Kuro opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling and a throbbing pain in his chest. A bit groggy and confused he began to look around the room. It was small and sterile with few decorations or furniture. A painting of some generic flowers was hung on the wall. Two cheap looking chairs sat in the corner of the room while a small, wheeled chair sat next to his bed. A clear bag that hung from a hook was attached to a small tube, which was in turn attached to his arm. A hospital. As his head began to clear, he noticed a woman sitting in one of the cheap chairs and taking notes. “Do you know what happened to me?” Kuro asked, still a little bewildered. The woman glanced at him with an emotionless expression and went back to writing her notes. Wow, talk about the cold shoulder. As Kuro was about to speak again, a man in a long white coat entered the room.

The white clad man went to the end of Kuro’s bed and picked up a clipboard that was hanging on it. “Good, you’re finally awake.” he said while reading what was on the chart. The Doctor was probably a few years older than Kuro and had short black hair that was slicked back away from his face. He began to examine Kuro and ask several questions about his condition. As the Doctor shined a small light in Kuro’s eyes, he continued his questions. “How much do you remember?”

“I guess I remember leaving work and starting to walk home.” He struggled through his hazy memories, “Wait… there something about a knife, I think.”

“That’s more than I was expecting. You lost a lot of blood.” The doctor started checking the bandages on Kuro’s chest. “How does this area feel?”

“It feels like it’s on fire.” Kuro said, placing his hand where the wound was.

“I suppose that’s to be expected after having a bullet go through it. But the morphine should help.”

Kuro began to remember a little more. “I... got shot?”

“You certainly did, and from what I hear you’re quite the hero.”

Kuro vaguely remembered the young woman and the scarred man. “There was a girl there, is she all right?” he asked intently.

“Yes, she’s going to be just fine thanks to you. Although you should probably know she-” A soft knock interrupted whatever the Doctor had been about to say. A pretty, young woman stood at the entry to the room. “Speak of the devil.” The doctor laughed. “She’s been here every day to check on you.” The doctor said smiling. “Well, everything seems to be all right considering. Ring a nurse if you need anything. Don’t move around too much or you’ll undo all my hard work and rip open your sutures. I have other patients to see to, so I’ll be going for now. I will check on you again tomorrow and we can talk about your recovery.” he said nodding to the young woman as he left.

Once the doctor was gone, the young woman asked in a quiet voice, “Is it all right if I come in?”

“Of course, please do.” Kuro said gesturing to the small chair beside his bed.

She slowly walked to the chair and gracefully took a seat. Now that Kuro had finally gotten a good look at her, he realized she was more than just pretty. She had clear emerald-green eyes that stood out sharply compared to her jet-black hair. Her hair hung past her shoulders and had a silk like sheen. She wore a long skirt and a high-necked sweater, though it was a little warm in hospital room, but it suited her slim build. Kuro realized he may have been staring and hurriedly looked away.

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“How are you feeling? Does it hurt at all?” The young woman asked.

“N-no, it doesn’t hurt. Not with all the pain killers.” he said stumbling over his words.

“That’s good, I’m glad to hear that.” She said with relief in her voice. “My name is Mai Tanaka but please just call me Mai.”

“Nice to meet you my name is Kuro Raiku.”

Mai stood up and lowered her head into a bow. “Mr. Raiku, I would like to sincerely thank you for risking your life and saving me.”

“Please, there’s no need to go that far.” Kuro said, a little embarrassed. “I just did what anyone would have done, it’s no big deal.”

Mai took her seat again. “You’re wrong.” She said, intently looking Kuro in the eyes. “You weren’t the first person to notice my situation…” Her bright green eyes began to well up with tears. “I was just walking home when that man grabbed me. He said he would kill me if I screamed or called for help. I prayed that someone would happen to walk by and help me.” The tears began to flow down her cheeks as she spoke. “There were other people who saw. Some pretended not to notice but others just kept walking when he threatened them...” She wiped some tears away. “I felt so helpless when everyone ignored what was happening. I’m sure they were scared but…” She paused and said more softly than before, “So was I…”

Kuro looked away as Mai wiped off more tears. “I’m sorry.” he said quietly.

With a kind smile she said, “Please don’t be, if it wasn’t for you things may have ended much differently. You may not have been the first to notice but you were the only one who did something.”

Kuro thought about the people who walked past him that night. Those people didn’t avoid eye contact because I scared them, they avoided me because they were ashamed of themselves. He thought bitterly.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Mai asked.

“I’m fine, just a little tired is all. What about you, are you all right? Did you get hurt at all?”

Mai pulled down the collar on her high-necked sweater to reveal a mass of purple and blue bruises across her slender neck. “I’m ok, I have a few cuts and scrapes and my voice hurts a bit, but it’s been getting much better over the last few days.”

“Well, I’m glad it’s not too bad.” The realization of what Mai and the Doctor had been saying finally hit him. “Wait, did you just say the last few days? How long have I been here?”

“I think it’s been about ten days or so.” She said straightening her sweater collar.

Kuro began scanning the room and found what he was looking for. His jacket hung on a hook by the door and in one of the pockets was his phone. Kuro began to sit up and tried to swing his legs over the side of the bed and flinched in pain.

“What are you doing!?” Mai asked with a concerned look as she placed her hand on his shoulder and pressed him back into the bed, far more easily than Kuro would have thought.

“I need to get my phone; I’m probably going to lose my job if I don’t let my boss know what’s going on.”

“I see, well you don’t need to worry about that. Your boss was contacted by the police after they found out who you were. She said your job will be there when you get well and not to do anything stupid.” Mai said as she started pulling his blanket back up and continued sternly. “I’m starting to see why she would say something like that.”

“But there were other projects I was working on and if I don’t explain it to them, they’ll have to start over from scratch.” He said stubbornly.

“The doctor said not to move around too much, or you’d hurt yourself. You need to take better care of yourself or you’re going to make people worry.” She had a lecturing tone but the concern was plain on her face.

Kuro stopped resisting Mai’s restraint and slowly lowered himself back into the hospital bed. “I’ll do my best.”

Mai smiled and in her quiet voice said, “Good, make sure you do.”

“I appreciate you coming by to say thank you, but you­-”

Suddenly Mai stood from her seat and straightened up her clothes. “I know this was a short visit, but I have to be going for the evening. The doctor said you need to rest, so please be sure to do exactly that.” She smoothed the wrinkles from her long skirt. “Would you mind if I visited you again?”

“I don’t really mind but-”

“Great!” She spoke just as softly as before but at a faster pace. “I plan to stop by often until you’ve recovered so I hope you really don’t mind. We can figure out how you’re getting home and what needs to happen from there tomorrow.” Mai made her way to the door and continued, “I’ll see you then, have a good night Mr. Raiku!” She waved as she quickly left the room before Kuro could say anything more.