Connection

-----Kaede's POV

After finishing with lunch, I started heading outside of school. The three of us did visit the nurse for permission, making it easier to explain to our teacher that I'll be a bit late. And once again, Maria will be taking notes for me like yesterday. I feel grateful having them look out for me like that. I'll try and make this visit quick for her.

I soon come up to the train tracks as I would then turn left instead of continuing forward. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've walked down this road. Now that I'm on the right road, I double check the slip of paper to make sure I'm moving to the right house. And after ten or so minutes of walking, I finally find myself standing outside the house.

Kaede: "Hmmm."

I double check the paper once again as I slowly make my way to the door. People are home, right? I end up checking my surroundings to see if anyone is around before knocking on the door. I can hear footsteps coming up to the door as I quickly steady myself. And in the next few moments, the door opens as a woman is now stood in front of me. Is this her older sister?

Woman: "Hello? May I help you?"

Kaede: "Y-yes! I came here to check up on Yui on behalf of everyone."

Woman: "Ah~ Thank you for coming! Please, come inside."

Kaede: "Thank you very much."

With permission, I step inside before she closes the door behind me.

But as I go to take off my shoes, I notice that the ground is covered in blood, and not only the floor, but blood is also splattered along the walls. But before I could say anything, all the blood disappeared in a blink of an eye. But what I find the most interesting is that I'm experiencing these visions again, right when I entered Yui's home...

Woman: "Are you okay?"

Kaede: "Y-yes! I'm fine!"

Woman: "Come. Take a seat. I'll grab you something to drink."

What a sweet sister she has. I'm kind of jealous.

I quickly finish taking off my shoes before making my way inside.

Woman: "Is juice okay with you?"

Kaede: "Yes please."

I take a look around, but there's still no sign of Yui. I did see some stairs, so maybe she's resting upstairs? I wonder if I see her, will I see another weird vision or hallucination again?

It was then that Yui's sister hands me two glasses of what looks to be orange juice. But why two?

Woman: "Could you take this up to her for me? Her room is the first one on the left upstairs."

Kaede: "O-okay."

So that's what the second glass is for.

Woman: "Thank you again for coming to check up on her. Let me know if you need anything."

Kaede: "Thank you."

...

Kaede: "Mmmm."

Problem... I have both my hands full and now I find myself outside of the room. Do I just put the glass down on the floor? No, that just seems wrong. But then do I have to use my head? No, come on Kaede, that's stupid. It's a bit embarrassing, but I guess there's no other choice.

Kaede: "...Uhm, Yui! I have juice here!"

After waiting in silence for a few moments, I hear someone begin to move behind the door before the door finally opens, revealing the girl in question. I notice some of her hair is sticking out which I thought was cute.

Yui: "Kaede?!"

Kaede: "H-hey."

Yui: "W-what are you doing here?"

Kaede: "Your friends sent me. They said you're sick?"

Yui: "Ah, yeah. C-come in."

I step inside the room as Yui closes the door behind me. Her face is quite flushed, so she must still not be feeling well. I end up placing the glass down on the table in front of me as Yui takes her seat back on the edge of the bed.

Yui: "Sorry you had to come by."

Kaede: "It's okay. Your sister was very welcoming. She's very nice."

Yui: "Eh? Oh! You mean my mom?"

Kaede: "Wait, that was your mother? She looks so young though!"

Yui: "Haha. Yeah. I hear her co-workers complain about that. Hopefully I retain my youth as good as mom."

Kaede: "Well, with how much you like running, I'm sure that'll be easy."

Yui: "...Maybe, haha."

I'm honestly unsure if I'm still jealous or not now. Sure she might not have an older sister now, but she still has a parent here for her during the day, and at a week day as well.

Yui: "But are you sure you should be here?"

Kaede: "Hmm?"

Yui: "You... Collapsed yesterday."

Kaede: "Ah, yeah I'm fine. I was just a bit dehydrated back then."

This is the perfect opportunity! I gently pass a glass of orange juice to Yui before speaking up.

Kaede: "And uhm... Thank you by the way. For... Carrying me that day."

Yui: "You heard that?"

Kaede: "Y-yeah."

Wait, is it just me or is her face growing a bit redder right now?

Kaede: "Sorry if I was a bit heavy."

Yui: "Eh? You kidding? You were light as a feather."

Kaede: "But wouldn't it have been better for a guy to-"

Yui: "Absolutely not!"

Kaede: "Huh?"

Weird... I was just going to state the obvious that guys tend to be stronger, so it would've been easier if a guy were to carry me. But what I'm curious about is how stern Yui sounded just now. Its almost as if I just said something completely stupid.

Yui: "They were going to. But I stopped them."

Kaede: "Why?"

Yui: "You serious? I'm sure the guys who wanted to carry you wanted to do it because of their own selfish reasons."

Kaede: "Selfish?"

Yui: "Like, you know. To h-hold a girl's body close like that."

Kaede: "That... Actually didn't cross my mind."

Yui: "It's like if you were to be given CPR. You wouldn't want some old man doing it for you, right?"

Kaede: "Pfft. I think if it means I'm alive, then I don't mind."

Yui: "Well, true... But. Ah, nevermind."

Kaede: "Hmm?"

Interesting. Yui seems quite a lot different than I thought she would. She makes it sound like she'd prefer a girl to do CPR on her instead or something.

Kaede: "Hehe. So you'd be fine with a girl to do CPR on you?"

Yui: "...Sure."

Kaede: "But not guys?"

Yui: "If it means saving my life, yeah."

Kaede: "I think CPR is only used to save lives, hehe."

Yui: "Ahh! Okay, okay, moving on~"

Kaede: "Pfft. Cute."

Yui: "Eh?"

Ah! I didn't mean to say that out loud!

Kaede: "Hehe, I just didn't expect to be having such a weird conversation."

Yui: "I... I guess, haha."

Well, it looks as though I did what I needed. I managed to say thanks to Yui and I can go back and tell the others that she seems to be doing okay.

We both end up finishing our glass of orange juice at the same time before placing the glasses back on the table.

Kaede: "Well, I guess I'll head back."

Yui: "Already?"

Hmm? Wait, could it be that she wants me to stay here longer? I thought I was being a nuisance if anything.

Kaede: "School's still going, so-"

Yui: "Yeah, but. There isn't that much left is there?"

Kaede: "True, but-"

Yui: "So could you stay for a bit longer? I've been bored all day."

I guess it can be fine. Maria's writing my notes for me, but I did want to head back as soon as possible as to not put to much of a burden on her. But if Yui actually wants me to stay here, then I guess I should. Plus I do want to see if I get any more of those visions while I'm around her, but so far, nothing seems to be happening.

Kaede: "...Okay."

Yui: "Yay!~"

Seeming to be victorious, Yui falls back into bed with a big smile on her face. Her smile ends up infecting me as I can't help but smile at the sight of her, I stand up before moving to the side of the bed, as Yui looks my way.

Kaede: "You taking any medicine?"

Yui: "I did this morning. But I haven't taken anymore."

Kaede: "Hmmm."

I end up moving a hand over to Yui's forehead, trying to gauge how hot she's feeling. Her head does seem quite a lot hotter than my hand, so maybe I should go grab some more medicine for her? Also her face is starting to get even redder.

Yui: "U-uhm... Kaede?"

Kaede: "Where's the medicine?"

Yui: "J-just over there."

I follow her gaze as I notice some tablets on top of the nightstand. Taking my hand off of Yui's head, I grab one of the tablets before handing them to Yui.

Kaede: "You need water?"

Yui: "I'm good."

I watch as she quickly puts the pill in he mouth before swallowing without any assistance from water. I don't know why, but I found that impressive, as when I need to take pills, I almost always need to have it with water.

Kaede: "Just try and rest up, yeah?"

Yui: "...Okay."

With how much energy Yui possessed in previous days, seeing her like this is quite a nice breath of fresh air. It's almost like-

Suddenly, my surroundings change. I'm still next to a bed, but the room is drastically different, and on the bed is the girl from my dreams. Only this time, she looks to be sweating profusely, with her face contorting as if she's in a lot of pain.

(Kaede: "Please...")

Wait, my hands look to be glowing? I then realize that I'm holding onto this girl's hand as her face slowly calms down somewhat, color gradually returning to her face.

Yui: "Uhm!"

But Yui's voice breaks me out of this vision, however one thing is definitely wrong here. Looking down, I notice that just like in that vision, I seem to have grabbed hold of Yui's hand as she looks at me. The redness in her face spreading to even her ears as I quickly let go of her hand.

Kaede: "Sorry!"

Yui: "N-no. It's okay... You're quite caring, huh."

Kaede: "Uh, hehehe. Yeah."

Looking at Yui now, I'm sure there's no doubt about it. Yui seems to be connected to that girl in my dreams somehow. Actually, they don't even feel like dreams, it's definitely like a vision. It's not like I just fell asleep and began holding Yui's hand just now.

Kaede: "Eh?"

It was then while I was in my thoughts that I realized that my hand has been grabbed, this time by Yui herself.

Yui: "...I'll be okay."

Kaede: "Y-yeah!"

Yui: "Haha. Why you all nervous now? You grabbed my hand with so much passion before."

Kaede: "Th-that was..."

I'm not about to explain that I just had a vision. I don't want to creep her out.

Yui: "..."

Kaede: "..."

Oh god, what is this atmosphere?! She's still holding my hand. It'd be rude to to forcefully rip my hand away from her, especially since she wants me here. But do I really need to deal with this awkward silence?

Yui: "...Hey, uhm. Where are you from?"

Kaede: "Eh? Me? I'm born and raised here."

Yui: "Really? I've just never seen someone with hair like that."

Kaede: "Ah! Yeah, my mom is half-Russian. I ended up inheriting her white hair."

Yui: "...It's pretty."

Kaede: "..."

Why is she saying that while still holding my hand? This feels so embarrassing. Normally I'd deny it and move the conversation along like I did with Maria, but this atmosphere is completely different!

Kaede: "I... I think you're hair is cute too."

Yui: "Haha. You think?"

Kaede: "Mhmm!"

Yui: "Thanks."

Suddenly, I recall the girl in my dreams. Her long, red hair.

Kaede: "...But I bet it'd look even prettier if you grew it out."

Yui: "...Really?"

Kaede: "Mhmm."

Yui: "I keep it short because it gets in the way when I run and stuff... But... If you think so, then I might try it."

Kaede: "Wait, for real?!"

Yui: "...Mm."

I didn't notice it until now, but I have tightened my grasp around Yui's hand. Just how long are we supposed to be holding hands here?