“No, Saku-chan, I’m like, sure that she’s chatting with someone—”

“Don’t be silly, Nako, she’s alone, just look—”

The doorknob turns then it swings open, Hitomi looking up and blinking owlishly at the appearance of her two best friends. Nako’s eyes are wide, while Sakura huffs and shakes her head.

“What’s wrong, Saku-chan?” Hitomi queries, tilting her head. “It’s not time for my meds yet, is it?”

“Yeah, that’s still an hour away.” Sakura smiles at her, stepping in and approaching the white bed. Everything is white, her bed, the wall, the ceiling, the gown she’s wearing. She glances briefly at Sakura’s pink blouse and Nako’s leather jacket, taking in the colours.

“Nako was just being silly,” Sakura says, fixing Hitomi’s blanket and refilling the empty glass on the table with water. “But she’s wrong, so don’t mind about it.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll be back with your dinner and then you’ll take your meds after meal, okay?”

“Mhm.”

Sakura leans away slightly, fixing her a look both fond and slightly pained. “Thank you, Hii-chan.” She pats Hitomi’s head, “You’ll recover fast, like this.”

Hitomi smiles. “I know, you’ve always said so.”

Sakura nods, and tells her she still needs to take care of several things with Nako, bidding her a see you later with a promise to come back within an hour. Hitomi waves at them, grins brightly at Nako’s suspicious squint, and waits until the door closes completely, a measured breath then released into the following silence.

“Nako sure is observant.”

Her lips curl into a smile at the voice, and she shifts to look at the person suddenly sitting by her bedside. “Yeah, she is.”

“That was close.”

“I told you to not make me laugh,”

The person smiles, fingers tentatively wrapping around the hand hooked up to a drip. “I can’t help it.” A gentle caress over the bandage, warm eyes in the colour of brown gazing right into hers, “I love it when you laugh.”

Hitomi leans back, smile widening mutely on her face. “Sometimes,” she whispers, “I wonder if you’re actually my imagination, Chaewon.”

Chaewon nods, accepting the questioning remark. She doesn’t feel offended, only sad and more resolute. “I’m sorry I can’t reveal myself to other people yet,” Chaewon honestly says. “But when I finally finished the cure, when I could get you healed completely—I will stop hiding, then.”

“I will get healed.”

“You will.” There’s no doubt in her voice, no trace of hesitance. “I’m almost there, Hitomi. You’ll be healthy again soon.”

“And,” Hitomi swallows, peering at Chaewon, “you won’t disappear?”

Chaewon smiles. Shakes her head. Shifts, to push herself up and lean forward, lips warmly pressing against Hitomi’s forehead. Disappearing was an old thought, when she was a newly deployed mediwitch tasked to figure out the cure to a new virus spreading among the muggles. When she was a mere Shadow and Hitomi was patient zero point nine. When she hadn’t known of Hitomi’s smiles and laughs and hopes and dreams, when she hadn’t held her hand and wished to stay.

When she hadn’t held out her own heart to Hitomi and gotten hers in return.

She pulls back, the twinge from the ring on her left index finger failing to falter her in her contentment.

“I won’t.”

Hitomi heaves at that, eyes closing as though she wants to absorb the two words, the promise. And later when she opens her eyes, Chaewon would have to bid her goodnight, to dissipate into thin air for a moment until next time.

But it’s not forever, no. She isn’t disappearing forever and neither will Hitomi. She will make sure of that.

Will fight fate for that.