Chapter 4

Fujii, a certified physiotherapist working for one of the country's largest hospitals, has a tiny little secret; She is terrified.

There have been a lot of changes lately at the hospital where she works. There are more suspicious characters loitering about. Yesterday in particular, she saw an old lady in a bucket hat sitting in the lobby speaking with a sinister voice over a hidden headpiece and a man is faking a leg injury wandering the hallways, preaching about cheap ketchup.

And all of this started ever since the patient in Room 207 of the President Wing was submitted to their hospital - or so Masaharu, the nurse, claimed in a hushed voice when she just happened to bump into him on their lunch break. "Oh, you're being dramatic!" She remembers saying. Because, after all, she too has been involved with the aforementioned patient's treatment due to the boy being in a coma and they need a physiotherapist to move his limbs to avoid risks of muscular dystrophy. Nothing can convince her a 16-year-old vegetative patient could be the cause of the strange occurrences at the hospital.

That is until, by some miracle or some bad luck, she is tasked to be the main physiotherapist of said patient in Room 207.

And after all the weird non-disclosure agreement papers she had to sign and the constant feel of eyes watching over her shoulders, you can't blame Fuji for being more than just a little scared.

In the center of all of that is this boy. Ren-kun, so she calls him, appears as normal as most 16-year-old boys. In fact, the sleepy gaze of those huge round eyes is quite the charmer. He's soft-spoken and keeps to himself; a stark contrast to the attitude carried by the obnoxious rich folks who frequent this part of the hospital. If she ignores all else, the boy could easily be her favorite patient.

But she cannot ignore the two looming men eyeing their every interaction from the room separating the door and the patient, nor can she ignore the insane recovery rate the boy is displaying. Now that she is in the loop, Masaharu has even spilled to her that the boy was once considered dead.

So how is he sitting here in front of her, diligently writing a sentence for their therapy session, cheeks flushing pink with all the definition of 'alive' written all over it?

"Done," Ren finishes the writing of his name with a dot. He shoves the paper for Fuji to see, to which Fujii hums proudly.

"Good, good!" She cheers. Yet, she is vigilant. What else will surprise me? She asks every time she finds herself sitting next to this boy, what are you hiding? Why are these people keeping a close eye on you?? "Now, Ren-kun, let's try writing a full sentence. I have the sentence written down at the top of this paper. All you have to do is make a copy right under it".

"Okay," and Ren follows the simple instructions like a dutiful student. Fujii subtly releases a long sigh. Every step closer to the end of their session gives her a sense of achievement. It's not that Hinata Ren is a difficult patient; it's actually the opposite. It's just that those two bodyguards make her very nervous. She's lucky that other mysterious man only known by one name is absent today; something about a business trip. Yet those two men are especially busier than usual at the moment, making Fujii feel like she is missing a blaring red light somewhere in the room.

"So, Fujii-san".

"Eh! Y-yes??" She almost jumps in her seat as Ren calls her. The boy appears thoughtful as he frowns at his handwriting. 

"You've worked here for a while, right?"

Is this it?? Is something finally happening? "Yes".

"So...," Ren continues writing down the sentence, "you should know a lot about this hospital and what's going on in it".

"Pretty much," this is it. This is where he drops everything to her lap and she will finally get some clarity over whatever is going on in this hospital lately.

"Have you heard of any ghost apparitions on this side of the hospital?"

What? "S-sorry?"

"Ghost. He's blonde, fashionable, looks kind of like a celebrity and he's maybe a foreigner," the boy lifts his head to meet her eyes, "Oh, and loves videogames".

Fujii blinks owlishly, "Are you... telling me that you're seeing ghosts?"

"Only one," Ren purses his lips in thought. To be honest, Fujii would think he looks cute - if not for the fact that he's also blurting weird stuff at the moment, "He was always sitting there, on that long cabinet. But I think I said something wrong and maybe I offended him. He hasn't shown himself since. I think I would... like to apologize, y'know?"

Really, kid? You have secret agents crowding the whole wing for you and you're worried about some ghost? No ghost would even want to enter this room with those two bodyguards continuously boring holes into anyone who dares enter the room!

"I was just wondering if you knew anyone with that description who died here or something. Although, there is that instance where he held a vase. Ghosts don't do that, do they?"

After dropping that bombshell, the kid has the gal to return to his writing with no further words, leaving Fujii biting the inside of her mouth.

"Hahaha. Um," Fujii laughs awkwardly. One thing about her is that she is actually a scaredy cat. She looks around to distract herself from that ghost story, but ends up noticing the long cabinet where Ren said the ghost often sits. "U-um! H-how about we go for a walk!?"

"Now? How about the writing?"

Who are they kidding? The kid does not need the fine motoric skills practice. He does not even need the walking cane she provides him. Fujii does not know what kind of miracle is doing its work, but this boy is fine. Fine enough that she can drag him out of this haunted room!!

"Yeah. I'll just check out at the front desk, okay? Meanwhile, you can get ready".

Ren looks a little confused but is pleased he can finally have another moment outside of this room. "Okay. I need to go to the bathroom anyway".

Fujii makes her way out of the room, "Mm-hmm. Will be back in a moment".

The two guards seem very distracted by their phones when she exits the room. Fujii does not humor her curiosity and goes straight to the hallway and to the front desk, where Masaharu is scrambling around from one computer monitor to the other. "Busy day?" She asks the nurse. Masaharu spares her a glance, before returning his attention to the computer.

"You've no idea," he answers, stoic as usual. Two adult men walk past them. Fujii tilts her head to see them entering Room 207.

"Uh, did something happen?" First, it was ghosts. Now what?

Masaharu looks like he's debating whether to tell her or not, but finally concedes to the prior. "You're going to be briefed on this later anyway, so let me just... fill you in. Uh, we're going to have a new patient".

"In this wing?"

Masaharu nods.

"I thought they're not letting anyone in until 207 leaves the hospital".

"Yeah, well, this one patient is one they're protecting too," Masaharu then grudgingly adds, "Someone... famous".

"Ooh! Someone I know?"

"Oh, you would know".

"Who!? A celebrity?"

"After the recent news? Yeah, absolutely".

"Hmmmmm," Fujii tries to think up recent trending stories online that would require this level of protection. 

"Think America," Masaharu tips, "... and a kidnapping".

She lets out a sharp gasp, "No waaaaaayyy. Really? But I thought he should still be on his flight here!"

"No, he arrived here very early in the morning and went straight into surgery. They're only telling people that on the news to fool the kidnappers. He was sent directly to Neo Japan as soon as he's rescued instead of the day after - Something related to a deal made with the Americans, perhaps it's to do with his safety".

"But they've captured those kidnappers, right?"

"Hnn, but you never truly know. There might be more of them out there".

Fujii can feel the excitement bubbling inside her. On any other day, she wouldn't be as interested in the affairs of the rich as most Japanese. At most, she can name a few of the richest families of modern-time Japan. Abe is one of those names she would mention; after all, Abe Group is one of the major contributors to the country's GDP through their powerful tech companies. Most people have only heard about their 19-year-old heir this very week when news of his kidnapping reached the ears of your everyday Japanese. And while the general public worries over the guy being held hostage in a foreign land, the internet is busy commenting on his pictures. They just found the next bachelor of the year to rave about.

"So how is he? Is he as handsome as they show on the news?" 

Masaharu sighs like he regrets telling her already. "Okay, first of all, you better not tell anyone about this. He's going to be addressed under a false name. The press cannot know about this. Those criminals cannot know about this. Heck, no one can know about this. And there are going to be more security measures now that we have one more person in this wing. Considering what happened, we're all responsible for his safety and well-being, so please keep this to yourself. I mean it. Secondly," Masaharu smiles thinly, "The nurses upstairs told me he's very tall. Taller than expected. Also," He leans closer and lowers his voice, "He has tattoos".

"What?" Tattoos used to represent a certain group of people back in the day. Today, while it is still a symbol of rebelliousness, it is certainly more common among people of any background. However, you don't normally find the upper crust of their society sporting a tattoo of any kind.

"Yeah, on his arms," Masaharu pats his right arm from the shoulder to the wrist to stress his point, "All permanent".

"Wow".

"Yeah, and they said he's a bit of a flirt".

"Oooohhhh".

"Don't even think about it. He's 19".

"And I'm 24".

"He could still call you 'obaa-chan'".

Fujii smacks Masaharu's arm lightly, "So where is he?"

"That's the problem. He should be here by now, but the people upstairs kind of implied that they've lost him".

"They what?"

Masaharu rolls his eyes, "Apparently he asked to have a short walk, and they lost him. He's still on hospital ground, they're sure. They just don't know where".

"Uhhh..., shouldn't you guys be panicking?"

"What are you saying? Can't you see? We are panicking".

Actually, she can see that from the consistent popping of new messages on the computers Masaharu is tending and the two men who entered Room 207 have now left the wing in a rush. "Does this mean I can't take Ren-kun for a walk?" She asks. She'd rather they leave the wing though. She doesn't feel like entering that room again after hearing about a ghost.

"Are you?"

"Yes. Come on. You know Ren does not cause troubles," except for the fact that his stay in the hospital also brought in these secret agents, "He's well-behaved. He won't go missing on a walk".

"Yes, but we possibly have a missing patient here".

"Well, I don't want to go back to that room," to Masaharu confused look, she says, "Ren mentions something about a ghost".

"Is the ghost blonde?"

"He told you too?"

"Yeah, but the last person who died in the room is an old man with black hair and I sure don't remember having a dead foreign patient".

"Right. My point stays. I don't want to go to that room after he said a ghost sits there".

Masaharu opens his mouth to rebut that but is stopped when he sees Ren walking towards them. Fujii follows his line of sight and is somewhat impressed by the fact that Ren has changed out of his hospital robe to regular clothes; a pair of new jeans and a light blue sweater. She has heard that 'Yasuo' took it upon himself to buy the boy new clothes.

"Are we going?" Ren asks. Really, with that slight perk to his head, and the rise of his eyebrows; how can you say no? Ren always appears eager to interact with hospital staff; almost like he craves these interactions.

"Uhh," Masaharu stumbles on his words, "Y-yeah. Are you ready to leave?" The nurse quickly picks up the paper and hands it to Fujii, causing the latter to smile happily.

"Yup," she signs the paper, "Leaving now. We'll just be by the hydrangea garden". She turns to Ren, who readily walks closer with his walking cane carried by one hand. "Ren-kun, remember, use your walking cane properly".

"Oh, sorry," the boy lands the cane on the floor and takes a good grip on the handle like a proper patient. Fujii and Masaharu shares a look. This boy does not need that cane and they know it. 

"All right! Let's go. Bye, Masaharu-kun!" Fujii leads the way as Ren bows his head to Masaharu, "Bye, Masaharu-san".

And so they both leave the President wing through the elevator. "We're going to a different garden today! I think you'll like it," Fujii announces. The garden is located on the upper floor, on one of their rooftop gardens. At the ding of the elevator, she walks ahead to their left. The hydrangea garden should be just at the end of this hallway.

"This way, Ren-kun?" She looks back to check on the boy - only to find no one.

"Ren-kun...?"

**

Fujii takes his hand as they leave the elevator and walk to their right. He notices Fujii is acting a little uncharacteristically silent. Normally she would be jumping from one topic to the other by this point. "Uh, so where is this garden you're taking me?" Ren attempts to start the conversation. The physiotherapist barely turns around to see him when she says with a tone he never heard her speaking in.

"You'll see!"

Her ponytail swings left and right; the end of that ponytail is brushing a different shoulder each time. Ren senses something is different. For one, the woman doesn't typically pull him by the wrist like this when they're out for a walk.

Soon, they reach a part of the hallway that is quite deserted. Ren sees no one else in the vicinity besides himself and the therapist. A lone double-door stands at the end and it is clear to him that Fujii intends on taking him there. Maybe it leads to one of the hospital's rooftop gardens.

Yet when they cross the door, Ren is sad to say that it does not meet his expectation when he hears the word 'garden'. It's a space of concrete floor and a large structure in the middle that is probably the exhaust vent for the hospital's ventilating system. "Here we are!" Fujii says; still with her back to Ren. At least she is releasing his wrist now.

Ren walks to the end of the rooftop and looks down. He can see the parking lot from where he is standing. He supposes the change of scenery is quite nice. "This is nice," he tells Fujii, "Thank you for -"

But another person has taken the spot where Fujii was previously standing. Instead, Ren finds a boy with blonde hair. "... you".

"I'm surprised you didn't notice it was me," the blonde boy says in English. His dark eyes are steely as they land on Ren's shorter form and yet those small pink lips.... are pouting.

Ren says nothing, more out of surprise, confusion, and having to think twice as hard when having to build a sentence in English. The blonde boy takes the cue to approach until they are just standing one step apart. They're not that far apart height-wise, but the blonde sure wins by a few inches.

"Or maybe you did know! But you're playing along, leading me on like a fool". The way the boy accuses is almost childish, yet the way he moves is very elegant; almost cat-like.

"I...," Ren swallows and continues with a small voice as he tries his best to speak in English, "I don't know what you're talking abo -"

"Who are you to Yasuo!?"

The blonde raises his voice, enough to cause Ren to flinch and raise his two hands in front of him as a shield. "... we... we, uhh, we are friends!"

"Are you seriously lying to me?"

"N-no! Not lying! No lying, no!"

"Are you another one of his secret love child!?"

That stuns Ren for a split second. All the cogs in his brain are moving extra hard to find the meaning of the word 'love child' and making double sure there is no other definition. When he finds it, his response comes out in Japanese, "Wait, am I?"

"I don't know!? I'm asking you, aren't I!?"

Ren is utterly confused. "I don't know either! I'm...," he quickly thinks of the right word, "Orphan! I'm a orph - I mean, an orphan!"

"D'aww," the blonde visible shrivels at that reveal but inflates quickly back up. He then says in perfect Japanese, "I think you're lying".

"S-sorry?'"

"How the fuck were you able to see me!? Most people can't do that. I even fooled Yasuo once and Hide twice!" The taller teen is now looming over Ren with his shoulders all hunched up as he glares down. "You're hiding something. You have to be. Some secret... ability that you're hiding behind this feigned innocence! There's no way you're an F-Class. Yasuo does not mingle with anyone below C -"

"That's classist".

" - and I refuse to believe that he made a baby with an F-Class to create you. You have to be at least an A-Class faking your status as an F-Class for some stupid reason. Like, why else is Yasuo putting this many guards around you and stuff? Yeah. Jury's still out on the love child case for now though. You don't seem to have the looks for it".

"Um... that's... rude...," Ren mutters, but now that this boy mentions 'looks', he feels like that long nose and thick eyebrows remind him of someone. This boy looks like someone Ren knows.

The blonde looks like... Yasuo.

"So you have to be very very strong. Powerful," The blonde squints at Ren. Suddenly, he snatches Ren's walking cane and holds it up and away from Ren's reach.

"H-hey!!"

"You're not weak! You might be acting weak, but that is all false! You don't even need this walking stick!"

Ren scowls. That is indeed true. He only uses that walking cane because Masaharu and Fujii ask him to. Otherwise, he's been walking fine for the last week.

"Why else can you see me? You're not even surprised to see me here after I made you believe that you're walking with your nurse!"

"Uhhh....," Ren makes sure he's allowed to speak now, "But, you're a ghost. Isn't that what you can naturally do?"

The blonde deadpans at Ren, "Haa?"

"Like, take the form of others and stuff? And I only started noticing you after I - well, the orphanage I'm in teaches us about prayers and stuff, and I don't really believe in them, but that day I made a little wish, you know".

The blonde deadpans even further, "Haaaa?"

"And I wished for a friend. For my friend. He's missing, you see. Uhh..., he has blonde hair, like you!"

The blonde is strangely silent to that but maintains his offensive stature. Ren continues, "So, I thought, maybe God is saying you are the answer to that. That you and I - uhh - could be f-friends!" Ren just made up this part about being friends, but he's scrambling for a way to get in the good grace of this blonde-haired 'ghost'.

"Me," The blonde says flatly, "Friend?"

"Yeah...?"

The boy with the blonde hair seems to be considering it.

"Fine! But friendship is built on the very basis of trust!" the blonde walks back to give them some space. His right hand spins the walking cane as he walks away.

The taller teen then turns around and points the walking cane dramatically at Ren, "And I can't trust you if you're still lying to me!"

"Urgh," Ren sighs, "I told you I'm not..."

The blonde does not seem to be listening, "Hence! You shall show me the extent of your true ability!" He swings the walking cane around, "Now, do something with your ability to fetch this cane!"

The blonde then throws the walking cane away. And due to Ren's lack of any ability, the cane hits the top of the large exhaust vent with a loud clang, before it bounces back up mid-air. They are bracing for another loud clang as it descends from the peak of its trajectory over the vent.

But what they hear instead as it lands on the other side of the roof behind the vent is a loud groan.

Someone! There's someone else on this rooftop!

Ren watches as the person slowly rises. The top of their curly hair peeks from behind the vent. This person, Ren figures, has to be very tall to be able to be seen from the opposite side of the vent. They both missed him only because this person, from the long yawn they let out, had probably been napping behind the vents.

"What the hell is that?" The person, a guy, asks groggily. From where he is, Ren sees the head moving to the side of the vent so he can see the one responsible for throwing the cane. When he finally reaches Ren's line of vision, Ren can finally see the guy's appearance.

The guy is dressed in the hospital gown and is wearing the hospital's blue slippers. From the collar of the gown, Ren catches the sight of bandages covering his whole left shoulder. His shoulder-length curly mane is blown lightly by the wind as he puts on his thick-rimmed glasses. The tall guy scowls at Ren.

"Did you throw this?" The guy lifts the cane.

"No! He did!" Ren points at the blonde. The guy turns his head to follow the direction of Ren's finger and sighs in disappointment.

"There's no one else here but you".

Ren checks to his right, and true enough, the blonde has disappeared!! "W-what!? But he was here!" Ren looks around, "There was this blonde-haired boy who is maybe a ghost and he -"

It doesn't appear like the tall guy would believe him. The guy is already tilting his head to the side with a questioning expression. "Ugh, I..., I'm sorry," Ren concedes. He shortens their distance with his head bent down in shame and takes the walking cane, "Let me take that".

The moment his hand touches the walking crane, the guy grabs Ren's wrist and pulls. "Hinata Ren," the guy reads Ren's wrist tag, "So you're a patient. You don't seem like one at all. You can even walk happily without this cane".

Ren notes the dark lines of tattoos hugging the man's arm. "I've gotten better," Ren forcefully pulls back his wrist. This guy is also a little rude, Ren thinks. Then again, he doesn't have the right to accuse the guy of being so when Ren's the one being accused of carelessly throwing a walking cane toward an injured person.

"Ah, an almost recovered patient hurting a very injured, still recovering patient," the guy's tone is almost playful. But Ren does not think it's the right time for a joke.

"I apologize," Ren bows, "I didn't know you were there and I was careless".

"And to think that you were blaming a ghost just moments ago".

Ren flushes in embarrassment. "I was nervous. I'm sorry again, Matsuda-san".

"Eh?" The tall guy raises his eyebrows, "Who?"

"... Matsuda-san? That's your name... right?" Or Ren might have misread the tag. He only had a glimpse when the guy held his wrist.

"Uh, yeah! Yeah," Matsuda quickly nods. The whole exchange is a little awkward, then again, perhaps Matsuda has been struck in the head by the walking cane.

"Okay, I... have to go. Sorry again, Matsuda-san," Ren gives him another bow and darts to the door with his walking cane just carried by his side. Meanwhile 'Matsuda' looks down on his wrist tag and frowns at the name written there. Seriously, Matsuda Kou? That's a lame name.

"Oh, and Matsuda-san?"

'Matsuda' looks up to the door where Hinata Ren is standing.

"I don't think you should be here. Best return to your room to rest".

"Haha, will do," Matsuda waves.

**

Hinata Ren soon reaches a random nurse and asks to be returned to his room. This news, however, has yet reached his physiotherapist who has spent the last half an hour scouring the whole floor to find him. At the moment, she is walking back to the elevator they took to reach the 5th floor. She was sure she still had him when they were in that elevator, so perhaps he wandered off afterward.

As she walks past the elevator, she notices two nurses keeping their hold on a very tall patient with curly hair waiting for the elevator. "Oh, come on~ I was just taking a nap outside! It's boring to be holed up in a room!" The patient's protests can be heard behind her as Fujii walks further into the hallway. As she was in a rush to find Ren, she did not think to take a better look at this patient. But after noting his tall frame and curly hair, she stops and looks back to see if that is the person she thinks it is.

Unfortunately, the patient and the two nurses have entered the elevator the moment she turns around. Oh well, time to get back to find Ren. She has checked the other parts of the 5th story and has asked enough people to know that no one saw him. So the only part left is this direction. The only reason Fujii leaves this part last is because no one ever goes there and it is rumored to be haunted.

Soon, she is the only one walking in the hallway. At the end of the hallway is a double door leading to an empty rooftop. All she needs to do is open the door, take a quick peek outside to see if Ren is there, and scram. It will only take a short minute.

She does so. She stops behind the double door, opens it, pokes her head outside, sees no one, and she closes it. Great, Ren is nowhere to be seen. It's best that she reports this to the President wing and admits defeat to Masaharu for jinxing it when she said she wouldn't lose Ren.

She takes out her phone and is about to walk away when she hears a noise from the door to the janitor's closet which is located on the wall to the right of the double door. She spins around to look and sees nothing. Her heart thumps loudly, thinking of that ghost story Ren told her.

But ghosts don't exist, do they? Maybe it's Ren, hiding in the closet out of boredom. Or maybe he fell asleep there, just like that patient at the elevator. 

Being the responsible staff she is, Fujii gathers her courage and opens the door slowly.

Inside is a blonde young man holding what seems to be a handheld console.

"...Blonde, fashionable, looks kind of like a celebrity and he's maybe a foreigner," Ren's voice plays in her head, "Oh, and loves videogames".

The blonde looks up; the light from the console and the darkness of the closet add an effect on his face. "Wha -"

"G-GHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSTTTTTTTT!!!!!"

The woman runs for her life.

***

To be Continued.