The ceiling was white.
Kaito stared at it for several seconds before the rest of the room came back properly.
The bandage around his head.
The IV line taped to his arm.
The antiseptic smell.
The window to his right, black outside, the kind of dark that meant it had been night for a while already.
His head hurt.
A deep steady throbbing behind his left eye that felt heavy enough to drag the rest of him downward with it.
He turned his head slightly.
Natsume was sitting beside the bed eating a cup of jelly with a plastic spoon. Coat still on. Legs crossed neatly. She looked up the moment he moved.
"How do you feel," she asked.
"Bad."
His voice came out rougher than expected.
Natsume nodded once like this confirmed something.
The door opened.
Hiro walked in holding a vending machine coffee, saw Kaito awake, and immediately pointed at him.
"He fainted," he said.
Kaito closed his eyes briefly.
Hiro looked at Natsume in genuine disbelief.
