Maybe the doctors were eager to get off work too, because the afternoon tests wrapped up surprisingly fast.
Now back in the familiar waiting lounge, the group sat around, resting while waiting for the final results.
The major screenings like the full-body PET-CT and tumor markers had been completed at the medical examination center, while the other routine checks had been done earlier at the main hospital.
Fortunately, today's results were expected soon.
"Kyousuke, I suddenly really want some dorayaki from that shop near Shouko's place. Could you go grab some for me?"
Sakura who looked even more exhausted than she did at lunch sat up from the couch and clasped her hands in a pleading pose toward Kyousuke.
"There's a dorayaki place over there?" Kyousuke didn't hesitate at all.
He was already about to get up.
The nurse had just said the results would take a while.
And with his speed, he could easily make a round trip to the area near Shouko and Naoka's apartment in under fifteen minutes.
"Huh? I don't remember a dorayaki shop there. Just a good wagashi place, right?" Naoka tilted her head in confusion.
"Sakura, maybe you're thinking of the one in Suimon City? That's where the really good dorayaki is," Shouko added, her brows furrowed in thought.
"Yes! That's the one! The place across the river from your apartment!" Sakura clapped her hands as if the lightbulb had finally gone off for them.
———————————————————————
At that, Kyousuke who had already stood up sat back down and picked up his phone again.
His editor, Tetsuya Shimomura, was updating him on sales numbers.
"Kyousuke! I really, really want to eat it! Don't people have those days when they just have to eat something specific?" Sakura whined dramatically.
"You can be like Saitama grabbing discounted eggs zoom over and zoom right back!"
She scooted closer, grabbing his arm and shaking it furiously like a child demanding candy.
"Um… Sakura, if you really want to go, I'll take the train with you to Suimon later," Shouko offered gently, watching Kyousuke get rattled by Sakura's antics.
"Awwww, Shou-chan, you're too cute! Now I don't even want dorayaki, I want to eat you instead!" Sakura squealed, abandoning the sweets entirely and latching onto Shouko for cuddles.
"Excuse me, sorry to keep you waiting. The test results are ready."
A soft voice came from the entrance.
It was the same nurse who'd handled Kyousuke's screenings earlier, though she looked slightly disappointed when the super-polite and handsome guy she clearly had her eye on didn't even glance up from his phone after she spoke.
Shouko quickly stood and gave a small bow to thank her.
Kyousuke turned off his screen.
Although he'd been staring at it the whole time, he hadn't absorbed a single word from his editor.
All those lines of numbers and bookstore names just made him more irritable.
But now the anxious wait was over.
He stood, zipped up his track jacket, tugged it straight, and smoothed it out.
Then he turned to Sakura, still slouched on the couch, and held out his hand with a familiar smile.
"Let's go, Sakura."
That smile, it was the same one she'd seen when they first met.
Back then, she'd barely taken two bites of her papaya balls before he reached out to her and said, "Let's go, Sakura. Time for a run."
She looked up, her face bright with energy, and answered with the same simple word as back then:
"Mm!"
The moment she grabbed his hand, a surge of energy rushed through her.
After all these years of running and eating healthy food, it couldn't have just been for the body it had to be for this exact moment.
With a bold step, she moved past the coffee table, determined to catch up with Shouko ahead and face her fate head-on.
She felt unstoppable—nothing could scare her now!
"Hold on fix your clothes first, you dummy," Kyousuke called out, pulling her back effortlessly.
She looked down.
Sure enough, her track jacket was wrinkled and half-unzipped from earlier when she was goofing off with Shouko.
"You've gotta wear your clothes properly, it helps you look more put-together," Kyousuke said, crouching slightly to zip her jacket, tug the corners into place, and straighten out the hood and collar.
For some reason, Sakura realized she'd been reminiscing a lot today.
Or maybe it wasn't her, it was him.
Kyousuke hadn't changed at all since they were kids. Even the things he said were exactly the same.
She remembered the early days when he made her run.
Once, near the end of a run, she'd tripped on a loose tile from pure exhaustion.
She was about to hit the ground when he grabbed her arm.
But since he'd been running way harder than she had, they both fell yet even as they tumbled, he wrapped his arms around her to shield her head.
When she scrambled up, she saw his elbow was badly scraped, his sleeve torn, blood trickling out.
But even then, his first instinct wasn't to check his own injury.
It was to look her over from head to toe, making sure she wasn't hurt.
Only after confirming she was okay did he finally glance at his own wound, wincing a little.
"We've gotta hurry back so Mikiko mama can take you to the hospital."
She had been on the verge of tears.
But Kyousuke, looking at the gash that could've made any kid cry, just exhaled in relief… then started fussing over his wrinkled clothes.
"You don't have to fix your clothes right now! Just go home already—or wait here and I'll get Mikiko mama to come to you!"
Back then, she just couldn't understand him.
"You've gotta wear your clothes properly, it helps you look more put-together."
And now, once again, that same oddball whose brain clearly worked on a different frequency lifted his head and flashed her that dazzling smile, the one that came from brushing twice a day and flossing religiously.
It was only then that she noticed, Kyousuke hadn't just scraped his arm.
His knee was also badly injured, a large, raw wound from the fall.
Because he'd been wearing shorts, the damage there was even worse than his arm.
Didn't it hurt?
Why wasn't he crying or at least trying to get home quickly?
Why was he wasting time fixing his clothes? Why… was he still smiling?
Just like she never understood why the handsome boy from next door insisted on dragging her out for runs and making her tasty treats every day, young Sakura couldn't begin to understand him.
Despite not having much strength, she had stubbornly supported Kyousuke all the way home.
"Mikiko mama! It's an emergency!"
The moment they reached the doorstep, Sakura shouted loudly for his mother.
Kyousuke tried to stop her, was he afraid his torn clothes would get him in trouble?
What a dummy. This was the time to call for help, not hide things.
Aunt Mikiko appeared, still holding a chocolate chip cookie in her hand.
But when she opened the door, she first looked at Kyousuke, his clothes neat and tidy and then at Sakura, who was rumpled and covered in dirt.
To Sakura's frustration, the woman immediately rushed over to check her for injuries.
"Oh no, my sweet Sakura-chan! Did you fall? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Mikiko even leaned in and started rifling through her hair like she was inspecting a baby chimp at the zoo.
Sakura, who had just been to the zoo recently, thought it was oddly fitting.
"It's not me! It's Kyousuke, he's the one who got hurt, and it's really bad!"
She pulled Mikiko's hand away, panicked and insistent.
Honestly, Mikiko mama could be so slow sometimes.
No wonder her mom always said Mikiko was youthful, being a bit of an airhead must be the secret to staying young.
"Kyousuke?" Finally, prompted by Sakura, Mikiko noticed the injuries and gasped.
She looked like she might faint on the spot.
Thankfully, Kyousuke almost as if he'd predicted it grabbed a little stool from the yard and helped her sit down.
"It's okay, Mom. I'll just disinfect it and put some ointment on. I'll be fine."
Even though he was barely the same height as his mom, he spoke with the calm of a seasoned doctor trying to reassure a nervous child about a flu shot.
Sakura stood nearby, frozen and overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Mikiko looked slightly better after sitting, though she still couldn't bring herself to look directly at Kyousuke's wound.
Sakura was just about to suggest calling her own mom for help when Kyousuke spun in a quick circle and said with a cheerful grin, "See? All good!"
Maybe it was the trick of his tidy clothes, or just his natural reliability, but Mikiko finally relaxed.
Then Kyousuke asked Sakura to stay and keep his mom company while he went inside to clean up.
"Sakura, why don't you go help him?" Mikiko said softly. "I still feel a little dizzy."
"But Kyousuke told me to stay and look after you!" Tiny Sakura was torn.
She was worried about both of them, but Mikiko seemed especially unsteady.
"I'll be fine. Just need a moment to rest. Go help him."
Mikiko patted her head gently, her touch so light it barely registered.
"Okay… but take care of yourself, okay? Kyousuke would be mad at me if anything happened to you."
She hesitated for a couple seconds, then gave in, her concern for Kyousuke winning out.
"I will," Mikiko said with a pale smile, still beautiful and as warm as ever.
When Sakura stepped inside, Kyousuke was already tending to his wounds.
He sat there, calmly using a thin needle to remove sand and grit from the raw skin on his elbow.
Before she could say anything, he looked up and smiled.
"There's some dirt in the wound. Gotta clean it properly or it won't heal right."
His voice was as soothing as ever, not betraying even a hint of the pain he must have felt jabbing a needle into a raw, bloody injury.
Sakura froze at the sight.
She knelt beside the family's medical kit, staring blankly at the unfamiliar supplies.
"My mom gets woozy around blood, especially other people's. Makes her feel like the world's spinning." Kyousuke… really wasn't like other kids.
He could tell she was nervous and didn't scold her for not staying outside like he asked.
Instead, he changed the subject to distract her.
"But… how does Mikiko mama food, then?" she asked, her childish curiosity kicking in.
He chuckled. "She married the son of a rancher, remember? You kinda have to get used to that stuff."
"She even prays for the cows, hoping they have a better life next time around."
He finished picking out the debris, then uncapped a bottle of something Sakura didn't recognize and poured it gently over the wound.
His expression twisted in pain, jaw clenched tightly.
She flinched at his pained face, but by the time she collected herself, he had already packed up the kit.
"All done. Let's go help Mom inside. She's probably still a little woozy."
Standing tall in front of her, Kyousuke spun again, just like before his way of showing everything was fine.
Sakura realized he'd already changed into a fresh T-shirt, and his arm was neatly covered in a thin layer of white ointment.
From the outside, he looked completely okay.
Thinking back, she realized what a fool she'd been to believe that back then.
She hadn't noticed how he was limping with every step.
It was then, back when she was still just "little Sakura"—that she began to grasp what he meant when he always said, "Clothes should be neat. They make you look more lively, more put-together."
Now, standing at the medical testing center, about to face the results that could define her future, hearing those same words again and seeing Kyousuke in his perfectly tidy outfit, she finally, truly understood.
"All right, let's go."
His voice was as calm and reassuring as ever.
Sakura couldn't help but smile.
'This guy… he was probably even more nervous than she was, but you'd never guess it by looking at him.'
"Yeah!"
With her own outfit now just as neat, Sakura answered with a bright, clear voice.
Even if the worst-case scenario came true, if the news waiting behind that door was grim.
As long as she looked strong and full of life, maybe it would help ease the hearts of those who cared about her.
'Maybe I should go buy a few nice outfits tonight,' Sakura thought to herself.
After all, doesn't the fashion world have that saying—"Clothes make the person"?
Even if someone's sick, as long as they're not wearing a hospital gown, doesn't it kind of feel like they're not sick at all?
It's not for herself—it's for the people who love her.
Smiling playfully over her shoulder at Kyousuke, she picked up her pace and jogged to catch up with Shouko and Naoka ahead.
'Better hurry up and get those test results… or else someone's seriously going to have a panic attack, heh.'
With one arm linked through Shouko's and the other hand gently touching the neatly folded collar Kyousuke had adjusted for her, Sakura found herself surprisingly unafraid of what might come next.
Watching her laugh and chatter with Shouko, Kyousuke couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.
Here he was, wound up with nerves, while that silly girl didn't seem worried in the slightest.
But... maybe that's exactly how it should be.
'As long as she's healthy and happy, that's all that matters.'
When they arrived at the doctor's office, Kyousuke didn't even let the nurse finish her sentence before cutting in.
She had suggested they go in one at a time to hear the results, but he immediately refused.
"Are you kidding? I came here for this."
Sakura didn't argue, she just chuckled.
Shouko and Naoka both nodded in agreement. We'll hear them together.
Inside the office, it wasn't the heavy, mahogany desk Kyousuke had imagined.
Instead, there was a soft beige fabric sofa set, and in front of it stood a doctor who looked every bit the seasoned professional.
At his gesture, the four of them sat down in order.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Kaneshi Tanaka, I—"
"Dr. Tanaka, if you don't mind, could you start with Yamauchi Sakura's results?" Kyousuke cut in without hesitation.
He wasn't interested in the man's résumé, he trusted that expensive doctors came with expensive results.
He didn't bother hiding how much he cared.
If he didn't care, would he have arranged this entire checkup?
"Of course."
Dr. Tanaka, with his sleek silver hair combed back impeccably, wasn't fazed at all by the interruption.
At his age, he was used to anxious clients.
The introductions were just for reassurance anyway.
"Miss Yamauchi is in excellent health," he said simply, skipping any unnecessary buildup.
"Sigh". x2
In the still, quiet office, the simultaneous sighs of relief from Kyousuke and Sakura were almost comically loud.
Kyousuke, who had been leaning so far forward he was nearly off the couch, collapsed back into the cushions as if all the tension had drained from his body.
He turned to look at Sakura who was also glancing his way.
"It's really great news, Kyousuke," Sakura said, her voice as soft as the petals of a cherry blossom in early spring—vivid, delicate, full of life.
Anyone who saw that smile would've thought the same thing: I'm so glad I got to see her alive.
"Yeah… it really is, Sakura."
For a brief moment, Kyousuke was totally captivated by her smile before answering with one of his own.
When Kyousuke smiled, his eyes always turned incredibly gentle—but this time, Sakura saw something more.
In his eyes was the same deep satisfaction as Saitama after saving that butt-chinned kid and collapsing flat on the pavement.
'To him… I really am his whole world,' Sakura thought, her heart swelling with warmth.
"I'm so happy for you, Sakura!"
"Congrats, Sakura!"
Maybe… this really was a multiverse.
Glancing at the two friends who were just as thrilled for her, Sakura couldn't help but laugh softly to herself.