“Suki,” he mouthed silently, then gave the first smile he’d smiled in what seemed a long nightmare. His sister had finally awakened him from that nightmare and he whispered, “Thank you,” right before his eyes slid closed. Suki’s sobs racked her body as she rocked her brother in her arms, her own eyes now dull and blank because of what she’d just done.
Numbly, Kyoko crawled over to Suki noticing that she was bleeding badly from a gash in her upper arm. Tearing cloth from the bottom of her shirt with icy fingers, she wrapped the makeshift bandage around her unresponsive friend’s wound. As she tied the last knot in the bandage, Suki turned to her. The pain and loss across her face washed over Kyoko as Suki flung herself into her arms. They clung to each other, Hikaru’s body between them as s
