Chapter Text
“Miyano,” Someone called from the floor above. Miyano was just carrying a few papers in his hands for a teacher upstairs.
“I’ll be right up,” He responded.
You never realize how fast you fall.
The top step to the first landing, he slipped. His breath cut, and he saw white.
He stopped moving when his head hit the ground, at the bottom of the steps.
“Miyano-! Miyano!” Tashiro, who had been tagging along, screamed. He bounded down the steps, three at a time, to get to the unconscious boy.
Blood poured.
“A-ambulance-! Someone call an ambulance!”
—
Miyano blinked awake to a white room. Someone was watching him, a doctor. They had black hair tied back, and a medical mask on. There was a beeping noise.
“How are you feeling?” They asked, a soft but serious voice.
“Um, fine,” He said. He noticed a pressure on his head. Wires were attached to his chest under one of those medical gowns. The beeping was from a heartbeat monitor. “Did something happen to me?”
“You had a rough fall,” Said the doctor, “If you’re okay to talk, I’m going to ask you some questions, okay?” They picked up a clipboard.
Miyano’s head felt too heavy to nod. He reached up to find there were bandages wrapping it. “Okay.”
They began to read off the list on the paper on the clipboard. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Miyano Yoshikazu.”
Check. “Your day of birth?”
“February 22.”
Check. “And your year in school?”
“I'm beginning my first year of high school.”
Their pen hovered over the sheet. “How old are you, Miyano?”
He blinked, feeling the doctor’s growing worry. “I’m fifteen now. I just…”
The beeping sped up.
“I’m sorry, please remain calm.”
“What happened? Is it-”
The doctor set down the clipboard with a light clack. “It seems…” They hesitated. “Would you like to see your friends?”
Miyano’s eyes turned down. “Yes, I would.”
…
“Miyano-!” Tashiro rushed into the room. Kuresawa followed quietly, worried.
Miyano stared at them. A sinking feeling welled in his chest. The beeping hastened once again.
“I’m sorry,” His eyes stung.
Tashiro suddenly hesitated, and Kuresawa stepped forward.
“Don’t be, please. We don’t blame you, please, Miyano.” He said. He tried to smile, but his green eyes seemed just as close to crying as Miyano’s.
“Please tell me your names,” Miyano asked desperately. “We’re friends, right? I want to remember.”
Kuresawa couldn’t seem to get any words out.
“I’m Tashiro,” The other spoke up, “This is Kuresawa.”
Miyano looked between the two of them, and smiled. “You two brought me here, right? Thank you.”
When they didn’t answer, he continued, “I remember you from my class. I’m glad I was able to make friends my age.”
“You sound like you’re your own mother,” Tashiro said with a slight smile.
“Speaking of, she’ll be here soon, she’s waiting on a train.”
“Oh, gosh,” Miyano mumbled. She’s probably worried to death, her only kid in the hospital, and the expenses.
“Hey, relax,” Tashiro leaned forward, “You’re beeping too fast, the doc’ll kick us out if we stress you.”
“Please, don’t,” Miyano said to the doctor, who sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room. They raised an eyebrow, but didn’t respond.
Kuresawa spoke up, “Oh, another thing… We’ll help you with your schoolwork.” Tashiro nodded in agreement.
Miyano cupped his own face in his hands, “This is the worst. I’m a senior with a first-year brain…”
“You’ve always been smart, Miyano,” Tashiro grinned, “And I’m sure the teachers would understand. They’d be inhuman not to.”
Miyano returned the smile to someone who was essentially a stranger to him. But it wasn’t stressful, he didn’t have to try very hard.
“Miyano?” The door opened.
His eyes lit up. “Hirano, Hanzawa.”
Indeed, the two named walked in, sighing quietly in relief with the knowledge that Miyano still had some memory.
“You know these ones?” The doctor spoke up.
“Yes. I’ve known Hirano since middle school, and Hanzawa from our club...” Miyano explained.
“Glad to see you’re alright, Miyano,” Hanzawa said.
“As alright as someone with amnesia,” Hirano added sharply, “How far back do you remember?”
The topic was still a bit stressful. Miyano fidgeted with his hands, “The earliest I remember is a few months into my first year.”
“Ehh, you still liked BL at that point…” Hirano winced.
“Ah- Ah! Oh, have you met someone-?” Miyano lit up.
The doctor groaned in warning when the heart monitor sped up again.
“Wait,” Kuresawa said. Heads turned to him. “If he doesn’t know me, then…”
“Miya-!” Came a shout from the hallway.
Sasaki rushed into the room, hair wild from running. Long legs bounded right up to Miyano’s side.
“Sasaki-” Hirano put a hand on his shoulder, reeling him in.
Gray eyes met wide gold irises.
Miyano was recoiling from this large, frazzled, orange-haired, pierced, stranger.
Sasaki felt his heart drop through the floor. Genuine fear.
The beeps were quick and deafening as the room went silent. The doctor was by Sasaki in an instant.
“Sir, you cannot stress the patient, I have to ask you to leave,” They said.
Sasaki stared for a second longer, then looked back at them, his face bewildered, as if he’d just been shot. He turned back again to Miyano, who had his hand in front of him defensively.
Heavy footsteps, practically stomping, left the room.
Miyano sighed quick, like he’d been holding his breath.
“That’s... Sasaki,” Explained Hirano.
“He helped with a fight I was in during our first year. You had taken me to the infirmary after, and that’s how we became friends,” Kuresawa said.
Tashiro joined, “And we became friends too, since we both knew Kuresawa, and then…”
“Then you were always with Sasaki,” Hanzawa smiled.
“He’s your boyfriend.”
The heart monitor sounded like it was going to explode.
The doctor grunted from the corner, “Surely there’s a better way to do this-”
“I-I’m not gay-!” Miyano shouted, strained.
Silence. Beeping.
“Ehh?” Hirano groaned, face twisted like it was a bad joke.
“Could’ve fooled me,” Said Hanzawa.
Tashiro leaned onto the hospital bed. “Deja vu, huh, Kuresawa?”
“Where did the time go,” He agreed.
“It makes sense,” Tashiro continued, “You did take a while to return his feelings. You probably didn’t like guys in the slightest at first.”
“A-a while?”
Hanzawa nodded, “What was it… nearly a year, right?”
“You weren’t gay but you read BL and imagined me and my roommate together!?” Growled Hirano, still recovering.
“Your roommate? Wait, that makes it an underclassman?” Miyano perked up.
“Oi, you’ve got your own relationship to fuss over,” Tashiro said, nearly laughing.
“I do…” Miyano stared into space. “My own… With a guy…?”
“Sorry if this is overwhelming,” Kuresawa said after a moment, petting the sheets like it was a habit.
Miyano shrugged, exasperated, “I mean, I was fine ‘til I found out I started liking guys sometime in the past year…?”
The doctor suddenly appeared beside them.
“You all are stressing him out, and he needs to be at ease for his brain to heal properly.” They pointed to Hirano. “You are the main culprit, please step outside.”
Rage boiled behind his eyes, though the doctor remained unfazed.
“No, please,” Miyano murmured. His pleading calmed the room. Even Hirano’s lip pulled to a worried pout.
The doctor huffed. “Keep him relaxed,” They said.
Someone’s phone jingled.
“Mine, sorry,” Hanzawa said. “Mind if I take this?”
“Sure,” Miyano said, Hirano nodded. Hanzawa nearly laughed, why did Hirano also feel the need to give permission?
He stepped out of the room, and closed the door.
“Hush, I won’t rat you out.”
Sasaki stood there. He’d been found. “How could you tell…?”
Hanzawa pointed at the end of the hall, two large doors. “Hadn’t heard them since you left.”
The other winced, freaked out.
There was silence as Hanzawa stared.
“Hey, you don’t need to worry so much,” He said, with that signature smile. He spoke slowly and softly, like he was coddling a child.
But I do, Sasaki thought.
“You’re very important to him, he’ll remember you soon. Still, don’t just stand out here. Come back in if you can behave.”
Sasaki huffed. Hanzawa opened the door to Miyano’s room, and reentered. He could hear soft laughter.
“Hanzawa~! I managed to break 5’7”!!” Miyano said, shaking with excitement. Hanzawa chuckled.
He lingered, staring. A door creaked close outside the room.
Before Sasaki, huh?
The doctor spoke up, “Boys, I hate to end this, but we need some tests done before curfew tonight. The train leaves soon.”
“Aah, I need to go back to school, I’ll get your stuff too, Kuresawa!” Tashiro jumped. “I’ll see you again, probably tomorrow, Miyano-!”
He rushed out the door.
“See you.”
“We can leave too, it’s not like you need to remember us,” Hirano said, pinching Miyano’s cheek.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want you around…” Miyano strained out.
“Ooh, no fair.” Hanzawa leans forward, “If I can’t pat him, you can’t pinch him.”
“Don’t do either,” Says the doctor. Hirano lets go, Hanzawa just smiles.
“Bye-bye, little Miyano~”
“Take care, feel better.”
The door closed.
The doctor stared at the remaining friend, Kuresawa, who was watching Miyano.
“And you?” They asked, glaring daggers.
“My girlfriend is here, I have a continuous visiting pass,” He responded.
Their demeanor immediately softened. “Oh, sorry. Excuse me, then.”
“You have a girlfriend? And she’s in the hospital?”
Kuresawa nodded, then giggled. “Y’know, she likes BL, too.”
“Ah-? Ahhh?”
“You would help me get books for her, since you knew a lot of them.”
“Ahh…” Miyano’s face, red as a tomato, was hidden in his hands.
It was just like it had been. Kuresawa remembers telling Miyano the first time; it wasn’t too different of a reaction than now.
“That’s… I’m so happy,” Miyano mumbled.
The other blinked at him. “Happy?”
“You don’t mind my hobbies, right? We can even bond over them…” Miyano looked back at him, but his hands still covered his mouth and cheeks. “I’m so happy we became friends.”
Kuresawa cooed. “Aww, Miya, you’re so sweet.”
“Surely you know I get too excited about my interests.”
“Hehe.” He watched him for a while, then added, “You were happy like this with Sasaki, too.”
“Sasaki liked BL, too?” He leaned back.
“You got him into it. I dunno if he’s a fudanshi, but you would always give him manga to borrow.”
Miyano looked very pleased with himself. “Friends with shared hobbies… I kind of can’t believe it.”
Well, more than friends, in Sasaki’s case, Kuresawa thought.
“...Hey,” Miyano said quietly.
Kuresawa composed himself to match his tone. “Yeah?”
“You… Called me ‘sweet,’ and… Well…”
The other nearly laughed, his heart clenched. “You don’t like ‘cute,’ right? We know that, we hold back.”
Miyano smiled, so wide.
“Even if it’s true~!” Kuresawa poked at his face.
“Hey, hey-!”
“Yoshi?” Came a voice from the hall. Miyano’s mother came rushing in.
“Mom,” He sighed.
She hurried to his side and held his shoulders, afraid of touching his head. “My boy… Oh, Yoshikazu, how you’ve worried your mother…”
“Sorry, mom.”
She held him close to her chest, still wary of his injury. The room was quiet as her worry melted.
She looked to Kuresawa, saying “Sorry, young man, don’t mind me.”
“Take your time, I should probably leave anyway.”
“Ah, have his other friends visited?” Miyano’s mother continued, as if the boy in her arms wasn’t even there.
“Mhm, I’m staying the night in my girlfriend’s room.”
She tilted her head at him. “Oh, right, where is Sasaki?”
Kuresawa wasn’t quite sure how to answer.
“Surely he’s worried sick, yes?”
“Mom,” Miyano said, pulling back. “They told you what’s wrong with me, right?”
Her face turned completely heartbroken at that. “Oh… Oh, my, Yoshi…”
“But it will be fine,” Said Kuresawa, with assured confidence.
The mother’s tear-filled eyes looked at him, Miyano turned slowly as well.
Kuresawa nodded. “We’ll help him with his memory, all of us.”
After a beat, she smiled warmly.
“I’m so glad Yoshi made such good friends.”
They laughed, as one listened outside the room.
People don’t always recover, though, do they?
Sasaki clicked his tongue. He didn’t miss having to hold back.