The soft click of the hospital doors echoed as Misa stepped outside. The breeze caught strands of her hair, and she exhaled slowly. Her eyes lifted to the partly cloudy sky, the light fractured, the way the air smelled faintly of antiseptic and spring.
She'd just left Kana's room. She was resting again but the weight of her earlier breakdown lingered like a bruise. Misa couldn't shake the look on Kana's face before she left: distant, fragile, like something was still cracking beneath the surface.
She barely took a step when she heard footsteps approaching fast and erratic.
She turned sharply and saw a boy careening around the corner, chest rising in short, panicked jolts.
John.
He nearly collapsed, catching himself with both hands on his knees, breath ragged like he'd run miles.
Misa: John?! What are you doing here? I thought you went back home with the others.
He held up a trembling finger, trying to speak.
John: I… I ran the whole way… back…
Misa blinked, puzzled.
Misa: You ran… from the train station?
He nodded between gasps.
John: I… I couldn't leave. I don't know why. Just… this feeling. Like I shouldn't have gone. Like something wasn't right.
Misa studied him, the sweat on his brow, the panic still clinging to his face and then, she smiled.
Misa: You love her, don't you?
John: (caught off guard) Huh?
Misa: (taking a step closer, voice softer now) You love Kana.
John looked away, nervous which only made Misa burst out laughing. After she finally stopped laughing, she composed herself and spoke again…
Misa: So? Why do you love her?
John stood there, eyes drifting down to his hand. He noticed the bracelet Kana had given him, worn from time but still holding strong and then a small, quiet smile tugged at his lips.
John: I've always felt… alone. Like there's this invisible line that keeps me from connecting with people because of the things going on in my life. No matter how hard anyone tried to reach out, I couldn't do it. Because how do you explain pain to someone who's never bled like you?
Misa's expression softened.
John: But then… I found Kana. Her words, her jokes, the way she saw the world even from a hospital bed, it was like someone finally understood. And suddenly, that line between me and everyone else? It just disappeared.
He paused. Looked up, his voice quieter.
John: She wasn't just some girl online anymore. She became the person I waited to hear from every day.
And then in December… when I met her for the first time… and she gave me this bracelet...
He held up his wrist slowly.
John: I knew…
He didn't finish the sentence, but he didn't need to.
Misa saw it in the way his fingers curled around the bracelet like it was fragile glass, in the way his voice broke without breaking.
Misa: (gently) She gave that to you?
John: (nods) She said she always wanted me to remember her when I looked at it.
Misa: (smiling with memory now) That sounds like Kana.
She looked up at the sky again, like she was watching an old film play in her mind.
Misa: There was a summer, years ago… she got it into her head that she was going to build a kite. Not buy one, build it. Three tries, two splinters, and half of my dad's toolbox later, she finally made this lopsided thing covered in gold stars.
John: (smiles faintly) Did it fly?
Misa: For about five seconds. Then it crashed into a tree.
She laughed, and her voice turned tender.
Misa: But she just sat on the grass, looked up at it stuck in the branches, and said, "Well, at least it touched the sky once."
John: (chuckles) …That really sounds like her.
Misa: (nodding) Kana's always been like that. Even now, she's still trying to give pieces of herself to the world. Even when it hurts, she's always reaching for people, for light, for something just beyond the clouds. And being in this place for so long, I thought she would've changed but after seeing her again, she's still the same Kana I knew.
Then there was an odd silence between them before Misa spoke again.
Misa: When we met on that train, I knew you were a good person because I don't know anyone who would travel 5 hours to another city just to see someone who wasn't family. But now I'm certain that if Kana was ever needing someone to love her, I'd want that person to be you.
John didn't know what to say. His chest still ached from the sprint, but something deeper was stirring now, just the simple ache of loving someone too much to walk away.
Misa looked at him, her expression now steady, serious.
Misa: She doesn't say it out loud, but… Kana's scared. She's been holding it together for so long, acting like she's okay, like she's accepted everything, but today, I saw it. She might be close to breaking.
John swallowed hard.
Misa: (softly) She needs you, John. More than she probably realizes.
Misa paused for a few seconds before she continued.
Misa: I've tried to be there, in all the ways I know how, as a friend, a sister, a tether, but you… You reached a part of her heart I couldn't. You brought joy back into her world when the doctors couldn't and when I couldn't.
She gently touched his arm, her voice just above a whisper.
Misa: So go... Just be there for her. Let her know she's not alone and that you're not going anywhere.
John looked at her eyes and then he nodded.
John: Thank you… for trusting me with her.
Misa: (smiling softly) Make her feel like she touched the sky again.
Without another word, John turned and walked toward the doors.
This time, he didn't run.
He didn't need to.
He was exactly where he needed to be.
********
The hallway outside Kana's room was quiet, the kind of quiet that made every sound feel louder. John stood at the door for a second just breathing.
His hand hovered near the handle and then he pushed it open.
The room was dim. Late afternoon light filtered through the blinds, casting faint stripes across the floor and Kana's blanket.
She was curled slightly on her side, facing the window, her IV line gently pulsing beside her. Her hair, a little messy from sleep, shimmered faintly in the light.
The sterile white ceiling above Kana blurred as she stared up at it, her thoughts heavy and rapid.
That woman… her mother… her eyes…
Kana: Why did she still pretend to not know me?
Pieces of the moment kept playing in her mind like broken film, her mother's shocked face, the emptiness in her voice, the way she said, "I don't know who you are."
And then… the dreamscape.
The soft voice that said, "You are not your abandonment."
The idea that maybe, just maybe she was allowed to feel loved.
To want more.
And as if summoned by her most secret thoughts, John's face appeared in her mind.
He came for me…
He looked so scared.
Why does that mean so much?
A gentle knock interrupted her thoughts. She sat up slowly, her heart already thinking she knew who it was before the door opened.
John stepped in without a word.
Their eyes met.
John then began to walk slowly towards Kana as his steps were quiet and careful like he was afraid to wake a dream while Kana was left surprised that he was still around.
Kana: (softly, almost dazed) ...John?
Her voice was a whisper. A flicker of disbelief.
John smiled faintly, walking closer.
John: Hey.
Kana: I… I thought you left with the others.
John then sat by the edge of her bed as he nervously scratched the back of his head.
John: I… I was supposed to… But I couldn't help it. I really wanted to see you.
Kana blinked and her chest tightened and her face turned red, so did John's.
Kana: Oh…
There was a bit of silence as they both looked away to hide her flustered faces from each other.
Then Kana looked toward the window.
Kana: Do you… want to get some fresh air?
John perked up.
John: Are you allowed?
Kana: (smiles softly) I'll be fine. Jane said I just need to take it easy. Come on.
Moments later, they were climbing until they reached a small metal door marked "ROOFTOP ACCESS."
The wind was cool up there, brushing against their faces as they stepped onto the rooftop. The view stretched out over the city, hazy in the golden light of late afternoon.
Kana walked slowly to the edge, resting her hands on the railing, eyes distant.
John stood beside her, unsure whether to speak or just let the silence hold.
Finally, Kana broke it.
Kana: I didn't expect to see her again. Not like that.
John turned his head.
John: Your mom?
Kana nodded her head in agreement.
Kana: She looked at me like I was a stranger. After four years… she still denied knowing who I was.
John stayed still, listening.
Kana: I thought I was better. I really thought… that after everything, I had moved on. That I wasn't the girl crying in a hospital room for someone who never came back.
John looked at her, his expression soft but unwavering.
Kana: But seeing her yesterday how she looked at me like I was a stranger, it just… (voice cracks) It shattered something I didn't even know I had left. And I hate it. I hate how fragile I still am.
She clenched the railing tighter.
Kana: I don't want to be that girl anymore, John. The one who's always in pain. Who always needs saving…
Her shoulders shook.
Kana: I feel useless.
John took a breath, then took a step closer. Close enough that their arms were nearly touching.
John: You're not useless.
Kana tried to smile, but she couldn't and then she looked down.
Kana: I just hate that you had to see me like that...
John: Kana…
She tried to look at him but she couldn't but John continued speaking anyway.
John: …you don't have to hide that part of you from me.
Kana: Why not?
John: Because I want to be there for all of it. The smiles, the silence, the scars, the bad days, everything. You said you were useless, but you're the one who helped me feel whole for the first time in my life.
Kana blinked, her breath catching and then turned away as she began to blush.
John continued, barely able to hold it in anymore.
John: You're not useless, Kana. You're… kind. You're honest, even when it hurts. You care about people in this deep, quiet way, and I don't think you even realize how rare that is.
She finally looked up at him.
Kana: (to herself) Wait…
John: You make people feel seen. Even when you're hurting, you still reach out to others. You made me feel like I wasn't just some lost kid.
A silence stretched between them, heavy and real.
John: Kana, you're stronger than you think. You've survived more than most people could even imagine… and you're still here. That's not a weakness. That's everything perfect about you.
Kana's eyes filled, but she blinked quickly and looked away as her heart began to race.
Kana: (to herself) Wait a second…
John hesitated. His hand twitched at his side and then he breathed out slowly.
John: Kana…
Kana: (to herself) No… don't do it…. please don't say I think you're about to say…
His heart was pounding. The words were at the edge of his lips and all that was left was to let them out.
John: I lo—
But before he could complete his sentence, Kana interrupted him suddenly.
Kana: Shut up.
John blinked, caught off guard.
She wasn't looking at him, but her cheeks were flushed and her lips were trembling not from sadness, but from everything else crashing inside her.
After a few seconds, she said again, softer this time.
Kana: Just… shut up for a second.