receiving an internal recommendation from his mentor.
Thanks to his mentor's connections, Haruka was able to meet the Director directly.
The Director was a middle-aged man who seemed to be helplessly lecturing his daughter.
The daughter was a beautiful girl with blue hair and golden eyes, her expression detached and indifferent—a classic kuudere vibe.
"Ryo, how long has your band been disbanded? Give up that bass and focus on inheriting the family business. This is your responsibility."
The girl named Ryo Yamada simply shook her head calmly, then walked straight past him.
[Image : Ryo Yamada]
She brushed past Haruka and Shoko.
Haruka didn't even glance sideways.
To him, the anime characters that once made his heart race were now just people he could face with indifference.
"I apologize for showing you something embarrassing."
"You must be Kasugano-san and Nishimiya-san, correct?"
"Hello, Director Yamada."
"..."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries.
"I already know the general situation, but if you want to proceed with treatment, we need more detailed examinations."
"Mm. Come with me."
Director Yamada called over an old man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties.
The Department Chief.
Director Yamada naturally couldn't handle the case personally. Being able to meet him and have the Chief handle the procedure was already a huge favor to Haruka's mentor.
They arrived at a brightly lit room filled with instruments gleaming with a cold, metallic light.
***
The examination ended quickly.
However, seeing the old man's furrowed brows, Haruka's heart skipped a beat. He immediately pulled the doctor to the side, away from Shoko, who was sitting in a chair.
"Kasugano-san, Nishimiya-san's condition is not optimistic," the old man said bluntly.
Haruka's heart sank. "What are the specifics?"
"She has congenital hearing impairment. With current technology, this disease is extremely difficult to cure—at least, I haven't heard of a cure. Moreover, as time passes, her auditory nerves will degenerate. In other words, her hearing will decline further."
"Right now, she can still rely on hearing aids to connect with her auditory nerves to perceive sound. In the future, she will likely go completely deaf. In fact, her left ear is already failing. You need to be mentally prepared."
The old Chief's words were like a thunderclap, striking Haruka's heart with brutal force.
Completely deaf...
Her left ear was already failing...
And he hadn't even noticed.
That's right.
For the past two years, he had been busy making money. Although he insisted on going home every day, it was always late at night when he returned.
When had he ever truly paid attention to Shoko?
With Shoko's docile personality, she would absolutely never say anything to trouble him or make him worry.
That idiot!
Haruka's face turned pale, his eyes filled with panic and confusion.
He was actually afraid to tell Shoko these things.
Clearly, they had agreed to face everything together, yet was the nightmare arriving first?
The old Chief looked at Haruka with pity.
He had seen too many tragic situations like this. Yet every time he saw it, he still felt the fickleness of the world. This man in front of him probably needed some time to recover.
'I hope they can have a good ending... Sigh...'
However, just as he was thinking this.
Haruka suddenly raised his head, looking at him with a composed expression. "Roughly how much time does her hearing have left?"
The old Chief looked at him in surprise.
He suppressed his emotions that quickly?
"Roughly... about two years."
"I see. Thank you."
Haruka expressed his gratitude.
The old Chief shook his head.
"By the way, her vocal system has degraded somewhat, but it can still be corrected. The reason she was mute before was mostly due to the hearing impairment preventing her from receiving correct vocal feedback from a young age, leading to disuse all these years."
"I'll give you a schedule and a medication list later. If she takes the medicine and performs vocal exercises according to the plan every day... it varies from person to person, but within a year at most, she should be able to vocalize somewhat normally. Note that even after she can speak, she must protect her throat. No spicy or stimulating foods, and she shouldn't yell or get too emotional. Her throat is very fragile."
Haruka listened very seriously, nodding repeatedly.
"In short, her hearing is beyond saving. If you two are going to live together in the future, you have to be very careful. Otherwise, accidents can easily happen."
Haruka knew what he was saying.
If a person couldn't hear the voices of others, they couldn't distinguish words and meanings, and daily life would become fraught with danger.
Walking down the street, she could even be hit by a car...
Life suddenly felt incredibly fragile.
After saying goodbye to the old Chief and the Director, Haruka arrived at the hospital lobby.
Shoko was sitting on a bench, smiling broadly as she teased a baby. The mother next to her watched with a happy grin.
It was a harmonious scene.
Haruka took a deep breath.
His face returned to his usual, slightly plain smile.
"Shoko."
She jumped.
Mmph!
Her pure white cheeks puffed up in anger, and she reached out a slender hand to smack Haruka.
"Sorry, sorry."
He ruffled her hair.
"Let's go. We're going home."
Shoko nodded, then took out her communication notebook.
"Haruka, how were my test results?"
There was a hint of apprehension in her eyes.
He didn't know if she was afraid of hearing bad news, or afraid that Haruka would find out she had been hiding things.
"It's okay. It's just that in the future, I might have to become your ears."
Haruka said this with a calm expression.
Shoko's body stiffened, and she stared blankly at Haruka.
"Don't be angry."
She took out her notebook and wrote on it frantically.
"I'm sorry."
Looking at those words—"I'm sorry"—Haruka couldn't help but feel a flare of anger rising in his heart.
Why do you have to say sorry?
I've worked hard until now just to change your personality, to fulfill your wish of integrating with everyone...
I did so much...
Why are you still like this?
Then what was the point of everything I did, everything I gave up?
Dark thoughts sprouted in his mind.
Haruka's breathing grew somewhat heavy.
He took a sharp inhale of air.
This wasn't Shoko's fault.
She just cared about him too much.
Besides.
My mindset is wrong.
I was still shaken by the bad news. I just had a moment of pessimism about the future.
I almost took my anger out on her.
Haruka pinched himself hard on his right hand.
The pain brought clarity back to his brain.
Suddenly.
Haruka felt a soft warmth on his hand.
Shoko was holding his hand, looking at him with a worried expression.
There was still a trace of walking-on-eggshells caution in her eyes.
***
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