After a week of nothing new, the same tortuous days stretching on for what felt like forever, something changed.
~

It was dark. I couldn't see anything and my body felt heavy and worn. I felt sick to my stomach and but for the warmth in my hand, I was cold. What was that warmth...? It felt so nice in my palm... A familiar kind of warmth. What was it...?
What was in my hand...?
I wanted to see...
Using every ounce of strength I could muster, I cracked open my eyes. Squinting against the brightness I wasn't adjusted to, I hazily looked around. The...bedroom...?
Right... I was back home, wasn't I? I'd given Sora the antidote and everything had gone back to how it should be, right...?
Wanting to see him now, to see him well, I began scanning the room for him. Turning to the side I could see him, his body leaned halfway up on the bed so that by sitting on the floor he could rest at my bedside. His head was down against the mattress, so I assumed he didn't see me.
Glancing down, I saw his hand was clasped around mine, and it made my heart swell. I squeezed his hand gently, and found my voice. "...Sora...?"
His body jolted, seemingly surprised by my voice calling out, and he raised his head to look at me with wide eyes. I gave a soft smile, and the reaction that played across his face made my heart feel like it was cracking.
"...ayano..." His voice sounded so soft and relieved. How long had I been out? Sora looked like he hadn't slept or eaten in days...
I opened my mouth to say something, when my entire body jolted from an acute pain in my stomach. I winced and grabbed my abdomen which ached, and Sora sprang up onto the bed with me in concern. "Ayano? Ayano???"
I caught my breath and stilled, then tugged down the hem of my shirt, silent. He... Hadn't seen, right...?
He didn't need to know... It was better if he didn't...
But the way he was looking down at my stomach with a clenched jaw didn't give me much hope. Deciding to avoid mentioning it altogether, I quickly changed the subject. "How long was I out...?"

"A week."

"A week?? Oh... How'sー"

"Are you hurting?"

I grimaced at his abrupt words, and even though he had avoided my subject change, I kept pressing.

"...I'm fine. Soー"

"You're hurting."

I glared at him, getting frustrated. "Sora."
But he glared backー and his expression was harder than mine. I found myself cowering in the face of it. It was like he could see into me...
Upon my backing down, Sora leaned closer, making me shrink as he glared me down.
"Don't you 'Sora' me," he hissed in a low voice I hadn't heard before. And his voice only got louder. "You almost got yourself killed out there! How could you be so stupid? How could yー"
I flinched as he stopped mid sentence, recoiling and breaking into a coughing and hacking fit which scared me enough that I froze. "Sora...?? What's....why are you...!"
Why... Why was he still like this...?
I brought the antidote, he shouldn't be...
Unless...
I looked at him then as if he had kicked a puppy, my body backing away further as I stared at him in disbelief, suddenly understanding everything.
"....you didn't take it."
It wasn't a question.
Sora's silence in response was all I needed to hear.
"... You didn't take it...!"
I couldn't believe this. After all I'd gone through and he hadn't taken it?! How could he do that to me?!
I was so infuriated that I could already feel the angry tears burning the corners of my eyes, my face heating up alongside my emotions.
"Ho...how could you do that to me?!"
I smacked his arm, the tears already breaking free without giving me a chance to try and stop them. "After all I went through to get that?? How could yー"
The moment I raised my voice and went towards him, I was stopped cold by a sharp ripping feeling in my stomach, making me freeze and coil in on myself with a grunt. It felt like someone was clawing my insides out...
The moment I flinched, Sora came towards me, hand outstretched, but I shoved it away. I was angry with him and I wanted him to know it. I wanted him guilty, I wanted him to know what he'd done...
In spite of that, the look he gave at my reaction made my heart hurt as much as my torso.
I could only look at him with tears streaming down my face before I felt my body go limp and collapse cold all over again.