12: Chapter 12 Anxiety

The footsteps completely disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The ward fell silent again.

Kaiwen lay there, staring blankly in the direction of the door for a while, and then slowly closed her eyes.

Although she felt like there were many things to think about, her body was simply too tired, and before long, she dozed off in a daze.

When she woke up again, the light through the gap in the curtains had turned orange-red, casting a warm, cozy hue over the entire ward.

It was evening…

Kaiwen picked up the phone beside her pillow again.

It was already 6:12 PM, and school should have been over by now.

However, a message sent by Raiden Mei was still hanging on the phone screen, and Kaiwen didn't even dare to tap on it, for fear that the message would show as read.

"Classmate Kaiwen, I heard you were injured and hospitalized. Is the injury serious? I am very worried about you!"

She stared at this line of text in the chat interface, her thumb rubbing back and forth along the edge of the screen.

Should she reply?

If she didn't reply, given Mei's personality, she would definitely not let the matter rest just like that; besides, that nurse mentioned earlier that the person who persuaded Kiana to leave last night was someone else. If that person was Mei, then she had already been to the hospital and might already know what her current condition was.

Then why did she still send "I heard"?

Did she really hear about it from someone else, or was she pretending to be clueless?

Kaiwen couldn't figure it out; the pain in her head made her thoughts move exceptionally slowly, and the more she thought about it, the more her temples throbbed with pain.

Forget it, why think so much? She might as well just reply; dragging it out and not replying would only cause more trouble.

Her finger finally made up its mind and tapped open Raiden Mei's chat box.

Just as she was pondering what to say, a message from Raiden Mei popped up.

Raiden Mei: "Are you awake?"

Looking at these three words, Kaiwen felt her back tighten slightly.

As soon as she opened the chat box, Raiden Mei's message popped up. So she had been waiting for her all along?

Kaiwen steadied herself and typed a line of text back:

"Mm, I just woke up not long ago. Mei, don't worry, I'm not in any major trouble. (*^▽^* )"

Raiden Mei: "That's great. You get some good rest first, I'm coming right now."

Kaiwen hurriedly typed: "You don't need to make a special trip…"

But before this message could be sent, another one came from Mei.

Raiden Mei: "I'm already on the way, I'll be there soon."

Kaiwen's finger froze on the screen.

It seemed she hadn't told Raiden Mei which hospital she was at, nor had she mentioned which floor or which ward.

And Mei hadn't asked either; it seemed the person who came last night really was her.

Kaiwen slowly put down her phone, watching the orange-red light on the ceiling dim bit by bit.

About twenty minutes passed.

Footsteps echoed from the corridor, neither fast nor slow, very light. If the ward hadn't been so quiet, they might not have even been audible.

Then the door was gently pushed open.

Standing at the doorway was Raiden Mei. She was wearing Chiba Academy's uniform, her hair tied into a neat high ponytail, holding a white plastic bag in her hand that bulged as if it contained something.

A pair of eyes locked with Kaiwen lying on the bed, except Kaiwen didn't see the surprise she expected in Mei's eyes.

It was as if she had long known what this face looked like.

"Classmate Kaiwen." Mei softly greeted her, then walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Mei…"

But Raiden Mei didn't pick up the conversation. She simply placed the plastic bag on the bedside table, took out an apple and a fruit knife from it, sat down on the plastic chair by the bedside, and began peeling the apple.

The apple peel spun and fell beneath the blade, turning into a long, thin red ribbon. Mei's hands were very steady, her gaze fixed on the apple in her hand, but she never looked at Kaiwen.

In the ward, there was only the faint sound of the fruit knife gliding across the apple peel.

Kaiwen leaned against the pillows, watching Mei's profile as she peeled the apple. The afterglow of the sunset shone through the gap in the curtains, plating her eyelashes with a shallow layer of gold.

She looked very quiet and gentle, practically like a different person compared to when they discussed the kidnapping plan in the school pavilion.

But looking at Raiden Mei's appearance, Kaiwen felt it would be better if she just gave her a stern scolding instead.

This kind of silent treatment was too terrifying…

The apple was peeled very quickly. Mei cut the apple into small pieces, placed them on the lid of the plastic bag, and set them in front of Kaiwen.

Then she picked up the second apple and continued peeling.

Still no words were spoken.

Kaiwen picked up a piece of apple and took a bite. It was very sweet and full of juice; she didn't know where Mei bought it, but it was delicious.

But she chewed very slowly, because she didn't know what to say, nor did she know what Mei was waiting for, so she could only let her mind wander wildly.

Soon, the second apple was also peeled. Mei didn't continue peeling apples; she finally put down the knife and wiped her fingers with a tissue.

Then she stared blankly at Kaiwen's face for a moment.

Just as Kaiwen was starting to feel uncomfortable from being stared at again, Mei finally raised her head and looked into Kaiwen's eyes.

Those purple eyes appeared very deep in the twilight, like a bottomless well.

"Classmate Kaiwen," Mei's voice was very soft, very soft, "are you willing to tell me the truth?"

Kaiwen's hand holding the apple froze mid-air.

"Wh—what truth?"

Mei didn't answer immediately. She lowered her head, looked at her freshly wiped fingers, and remained silent for a few seconds.

"Last night, when I came to the hospital, Kiana was sitting on this chair."

She patted the armrest of the chair.

"She kept looking at you. No matter how I called her, she didn't react. It wasn't until later, when I forcefully dragged her away, that she said a sentence to me."

Mei raised her head and looked at Kaiwen.

"She said you are her family."

The ward fell silent for a moment.

"You know, Classmate Kaiwen," Mei's tone was still as gentle as ever, but Kaiwen could hear an extremely subtle tremble within it, "I've known Kiana for so long, and I've never heard her use the word 'family'."

Kaiwen looked at the slightly trembling Raiden Mei before her, unable to say a word.

"So I want to know," Mei looked at her, her gaze very calm, but underneath that calmness something was trembling, "what on earth is the relationship between you and her?"

"I…"

"Last night when the makeup on your face was wiped off, I saw it," Mei lowered her head slowly and said, "you look identical to her."

Her tone was very calm when she said this, but Kaiwen noticed her restless fingers resting on her knees.

"That's why you put on such ugly makeup," Mei said softly, "not because you wanted to keep a low profile, but because you didn't want people to find out you look just like her, right?"

Kaiwen looked at her, unable to utter a single word. By now, denial had lost all meaning.

"Then, can you tell me who on earth you are?"

Kiana had asked this question before, but the feeling was completely different.

When Kiana asked, her eyes were full of curiosity and closeness.

But right now, even without looking into Raiden Mei's eyes, Kaiwen could feel her unease.

Kaiwen opened her mouth, only to find that she couldn't say anything at all.

It wasn't that she didn't want to speak; it was that looking into Mei's slightly red-rimmed eyes, she suddenly felt that all the words she had prepared were completely wrong.

The ward gradually darkened, and the corridor light shone in from beneath the door crack, forming a thin line.

Neither of them could say a word, just quietly gazing at each other by the light of the corridor.

The silence was broken only when the nurse came over to change the medicine.

The nurse's movements were deft and the medicine-changing was fast, but Kaiwen wished the nurse could stay a little longer, at least to liven up the atmosphere a bit.

However, the nurse seemed to read the atmosphere in the room. After finishing the medicine change at lightning speed, she left without looking back, completely unlike the chatterbox she had been in the morning.

Watching the nurse leave, Kaiwen knew she couldn't drag it out any longer, so she slowly began to speak:

"Mei…"