The last shafts of sunlight penetrated the white room.
A dim ray blinded Azusa Nakano when she opened
her eyes. She flinched and shut them quickly.

A curtain was closed, hiding the setting sun, and she
opened her eyes again.

"Where am I?" Azusa asked, looking around as her
four friends came into focus.

"You're in the hospital Azu-nyan," Yui replied cheerily
as she hugged the girl by the neck.

"Why are you so happy about it!" the younger girl
asked in an exasperated voice while trying to wiggle
out of the hold.

Yui stopped nuzzling her cheek to look at her
quizzically.

"Because you're awake now," she said as if the
answer was obvious.

Azusa looked around at their smiling faces and began
to relax a little.

Mio, Tsumugi, Ritsu, and Yui, dressed in their uniforms,
were all gathered around her bed. They were in a
private, corner room of the hospital. Large windows
made up the upper halves of the two walls facing the
outside. The white, generic curtains softened the
dusk that filtered through.

Next to her bed was a metal stand holding two I.V.
bags filled with clear liquids. Her arm itched where the
needle was inserted. She felt what she could only
assume was a catheter, and the thin, downy stubble
on her legs that scratched against the sheets let
Azusa know that she had been asleep for a few days.
Her gown had wrinkled underneath her and was now
twisted and uncomfortable.

"What happened?" she asked them.

The four girls exchanged worried glances very quickly.

"The doctor said you shouldn't think about that until
you're a little better," Mugi answered for them.

If it had come from Yui or Ritsu, she would not have
acknowledged her, but since it was Mugi, Azusa
grudgingly accepted the answer before lying back
against her pillow.

"I'll go tell the nurse you're awake."

The blonde left quickly, leaving the rest of the room's
inhabitants alone together in an awkward silence.

Mugi returned after a few minutes and motioned
silently for the rest to come outside with her. With no
explanation, Azusa could only sit and wait.

The nurse came in and asked the expected:
How are you?
Are you in any pain?
Do you know what day it is?
Do you remember what happened?

When she learned that the answers to all of these
questions were one 'alright' and three 'no's, she left
after making a few notes on her clipboard and
showing the girl where the 'nurse call' button was on
her bed controls.

The four seniors came back in when the nurse had
gone.

"Was something wrong?"Azusa wondered, hoping
that there was no problem that would draw her
friends away.

"No," Mugi answered.

"We only wanted to make sure we gave you some
privacy," Mio continued for her.

Now that the girl was awake, she had many
questions, but most of them were related to the
reason she was lying in the hospital bed. Therefore,
she settled for learning minor details like the day,
time, and which hospital she was in.

With a little work, Azusa was also able to find out that
she had been unconscious for three days.

"Thank you for coming to see me."

"We'll come back everyday," Yui promised.

"And I'll bring tea," Mugi chimed in.

"That's nice, but is it okay to have tea in the
hospital?"

"Don't worry, we'll clean up after ourselves," Ritsu
reassured, "and being around familiar things might
help you remember the-"

"We actually have to go now," Mio interrupted,
"visiting hours are over, but we'll be back tomorrow to
see you."

The four girls left, and Azusa suddenly felt very alone
in the large, empty hospital room.