Kenji
'Finally, I can get out of here.'
Kenji thought as he sat in the wheelchair, already dressed in the casual clothes Kiana had brought him. It was a simple black hoodie and sweatpants, nothing fancy.
He was a bit miffed that he couldn't walk long distances yet, but the doctors reassured him he would be able to walk in a few days, at worst, a week.
It was better than nothing, he supposed. He got his final checkup done and the papers signed. All that was left was to actually leave.
The door opened with a soft click, and Theresa walked in.
She looked the same as always in her nun outfit, but she looked considerably more… at ease. There wasn't any more weight behind her eyes as the tension in her body was all but gone.
"You look eager to get out of here," she said, smiling gently at him.
"You know it! Being stuck in a bed for so long is boring." Kenji replied.
Theresa moved to the bedside table and picked up a small paper bag, holding it out to him. "Your medications. Painkillers if the physical therapy gets too intense, and some supplements to help with the recovery process."
Kenji took the bag and set it in his lap. "Got it."
"Take them as directed," Theresa continued, her voice firm like a mother's. "And actually rest. That means no special training, no combat simulations, and absolutely no wandering off campus without supervision."
"I wasn't planning on—"
"Kenji. If I find you trying to use the simulators again, I will lock you in your dorm."
He sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll follow the rules."
Theresa studied him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then it softened, just slightly.
"If you need anything, you come find me. Understood?"
"I understand," Kenji nodded gently.
She looked like she wanted to say more. Her mouth opened slightly, then closed. Instead, she just reached out and patted his shoulder.
"Take care of yourself," she said quietly.
Then she turned and left before he could respond.
'That's… new.' He wasn't sure what to feel about Theresa's shift in behaviour.
But he didn't have long to think about it before the door slammed open once again, and he was greeted with three familiar faces.
"Finally!" Kiana announced, striding into the room like she owned the place. "We've been waiting forever!"
"You've been waiting for five minutes," Mei said, following behind her at a much more reasonable pace.
"Like I said. Forever."
Wendy stepped in last, closing the door gently behind her. She had a small smile on her face as she watched Kiana immediately make a beeline for the wheelchair.
"Alright, let's get you out of here!" Kiana said, grabbing the handles before anyone else could. "I am so done with hospitals."
"You're not the one who's been stuck in one for a month," Kenji pointed out.
"Exactly! Which means I've suffered long enough. Now let's go."
Mei sighed. "Kiana, please don't treat him like a piece of luggage."
"I'm not! I'm being very careful. See?" Kiana adjusted her grip on the wheelchair handles with exaggerated care. "Totally gentle."
Kenji exchanged a glance with Mei.
"Mei, don't let her take me."
She just shook her head with a resigned expression.
Wendy stepped closer, still hovering near the door. "Are you sure you don't need anything else before we leave?"
"I'm fine," Kenji said. "Just ready to get out of here. I miss my room and my stuff."
"Then let's go!" Kiana said, already pushing the wheelchair toward the door.
"Kiana, wait—!"
Too late. The wheelchair lurched forward.
"Be careful! You're pushing a disabled person, you know?!" Kenji shouted and gripped the armrests tightly. "This is going to be a long trip, isn't it?"
"Probably," Mei said, but there was a hint of amusement in her voice.
Wendy just smiled and held the door open as Kiana wheeled him out into the hallway.
Not even 5 minutes after they left the medical bay, Kiana already almost sent him flying off the wheelchair when she pushed him carelessly down a flight of stairs.
"Kiana—!" Kenji gripped the armrests as the world started moving faster than he was comfortable with. "Can you slow down?!"
"What? I'm not even going that fast!"
"Yes, you are!"
"I could get you back to the dorm in under five minutes if I really tried," Kiana said cheerfully, not slowing down at all.
"Please don't," Mei said from behind them, her voice calm but firm.
"Aww, but—"
"Kiana."
"Fine, fine."
The wheelchair mercifully slowed to a more reasonable pace, and Kenji let out a sigh of relief.
'Why is she so excited?' Kenji thought, confused. While he knew his friends were excited for him to come back to the dorms, he didn't expect Kiana, of all people, to be the one most active.
'Now that I think of it, she looks a lot… happier for some reason.'
"Okay, we've got stairs coming up again," Kiana announced, slowing to a stop.
Kenji looked ahead and saw the outdoor stairs that led down to the next campus level. They weren't particularly steep, but there were enough steps to make him worried.
Kiana stared at them thoughtfully, then at the wheelchair, then at him.
"No," Kenji said immediately.
"I didn't say anything!"
"You were thinking it."
"I could totally—"
"No."
"But—"
"Mei," Kenji called, not taking his eyes off Kiana. "Can you push me instead?"
From behind them, Mei stepped forward. "Of course."
Kiana pouted as she reluctantly surrendered the wheelchair handles. "You guys have no faith in me."
"We have plenty of faith in you," Mei said. "Just not with stairs and a wheelchair."
"Rude."
Mei took control of the wheelchair and started pushing him toward the side of the stairs, where a longer ramp wound around the building.
Kenji watched the path ahead of them stretch out. They all walked in comfortable silence, just enjoying the moment and each other's company.
As they walked onwards, Kenji's mind couldn't help but wonder, 'This is going to be my normal for a while.'
He couldn't just take the stairs anymore. Couldn't just walk the direct route. Everything took longer now, required more consideration.
And it was still a while until he started physical therapy. He wasn't used to not training most of the day, so this was going to need some getting used to.
'What else could I do instead of training…'
"You okay?" Wendy asked quietly from beside him.
Kenji glanced at her. She was walking alongside the wheelchair, her expression neutral but her eyes watching him carefully.
"Yeah," he said. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"How much longer everything takes now… Even if this wheelchair is only temporary, it still feels weird."
Mei chuckled at his words, "Complaining about being in a wheelchair to the person who was stuck to one for three years is pretty insensitive, Kenji."
"Huh—Oh yeah!" His eyes widened, and he quickly turned to Wendy with an apologetic smile, "S-Sorry, I kinda forgot about your whole wheelchair thing."
Wendy couldn't help but laugh at his expression. "No, no. It's alright. I'm honestly surprised that you forgot about that."
"To be fair, my last memory of you was you flying in the sky, so the wheelchair part kind of got buried."
"That's fair," she laughed again. Then her expression turned thoughtful, and she looked at him with a face of understanding. "It's frustrating, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is… But your situation was—"
"Geez, stop comparing us will you?" Wendy cut him off firmly, "We're not in a competition of who suffered more. Doing that doesn't do anyone any good."
Mei hummed in agreement, "She's right, you know."
"Alright, alright, I get it!" Kenji surrendered. He craned his head backwards to face Mei, "You act like a mom sometimes."
"Pfft—!" Kiana giggled from the side,
Mei's cheeks blushed red in embarrassment, and she smacked Kenji on the back of the head. "Keep laughing and see what happens—This counts for you too, Kiana."
"Eep!"
Mei pushed him up the ramp at a steady pace. Kiana walked ahead of them, occasionally turning around to walk backwards so she could face them while talking about something that happened in class last week.
"—and then Himeko actually threw the textbook at this girl because she fell asleep! Just straight up chucked it across the room!"
"Are you sure it wasn't you she threw at?" Kenji asked.
"Hey! I'm a lot more responsible now, you know. Right, Wendy?!"
Wendy, unprepared for the sudden question, flinched in surprise. "M-Me? Uhh, Himeko has been complaining about her less and less throughout the month."
"See?! Bask in my greatness!"
As they reached the top of the ramp and started across the main campus pathway, Kenji noticed the students.
At first, it was just a few glances. Someone did a double-take as they walked past. But the attention only grew.
More students noticed as they continued walking. Some just stared briefly before moving on. Others whispered to their friends. One girl from his combat class waved tentatively, and he managed a small wave back.
"Everyone is happy you're back," Kiana said. Greeting another classmate as they walked past.
"They've been talking about you a lot, you know? There's even a pile of gifts in your room from everyone! Bet you feel really special," she teased.
"Really? That's surprising," Kenji said. "I didn't think everyone would be so affected by my absence..."
Hearing this, Wendy turned to him with a look of confusion. "Does he not know about the forums?" She whispered to Mei.
She turned to Wendy and shook her head, putting a finger over her lips to tell her to keep her mouth shut.
"It's better if he… doesn't see what other girls write there."
Wendy's eyes lit up in acknowledgement, and her cheeks turned a slight red hue, "F-Fair point."
Kenji took notice of their whispering and turned his head around, "What are you two talking about?"
""Nothing.""
"Eh?"
/ — /
They continued along the main campus pathway for a while longer and saw the rest of St. Freya.
The buildings were the same as he remembered—the academic halls to the left, the training facilities to the right, the cafeteria building in the distance.
The paths between them were worn smooth from years of students walking the same routes day after day.
Everything was exactly where it should be.
'Well, yeah. Logically, everything should be exactly the same. Things wouldn't change too drastically in just a month.'
Even as he thought that, he couldn't stop thinking about how he'd been gone for a month. And the world had just... kept going.
Classes continued. Training sessions happened. People went about their daily routines like he'd never been there in the first place.
The world didn't stop because one person disappeared. Life moved forward whether you were there to see it or not.
And that thought was… He didn't know what to think of it.
A group of students walked past them, heading toward the library. One of them laughed at something her friend said. They didn't even glance his way.
It's just another normal day for them.
"Hey, Kenji," Kiana called from ahead, walking backwards so she could face him. "You're being quiet. You good?"
"Y-Yeah, just taking a good look at the campus. I haven't seen it in a while."
Kiana looked around like she was trying to see what he was seeing. "Looks the same to me."
"That's kind of the point," Kenji said.
"Huh?"
Mei spoke up from behind him, "How everything kept going while he was gone. That's what you mean, right?"
Kenji glanced back at her. "Yeah. Exactly that."
Kiana frowned, still looking confused. "Well... yeah? I mean, what else was gonna happen? The school wasn't gonna shut down just because you were in the hospital."
"I know that," Kenji said. "It's just weird to think about."
"You're being weird," Kiana declared, turning back around to walk normally. "But whatever! At least you're back now, so things can go back to normal."
Kenji rolled his eyes at her words, but failed to see the slight frown that appeared on Mei's face.
They passed by the fountain in the central plaza, where a few students sat on the edge chatting. The water sparkled in the sunlight, the same as it always did.
One of the girls sitting there looked up as they passed, did a double-take when she saw him in the wheelchair, then quickly looked away.
"Oh! There's Himeko!" Kiana suddenly announced, waving enthusiastically.
Kenji looked up and saw his teacher standing near the entrance to one of the academic buildings, talking to another instructor.
She glanced over at Kiana's shout, and her expression shifted when she saw them.
She said something to the other teacher, then started walking toward them.
"Hey, kiddo," Himeko said as she approached, her eyes immediately going to the wheelchair. "Already breaking out of the hospital?"
"Yup, I got the clear to head back to my dorms."
"Good." Then she looked at Kiana. "She didn't do anything with your wheelchair, right?"
"I didn't!" Kiana quickly answered.
"She almost sent me flying down the stairs earlier."
"Traitor!"
Himeko sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Kiana..."
"It was one time!"
"One time is all it takes." Himeko shook her head and glanced at Mei. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"I will," Mei said.
"Hey, I'm right here," Kenji protested.
"I know," Himeko said. "That's why I'm telling Mei and not you."
Wendy snickered.
"Now get to your dorm and rest." As Himeko finished her sentence, she turned to look at Wendy standing on the side. Her expression turned into a smile.
"Oh youth…"
Wendy noticed her expression and narrowed her eyes. "Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong."
"Suree."
/ — /
They arrived at the dorm building after a few minutes of walking.
He'd left here one morning weeks ago, walked out the door to go on what should've been just another mission, and didn't come back for a month.
And now here he was. In a wheelchair. Weaker than he'd ever been. But he was finally back.
"We're here!" Kiana announced unnecessarily, gesturing toward the building like she was presenting a grand prize.
"I can see that," Kenji chuckled.
Wendy stepped forward, her expression slightly uncertain. "I guess I'll head out now," she said. "You probably want to settle in."
"Hey, I don't mind,"
"Still." She smiled. "Besides, Himeko wanted me to help her with something. Better not keep her waiting."
Before she could turn to leave, Kenji spoke up. "Hey, Wendy."
She paused and looked back at him.
"Thanks for checking on me while I was out. Himeko mentioned you were asking about me pretty often."
Wendy's expression turned soft, but she turned her head to the side to hide her embarrassed expression.
"Of course I did," she said, her tone matter-of-fact. "Why wouldn't I?"
She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, like there was never any question that she'd care enough to check on him.
Kenji didn't really know what to say to that.
"Welp. I'll see you all around," Wendy said, already turning to leave.
"Yeah. See you."
She walked away with a small wave, disappearing around the corner of the building.
Kenji watched her go, then turned his attention back to the dorm entrance.
"This is nice."
"Hmm?"
"The fact that I'm actually back." He gestured vaguely at the building. "Left here one day, got captured, spent a month in a coma, and now I'm back. In a wheelchair. Everything's different but also the same."
Mei was quiet for a moment. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really," Kenji admitted. "I just want to go to my room and sleep."
"Fair enough."
Kiana, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during the exchange, suddenly grinned. "Oh, I forgot to tell you! There's an elevator now. So you don't have to worry about stairs."
"There's an elevator?" Kenji asked. "Theresa sure went all out."
"Of course she did! She's the best!"
Mei pushed the wheelchair toward the entrance. "Come on. Let's get upstairs."
They entered the building, and Kenji was immediately hit with the familiar smell of the dorms. It was mundane, and he barely noticed it usually… But, he'd missed it more than he realized.
The elevator was just to the right, tucked into a corner near the stairwell. Mei pushed him inside, and Kiana hit the button for the third floor.
The doors slid shut, and the elevator lurched upward with a mechanical hum.
Nobody said anything during the short ride. Kenji just stared at the floor numbers as they lit up one by one.
Then the doors opened with a soft ding.
"Home sweet home," Kiana said, stepping out first.
Mei pushed him down the hallway toward their shared flat at the end of the corridor. She unlocked the door and pushed it open.
The flat's living space opened up before them. The couch facing the TV, a small dining table to the side, and the kitchen counter was visible from the entrance.
"Finally!" Kiana immediately made a beeline for the kitchen. "I'm so thirsty."
She started rummaging through the fridge while Mei turned to Kenji. "Do you need help getting to your room?"
"I can manage. I'm not that out of shape, you know?" he said, gripping the wheels.
His arms strained slightly. The wheelchair moved, but slower than he expected.
'Holy crap, I'm weak as hell.'
He reached his door and pushed it open. The room looked just as he remembered it.
Though with one major difference.
It was too clean.
Then his eyes landed on the wall to his right, and he froze at the sight of multiple boxes.
They were stacked against the wall, nearly reaching his chest height even while sitting. They were filled with envelopes, cards, and small wrapped packages. There had to be at least a dozen boxes. Maybe more.
"See?!" Kiana appeared in the doorway behind him, grinning with a water bottle in hand. "Told you there were gifts from everyone."
Kenji wheeled himself closer, and he picked up one envelope from the top of the nearest box. It was addressed to him in careful handwriting, with "Get Well Soon" written across the front.
He picked up another envelope. There was leftover tape on the back, like something had been attached and removed.
"Hey, guys?" Kenji asked, holding it up. "Was there something—"
"Nope," Kiana cut him off a little too quickly, her face suspiciously neutral.
"Must have fallen off somewhere," Mei added, not quite meeting his eyes.
Kenji looked between them suspiciously. "...What fell off?"
""Nothing important.""
Their synchronized response and carefully blank expressions told him everything he needed to know. Someone had attached something they definitely didn't want him to see.
'You know what, I don't want to know.' He decided not to push.
Cards with drawings. Letters from classmates. Small gifts wrapped in colorful paper. Some were from people he knew well—his combat class, his team. Others were from students he'd only spoken to once or twice.
Some he didn't recognize at all.
The sheer volume of it was overwhelming.
"This is..." Kenji trailed off, not sure what to say.
"A lot?" Kiana supplied helpfully. "Yeah. They were coming in almost every day."
Kenji stared at the boxes for another moment, then looked around his room more carefully.
His notebooks were stacked neatly on the desk. Far more organized than he ever left them. His pens were arranged in their holder, something he never did.
He wheeled himself to the desk and opened the top drawer. The contents were organized in a way he knew he'd never leave them.
"Mei," he said slowly. "Did you clean my room?"
From the doorway, Mei said simply, "It needed cleaning."
"You've been cleaning it for a month."
"Dust accumulates."
"Mei came by every few days," Kiana added from behind her. "Dusted, opened the windows, kept everything tidy. It was actually kind of sweet."
Mei shot Kiana a look.
"What? It was!"
"I just wanted to make sure the room was clean when you came back," Mei said, with a matter-of-fact tone.
Kenji didn't know what to say to that.
He looked around again and started noticing many other things.
A new box of tissues on the nightstand that definitely wasn't there before. The curtains looked cleaner than he remembered, like they'd been washed recently.
"Thanks, Mei…" Kenji said quietly.
Mei shifted uncomfortably. "It wasn't a big deal."
Kiana clapped her hands once. "Alright! We'll let you rest. But we're right across the hall if you need anything, okay?"
"The gifts can wait," Mei added. "You don't have to go through them all now."
"Yeah," Kenji said. "I'll... I'll look at them later."
Kiana gave him a thumbs up and headed out. Mei lingered in the doorway for a moment longer, like she wanted to say something else, then just nodded and followed Kiana out.
The door closed softly behind them.
Kenji sat in the wheelchair in the middle of his room, surrounded by boxes of gifts and a space that had been carefully maintained for a month.
After a moment, he wheeled himself to the window and looked out at St. Freya.
The campus stretched out below, bathed in sunlight. Students walked between buildings. Life was going on as it always does.
Slowly, he pushed himself up from the wheelchair and walked towards his bed. He let himself sink into the soft mattress that smelled fresher than it ever had been.
'I'm home…'
***
Author Notes: Hey everyone, sorry It took so long to update. Uni has been kicking my ass.
Heres a little drawing I made of Elysia as a little treat