Everything was dark.
There was nothing there except the sticky heavy darkness.
An endless void...
Where... where am I...?
He thought to himself.
I... I died...? Again...? Or...
No answer came from the uncaring emptiness.
So... this is the e...
"Argh...! Damn it? Where did I go wrong?!"
A voice filled with disappointment shredded through the nothingness and forcefully pulled him from the ocean of unconsciousness.
"..."
He opened his eyes...
Everything was white...
Well, not much of a difference since he still couldn't really see a thi...
He blinked.
What he thought was just a blur of white took shape and cleared out as his eyes got used to being open again after a long time.
He...
He was staring at the hospital's ceiling.
A modern-day ceiling with bright modern-day lamps illuminating the patient's room in a hospital.
"...?"
He blinked again not understanding what was happening.
This...
This was not a sight from his life as a Terres Aboy...
It was a sight that was well known to Iku Yagami...!
Terres, no, Iku realized that he was laying in a hospital bed so he tried to get up but he couldn't.
"..."
He wanted to groan but something was blocking his mouth and making his whole throat almost unbearably uncomfortable.
He sighed through his nose and tried to adjust his head at least a little bit.
"Geez, senior...! You saw that?! It was going so well but then it threw me down the bad end hole!"
A hot-blooded shorty with unruly reddish-brown and sparkling stood up from the chair beside Iku's bed and was pointing at the TV screen that was showing a black and white screen with big gross letters spelling BAD END in English.
Even though the lively boy was speaking to Iku, his eyes were closed since he was making a comically upset face while complaining so he didn't notice that his senior was actually awake.
"Geez! And I thought that it was going so well too! Ugh! I don't like it...! It was supposed to be my ending!"
Suddenly the boy's complaints changed the focus.
"I want to be spoiled by senior just like Meru was spoiling Terres...! Why would the developers make that lead to a bad end?! Why?!"
The boy whimpered and his shoulders slumped.
"...Uuu... even in a game I can't have a happy ending with my senior...!"
He grumbled and started walking towards the door.
"Hey, senior Yagami, I'm off to buy something to drink! I'll be right back!"
The short boy exclaimed happily saluting and exited the room.
"..."
That was little Miko...!
Iku couldn't contain his surprise at the sight of his underclassman, Mikochi Tanaka.
But...! But that means that I went back to my original world?! How even?!
Iku got overwhelmed by a surge of confusion and doubts.
Was that just a dream?
Or was his other life as a Terres Aboy the dream instead.
He sighed and calmed his breath.
Slowly but surely Iku could feel that he regains control over his stiff body.
Whoa, how long was I out of it...? Miko was wearing our school uniform as always but I think his tie was red? So he's a second-year now? Then I was unconscious for more than three months but less than a year...
Iku carefully raised his arms.
Just as he thought he had an IV connected to one of them so he put it down and instead started feeling around with the free one.
His torso, and limbs were fine but there was definitely a lot of foreign things around his neck, the uncomfortable feeling in his throat was most likely some sort of machine helping him breathe.
That bike that had hit me... it probably crushed my throat or something...
Thought Iku.
Now that he made sure that most of his body he focused on the surrounding.
The window shutter was closed so he couldn't tell what season was it, the clock above the doors was telling him it was 5:15, and since a wild Mikochi appeared in his uniform it was most likely pm not am...
What surprised him was that apparently Mikochi has brought a console with him and was playing none other than 'Im streben nach glück!'
Iku blinked a few times and looked away from the imposing BAD END on the screen.
By his bedside was a nightstand with fresh flowers in a vase, and leaning against that vase was a sealed envelope with three little hearts in one corner.
"...?"
Iku blinked at it curiously and grabbed it with his free hand.
I mean it must be for me, right...?
He thought to himself while turning it over and indeed, there it was, his name carefully written with neat handwriting.
Opening it took some effort but he finally managed to get to the content and started reading the letter.
As Iku's eyes were moving along with the words, his face was becoming more and more pink.
As one might have guessed the letter was a love letter, a full-on serious confession of love towards him, Iku Yagami.
And the one who wrote it...
"Senior! They were out of orange juice, could you believe it?! I had to settle for the oolong tea!"
The author of the love letter returned to the room shaking a small plastic bottle in disbelief while he was making a sulky expression.
"And here I wanted the refreshing orange juice to comfort me after this disaster... with..."
Mikochi opened his eyes and looked at his upperclassman just to be confronted with said upperclassman looking back at him with even wider eyes while holding the love letter and blushing like crazy because of said letter.
"The... game...?"
For a moment Mikochi seemed to be unable to process what was happening and just stood there staring dumbfounded at Iku.
Iku glanced to the side and since he couldn't really make a sound he smiled with just his eyes and waved his hand holding a letter at the frozen junior.
Suddenly the plastic bottle slipped from Mikochi's grasp and fell on the floor with a surprisingly loud noise.
That seemed to become a wake-up call for the short boy.
"N... N...!"
He stuttered.
"...?"
N...?
Iku blinked curiously.
"N-nurse...! Senior...! Senior woke up...!"
Mikochi ran out of the room while screaming.
Ah...! Right! Someone should be notified, I completely forgot!
Iku realized and started re-reading the letter again with a warm fuzzy feeling spreading in his stomach.
A whole team of medics was swarming Iku's room for quite some time, it was honestly very tiring, then came the turn for his parents to visit, both of them flushed and out of breath from hurrying to see their son awake after such a long time.
In the end, Iku's injuries still prevented him from leaving the hospital and he would have to stay under observation for a while longer.
After calming down and talking with Iku for a few hours - Iku was writing down his responses on a smartphone - his parents left the hospital with their moods lifted for the first time in months.
It was almost time for the visiting hours to end but there was still someone who wanted to talk to Iku.
"..."
The bedridden boy was looking at the opened door with a warm expression.
From behind the doorframe, a short underclassman was bashfully peeking at his senior with eyes reddened from tears.
Iku beckoned him to come closer.
Mikochi flinched and his face became completely red.
His eyes darted towards the love letter - now neatly folded and placed right by Iku's pillow.
Mikochi was so happy that his senior woke up from the coma, but at the same time, he was completely and utterly terrified thinking about how Iku will respond to the sudden confession.
Since beckoning him with his hand didn't work, Iku sighed through his nose and grabbed his smartphone.
He typed something in and...
"Miko, come here."
A stiff synthesized voice called from the phone.
"A-ah...! Senior Yagami...! You know... about the letter, it's just...! Umm...!"
He stuttered and started to back off.
"Little Miko, come in. Let's talk about the game."
Iku rolled his eyes and typed.
"Th-the game...?"
Mikochi stopped and fidgeted nervously.
"Yes. The game. You messed up really badly with the Terres route, you know? And he is my favorite!"
Even though the synthesized voice couldn't convey the emotions, it was clear that Iku was scolding Mikochi.
"Senior...! It's not my fault though! I just wanted to be pampered... Ah! No! I mean I-I just wanted to pamper Terres because he was cute and...! And...!"
Mikochi busted into the room and kneeled right by Iku's bed earnestly apologizing.
...Miko didn't change a thing...
Iku smiled to himself.
"He was of an extremely fragile health and you made him way too excited, this bad end was clear from a mile away!"
Iku continued scolding Miko through the smartphone.
"I'm sorry, senior! I just, I just...!"
Miko was cowering apologetically.
Iku sighed through his nose.
"Do you want to be pampered that much?"
Iku asked and put away his smartphone.
Instead, he put his hand on Mikochi's head and started patting him gently.
"S-senior...?"
Mikochi gasped and blushed even harder than before.
He glanced at Iku's face and quickly looked away bashfully.
Iku took away his hand and instead picked up the neatly folded letter.
"Senior...?"
Mikochi asked.
Iku sighed through his nose and unfolded the letter halfway.
I will pamper you.
Was written on the back.
"Eh...?"
Mikochi gasped in disbelief.
"Eeeh...?!"
Mikochi shook his head and looked at the words again.
But Iku wasn't done just yet.
He completely unfolded the letter and showed it to Mikochi.
From now on I will
Always love and pamper you
As much as you want.