A Ghouls Cry | Kaneki Ken

|Chapter 11|

With tears falling from the figures eyes onto Rima cheeks, they sighed,"... we still do miss you... come back soon... we'll all be waiting for you..."

Sucking up the tears the figure leaned back, giving Rima one last look before turning an jumping out of the window, landing perfectly on the roof of the next building 23 stories down, then disappearing into the night.

That night and up until Rima awoke the next morning, she kept turning relentlessly in her bed. After waking up, Rima only stared at the open window, the cool days air flowing in gently ruffling her hair as she sat in her bed.

"It's cold..."

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"Are you experiencing any pain in your head?.... No, okay that's good... How about your heart? Any pain there?... not there either? Okay..." The nurse wrote down something on her clipboard before nodding.

She looked back up at Rima who sat patiently on her bed. "You seem to be back to normal stable condition, but let us know right away if you feel anything different, okay?"

Rima nodded.

"Good. Have a nice day." The nurse grabbed her stuff and scurried out of the room, shutting the door with a soft click.

Rima sighed looking down at her hands. Even though the nurse said she was fine, Rima sure didn't feel it. Mentally. Rima's heart was hurting, but not in the sense that she was having heart problems. It was in the sense of it being heartbroken.

Rima put a hand over her heart, feeling it softly beating against her chest. She remembered... She remember the memory she had while she was unconscious... but she couldn't figure out who that boy with white hair was, or why she was so heartbroken over seeing him dying.

He looked familiar, but Rima couldn't place the name Kaneki anywhere in her mind. He looked similar to the boy she had in her previous vision that she had written down in her notebook, and looked awfully similar to Sasaki, but the name Kaneki just didn't ring any bells for some reason. Rima looked out of the window, thinking of Sasaki. He hasn't been by lately, and he hasn't called... well that she knew of. She was unconscious for the first night and half the next morning, and the days following she's been in and out of doctors appointments. A little over a week has past since then - close to two now.

She's missed him greatly... buts she's also scared to see him again. Sasaki looked so much like the Kaneki boy in her memory that it was terrifying. For all Rima knew, he could very well be this Kaneki. Though Rima highly doubted it. The way that boy got stabbed... no one could survive that...

Rima just honestly wanted to get her thoughts straight. All of these memories were making her mind muddy. She sometimes couldn't keep her mind on one topic for long, and would end up finding herself staring blankly at things. She was remembering random little things like playing with a little girl with short brown hair that held a headband decorated with small flowers, the smell of coffee beans, more small memories of the little white kitten named Shiro-chan... it was a mess inside her head. One she wished would just end up going away.

A knock on her door pulled Rima from her depressed thoughts. She turned to find the nurse who was in here earlier - in the doorway, but her head was turned looking at something behind her. This peaked Rima's curiosity.

"I'm not supposed to let people visit right now... but it looks like Hizake-san could really use some friendly conversation. Just don't be too long... Oh! Hizake-san. You have a visitor!" The nurse said with a small smile on her face as she noticed Rima looking at her. Rima just looked blankly at her not saying a word.

The nurse's smile faltered a little, but she quickly put it back as she stepped to the side a little letting whoever was behind her step in. "I'll be just down the hall if you need anything. Please, again she isn't supposed to have anybody in here room, so keep in mind to keep the visit short, thank you." She said before leaving and shutting the door.

Rima stared at her visitor, silently studying the males appearance. He had semi long orange hair that was flared out at the end. His glasses were kind of square and he used his middle finger to push them up higher on his nose. He stood kind of slouched, with a hand in his pocket. He looked at Rima intently through his glasses. She replied to his stare with a slight frown, curious of him.

Rima did not say a word as he walked closer taking a seat on the chair beside the bed. He averted his eyes to the window beside her.

"I'm glad to see you're better... everyone was worried about you..." Was the first thing he said. Not his name or how he knew Rima. Rima just nodded, looking back at her hands in her lap fiddling with her finger. Something that didn't go unnoticed by the male beside her.

"What? Are you mute now?... You're never this quiet..." Rima's eyes widened by the males rudeness, and snapped her head to him staring in disbelief. The male chuckled, his eyes looking back into hers. "I'm only saying the truth. You never used to shut up... not that anybody minded... especially him..."

Rima stared for a minute longer before looking back to her hands, finally deciding to speak.

"Who are you?..." She asked. Rima's voice just above a whisper, but it was enough for them male to hear.

The males eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter in shock. So she really isn't playing around... She really lost some of her memories... He thought to himself. He forced himself to remain calm, looking at her with a small smirk.

"My name is Nishiki Nishio. I'm your senpai from college. I'm hurt you don't remember me... we were so close..." The male - Nishiki - said, placing a hand over his heart, faking a hurt look.

A pain ran through Rima's head when she heard the name Nishiki Nishio. Wincing slightly, she placed a gently hand on her forehead. Nishiki frowned but ignored it.

"I-I'm sorry... I was in an accident and lost some of my memories... I'm glad you came to see me..." Was Rima's reply. She was told by Akira that if anyone from her past was to ask question, that she was to respond with, in Akira's word 'got into a grave car accident, with you being the only survivor'. Rima didn't want to get any of her human friends in danger.

If only she knew what Nishiki was...

"Must have been some accident... you've missed almost two years of school..." Nishiki stated, looking at Rima closely. She only looked slightly different from the way he remembered her. Her hair was the same color, just longer. She seemed to have grown a little too, but only just a little. All in all, she was just the same Hizake Rima he knew, just more sadder... more depressed. Her eyes weren't as bright anymore - something he missed seeing. Between her and Kimi... the look humans had in their eyes when they were happy was something he wished he could have.

Nishiki could think of a hundred reason why she would be like that though...

"Y-yeah. It was a pretty messy accident. I was asleep for most of it... I just woke up recently..." That wasn't a lie per-say. She did just wake up, and she was in a coma for almost a week or two.

Nishiki nodded thoughtfully, before sighing. "Everyone has missed you. We looked everywhere for you for months... after awhile, we were scared we would find you dead in a ditch somewhere, too." Rima was confused on the 'too' part, but decided to ignore it.

Rima looked at Nishiki apologetically, "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused everyone, including you, Nishiki-senpai." As the name an honorific rolled off Rima's tongue, she felt a sense of security, and a sense of home in the man beside her.

"It's fine. You're here now, and that's all everyone cares about now... you're back now..."

Rima nodded. "But still... " Rima didn't want to be a burden on anyone, "..can you do me a favor, Nishiki-senpai? It isn't much..."

Nishiki shrugged, his expression indifferent, "Depends on what the favor is..."

"Nothing big... Just tell the others that I'm sorry for worrying them, and that I'll try to see them as soon as I get out.." Rima wanted to ease any of their worry's the best she could. Even if she couldn't remember them, they remembered her. They still cared about her enough to visit her... to check on her, even after so many years. It was the least she could do.