WILL MENTION AGAIN: This book has a dark plot, containing heavy themes, including abuse, drug abuse, suicide mentions and suicidal thoughts, dubcon & age gap. If you can't handle these themes, then please don't read this book.

THE SECOND DAY, he wakes up.

The air is still, his body heavy with languour, urging him back to oblivion. He soaks in the silence for a few minutes, lying peacefully. Then, ever-so-gradually, he wakes up, inhaling deeply. And exhales. Bright light glares into his vision and in an instant, he snaps his eyes close.

After a while, he blinks them open again. Several times.

The blurriness in his vision slowly subsides, dullness shutting his gaze. He feels himself lying on a bed, and over him, a white blanket. The room has a faint, iodoform smell to it, tingling his senses. In his daze, a thought drifts in.

Lake.

His heartbeat, which had been slow before, quickens rapidly as he bolts upright. Panic seizes his mind, the cold all too familiar. His gaze darts around the place, wide and frantic, bright light blinding him.

He freezes once he blinks.

He's in the hospital.

Pressing his hand to his newly clothed head, throbbing with the beginnings of a headache, his wary gaze drifts to the table beside him.

There, a higanbana lays in a vase.

Oh.

For a moment, he just stares at it.

Then, curiosity sparks inside of him. He picks up the skinny stem, lightly skimming his fingers across the thin-petaled, small red flowers. These flowers, he notes, eyes travelling to the window, they only bloom in autumn.

And hence, it is autumn now.

The boy peers down outside the glass pane, where plenty of leaves lay, ranging from shades of buttery yellow to burgundy red, dotting the pavement and grass below. He looks up further ahead, where he glimpses the late afternoon sun raised above building rooftops, letting panels of light streak the room, one of which panned on him. He squints.

It's too bright.

And the buildings, they look like... skyscrapers?

The city?

He leans back, dazed. The last time he saw the city...was years ago. Faint, childhood memories.

He hears the door open and looks behind.

Rain enters, a plastic bag rustling in his hand, the inside of which he glimpses to be instant noodle cups. His friend's eyes widen at the sight of Kaede before abruptly, the shock melts into softness. Sitting down in a chair beside the bed, he pulls his legs up and crosses them. Kaede gazes at Rain blankly, forgetting that he can speak.

Coughing lightly, Rain asks, "How are you?"

Kaede's eyes flit to the cup, and suddenly, his tongue regains its strength. "I want one," he rasps.

Rain shakes his head.

"Why not?"

"Not healthy. You patient."

Kaede blinks at him, face emotionless still at the childish words said so flatly, before turning back to the window. The light, he remembers, right, it's too bright.

"The curtains," he points out.

Shadows fall over him as the curtains are drawn shut, and his vision adjusts, relaxing to the colder tones. Kaede looks up at his friend, at his dark-brown hair, near black, strewn across his forehead; messy, unlike its usual tidiness. For some reason, he has the urge to map his features, brought by a sudden odd fear of forgetting his face.

"Strange," Kaede murmurs, looking down at his hands. Cold and pale, the thin lines on the tender skin snatching his attention. He peers closer at those lines.

"What?"

"Nothing." He tucks his hands underneath the blanket folds, forgetting about those little markings. "How are you here?"

"I came with you."

"They let you?" Kaede turns to him.

For someone who has strict relatives as caretakers, said caretakers hating Kaede especially, he's curious to know as to how Rain managed to get here.

At that, Rain casts his gaze to the plastic bag in his lap, remaining quiet. But as he looks back up, his eyes brighten suddenly, the rest of his face blank.

"Even if they didn't, I'd still find my way here, you know?" He snorts, looking down again. "And since when have I not been taking care of you?"

"Taking care of me?"

Rain raises his head and cocks it. "Between the two of us, I'm the older one."

Kaede blinks and looks away, unable to fully process his words. "Right," he murmurs. "Will you still be here once my grandmother arrives then?"

Rain doesn't respond. The sound of plastic being peeled off a cup hits the static air, and Kaede feels his stomach grumble, envy sparking.

Pushing down his hunger, Kaede bites his lip. "Rain? Can you make it a promise?"

A beat of silence.

"Yeah. Also, can I ask you something?"

Kaede turns to him. "What is it?"

"Do you remember a few years ago, when I got into the hospital?—not here though, but back in town... I got into an accident involving a few broken bones, do you remember?"

Kaede stares at him blankly, searching his memories.

Nothing appears.

He lets his head fall, sighing, "No."

Silence.

"Oh."