The Restoration Protocol

50 || to your future

"So you got to school alright then?"

"No. Blew up on the way to 1st period."

Mariko pulls her phone away from her ear as Julian's sigh crashes through the speaker. But it isn't loud enough, she thinks to herself as she steps through the doorway into her classroom. She needs to do better.

"It's 7:48," Julian says after a dramatic pause. "Your classes shouldn't have started. Right? Or...am I just old and can't remember these things like I used to...?"

"You're 28," Mariko reminds him, blindly lowering her school bag next to her desk. Boey is already here, early as always, so she makes sure to return the eager wave he sends her way. She knows she'll be talking with him soon anyway. She just doesn't want to ignore Julian, seeing as he was kind enough to check in on her this morning. The man never had any younger siblings, nor kids, for that matter, yet he plays the part of a worrisome parent as if it were the role he was born to fill.

"Don't tell me 28 isn't old now," Julian counters, and Mariko swears she can hear him rolling his eyes. "You call Sebastian old like it's your job."

"Yeah, well he's 30."

"Oh, is that the threshold?"

"Mhm. Enjoy your one and a half years of being young."

"...your honesty is appreciated as always, Mari."

"Any time. Except now. I gotta go. Talk to ya later, Julian."

"Mm. Take care."

Boey's eyes have not left Mariko since she walked into the room. Neither have a number of her other classmates, though the latter she's learned to tune out like background noise. She anticipated as much even before deciding to start school this year. Knowing the inevitable stares and questions, even if out of genuine concern and not ignorance. It would be unreasonable to expect people not to have heard about what happened. It was quite the headline, as Mariko has since learned. A touching story even in the eyes of strangers, especially now with the updated news that both she and Sebastian awoke from their comas.

Even if he is still in the hospital.

Mariko grips her phone tightly in her hand as she lowers herself to her seat. Boey has been biting his tongue just waiting to talk to her, but he knows when not to bother her, either. She can't blame his excitement. Going to school together wasn't something either of the two were anticipating a couple months ago. Truth be told, there was a time when Boey wondered if he would ever see Mariko with her eyes open again, let alone hear her voice. And when Mariko wondered the same about Sebastian.

She's been living at Sebastian's house for a bit now. Alone, with Julian and Sebastian's mom stopping in occasionally to bring over food or other things, or just to check on her to see if she needed anything. And Mariko appreciates every bit of it. It's just been strange, living in someone's house while they're not there. But she knows she has to be patient. She'd rather wait another year if it means Sebastian would get the treatment he needs.

"Was...that Mr. Valentine?"

At last, Boey can no longer hold his tongue. Mariko's gaze drifts up slowly to meet his. She can tell he wasn't even thinking before he spoke. He heard her say Julian's name quite clearly. "Yeah," she replies, the urge to be sarcastic having already waned. This isn't a new thing. Somehow, it's been much easier to joke around over the phone than in person lately.

"He's a really nice guy, huh?"

"Mhm."

Boey curls his fingers around the back of his seat as he watches Mariko's face, the slightest of smiles creeping up on his own. This isn't a new thing, either. School has only been in session for a couple weeks now, yet almost every morning, the boy barely allows himself to blink once Mariko has entered the classroom. As if letting her out of his sight for but a moment would be disastrous. He's still worried. She knows this, and she can't blame him. It hasn't been enough time — realistically — to put the incident behind them. But little by little, she wants that feeling to disappear all the same. In him, and in herself. And for Sebastian's sake. Her burns no longer have to be covered at this point. She's already passed the hardest part of the healing process. The scars left behind on her hand and forearm are the least of her concerns.