I don't know where this came from, but it's nice that manga-verse Ayumu and Hiyono no longer terrify me as they used to. Now whether it's in character or horribly out of it... well, you can be the judge of that.

Here's hoping these little bits of inspiration continue to strike me, as I'd really like to keep writing Spiral like this for at least a little longer. :)

Title borrowed from Bic Runga.

counting the days

Spring is warm, this year. Freshly grown leaves and blossoms in shades of green and pink sway in the midday breeze, waving in and out of sunbeams. People stroll lazily by, some stopping to admire the gently waving trees in front of the hospital, others passing by without a glance, and still others starting up the path to the front door. Within the hospital's courtyard, almost hidden from view beneath a tall tree topped in green, a young man sits in a wheelchair with a young woman behind him. Both are still, quiet - frozen - watching a man in a suit proceed through the front door of the hospital.

"How long do we have until he finds out, I wonder..."

"It depends on whether or not he stops to flirt with the nurses."

The young woman giggles, unexpectedly, and her shoulders relax. She pushes the wheelchair forward, in the direction of a nearby bench. "I wonder how you know these things, Narumi-san."

"What I'm wondering is how you got me out here without being noticed." The young man glances over his shoulder. "And how you knew about that corridor."

She giggles again, lightly. "It's a - "

" - trade secret," he finishes for her, and his brown eyes roll in a rather dramatic sort of way. "Of course. Just like everything else."

"But, really..." She pauses as they reach the bench; she wheels him carefully to the left side, and then seats herself beside his chair, smoothing out her flowered skirt and blouse as she does so. "Won't we be in trouble, especially now that your brother ... ?"

He snorts. "I don't care. I'll just say I wanted some fresh air and you didn't know any better." He leans back in his wheelchair, stretching one lean arm high above a mess of brown hair. "Being out here isn't going to kill me any faster, after all."

She shoots him a sharp look. "Narumi-san."

"You'll have to come to terms with it eventually," he responds, easily, and turns his head to look at her as his arm drops down to rest in his lap. "How long are you here this time?" he asks, abruptly changing the topic - on purpose, of course. "The last time you visited, I barely had time to talk before you ran away again to some country or another."

"You don't talk even when I visit for extended periods of time!"

"Hm. Unless my memory's going, too - "

"Narumi-san," she says, pointedly.

" ... I seem to recall a lengthy conversation about cooking a few weeks ago." He looks down at his hands, briefly, perhaps almost wistfully, then lifts one to straighten the collar of his shirt. "So? How long?"

"I'm really not sure..." She sighs, lifting one hand to absently twirl a strand of honey-colored hair between her fingers. "I haven't received any orders since I got back... And truthfully, although I shouldn't be sharing this... my contract is supposed to be up soon. So perhaps I'm done for now..."

"Ah." He rubs his chin, as if he's considering this, then: "You're old enough to retire, of course."

"I already told you I'm only twenty-one!" This, obviously a sore subject, prompts a whirling of her head toward his. "I was good enough to pass as a high school student!"

There is a grin on his mouth. "You never fooled me. In fact, people used to ask me why I spent so much time with an old woman."

She grits her teeth. "Do you want me to take you back inside, Narumi-san?"

"I wouldn't; some nurse might see you and try to escort you back to the dementia ward."

"MOU!" She whips her head away with a huff, crossing her arms tight across her chest. There is a moment of silence, until the young woman hears quiet laughter from her left; she peeks over her shoulder and watches the young man laugh into the back of his hand, his head turned away as if he is trying to muffle the sound. Her expression changes from one of indignant frustration to a smile, and she relaxes again, unfolding her arms. "It's good to hear you laugh," she remarks, softly, although he pretends not to hear her, just as he almost instantly pretends he has not been laughing, or has not even been amused at all. She smiles a bit wider, turning her head back to him, and after a pause shifts to the very end of the wooden bench so that her leg is touching the side of his wheelchair. "Anyway," she starts again, "I'd like to stay here permanently..."

"Where?"

"Somewhere close to Narumi-san." She lets out a little sigh. "I don't like all of this coming and going... I'm always worried that I might... miss something, while I'm gone."

He looks over at her out of the corners of his eyes, then turns his attention on the swaying branches and leaves above them, watching sunbeams dance in and out of the spaces between the foliage. "Aniki would call you if - "

"I don't mean something bad," she interrupts, a bit hurriedly, "I mean... if something were to improve, or the tests were to find something."

"Hm." His eyes fall from the treetop and move to fix on hers, and in the silence that follows, something in his stoic expression seems to crack. He turns in his chair, reaching out with one hand, and touches a small silver earring that hangs from her left earlobe. "I would like that," he remarks, quietly. "Very much."

Her cheeks begin to color. "If - if I was nearby ... ?"

"Oh, that." He shrugs, drawing his hand away. "I suppose. I meant I'd like it if things improved. It'd be nice to have my arm back."

"... you're malicious, Narumi-san."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he says, and smiles innocently. She makes a face and swats at him, and he dodges easily, snatching her wrist in his hand. "Now, now," he scolds her, as if he is dealing with a preschooler, "that isn't nice. You'll just make my condition worse if you keep doing this kind of thing. What will aniki think when he finds you trying to abuse me?"

"Mouuu..."

"Oh, well." He suddenly pulls on her wrist and she shrieks, tumbling recklessly off the side of the park bench, over the arm of his wheelchair, and halfway into his lap. She looks up at him with wide eyes and he simply pulls on her arm, bringing her completely over into the chair. "This isn't quite large enough for the both of us," he observes, speaking as plainly as he would about anything else. "But I can see you better like this."

"I ... if you can't see me, you should be wearing your glasses..." She straightens herself the best she can, sitting upright in his lap, her cheeks warming into the shade of an apple. "You didn't ... have to bring me so close ... "

"I had other reasons."

"... ah?" she can only squeak. "Other ... ?"

"It's been a while since anyone bothered to touch me." His arm loops itself around her waist, and he leans into her, his forehead resting against her shoulder. "As if I'm contagious. Not even neesan bothers to pat me on the shoulder anymore." He pauses, and his eyes close, lashes fluttering softly against the side of the young woman's shirt sleeve. "You're the only one who doesn't seem scared of being around me."

"If you just wanted a hug," she begins, but the words die on her lips. A sympathetic look appears on her face, replacing the one of surprise and embarrassment, and she seems to think better of continuing her remark; she reaches up and lightly touches the back of his neck with one hand, then allows her fingertips to brush against a silver hoop on the edge of one of his ears. "Oh, Narumi-san," she sighs, softly, and her own eyes close. "it's harder to leave every time..."

His voice is quiet, emotional - honest. "Then don't."

"I can't promise anything yet..."

"Then promise you won't push me away." He holds her tighter, his brows creasing. "If I lose this, lose you... I lose everything."

The young woman's eyes open and her lips part suddenly; she looks as if she wishes to either speak or shout in surprise, but she can do neither. Instead she crumbles, her body collapsing into his, and she buries her head in his chest and muffles a sob into his shirt. The young man simply holds her, his arm around her waist, and as she begins to cry he opens his eyes and looks up at the treetops that sway in the spring breeze, the golden sunlight reflecting off of the pools in his eyes.

It is several minutes before she composes herself again, sniffing and wiping at her eyes, and she slips out of his lap easily, resuming her place on the bench to his side. "You know, Narumi-san," she begins, her voice still a little unsteady, "I think I would have fainted, if I'd have heard those words a few years ago..."

"I would have fainted, had I said them." He turns his head and watches her smooth out the folds in her skirt. " ... before the end, anyway," he adds.

"When you figured out - "

"No," he says, evenly, breaking into her sentence, "I never figured anything out. I always knew." He chuckles softly as their eyes meet. "In real life, pretty girls don't just appear and start following you around. I knew you had to be some piece of the puzzle. I just didn't figure out aniki's intentions until later."

She tilts her head, frowning slightly. "But you never said anything..."

"Ah, well." He leans back in his wheelchair. "Maybe I liked your company, after all."

Her expression relaxes into a smile. "Really?"

"Don't think too much of it. I was bored." He looks away, bending his arm to rest against the arm of his chair and propping his chin up in his hand. "It was a choice between you and talking to myself, and I figured you might be marginally more interesting. I'm still not sure if that was the correct choice."

She grits her teeth, clenching her hands into fists. "Narumi-san..."

"Quiet. Aniki's coming."

"E - eh?" She sits up straight, looking around. "Where?"

"From the front door. Don't move." His eyes are trained on the figure of a tall man in a suit, brown hair flowing loosely around his face, walking quickly down the front path toward the sidewalk in front of the hospital. "He shouldn't be able to notice us here if he's not looking closely."

The young woman obeys, sitting rigidly upright, her own gaze now following the man as he walks down the path. "Do you think he ... ?" she whispers, leaving the question open, as if she doesn't need to complete it for her companion. "He's leaving..."

"Either he assumed I was asleep and didn't enter," he murmurs, "or he's going to call the police to start searching for me."

"Should I sneak you back inside?" Her lips twist into a smile. "That might be a little funny..."

"It would. But I'd rather stay out here." The figure recedes out of sight and he breathes out a sigh, relaxing, lifting his chin from his palm amd smoothing back his unruly mess of hair. "The weather's nice today," he remarks. "I'm sure I'll be in trouble when I'm eventually found, but this is worth doing."

She shifts her attention to him, watching him for a moment with eyes that are still shining and red-rimmed. Eventually she smiles again, clasping her hands together in her lap. "Shall we do it again sometime, then?" she asks softly.

He glances at her. "Next week?"

For a moment she hesitates, her lips half-parted, and it is obvious that she is reluctant to make a promise - but then she nods, once, resolutely. "Next week," she agrees. "Just as long as I'm able to sneak you out again, that is..."

"Hm." He looks away, but there is a smile on the young man's mouth, a genuine smile that looks good on his handsome face. "I'd like that."

"Me too," she agrees, and it is settled. They fall silent, then, sitting together under the protection of the swaying treetops, watching as the warm spring breeze stirs the leaves and blossoms. It is a beautiful day, a perfect time to be enjoyed by two people who sit together in front of a hospital, losing all of their worries and cares in the presence of the warm sunshine. As the young woman watches the branches sway overhead, she notices a familiar figure advancing back into the courtyard, as if he has suddenly noticed something -

"Narumi-san..."

"Ah?"

She cringes. "We've been noticed."

"AYUMU!"

"Run," the young man commands, and doesn't have to ask twice: the young woman springs to her feet, seizes his wheelchair, and pushes him quickly through the grass toward a back door. She nearly trips over her own two feet and he laughs at her, and after a moment she joins in, giggling. And even as Narumi Kiyotaka chases them and shouts at his younger brother and the blonde woman that accompanies him, their laughter grows and echoes up through the treetops.