The next morning, he was able to sit up on the bed without having to wince in pain. Nino was still besides him, trying to feed him even after telling him he hated the hospital food so much. But it seemed like he wasn’t giving up as he shoved the spoon in his mouth while he was busy being ignorant. Having no other choice, he gulped the food down with chewing it and frowned when Nino started laughing at him.

“J is so picky. You should eat this you know, so you could recover.”

He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t let it bother him after Nino shoved another mouthful of hospital food in his mouth. He grimaced when he was able to taste it, and was about to spit it out when he received a glare from him. Gulping, he chewed the food as fast as he can and swallowed the whole thing. He sighed in relief when Nino came back with water in his hand.

“J, do you want to know about yourself?”

He nodded his head. He had been itching to know who he was, and why Nino was calling him in that way. He heard the man in white mention a lot of times the name Matsumoto Jun, but he wasn’t so sure if it was him. After drinking the cup of water with just one gulp, Nino sat down on the edge of his bed before sighing and grabbing his hand without his permission.

“J... We met when we were in preschool, so I didn’t know you as a baby. Is that ok?”

He nodded his head.

“Well to start off, your name is Matsumoto Jun and your birthday is on August 30, which makes you 12 right now...” He started as his fingers continued to play with his. “When we met, we hated each other for no reason.”

He cocked his head to the side, wondering how they happen to become friends because of it. If he was in his shoes, he never would become friends with someone he hates. But seeing him there with him, meant that something must have happened for them to become this close.

Throughout Nino’s explanation in his view, he learned that he had saved him from bullies which is why they became friends in the first place. He was told that he tried to avoid those situations but in the end, he was always there fighting off the bad guys for him while he hid from their view. He saw him giggle after having told him so, and his cheeks were turning a bright red.

“I’m sorry,” Nino apologized, “Just remembering that day makes me happy...”

He shook his head. “It’s ok...”

After having said so, Nino continued on with the red color still in his face. As he listened carefully, he picked up bits of Nino mentioning his mom, but there were stories about her as he continued to talk. He remembered two days ago that a woman in dull clothes came running inside, and nodded her head when the man asked her if he was her birth mother. He hadn’t thought about that day until Nino started telling him about himself.

“Who is...my mom?”

Nino stopped talking and the happy look on his face disappeared right after. His head drooped down until he couldn’t see his face anymore. He waited for an answer from him, but Nino was just quiet as if asking the question was a bad thing. He was about to ask again when Nino looked up, the happy expression on his face again.

“She’s... You loved her,” Nino told him though his voice sounded a bit off unlike when he was happily explaining his whole life story. He nodded his head, but Nino didn’t continue on much about her and changed the subject right away. Something wasn’t right about what he said as he stared into his eyes and he felt Nino’s palm getting sweaty against his.

“Is there some-thing...I should...know?”

Nino shook his head almost immediately. He saw that he was trying to hide something, and he knew it when he felt Nino’s hand grip his hand even tighter that it started to hurt. He narrowed his eyes, knitted his eyebrows together and was starting to think that there really is something about his mom that he shouldn’t know. But seeing the flushed look on Nino’s face, he didn’t want to press on any longer. If Nino was being like this, then might as well not know about it.

“Phew,” Nino sighed in relief. “As I was saying...”

The rest of the afternoon was spent on knowing more about himself than spending time in recovery. He laughed along with Nino when he heard a short story about embarrassing himself in public by peeing in his pants for waiting too long during a school lesson. He was told that they mostly spent the time together than with their parents, and went to each others performances in grade school, laughing at the other after making a small mistake that only he noticed. And sometimes, one of them either sneaked out of their own houses just to watch the stars floating in the skies at night, while Nino was busy petting a cricket in his hand.

As time passed by, it was already in the afternoon and Nino’s voice was starting to become softer while his eyes were closing and opening. He chuckled at the sight of his new friend, who almost fell on the floor after closing his eyes shut. His body reacted by its own and his free hand grabbed Nino’s head. Since he still couldn’t move freely to put Nino on one of the vacant beds, he gently placed his head on his covered legs before sighing and relaxing his body on the bed.

He wondered if he was like this with him before, being nice to him instead of being grossed out from holding their sweaty hands together for a long time. But hearing his life story from Nino, it was somehow nice to hear even if he heard that he’s been beaten several of times and was scolded because of it. He looked down at his friend’s face and saw that the red mark was slowly disappearing. Nino’s words from yesterday echoed in his mind as he placed his free hand on Nino’s cheek and let it rest there until the man dressed in white told him it was time for his checkup. Trying his best not to stir his friend awake, he swung his leg over the edge of the bed and was placed on the wheelchair. Looking back before they slid the door close, he smiled seeing his new friend and wondered if things like this will stay the same...

TBC