6 Foreign Things

Suzuki Ara.

Why was her reflection not hers but that girl's? She wondered as she turned her head to find another surface she could see her reflection from, and her eyes stopped at the window.

Although the girl who stared back at her was covered in bandage, there was no mistaking that it was Ara. They did have the same face, but this young woman looking back at her was definitely not her. Also, her eyes…

Alinea's eyes were gray. Ara's were brown.

"W-what happened?"

As soon as she asked the question out loud, a memory of Ara riding a metal carriage flashed in her head – that hopeless pair of eyes as she crashed with a smile.

Car.

The word popped out of her mind again, and she realized it was the name of the metal carriage.

"Huh?"

She frowned. For sure, she found everything so strange. The things she's seeing now – it's her first time ever seeing them. But, for some weird reason, she knew what those things were called. For example…

Her eyes darted at the machine where she was attached. Her eyes had no idea what it was, but her brain knew it's called a vital stats monitor. Also, the thin, hose-like thing with a bag of liquid hooked on her right hand was called an IV drip.

She frowned.

"What is this? What happened?"

Panic started seeping in, making her body cold. She still hasn't gathered her bearings when the door opened, and Suzuki Aki returned with an elderly man wearing a white robe, followed by people, if Alinea remembered accurately, were called nurses.

Seeing her bewildered look, Suzuki Aki misunderstood and became fussy.

"What happened, Ara? Are you in pain? Tell the doctor what's wrong," Aki coaxed gently, obviously worried, but she was too dazed to even say a word.

She kept looking around wildly, taking in her surroundings.

"Doc, what's wrong with her?" Aki demanded, and the elderly doctor and the nurses immediately tried to calm the girl down.

"Mr. Suzuki, please relax," the doctor cajoled, and she finally quieted down.

She remained vigilant as she let the doctor do his routine check up on her. Her gaze locked on the strange contraption the doctor used to hear her heart.

"S-stethoscope…" she couldn't help but utter the word that came to her mind.

The doctor and Aki exchanged glances before speaking. The elderly physician even cleared his throat before saying anything.

"Ehrm…yes, this is a stethoscope," he said kindly as he continued to inspect her. This time, he took a pen-like object from his coat pocket and used it to check her eyes.

The light surprised her that she leaned back in reflex, but the nurses steadied her. Recognizing the object, she relaxed as well and let the doctor check her eyes.

"P-penlight," she said in awe. She had seen that magnificent torch in Ara's memory. Seeing the real thing, she was amazed that there was really no fire inside.

"Y-yes, it's a penlight," the doctor agreed as he shifted the light in his hand to show her the object before putting it right back in his pocket.

Aki who had been watching closely frowned. "Doctor, how is she?"

"Oh, she's doing fine so far. She just needs to rest more. She's still injured after all. Her fractured bones will need time to completely heal. Other than that, there's no major issue."

Afterwards, he gestured towards the nurses, and they immediately assisted the patient back into a lying position.

Alinea was confused but did not fight, and let them leave her without a fuss. When everyone was gone, a frown marred her brows.

"What kind of infirmary is this? The healers are incompetent; they couldn't fix a simple case of broken bones with magic?"

If Sven were here, he would have fixed her up in no time.

Remembering her fallen comrades, tears welled up in her eyes, and she finally let the waves of exhaustion lull her to sleep. Tomorrow. She would deal with whatever tomorrow. For now, she just wanted to rest. She was so tired.

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Suzuki Aki followed the doctor outside Ara's room. Their steps urgent, as a nagging feeling kept bothering him ever since his sister woke up.

"Dr. Fujima," he called the doctor. "Tell me honestly, how's my sister?"

Aki had a feeling that the doctor saw something but didn't want to say in front of his patient.

"She's really fine – at least based on her checkup and recent lab results before she woke up just earlier. But she's been in a coma for more than a month, plus she has fractured bones, so she would have to stay here another month, then she'll need to have physical therapy afterwards to regain her lost mobility."

"But why was she like that? Like it's her first time seeing things?"

The doctor sighed. "Mr. Suzuki, your sister suffered major head trauma and has just woken up. It's natural that she's a bit muddled at the moment. She will get better as days pass. The good thing is that she has no amnesia."

"That's it?" Aki felt more at ease upon hearing that.

"Well…" the doctor started, and when Aki raised his brow, he continued. "I'm just wondering if you have foreign blood?"

The question was totally unexpected that it took time before Aki was able to answer. "No. We don't."

"Are you sure?" the doctor prompted, and he nodded.

"We're pure Japanese."

"I see…"

"Why did you ask, doctor?"

"Because when I checked your sister's eyes earlier, I noted some discoloration," the elderly said, and when the younger man looked confused, he immediately reassured him.

"It's nothing major, sir. Eyes with a lot of melanin like ours, Asians, will be naturally darker. The less melanin in your eyes, like in Westerners, the lighter they'll be. It's rare, but it's also possible that, because of her injuries, the color of her irises is changing. Based on the discoloration, she may have a complete color change in a week. It doesn't affect her overall health however aside from being more sensitive to UV, so there's nothing to worry about."

"That's good," Aki was finally relieved. Exhaustion was visible on his face.

It had been a hellish month since his sister got into an accident. He was beyond terrified with the thought of losing his only sibling the whole time. She had flat-lined several times when she was first rushed at this hospital, and when her vitals seemed to finally stabilize, she suddenly slipped into a coma.

"But for her to recover well, the young miss should have a quiet and stress-free environment," the doctor suggested and Aki's face looked grim.

"It's almost graduation. My sister had always been top of her class so she doesn't have problems with missing a month or two of lessons. I'll have her continue what remains of her studies with a private tutor," Suzuki Aki said. It was the best idea he could come up with to make his sister's life free from stress.

He loved and cherished his only sibling. But he's also aware of what was going on in her life. Suzuki Ara was like a rose in the garden – beautiful, but full of thorns.

Also, just like any other flower, bugs, and pests stuck to her, eating away her being, spoiling her essence, making everyone dislike her.

His little sister, Suzuki Ara was the most hated girl in her school.