17 Just the Beginning

Ara stared at the ball of plasma in her hands, easing her boredom as she waited for her guests to arrive. Then, a knock on the door resounded, and the doctor and two nurses came in, surprising her. It was a good thing the electricity in her hand vanished as soon as she got startled; else she had no idea how to explain it.

Did she forget her checkup? Ara wondered. Her confusion might have shown on her face as the elderly doctor chuckled and reassured her immediately.

"I'm so sorry if we disturbed you Ms. Suzuki, but your brother called and asked us to check up on you," he said with an apologetic smile.

Ara's lips twitched. She should have known it was Aki's doing. This must be his way to compensate for not being here today. He's really overprotective, she thought, although she felt touched again.

"It's no problem," she answered, and the medical staff looked relieved as they proceeded on checking her vitals and things they'd do at a checkup.

They were in the middle of her limb massage and she was lying on her back when a knock sounded on the door, and then it opened immediately as if the person on the other side couldn't wait for anyone to open it for them.

"Good afternoon. Ara, we're here," Koharu's voice rang in the room as she breezed inside, followed by four others. They were all in uniforms. It was obvious they came to the hospital as soon as classes finished.

"Ara, I originally wanted to come with only Rin and Miharu. Then we chanced upon Uchida and Pres by the gates. They asked where we're going, and when they found out we're coming to visit you they asked to tag along."

'Pres' meant Miyahara, the student council president.

The corner of Ara's lips twitched again in amusement. "Chanced upon" indeed. Knowing Koharu, meeting Uchida, the school paper's editor, and the student council president was not a coincidence.

Rin and Miharu, on the other hand, were her other lackeys. All four of them hung out together before.

Their view of Ara was blocked by the doctor and the other nurse, so they hadn't seen her yet. She was still on her back with the other nurse stretching and massaging her arm.

"Make yourselves comfortable," the elderly doctor said as he gestured for them to sit on the couch. "Ms. Suzuki's checkup and massage will be over soon. Her injuries were very serious, so we need to make her body regain its strength."

Hearing this, Ara's amusement increased. She was just thinking of how to explain her situation without giving Koharu room to declare that she was faking being sick since she looked fine now when the doctor spoke and did it for her.

Ah, doc, you're such a good teammate, she thought. She'd tell Aki to give the people who took good care of her here some generous thank you gifts.

"Oh, that's horrible," Koharu commented dramatically, and the others expressed their own concerns. "What is the extent of her injuries?"

The girl wanted to know the details, and the doctor hesitated as he glanced at Ara. "You can tell them, doctor," she consented, and the doctor gladly humored their inquiries.

"She broke many bones in her body, like her arm, hands, shoulder, some ribs, and there's a crack on her skull. Two of her ribs pierced her lungs. The severity of her wounds caused her to nearly die multiple times in a span of six hours during surgery before falling in a deep coma for more than a month."

Loud gasps echoed in the room. It was the first time they found out about the magnitude of her injuries. Just the thought of breaking a bone was awful – what more multiple and life-threatening ones?

"Oh Ara, that's just too much," Koharu, the best actress crooned. It was honestly overdramatic it sounded fake.

Suzuki Ara had no idea how she ever bought this woman's entire performance before. She felt totally stupid for always believing this burikko – then she remembered it was not really her who this girl played with and she felt better.

"But it's still okay Ara. Don't be sad. Even if you got disfigured, at least you survived that horrible accident," the self-declared 'best friend' continued and finally, Ara's eyes sparkled with glee.

Ha!

She was spot on. The little miss came here with people to shame and to try and embarrass her.

"That's right, Ms. Suzuki. The most important thing is that you are alive. Life is precious," the student council president added, but his tone of voice sounded scolding. After all, they were all thinking Ara tried to commit suicide.

"Well, I'm glad I'm alive too. After all, I want to seek justice for myself and find the culprit who tampered with my car."

The nurse had finished her massage and helped her up on the bed, and everyone was shocked upon seeing her. In spite of all the injuries she was supposed to have had, there was no trace of them on her right now. Her, face, her skin – they were glowing.

She was only not disfigured, she even looked better than she did before she had the accident.

And her eyes – her eyes looked… different.

"S-Suzuki? Is that you?" Miyahara, the student council president asked in awe.

"Of course!" Ara smiled so wide, but her eyes bore fire as she transferred her gaze from one person to another. "Who else could it be –a ghost that came back for revenge?"

"Of course not," Pres said, still staring at the beauty on the hospital bed. "It's just…"

"You look different," Uchida, the school paper editor commented as he looked at her face. "Okada said you were disfigured."

"Oh?"Ara fixed her gaze on her 'best friend', who seemed to be still frozen as she stared at her. "I wonder why Koharu said that when she hasn't seen me yet since the accident."

At the mention of her name, Okada Koharu snapped out of her trance and stammered her excuses. "Ah, but that was because… When we talked on the phone you said you were severely injured and I assumed – "

"You told people I'm disfigured because you assumed I am?" What a great joke.

"Well…"Okada Koharu looked upset and troubled as she squirmed from everyone's gazes, and Ara smirked.

"You're already writhing from just this?" Ara thought to herself. "This is just the beginning. There's more to come…"