Chapter 112 [End of Second Week]
Why did things turn out like this?
Even when they arrived at the ward of the University of Tokyo Hospital, Toru Oikawa and Iwaizumi Hajime still found it hard to believe what they saw.
Incomprehensible and unimaginable.
Sana came to Miyagi Prefecture to watch their game not long ago. At that time, she was full of energy and everything was fine. Why did she become like this in the blink of an eye?
During the day, Oikawa Tetsuya was already checking in at the terminal at Tokyo's Narita Airport. At night, he should have been in the air, but he appeared in Kurikawa Sana's hospital room.
According to the original plan, Oikawa Toru will fly to Argentina today. Before graduating and officially leaving for Argentina, he needs to go there for an inspection. His childhood friend Iwaizumi Kazuya comes to see him off and wish him all the best.
But just as he was waiting in line to check in his luggage, Oikawa Toru and Iwaizumi suddenly heard the girl in front of them looking down at her phone exclaim, "Eh?! Sana-chan fell off a cliff while filming a movie!"
"Is this true? This must be a lie, right?!"
"It's true! The person is already in the hospital for emergency treatment, but we don't know if he can survive..."
"Oh my god... what a pity! I really like Sana-chan..."
etc.
...What are they talking about?
At that moment, Oikawa Toru's mind went blank. He vaguely saw Iwaizumi Kazuya quickly take out his phone to confirm the authenticity of the news, and vaguely saw Iwa-chan seemed to be having trouble holding the phone...
When he roughly saw the news footage displayed on the other person's mobile phone - the scene of a black-haired girl covered in blood being carried onto a medical stretcher at the bottom of the cliff, Toru Oikawa rushed out of the check-in queue where he had been waiting for a long time, stumbling.
Regardless of the plane ticket or flight, I only have one thought in mind now, which is to see her.
The plane ticket can be bought later, and the Argentina inspection can be done later, but if he doesn't go to see her now, he is sure that he will regret it later.
As one of the people who knew Oikawa Toru best, Iwaizumi Hajime didn't ask any questions, but just followed in the same daze.
When he rushed to the taxi stand, Toru Oikawa realized belatedly that he didn't even know which hospital she was in.
He didn't add the contact information of the captains and regular players of Inarizaki, nor did he have the phone number of Sana's agent like them, so he had no purpose.
It was not until this moment that Toru Oikawa realized how little he knew about her. When she couldn't reply to his messages, he couldn't even find her.
They could only rush to the Tokyo University Hospital according to the location mentioned in the news. When they saw the entrance gate crowded with cameras and paparazzi, they confirmed that Sana was really there.
Finally, they met Sana's agent, Ms. Sato, in the hospital. She took them to the ward where Sana was with a heavy face. At this time, she had finished the operation and was diagnosed by the doctor as a vegetative state.
Also in the ward were Ushijima Wakari and Tokyo's Sakuhaya Seiomi, who were also brought in by Ms. Sato. Ms. Sato said that Sana valued them very much, and if they could talk to her more, perhaps Sana would have a chance of waking up - that was Ms. Sato's hope.
If it were in the past, no matter where he met Ushijima Wakari, Oikawa Toru would feel uncomfortable, but now he has no time to care about it.
He only had eyes for the person on the hospital bed.
Kurikawa Sana lay quietly on the hospital bed, her blue eyes, clear as the sky, never opening again. Her pale, beautiful face bore the bloody scars of branches from her fall from the cliff. Beneath the blankets, her body was covered in stitches and nails from surgical repairs of broken bones.
Doctors said it was a miracle that she survived the 30-meter-high cliff. But the price of her survival was that she lost consciousness and became a vegetative state. If she wanted to wake up, she would have to hope for another miracle.
Ms. Sato went out to make a phone call. The faint voice coming from her phone revealed that the culprit suspected of causing Sana to fall off the cliff, the evil director, has been taken into custody by the police. At the same time, he is facing multiple charges for past crimes, and a belated trial will be waiting for him.
...If he had been caught earlier, would Sana not have become like this?
“Drip—drip—drip—”
None of the four teenagers in the huge single ward spoke. They could only hear each other's heavy, short breathing and the constant sound of the monitor.
Oikawa Toru suddenly remembered the day when Sana came to Miyagi Prefecture to watch the match between him and Karasuno at Sendai Arena, when the words of confession were on the tip of his tongue and he almost blurted them out...but he took them back in the end.
If I had confessed at that time... would the ending of the story have changed?
Because he was going to Argentina after graduation, he never even expressed his love for her.
And now, she might never wake up and know his feelings.
No, compared to the weight of life, knowing one's heart and other things are no longer important.
If he had told her his feelings at that time, would her trajectory have changed? Would she have joined this fatal film crew? Would the ending have been different?
Thinking of this, Oikawa Toru could hardly stand up, took a step back, and felt it was difficult to breathe.
Iwaizumi, looking pale, held him up with his hands.
It was clearly a hospital ward at night and the scenery was nothing similar, but Iwaizumi's thoughts inexplicably went back to the first day he met Kurikawa Sana in Amagasaki Castle.
At that time...he had developed feelings for Sana before Oikawa.
Unexpectedly, as time passed, the person who was more trapped and unable to get out than him became Oikawa.
Iwaizumi closed his eyes.
The second before he closed his eyes, the light from the ceiling of the ward he saw seemed to turn into the sunlight in Amagasaki Castle, Hyogo Prefecture, on the day he first met Kurikawa Sana.
At the same time, what flashed through his mind was the black-haired girl's smile when she turned around and looked at them. It was brighter and more dazzling than the sunshine that day.
…
In the same ward, the boy on the other side had a similar mood and the same thoughts.
Sakuhaya Seiomi stared blankly at the girl on the hospital bed, his brain feeling like a clock with its spring pulled out, having stopped beating. His thoughts seemed to be tightly sealed with black tape, and his entire body felt like it had fallen into an icy river, leaving only darkness and gloom.
During the day, before she fell off the cliff, she took the rare opportunity to call him and said... she suddenly wanted to see him.
——I’m flattered.
His mood at that time could almost be described by this word.
Along with the surprise came a feeling of almost ecstasy. At that moment, he was about to blurt out the word "like".
But in the end he didn't. Even though the words were on the tip of his tongue, he chose to change them to "I'll come find you when you finish filming. I have something to tell you."
But he couldn't wait until she finished filming.
In the blink of an eye, she was lying on the intensive care bed, unable to open her eyes.
He even learned about her accident from his good friend Ushijima Wakari.
Wakari-kun made an appointment with him to practice basketball in Tokyo. Remembering that Sana was also in Tokyo, Wakari-kun tried to contact her and said bluntly, "Because I wanted to meet Kurikawa-san, I asked her," but rarely did he receive a reply.
Finally, Wakari-kun called directly, but the person who answered the phone turned out to be Ms. Sato. From Ms. Sato's pained and exhausted tone, they learned that Sana had been in trouble.
Sakuhaya Seiomi had always known that his personality was a little odd, but he had never considered it a problem.
Only this time, for the first time in his life, he regretted it.
...If he had been more straightforward at that time, would she not have hung up the phone?
If she had been more straightforward at that time, would she have left that place and not fallen off the cliff?
And she had actually called him back then, out of character. Was that jerk director already harassing her? Was that call a cry for help, a cry of unease?
The more I thought about it, the more my heart felt like it was bound by an invisible rope, and even the slightest movement would cause severe tearing pain.
Ushijima Wakari silently clenched his fists, veins bulging on the strong muscles of his arms.
His father once told him not to be so introverted all the time, and to remember to smile when he was happy and try to cry when he was sad.
At that time, he just nodded silently and agreed to his father, just because he didn't want to make his father worry.
But it turns out... when you are really sad to a certain extent, you can't cry.
It was a dizzy feeling as if the mind went blank, and the heart and brain seemed to be tightened. I had to clench my fists tightly to maintain a standing posture.
Time passed by little by little. The four teenagers from different schools had stayed in the ward for too long. The nurse who came to change the IV drip for Kurikawa Sana couldn't help but cast strange looks at them.
These people are really strange.
It's been such a long time, and the four of them haven't said a word. They are really holding it in.
But clearly, the expressions on each of their faces looked...
It's like I'm about to cry.
…
*
The black-haired girl on the hospital bed seemed to be just asleep, and any sound could wake her up.
The originally spacious ward seemed a little cramped because there were too many people standing there. Everyone was silent, and a heavy mood hung over the ward like a dark cloud.
Even Hinata Shoyo, who was always the most lively and active, became silent like a robot whose battery was pulled out, with only a pair of eyes staring at the unconscious patient on the bed.
It seemed that as long as he looked at her intently enough, she would wake up and respond to him.
Yamaguchi Tadashi looked around and saw that no one was talking, so he stepped forward and said, "We're here to see you, Kurikawa-senpai..."
He suppressed the trembling in his voice and glanced cautiously at the others.
As the one with the clearest perspective among the four first-year students in Karasuno, he could of course feel the feelings that Azuki, Kageyama, and Hinata had invested in Senior Kurikawa.
Because of this, he couldn't imagine what they were feeling at the moment.
Hinata Shoyo and Kageyama Tobio's minds were actually almost blank.
The news of Kurikawa-senpai's accident came too suddenly. They subconsciously didn't want to believe it was true. Even when they arrived at the ward and saw the incredibly beautiful girl lying there quietly, there was still a corner in their hearts that kept shouting -
This must be a lie, right?
This must be a lie, right?
There must be something wrong.
Just a short while ago, during the match between Harukaka and Inarizaki, the senior was sitting on the sidelines, full of energy, watching the game with such seriousness and vitality in her eyes... How could she suddenly be lying here so quietly?!
No more smiles, no more responses.
Amidst the sound of Yamaguchi Tadashi gasping, Kageyama Tobio carefully took Kurikawa Sana's hand and saw the bloody marks on the back of her hand caused by cuts from rocks and rubble.
There may be countless such wounds under the quilt of the hospital bed, as well as wounds caused by major surgery.
At this moment, Kageyama Tobio felt a strong sense of shortness of breath, as if he was at the end of a game, lacking physical strength, his vision gradually narrowed and turned black, and his brain was lacking oxygen.
"Senior will definitely wake up--" Hinata Shoyang suddenly said loudly. Everyone was startled by his voice and looked over subconsciously.
The boy, whose eyes were as dazzling as the orange sun, had a scorching and determined gaze. "Senior said she wanted to hear more from me, so—so she will definitely wake up!"
So he absolutely cannot be depressed, that is not what the senior wants to see him.
He had to muster up his energy and wait until his senior sister woke up, then present all the achievements and honors he had accumulated by then to her.
When that time comes, I will tell my senior everything I wanted to say and everything I didn’t have time to say.
Unlike the others who were feeling lost and devastated, Hinata Shoyang's orange eyes were filled with tears, but they were burning with a fire that seemed to want to achieve some goal, with his unique determination to move forward.
Yamaguchi Tadashi was stunned for a moment.
...I wanted to hear him say more, but wasn't that just a simple polite remark?
I can only say that he is worthy of being a Hinata. He will treasure even a polite compliment and regard it as a powerful driving force for moving forward.
Kageyama Tobio glanced at him and cursed softly, "...boke."
His gaze fell back on the pale, pretty face of the black-haired girl. Even though he knew she couldn't see or hear anything, he still said firmly, "Senior, I will always love both volleyball and you."
“……!”
The sound of someone gasping for breath was heard again in the ward.
Is this something they can listen to?!
Hinata Shoyo was the first to react and looked at the other party in shock, "Kageyama, you're breaking the rules!"
Kageyama Tobio suddenly clenched his fists. "No foul, I'm just stating the facts."
"Whether it's ten, twenty, or fifty years, I will keep playing volleyball, and I will keep loving it."
"Even if my hair turns gray and I can't walk, I will keep fighting. I will also keep waiting for you, Senior."
Yamaguchi Tadashi: “…”
I have to say, it was a really cool confession, but it was really embarrassing that only the three boys could hear it.
However, in a sense, it looked like he didn't have to worry too much about Kageyama and Hinata.
Then, the only person left to worry about is...
Yamaguchi Tadashi glanced secretly at Tsukishima Hotaru.
The flaxen-haired boy stood at the outermost edge of the crowd. Of course, his impressive height still allowed him to easily have a panoramic view of the ward.
There seemed to be no extra expression on his face, still with his usual cold look, as if nothing could shake him.
As expected of Ayue, she is the most rational one. It seems there is nothing to worry about, Yamaguchi Tadashi thought.
But is it really like that?
…
When leaving, Tsukishima Hotaru was the last one to leave the ward.
Through the small glass window on the door, he saw the faint moonlight that had climbed up the night sky and fell on the head of the bed.
The bouquet they had delivered together stood quietly in the moonlight, and the lily he had picked himself was hidden in the shadows.
Instead of leaving the hospital with everyone else, he found the attending doctor to learn about Sana's condition and future recovery plan. It was impossible to expect those optimistic idiots to remember these things.
Afterward, another nurse who was taking care of Sana said comfortingly, "I haven't seen so many high school students in just a few days. They all came to see Miss Kurikawa. If Miss Kurikawa knew that so many friends missed her, she would try her best to wake up quickly. Don't be too sad, classmate."
Tsukishima Hotaru said subconsciously: "I know, I'm not sad."
The nurse glanced at him.
He added, “I’m not very sad.”
The nurse shook her head, sighed and left.
Thinking of the nurse's face that was obviously still full of childishness, Tsukishima Hotaru thought that only people who had just graduated and entered the hospital would say such things to them.
Anyone with a little medical knowledge knows how serious her condition is and how slim her chances of waking up are.
If they are experienced medical staff, in order to avoid disputes, they would never promise the patient's relatives and friends that "she will wake up and get better."
But even though he knew it was just verbal comfort, Tsukishima Hotaru had to admit that his heart still trembled when he heard "she will try her best to wake up."
It seemed as if the person on the hospital bed would really open his eyes again in the next second.
…
When I finally walked out of the hospital, everyone else had already left.
Tsukishima Hotaru took a few steps and actually saw his brother Tsukishima Amimitsu.
"...I told you not to pick me up. It's just Tokyo, and I won't get lost."
Tsukishima Mingguang was silent for a long time before finally asking cautiously.
"Hina, are you crying?"
“………”
Tsukishima Amimitsu's response was the cool night breeze, the gently swaying moonlight, and silence.
Without answering her brother's question, Tsukishima Hotaru looked up at the sky.
Due to severe air pollution, the night sky in downtown Tokyo is gray and there is no starlight. It is completely different from the scenery when I went to Saitama Prefecture, a suburb of Tokyo, for training during the summer vacation.
Only the occasional airplane lights streaking across the night sky seemed, for a moment, like the faint glow of fireflies that had been engraved countless times in his mind.
That was the firefly sky under the gentle moonlight that Kurikawa Sana gave him.
Tsukishima Hotaru lowered her eyes gently.
If only time could go back.
Then, he would definitely hold her hand when he saw her for the last time on the day after the match with Inarizaki.
…
*
Time is passing slowly.
When Kita Shinsuke arrived at the hospital with the bouquet, the girl's bedside was already filled with bouquets, almost overflowing. It was like a small sea of flowers planted in the ward, adding vitality and colorful colors to the white space.
Sunflowers, carnations, lilies, baby's breath... are all suitable bouquets for giving to patients. They are dazzling and emit a faint fragrance.
But the flowers that Kita Shinsuke brought were not bought from a flower shop, but were grown by him in his own fields.
The twins and Kakuna Rintaro had already arrived. Miyaji and Miya Yuu were on either side of her, massaging and relaxing her arm muscles. The headstrong Miya brothers were beginning to learn to be caring.
Kakuna Rintaro fetched some clean water, washed the towel, and gently wiped the girl's face.
Thanks to Ms. Sato's financial resources and everyone's careful care, after proper treatment, the wounds on the girl's face have healed and faded without leaving any scars. She is as beautiful as ever, making her look more like she is just sleeping.
"It's almost the new year again." Gong You suddenly said, "It's almost New Year's Eve again."
——It’s already been a year.
It has been a year since Sana fell off a cliff and fell into a coma.
Miyaji suddenly stopped massaging the girl's left arm and lowered his head. "Yuu, do you think that because of eating my bowl of soba noodles, Sana lost all her good luck for the new year... and that's why she encountered this?"
“………”
The only answer he got was Gong You's endless silence.
After a long while, Gong You finally replied in a hoarse voice: "...Stupid Zhi, I'm just lamenting how fast time flies. Don't think too much about it."
Miyaji still didn't move.
Kita Shinsuke arranged the bouquet and said softly, "If I hadn't suggested that everyone go to pray for the New Year together, and Sana hadn't drawn three consecutive bad lucks, wouldn't this have happened?"
"There's no point in getting stuck in a rut and taking a detour, Zhi."
Miyaji looked up suddenly, his expression gradually changing from surprise to normal.
"...Yes, Senior Bei."
"Is it my imagination?" Hoping to change the subject, yet genuinely puzzled, Kakuna Rintaro put away the basin and looked toward the windowsill and bedside. "Are there more bouquets lately than before?"
"It's not an illusion." Kita Shinsuke took a look and confirmed, "There really are a lot more than before."
"It's been a bit strange lately..." Gong You also frowned, "Not only are there more flowers, but sometimes I run into people I don't recognize."
Miyaji: "Are you talking about Kuroo and Akaashi from Tokyo Owl Valley Academy?"
"It's not them. I know those two people." Gong You shook his head. "They are guys with colorful hair, red, yellow, blue, and green. They are all quite tall, and most of them carry basketball bags."
"If you come to that, I've seen people carrying tennis bags before." Kakuna Rintaro looked at one of the largest, most gorgeous, and most flamboyant rose bouquets by the window, which exuded a strong, flamboyant, and noticeable rose scent.
In the center of the bright red rose bouquet, there was a small green tennis ball.
What a strange combination.
But what's even stranger is, is it an illusion? - the bouquet clearly contains tennis balls, but somehow it looks like a diamond ring.
…
*
"Shh...it hurts! I'm so sorry for bumping into you!"
"fine……"
When Koutarou Bokuto and Kyoji Akaashi arrived at the hospital corridor, they bumped into a girl with long pink hair and pink eyes. The girl was walking so fast and hurried that she bumped into them.
After a brief and polite greeting, Koutarou Bokuto and Kyoji Akaashi continued walking towards Sana Kurikawa's ward, but were surprised to find that the footsteps of the girl with long pink hair and wearing the Toou Academy uniform were also heading in the direction of Sana.
Koutarou Koutarou and Kyoji Akaashi looked at each other and saw surprise and confusion in each other's eyes.
Did Sana know such a girl? They had no impression of her. The girls who usually came to see Sana were mostly Shirafuku Yukie and Suzuta Kaoru from Owl Valley, as well as the two female managers of Karasuno.
And as far as they remember, Sana should have no connection with Toou Academy.
But when they arrived at Sana Kurikawa's ward, Kotaro Kido and Kyoji Akaashi found that they were surprised too early.
I don’t know what day it is today, but there are more people in Sana’s ward than ever before. Even the medical staff who are used to this scene are shocked.
"Why are you all crowded here today? Even if Ms. Kurikawa's ward is big, it can't be like this!"
"And they're all so tall! I'm worried about the load-bearing capacity of this floor!"
"Wait...don't talk yet—"
"Did Ms. Kurikawa's eyes just move?!"
“……!!”
As the medical staff's voices of shock and surprise fell, the ward was silent for a second, and only the heavy breathing and gasps of the teenagers could be clearly heard.
The next second——
"Get out of the way! Everyone, get out of the way!!"
"I was here first!"
"No, I was here first! Sana——"
"Huh? Who are you?!"
…
Amidst the unprecedented chaos, the girl on the hospital bed slowly opened her beautiful blue eyes like gemstones. Her face was so exquisite and beautiful that it made people's hearts tremble.
In an instant, all the noisy sounds seemed to be muted.
The morning light gently fell on her face, tenderly embracing every cell of her body.
"... Sana."
Someone called her name softly.
The hazy dream gradually dissipated, and the real world began to write a new story.
【Second week, finished.】
Volume 3: World of Tennis
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