Eternal Melody

Nagawa General Hospital.

A man with ash-blonde-colored hair exhaled deeply. It was difficult to focus on the video in front of him, let alone take notes from it. It was rare to finish his surgeries early, so he decided to use this chance to do some extra studying. But he couldn’t focus; earlier on the day, he went to see Sumire. Ever since she woke up, he tried to stay out of her way and only visited her when she was sleeping.

But this morning, he miscalculated and caught her after she came from her shower. Her movement was limited due to her injury, so he made sure she stayed in a private room since it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to use public facilities. 

It was the same room he prepared for her during her last stay, so she had everything she ended. He still occasionally dropped by just to make sure everything worked.

Sano sighed again as he recalled the sensation of her lips when he kissed her. He didn’t mean to do that, but seeing her like that when she just came after the shower, he couldn’t control himself. It surprises him how he loses control in front of her. Back when they dated, sure, he thought she was pretty, but he never pounced on her the way he has been.

This is no good; maybe he should see her for a bit. She should be sleeping now. Sano quickly decided and stood up. The moment he reached his door, though, he felt somebody’s presence on the other end.

For a moment, he was cautious. It isn’t those people again, right? Lately, they have been coming more frequently and bothering him. 

Sano took a deep breath and opened the door; the moment he did, he hears a familiar voice say, ouch. The other person had hit her nose on the door.

He blinked, puzzled, when he saw who the other person was. That long brown hair and amethyst-colored eyes wearing a hospital gown, it was the girl who he was on the way to see.

“Sumire?”

“Sorry to disturb you. Were you working?”

“I was watching a few new surgeries. Are you sure you should be walking around?”

Sumire nodded. “Mm, my rehabilitation is going well, so I decided not to use the crutches or wheelchair today.”

Sano frowned at those words. “You should still use one. You will put unnecessary strain on your legs.”

She laughed. “Then can I come in and rest for a bit?”

Sano nodded and let her inside. He closed the door behind them, and the girl jumped. He sighed deeply at her obvious reaction. “I won’t lock it.”

“Uh, right.”

So even though she came here, she is still cautious towards him. Well, he supposes that made sense. Surprisingly, she came here despite what happened earlier. Then again, he managed to regain his senses and pushed her away before quickly leaving. Sano left quickly then, but he still saw the look in her eyes.

It was the same as when they last saw each other; this girl still feels nothing towards him. It wouldn’t surprise him if she didn’t miss him at all.

Sumire is so pretty.

“By the way! Did you get my packages too?”

Sano pointed to the box on the corner of the room. He hadn’t known what to do with the package. It seemed odd leaving at home, so he just dumped it in a corner in his office. If she hadn’t mentioned it, he would have forgotten about it.

Sumire happily walked over and opened the box. Sano also went over and stood close. It would be bad if she suddenly lost her balance. The moment she opened the box, his eyes widened. Aren’t those men’s clothes?

“Clothes—“

“Hold still.” Sumire extended the clothes over to him. “Hmmm, I think this suits you after all this kind of style.’

Huh? Wait a minute; the clothes are for him?

“You got me clothes?”

“Well, you only ever wear bathrobes and suits. You need some more casual wear.”

‘It’s almost like she is my girlfriend.’

“Uh-” Sumire laughed. “Maybe I shouldn’t do this; Yuhi-san will get jealous again.”

At those words, his gaze darkened, which didn’t go unnoticed. “I came here to ask about earlier. Why did you kiss me?”

Sano laughed when he heard her question. “Is it that hard to understand?”

“So this is the answer to the homework I gave you; it is a shame.”

At that, he felt his calm demeanor vanish as he looked at the girl angrily. 

“I understand how you feel and all. But whatever your problem is, leave me out of it. I know you can’t get over me, but I already made things clear to you. You can’t just do whatever you want every time you see me.”

Sano sighed. “That fierce act isn’t cute. You’re the one who came here in the middle of the night; the least you can do is act sweeter.”

He has had enough of this girl messing with his emotions. Just now, when he saw that she came here, he once again felt a false sense of hope. She even mentioned the package with stuff she bought for him the moment she came here. 

She keeps giving him false hope and then crushing it.

“You’re doing it again. I came here to have a conversation, but you’re not even listening to me.” Sumire sighed. “The least you can do is learn from him.”

“He?” Sano trailed off, realizing something. “Right, that prick who survived the accident but left you to fend for yourself.”

“Don’t talk about Ru like that! Your the one partly to blame for the accident; he didn’t leave me deliberately.”

“Ha, maybe at the time, but he didn’t even contact you. He saw how badly you suffered and the pain he caused you.”

“Despite what you say, Ru is a good man. He doesn’t take out his problems on others like you do. If he has an issue with me, he will tell me directly. Both Ru and Yuhi are like that; they don’t hide what they feel and tell me. You say you will change, but can anything change that black heart of yours–“

Sano cut Sumire’s sentence short as he pulled out something from his drawer. It was a medium-sized riffle; it felt unfamiliar carrying something like this. When they first gave this to him, he dropped it, and he didn’t get much better using it either. But for some reason, today, it felt light as a feather.

“You’re always going on and on about not comparing people. But here you are comparing me to your ex-boyfriend and your current one.”