A/N: I'm sooo sorry for the late update! The second half of February and early March has been completely insane! Thank you for waiting <3 This is NOW, the longest chapter I've written ever haha~ I hope you like it! 

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Rio had nearly lost all of her patience by the time she ended her shift for the day. As she stepped out of the hospital entrance, she threw on her scarf in frustration then released a long sigh of exhaustion.

After taking a moment to regain her composure, she hurried over to a nearby store to buy Amu a change of clothes then quickly hailed a cab so that she can reach Edogawa hospital. 

Now that she could finally catch her breath in the cab, she decided to check her phone for the first time since this afternoon. The first message she laid her eyes on was from Yuto and that didn't fail to raise the corners of her lips.

'Make sure you get some of that deserved rest this evening.' The message read.

Rio thought back to earlier today when she met this man for the first time. How can two people in the same band have such different personalities? She wondered, her mind replaying back the remarks she received from Ryosuke earlier before.

'I'll think about it.' Rio found herself texting back and immediately pictured Yuto's pouting expression. She smiled to herself at that thought and decided to send another text. 'If you're free tomorrow, let's have lunch together. My treat this time.'

Rio didn't expect his reply to come in so quickly but she also didn't waste a second before clicking on the new message notification. 'Yes to having lunch together. But regarding your treat- I'll think about it.' She read and immediately knew that he was giving her a taste of her own medicine. 

The two continued conversing for a moment longer until a familiar caller ID appeared on Rio's phone. Wondering what the matter was, Rio picked up the call immediately and held her phone to her ear in curiosity. "Hey Chii, is everything okay?"

"Hi, Rio. I'm sorry for calling you this late in the evening but I actually had a favor to ask of you. I mean- if you haven't told Amu anything about me yet."

"I'm actually in a cab on my way to visit her now," Rio replied. "What is it?"

Silence filled the call for a few seconds and it was obvious that the boy was debating about his favor. However, before Rio could question his hesitance, Chinen finally spoke up. "For the sake of Amu's well-being, can you pretend that she never met me?"

It was Rio's turn to pause. She squinted her eyes in confusion, hoping that her narrowed gaze could help her understand his strange request better but couldn't seem to put a reason behind it. "Chinen, I'm sure that if you explain the situation to her, she'd come around and understand." 

"I can't face her, Rio-chan." Chinen sighed, his breath stagnating. "Until I can look at her and not feel an overwhelming amount of guilt, I don't think I can be the person she needs right now."

"I don't know the exact situation of her diagnosis but I think there's still a chance for her to regain that piece of memory back. What would you do if one day, she remembers?"

"If that day comes, then I'll let her decide."

It was Rio's turn to sigh. "If you're 100% sure then you have my support on this." The girl paused. "But Amu is my best friend too, and I don't want to keep lying to her forever. If things get out of hand, I have to tell her, okay?"

"Of course," Chinen answered. "Thank you, Rio. I'm planning to visit Ryosuke again tomorrow at the hospital. I heard that he woke up today and hopefully, he's not giving you too many headaches."

Rio playfully scoffed. "Forget headaches, I think I'm getting migraines because of him." She said, rolling her eyes. "I know you were up last night too worrying about Amu so you should go get some rest. We can catch up tomorrow when you visit your band buddy."

The boy chuckled. "Sounds like a plan. You should get some rest too later. See you tomorrow."

By the time the call ended, the cab had finally pulled up to the entrance of Edogawa Hospital. Once the vehicle came to a stop, Rio threw her phone back into her bag and quickly thanked the driver before rushing out of the car. It didn't take long for her to receive her guest pass and before she knew it, she was already throwing open the door of Amu's hospital room.

"Goodness, Rio- You definitely know how to make an entrance!" Amu exclaimed, placing a hand over her chest from the surprise. "You look as if you haven't seen me in ages."

"Well, yesterday certainly felt like decades combined into one day." The older one replied as she took the seat next to the hospital bed.

"I'm sorry, I can't relate." Amu smiled, pointing to her head. "But if you're okay with sharing, I'd love to hear about what you've been up to." 

"Other than yesterday's flood of critically wounded patients, nothing else was really out of the ordinary." Rio began. "Oh, wait- there is one more thing. I got assigned to this one patient, Yamada Ryosuke. You wouldn't believe me if I told you that he has the stubbornness of a hundred seniors." 

"Ahh, so you finally met your match!"

Rio widened at Amu's comment. "I'm not THAT stubborn!" She retorted playfully, "At least I'm reasonable."

"But never when it comes to your own well-being."

Rio pouted for a brief moment but knew that Amu was also right. She certainly had been neglecting her own health recently but didn't feel like she could afford to change her lifestyle to focus on herself anytime soon. At least, not before she could finally save up for a house in Japan so that her family could finally relocate. It was a goal she held ever since she moved here a few years back. 

Just as she began to wrap herself in her thoughts, Rio's gaze suddenly landed on the orange flowers on Amu's bedside table and she raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Was there another visitor before?"

"Oh- that! It's from someone named Arioka Daiki. We met yesterday at the arena. He even spent nearly the entire morning by my side." Amu began, playing with her fingers as she recollected her memories from earlier today. "Actually, we were together when the earthquake occurred and he was the one who pulled me out from under the rubble."

"Wait, you remember that?" 

Amu shook her head. "I heard it from him and the doctors after. The only thing we just couldn't seem to figure out is why I was at this band's concert in the first place. I mean, I don't think I've even heard of JUMP before."

The younger one had been spending the past few hours trying to put everything together but something just seemed wrong. It almost seemed as if an actual person has been missing from the equation.

Rio's lengthened silence was enough to break Amu's thoughts. She gazed at her best friend and immediately noticed the dark bags under her eyes that didn't seem to be there the last time she saw her. "Rio-chan, did you even get any rest last night? I think you should go home and get some sleep."

"Mou, I finally get to see you and you're already kicking me out?" 

"I'll be fine. I only have a few cuts and bruises here and there but I'm still in one piece. The doctor said I can even get discharged tomorrow but I'll have to do come in for check-ups every other day for the week just to be on the safe side." 

"You can do that at our hospital instead." Rio insisted. "It's much closer to our apartment building anyways. I'll talk to the staff here about transferring your medical records over."

"And then, can you do me a favor and go home so that you can get some rest? Don't make me get out of this bed to drag you back." 

"Hai, hai..." Rio replied, waving her hand to dismiss the nudges from the younger one. "Wait, I'm worried about you being on your own after you leave the hospital tomorrow. I can try to take off for an hour so th-

"Mou, Rio-chan! I'll be okay." Amu protested. "If it makes you feel any better, I can ask if Daiki can accompany me." She added, pointing at her phone. "We'll stop by Tokyo Hospital too since I'll have to submit my medical records." 

"Then I'm looking forward to meeting this guy that seems to brighten your expression every time you mention him." Rio teased and Amu's cheeks quickly flushed pink.

"We're just friends!" The younger one pouted.

'That's what you said about Chii too.' Rio thought, thinking back to yesterday right before the earthquake.

'I wonder how different things would be if I hadn't taken the extra shift.'

--

Tokyo Hospital seemed to be quiet the next morning. Many patients were finally getting discharged from the hospital and rooms were beginning to free up. Things were starting to slowly return to normal in all of the wings, except one- the wing that Rio was currently managing. 

"I told you to wait so that I can position your crutches correctly!" Rio exclaimed.

"I can do it without your help!" Ryosuke yelled back.

"You're going to fall if you don't learn how to use them properly." 

"I'm not going to fall-" 

Luck just didn't seem to be on Ryosuke's side today. Before the boy could finish his sentence, his left leg suddenly gave away and he found himself losing his strength to stand.

Without thinking, he quickly reached for the closest thing he could find but in this case, that 'thing' turned out to be a person-

-And that person turned out to be Rio.

"Ow-" She uttered, opening her eyes to find Ryosuke's face just only a few centimeters away. His body was pushed so close against her's that she could even feel his muscles under his thin shirt press against her chest whenever he took a breath. 

"S-see what I told you?!" Rio stuttered in a panic, quickly turning her face away from him to put some distance between them.

"Yo-You didn't tell me that I wouldn't have strength in my other leg!" Ryosuke stammered back, wincing as he pushed his weight off the girl beneath him.

"Well, what do you expect?! You've been bed-ridden for two days and you're on heavy pain medications right now!"

"What's with all the nois-" Another voice echoed throughout the room. A few seconds later, Yuto appeared from behind the curtains and widened his eyes at what appeared to be an 'intimate' scene in front of him. "Ryo, what the heck are you thinking?!"

"Trust me, I'd move to another country to get away from her if I could," Ryosuke explained as Rio rolled her eyes at him. "Yuto, can you help me get him back onto his feet?" She asked.

Yuto didn't hesitate after hearing the girl's favor and Ryosuke didn't protest against the help this time.

"I'm glad you could finally meet the conscious version of him, Rio-chan." The younger one chuckled after the older boy took a seat on the edge of his hospital bed. 

"I think I preferred the sleeping version of him better," Rio replied back almost immediately. 

"Are you both close or something?" Ryosuke asked raising an eyebrow as he glanced back and forth between the two.

"It's just called being decent" Rio retorted. "Something you should try being some time." 

"Do you hear her, Yuto? This woman is driving me nuts!" 

Yuto tried his best to hold in his laughter but the interaction between the two seemed to have amused hi