Lean On Me

"What do you mean she's missing?" He ran up to them, giving them a little more of a shock on top of what they just heard.

"Oh, um well. I just left her alone for probably a few minutes. So that I could get the equipment I need to draw her blood. When I returned, she was gone."

"Maybe she went to use the bathroom or something?" Akiba offered an idea, one that he knew for certain was wrong.

"I told her specifically not to leave the room. It wasn't going to take long, maybe ten minutes at most." Koume answered.

"How bothersome, this isn't the time to be playing hide and seek." Said Misei.

"I agree. If Yogi dies because of this, it's going to be really annoying." The way Yuriko put it was the strangest way one could say to make it sound like you don't care and care about someone.

Arata froze, everything sounding muffled to him. Hearing this, he knew the truth of why she was gone. Yet, should he tell them? She kept it secret for a reason, and he understood that people like to keep the things they have private for a reason. Conflicted, he struggled with what he was going to say next.

"Kashimura?" A voice brought him back to the conversation at hand. It was Akaki, noticing he had grown silent. "Is something wrong?" The rest of them looked on at him, waiting for a reply.

"Oh, it's nothing. Uh, we should go look for her." He answered. As much as he thought it might help, he'll keep to himself, for her sake.

"If that's the case, then it's best if we split up. So that we can cover the most ground." Misei took control of the situation. "Yuriko, you should stay here and keep an eye on the front door. At least we can make sure she's still inside the hospital." The girl nodded in agreement. The others left the main room in search of Erina.

"Hey." Making sure that the others were gone, he grabbed Koume before she left to search. "You should try and check if the hospital can find the blood they need elsewhere."

"Right, it looks like even if we find her. She probably won't allow us to take her blood." Confirming this, the two separated. Arata quickly found himself rushing to the room that Erina was last at.

Getting there, he realized that he should've mentioned where she was in the first place to the others. Then again, it was unlikely that she would be near. If anything, he thought she might try and get as far as she could from it.

Either way, it would at least give him a starting point to begin his search. He scanned where this area led to, it didn't seem there was anywhere that would necessarily be off-limits nearby. Given the situation, even that might not stop her, though it would give the rest of them some trouble.

Where could she possible be hiding at? The hospital was a pretty busy place, so hiding in plain sight wouldn't be unheard of. Or perhaps she was in the vents. Given what he'd seen from her so far, she certainly was acrobatic. Climbing into the ceiling above wouldn't be a challenge for her.

He stood still for a moment. More thoughts coming into his head. Thinking that this was all his fault. If only he hadn't pushed her into this or given the others false hope for their friend. This could've been simple, if only he hadn't been so selfish, he thought.

He would've fallen more into despair, until an odd sound broke him out of his trance. What was that sound? It sounded like, sniffling? At a hospital with sick people, that wasn't something that would catch one's attention. Except this didn't sound like the sniffles of someone with a cold. No, this sounded more like…

"Crying?" He said aloud to himself. That must be it, but why? He took his time to listen more carefully. Trying to search out the source of it. He hadn't moved from his spot, so it couldn't be far away from the room that Erina was last at. Was it her?

He slowly moved, trying his best to go toward the sounds. When it got much louder, he looked down the hall to find any doors that he should check in. A supply closet seemed to be where the noise was emanating the loudest from.

"Hello?" He peeked inside, there was a girl sitting alone. Knees hiding her face, but that hair told him who that was. It was Erina. He didn't say anymore, looking around to see if anyone was around, he quietly entered.

So this was where she hiding, just some small supply closet that held numerous cleaning supplies. Erina wasn't being very quiet, so he assumed that in her panic, Koume must not have heard her.

"Hey, uh, Erina. Did you hear me?" He was unsure on how to approach her. He never had any experience with crying girls except in fiction. Was he really the person to deal with this?

"Go away…" She muttered, sniffing from her tears.

"Come on, everyone's looking for you." He said. No matter what, he wasn't going to give up. "We're all really worried about you."

"I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry? Of well it's no big deal. Let's just get back with the others and…"

"No." She cut him off. "I'm so sorry, that I'm so worthless."

"Huh?" What's going on with her, he thought. Sure this might've been a bit of a hassle, but he wasn't that mad at her. And he was sure if she explained it to the others, they'd be fine as well. "What are you talking about. You're worrying me."

"This is all my fault because I'm so weak." She said. "I love him, I love Yogi. He's done so much for me. But when he needs me the most, I'm too scared to do it."

"Erina…" He responded, unable to find the words to say more. He found her limit, at probably the worst possible time.

"I'm such a terrible person. I can't even help the ones I love." Hearing her trash herself, it just didn't feel right to him. As much as he may be annoyed by her normal personality, he'd give anything to get that Erina back.

But how was he going to do that? He felt so useless right now, even more than she felt about herself. She was blaming herself over something she had no control over.

"No…" He started to talk. "I'm the pathetic one here." He said. She turned her tear stain face to him. Not understanding what he meant. "I'm the one who pushed you to this. I was only thinking of myself, and I didn't consider your feelings about this."

He couldn't keep it in any longer. The guilt, the doubt. He felt like he had tempted fate at the worst time.

"So I'm the one who's at fault." He sighed, it felt a bit better to get it off his chest. It wasn't much, but at least he no longer had that dreadful feeling since he left her.

"But that's not true!" She stopped crying, getting herself back up to tell him that. "I mean, you thought that if I just did it, Yogi might like me more, right?" The way she put it didn't make him feel any better. That was what he was feeling guilty for in the first place. "And you wanted him to get better, because you care about him, right?"

"Of course I want him to get better. He's my friend too, you know." He responded. "But I just don't know if what I'm did was right."

"It was!" She yelled at him. What she meant by that isn't what he was thinking. He thought that it was because he valued the life of a human. What he didn't know was what she was thinking in her mind.

She stared at him, silence between the two of them. One thought stood out to her. A question she wanted to find the answer to. Did he care about her?

"Look." He sighed, not giving her the chance to think it over. "I've made up my mind."

"About what?"

"You don't have to go through with this." He told her. "I'll support you, and I'm sure some of them won't be happy. But no one's forcing you to do this. I'm sure the doctors can find something." He assured her. It wasn't easy to say this. He knew that he wasn't going to please everyone with any decision he made. At least he could make her happy though.

"...Okay." She accepted his offer after some thought. "let's get to the others. I'm sure they're very worried right now."

"Oh I know they are." He lead them out of the closet. Making their way back to the front lobby. With Yuriko guarding the front entrance, they were able to contact the rest to return from their search.

"So troublesome." Misei scolded Erina for her disappearing act. "This isn't the time for fun and games you know."

"We were really worried about you." Said Akiba. "Where did you go?" Erina stood in silence to that question. He wasn't sure if he should jump in. If he did, should he tell the truth, or lie for her sake? Lucky for him, she didn't let him make the choice.

"I was scared…" She replied. Looks of confusion greeted her. "The truth is, I'm terrified of blood or the idea of having it drawn." She explained to them everything. Her fear, her panic when she came into the room. She apologized for disappointing and letting them down.

"I'm so sorry about that. I wish you said something sooner." Said Akaki. "We should've thought about your feelings, even if we assumed that you were okay about it." It seemed like he vocalized what the others were thinking. Even if they were saddened that she couldn't be of help.

"Yeah I'm sure that boy can hold out a little longer right? Even some loser like him won't just die overnight." The way she could somehow come up the with meanest way to treat him, just baffled Arata. Still though, he was glad that this was resolved without incident. Even though he talked a big game, he really wasn't sure how they were going to react.

"Yeah, so I guess she won't…"

"I'll do it though." She interrupted what he thought was the ending to this story.

"Huh?!" They all said in unison.

"But why?" He asked. "Didn't we just say that it fine if you don't do it?"

"I know that you all will be fine, but I don't think I will be." She said. "I think I'll try to be strong this time."

"I don't understand, it just sounds like we're back to where we started." He put his palm over his face." The others agreed with him, except even they didn't even talk with her before. What was the reason for her sudden burst of confidence?

"Well if that's the case. Then would you like to follow me back again?" Koume directed Erina back to get her blood drawn. Arata followed once more.

"If there's no sensitive information being discussed. Is it okay if I wait in the room when it's being done?"

"If it's okay with the patient, and as long as you promise to not disturb my work." Erina gave permission, he entered the room with them.

"Thanks, it's not like I expect her to run out again. I just want to make sure we keep things on track though." He explained his reasoning.

"I have everything with me, so I won't be leaving this room until we're finished with the process." She was going to keep her eye on the girl, though she hoped that it wasn't going to be like that morning.

"I'm glad it's you that's with me." Erina told him. He folded his arms and looked away. He didn't want to show it, but for some reason. He liked hearing it.

Koume began what she would usually do to draw blood from patients. Tapping for a vein and rubbing alcohol over the area. Arata peered over them. He could tell how nervous those two were about this. It kind of made him worried about what might happen.

She grabbed the needle closer, preparing to stick it in. It was mere centimeters from Erina. Her eyes widen, and she jolted back in fear.

"Please, don't do that." Koume was about to break out into a sweat. "I really don't want to hurt you on accident."

"I'm sorry, it's just that…" Her labored breathing was more than enough for him. This wasn't going to work, not unless there was something he could do. Then, an idea hit him. It might work, but he wasn't going to like it.

"Hey, Nurse Mino. Can you come here for a moment." He beckoned her over. Once she reached him, he whispered to her. Making sure that Erina couldn't hear them. "I think I have a plan, just follow my lead, you'll know what to do." She wasn't sure what he meant by this. However, if there was a way to make this easier, she was willing to do it.

They returned to Erina once more, who had a worried look on her face. She wasn't looking forward to what he had planned this time.

"I'm sorry, but I guess I'm not as strong as I was hoping." She apologized to him.

"Oh no worries." He hoped what he was about to do was going to work. "Hey…"

"What?"

"Bleh!" He made a ridiculous face to her. Contorting it to make him look silly. It was so odd to her that she just had to laugh.

"W-what are y-you doing?!" She tried to speak, but her laughter was getting in the way. "Wh-why are you a-acting so we-weird!" It was working, she was distracted. Koume understood immediately and started to work right away.

"Pl-please, stop! This is just so stupid. Why is this so funny?" Lucky for him, she wasn't the type to move a lot when uncontrollably laughing. Made things so much easier for the nurse.

"Oh yeah? What about this?" He changed up his face again, keeping her attention. This charade keep on for the whole time that blood was being drawn. Once Koume safely got the needle out. She signaled him that she was finished.

He collapsed to the floor. Exhausted. It turned out that donating blood takes at least seven minutes, and he had to keep that up for every single second of it.

"Oh my gosh." Erina spoke, out of breath. "I thought I was going to wet myself. But thanks, I think I feel a lot better now."

"Good." He barely got his words out of himself. "Because we're all done here." He stared at him blankly, not understanding what he meant.

"Yes, we're done with the process now." Koume grabbed her attention. When she looked at her arm, she had a bandage where the needle went into. She didn't even feel it inject her.

"What?" The realization of what happened finally hit her. "Oh thanks so much!" She rushed up and hugged Koume in excitement. However, the sudden rush of getting up, along with the loss of a pint of blood caused her to go light headed. She would've fell if Koume wasn't there to hold her.

"Well I'm glad that all worked out." She looked at the two people basically collapsed on the floor. Considering where they were, this would normally be a pretty concerning sight. But for her, this was a job well done.