CHAPTER 13: "うさぎちゃん"

Drenched in sweat, Tsukiko's eyes snapped open, her chest heaving heavily. Though she had already opened her eyes, she still found it very hard to see anything or all she could see was blurred masses. Strangely enough, these blurred masses were surrounding her, and they seemed to be in quite a close proximity to her face though instead of feeling alarmed, she felt comforted by the presence of the masses. 

Soon enough, she was able to discern that the masses, now clear, were Jae-sung and Hirano who were on her left and right side respectively. They both looked at her with concern, a worried tone intertwined with their words though she really couldn't hear them properly as all her senses had become dulled and would require some time to fully regain use of them. 

In spite of this, she could still hear them a bit and somewhat make out some of their conversation. 

"Tsukiko! are you okay?"

"Are you hurt anywhere??"

"Would you like some water?"

They both pestered her with dozens and dozens and questions. Tsukiko didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Holding her hands in front of their faces, she signaled for them to stop speaking. Immediately, they both realized that pestering her with so many questions would do more harm than good so they both covered their mouths with their hands. This caused them to look quite comical and Tsukiko puffed out a laugh. Of course, it'd be rude for a lady to so blatantly laugh at someone, so she made sure she covered her mouth while doing so. Still, she couldn't help breaking into a bright smile.

"You're both so silly", she said as her smile got even brighter. 

The hands they used to cover their mouths loosened as they looked at Tsukiko who now seemed more endearing than before, something softening their gazes. Well, to be honest, Jaesung was the one whose could gaze could easily be described as 'softening'. Hirano did have something soft in his eyes though Jae-sung's outmatched his and it was especially surprising since he really didn't come off as that type of person in the first place. People always thought he cold and stoic while some even felt he was quite scary, and his family's wealth and background surely didn't help at all. 

Back in his old school in Korea, there were a lot of rumors about him, some horribly wrong and some horribly wrong and atrocious and like all undesirable rumors, they spread like wildfire and in a few weeks, Jae-sung was avoided like the plague. Though he could always hear them whispering about him in the halls whenever he passed by. It was very depressing experience.

Although things have taken a turn for the better since he had come to Japan. No one feared him nor avoided him and instead treated him as kindly as they would treat a friend of theirs. He no longer felt depressed or felt the need to isolate himself from others. Although, not wanting to do something doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be able to successfully stop doing that thing. He had felt like an outsider in his in own school for way too long and the feeling of alienation had become deeply engraved in him. Only at his home with his family would he feel like he had a place where he was welcomed and he grew to love and cherish the concept of 'family' and although he didn't have any, he also appreciated friendship and had always wondered what it would feel like to be someone so special to another that'd they give him such a title as 'friend'. 

Now, as he watched Tsukiko smiling so much, the sun's dazzling light shining on her face, he felt that perhaps he just might be able to finally feel for himself, how it was to be a friend.

And he liked that very much.

Two weeks later, Tsukiko, now recovered had been discharged from the hospital and was now completing the rest of her rest period at home in order to recuperate better. Hirano took time off work so he was constantly at home and though Tsukiko enjoyed his company, sometimes he would go a little overboard. 

"Tsukiko, do you need any help" and "Tsukiko how are you feeling" were only a few of the sentences she heard on a daily basis. At first, she didn't mind the help her brother had given her but at some point, she really couldn't keep accepting his assists. This point being when he kept asking her to let him help her with things that she could do just fine, like take her medication or make her own food and even wearing her own slippers so she very politely told him that he didn't have to do any of that for her.

Thankfully, Hirano got the message and indeed stopped asking to do stuff like that to which Tsukiko was very grateful for. She laid back down on the sofa and took a nap, though she also ended up having another nightmare. This time, it wasn't as scary as the dream she had in the hospital, but it was still nonetheless frightening to the extreme.

So frightening that she woke up in a start, sweat all over her face, to the sound of a doorbell. 

It seemed someone had come.

Earlier that day, Miyuki came with a few of Tsukiko's classmates to see how she was doing and had already left, so it was strange to see that another person had arrived. Perhaps they were shy?

The sound of the doorbell was heard again.

With much trouble, Tsukiko stood up from the sofa and made her way towards the door. This was quite strange, stranger than whoever was coming to her house after everyone else had already done so. 

Tsukiko definitely got better during her stay at home and only needed to rest a little more to make sure all her magic was back, but after that dream she had, she felt a little...off. Still, she walked on, supporting herself against the wall as she opened the door. 

Tsukiko's eyes widened in surprise as she saw Jae-sung standing in front of her holding a basket with flowers, pastries, candies and lot of adorable accessories.

"Jae-sung? what are you doing here?", she asked. 

"Hello, may I come in?", he asked in return.

Tsukiko nodded and opened the door further to let him in. She told him he could sit anywhere so he chose the chair opposite the one that Tsukiko had just been sleeping on.

Tsukiko's house was really big and had three stories. The living room that was on the ground floor was also quite spacious and was exquisitely furnished.

Once she sat down, Tsukiko asked Jae-sung why he was here. 

"Well, on the way here, I met Hirano, and he told me to look after you for a while until he gets back, besides, I wanted to see how you were doing."

Saying this he handed Tsukiko the basket with a smile, and she gratefully accepted it. She wanted to start opening now but felt it'd be a little rude to do that, so she refrained from doing so. Jae-sung saw this and told her that she could open it. For a moment, she seemed to be hesitating before finally opening it, and her eyes began to sparkle as she did so. 

Through the transparent wrapping paper, she could see some of the things inside though she couldn't see everything which was how she completely missed the cute bunny plushy inside.

It was holding white and holding a carrot and it was extremely soft. It also wore an adorable pink dress with stockings and cute pink shoes. On its left ear, was a ribbon tied into a bow. Overall, it was a really wonderful and well-made plushy. Tsukiko's eyes continued to shine, and she now had a really endearing smile on her face making her look 10 times as cute as she already did and for a moment, the 'high school girl' Tsukiko was replaced by the 'little kid' Tsukiko. 

She didn't speak for a while and continued to play with the bunny. Jae-sung who watched on was happy she liked it, after all, he spent quite some time to get it. 

During the time that Tsukiko wasn't in school, Miyuki introduced herself to Jae-sung and asked if they could be friends to which he didn't object so they had actually become pretty good friends. Then one day, Miyuki told Jae-sung that Tsukiko really liked cute things and sweets and though Jae-sung felt it to be a little random, he still made a mental note to remember that. 

Miyuki had actually done this on purpose in hopes that Jae-sung would get a gift for Tsukiko and when he told her that he would she was so ecstatic that she accidentally got stuck in the air again after jumping with her hover boots. 

After getting her down and of course finishing school for the day, Miyuki followed Jae-sung to help him choose things to give Tsukiko. They went to a lot of places to get the things needed for her gift. They went to pastry shops, accessory stores and a lot of candy places and with Miyuki's help, the gift was almost complete, though it was already more than enough, Miyuki felt like something was missing and so did Jae-sung. That's when they spotted a little shop that had a cottage vibe to it and on the display shelves were toys and plushies.

They entered the shop, looking for the perfect one to give to Tsukiko and Jae-sung's eye caught the white bunny plushy. After checking with Miyuki, they decided that this was the one that Tsukiko would like best, and they were right.

"Thank you so much!", said Tsukiko excitedly. Jae-sung simply smiled at her and nodded. 

After a while of talking and playing the bunny, Jae-sung got serious all of a sudden. In addition to coming here to check on her, Jae-sung had another motive and that was to ask her a question.

"What happened to you that night?"