Deep breath in... Deep breath out... It's time to wake up anew.

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   Callisthenes eyes slowly fluttered open, his mind slowly becoming conscious. He felt like he had been hit on his back with a baseball bat... But for some reason, also rejuvenated.

   He put his hand to his chest to check his heartbeat. Still beating, still alive.

   His eyes wandered around where he could possibly be. He was lying down, and his head was on a pillow, so he must be some room. Soon, he quickly realized that he was in a hospital room. Someone must've found him and called the hospital.

  (What happened...? Oh, that's right...) He was immediately reminded by himself that he was thrown off the roof of Crownzel by the crazy ''Harpy'': Yanny. Yet, he was alive.

   A small sniffing sound was heard next to him, and he slowly tilted his head to the side to see a young girl with long, honey colored hair sitting on a white chair. She was looking down at her legs, her hands clenched stiffly. Was she upset?

   Another thing that stood out to Callisthenes was that she was wearing a Crownzel Uniform with a unique emblem on her right shoulder...

  (Wait, is that...?) A person who knew came to mind.

   No doubt, it was definitely Nari Schneider, the leader of the Literature Club. Was she the one that found him?

  "No, he can't be dead... I'm not cursed, this is just a coincidence... Yeah, just a coincidence..." She muttered under her breath, her voice unsure and nervous.

   (She must be talking about me, but...) He looked at her worriedly. (What curse is she talking about?)

   Well, he can't just lie there and do nothing. He has to say something.

  "Nari," He began, noticing that he had made her stop for a moment. "Are you okay? You seem worried."

   Nari looked up at him, her jaw open for small moment, maybe in shock. Then, she smiled widely.

  "Oh, Cal, you're alive!" She cryed happily, jumping up from the chair to hug him. He flinched for a moment, but returned the hug.

  "Oh my god, I thought you died! Your heartbeat was slow and everything... What happened?" She asked him worriedly as she looked back up.

  He looked around nervously before responding. "Well uh... I uh, got pushed off the roof. Yeah."

   As much as he'd like to tell her, something in his mind told him to keep quiet about Yanny being Harpy. After all, how would she even believe him in the first place?

  She looked at him with an angry, yet shocked expression. "Who pushed you?! I will report them to the school, the police-"

  "Calm down for a moment, it was Yanny. She pushed me off, we can just tell the school tomorrow." He explained briefly, straightening himself up into a sitting position.

  "Alright... But to think it would be Yanny to hurt you... I thought she loved you." Nari said, sitting next to him.

  "By the way, it's late, aren't your parents worried about you?" He asked her, slightly concerned.

   For a moment, he thought he saw a bit of pain cross her eyes. Maybe he shouldn't have changed the subject.

  "Well... My parents really don't mind." She finally stated, forcing a smile. "Anyways, I should probably get the doctor to check up on you. Stay here."

   And then she left wordlessly.

   Why did she leave so urgently though? Was she escaping the question? Maybe something might be happening at home. Right now, he can't ask that though. She would feel uncomfortable.

   His eyes soon caught a glimpse of his backpack in the corner of the room. He wasn't expecting to see it since he left it in his locker... Hopefully remembered to lock his locker.

   He wanted to text Renee, since she told him that she would be able to talk to him 24/7 now, but there was something on his leg that forced him to stay put.

   Before he could even lift the blanket to inspect, the door opened, and an elderly, jovial man with a white coat walked inside. Nari quietly followed behind him.

  "Hello there Callisthenes, I'm your docter for today, Dr. Elliot." He said cheerfully as he sat on a rolling chair left to the hospital bed.

   Nari was sitting on the chair she sat on before, but had a strangely far-away look in her eyes. Callisthenes was worried, but he had to focus on the doctor for the time being.

  Dr. Elliot took out a stethoscope from one of his larger pockets and put the ear pieces in his ears. "Alright, first things first, let's check your pulse..."

--...--

   During the checkup, all went well, but Callisthenes was worried and guilty about Nari the whole time. If he hadn't asked that question, she wouldn't be so distant. The only time where she technically smiled was when the doctor talked to her. He hoped she was just overthinking about the rooftop pushing, and not the question.

  "Well, it looks like all the previous injuries have healed!" Dr. Elliot exclaimed, after the checkup had finished.

  "It looks like you don't need this anymore then," He got up from the rolling chair and lowered the hospital bed's blanket, showing Callisthenes's patient clothes, and a tube taped to his thigh connecting to a blood packet on the IV Stand to the right.

   He disconnected the tube from Callisthenes's thigh, which stinged him for a moment. But, the doctor put a small bandage over where the tube was connected.

  "Here's your school uniform, kid. We managed to clean it, but it's a little crinkly, so apologies for that." Dr. Elliot handed him his slightly wrinkly uniform along with his shoes.

   He thanked the doctor before he shortly left, leaving Callisthenes alone with Nari. He quickly told Nari that he was going to change, in which she responded with a monotone voice:

  "'Kay."

  "Are you okay, Nari? You're really making me worry." He asked worriedly, as he got up from the hospital bed.

   She sighed before looking at him with a somber face, not even wanting to sugar-coat it.

  "Let's talk about this on our way home."

--!--

  "Woah, I... I didn't know that." Callisthenes reacted, looking worriedly at Nari.

   The two of them were on the sidewalk, both in their uniforms and with their backpacks, in the middle of the night. It was way too late for them to hitch a ride on a taxi or to take a bus ride, so they had to walk to their homes. Nari's neighborhood was closer to the hospital, so it wouldn't be a long walk for her.

  "Of course you wouldn't, it'd be weird if you did," She responded, smiling slightly at him. "But continuing, yes, my parents aren't that... Present in my life. And when they are... They aren't that kind." She explained again, more specifically this time.

  "But still, I see them as my parents, so I still love them no matter what, but... Things have beem difficult..." He looked at her sympathetically, and put his hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him.

  "I'm sure you'll be able to work this out," He began. "Good luck, okay?"

   Nari paused for a moment to stare at him, before nodding and smiling brightly.

  "I will!" She said happily. She then noticed that they were already nearing her neighborhood, and was slightly disappointed that she couldn't stay longer.

  "See you tomorrow, Callisthenes!" She ran ahead, waving goodbye to him and him returning the goodbye, before she took a small turn into the neighborhood, and was no longer visible.

   He sighed before looking up at the big, black sky, where he could see a few clouds.

   This year is definitely abnormal.

  "Time to head home, hopefully that monster isn't here..."