Friend.

I stared at the clock on my wall again.

02:39.

I sighed, pushing myself to stand, but my legs wobbled as I held onto the bed post, and I fell back on the fluffy mattress.

There was no way in hell would I be able to stand again. At least, that's what he believed.

"Stupid taxi driver," I mumbled, resting my head on the pillow. My eyes shifted to the ceiling, then closed in thought, recalling what had happened the night of the accident.

...

I couldn't recall anything.

No matter how hard I'd tried for the past few days, I couldn't remember anything during and after the accident. I was told he was in a two-week coma because of it, and I only remembered pushing someone out of the way of a rushed taxi. That was all.

"Maybe this was all a dream, and I'm still in a coma." I would say to myself. "Maybe I wouldn't have lost my ability to walk if I hadn't been such a...nuisance." I would punch the wall. "Maybe if I wasn't so lonely, someone would encourage me to walk despite me possibly dying in a few years or a few days." I would cry to myself afterwards.

Theories like these popped into his mind whenever he was alone. The last one was the most accurate one, but he didn't know that. He had an unknown viral disease that only his two servants knew about. All he thought he had was a simple cold that he would be cured of. He was wrong.

I let out another sigh, and closed my eyes. A few loose tears ran down my cheeks.
At least I'd saved someone.

(Act One: Wake Up)

"You're up quite early today, master. Do you feel alright today?" Erika, my caretaker since after my parents died, questioned me as she picked up my dirty clothes.

"Y-yeah... I'm fine..."

"I'll be back shortly with breakfast."

I nodded absent-mindedly.

"Oh, I remembered something. I found this at the doorstep this morning. It looked abandoned, and I figured you'd like it," She handed me a large stuffed panda with a bow around its neck, watching me as I inspected it closely.

"Thank you, Erika." I stared at the panda for a moment, then spoke up, "Um, would you be my friend?"

'Sure,' A tiny voice spoke up.

"Huh?"

'You're a kid, like me, so of course we can be friends. I'm so lonely...' The voice spoke again.

"Panda...?"

A small child-like fairy flew up to me, 'You found my 'master'.'

"Huh?"

'I'm Kaiya. I'm forever connected to Panda.'

I blinked, and reached out for this 'Kaiya'. My hand went right through.

'You can't touch me.'

"Wh-why is that?"

She, aparently she was female, shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, 'I dunno, maybe it's got something to do with this shackle... I'm not wise or old enough for Teddy to tell me, you see.'

I stared at her. Is she crazy or something?

"Master~! I have some fluffy pancakes and maple syrup for you~!" A familiar voice sang.  

'Don't tell the adults about my existance,' She murmured before hiding behind my back.

"Huh?" A split second later, a warm plate of pancakes drenched with maple syrup and butter was placed in front of me.

"Here's your favorite, master~" Erika grinned.

"Yes, Erika." I absent-mindedly replied.

"Today we have a big day ahead of us, we're going to discover something new with our special piano!"

"Yes, Erika."

"Don't chu worry, master, we'll finally get Taro to smile today!"

"Of course, Erika."

The extremely loyal blonde maid tried her best every day like this to encourage him to live his life to the fullest regardless of whether he had legs or not- in the practical sense, of course, because he has them, but just can't walk, duh. But unfortunately for her, his hopes of living a normal life, and the chances of actually living one, were ultimately low, and could possibly never be raised again.

If he could just have at least one true friend his age, maybe he would reconsider. But even the chances of that are low.

Erika hung her head, biting her bottom lip, "I understand, master. I'll come back in an hour or two."

"See you, Erika-nee-chan."

Now that sort of cheered her up.

(Act Two: Teasing)

'So, lemme get this straight... Your legs are disabled, and you can't walk at all?'

I nodded slowly.

'Wow, no wonder you're practically alone in this place.'

I raised an eyebrow at her, and replied, "And what are you supposed to be? Some kinda butterfly?"

'Shut up.'

"I'm serious, what are you?"

'I...don't know...'

"You don't know... so you're like me?"

'Huh? You lost your memory too?'

I thought about it for a second, and nodded. "I guess."

"So, you really are as cute as I thought..."

'Wah!' Kaiya flew behind my back.

Typical Erika, she's always been so playful and intruding.

"Erika, you scared her..." I whispered, petting Kaiya's hair.

'Go away, human. I'm not hurting your child...'

"He's not my child, I'm only his maid."

"She's not even married yet, how would she have a child." A deep voice belonging to my other caretaker, Toru, said.

"T-Toru!!" Erika blushed, "How could you say that? We're engaged!!"

'These humans are crazy...' Kaiya whispered to me. I smiled faintly.

She wasn't very far off description.

(Act Three: Memories)

"Toru! Where are you, you silly bunny?"

A small girl that looked too fragile for the cold ran around, in fear that she had lost her stuffed bunny friend.

"Toru!!"

She hugged her sweater tighter around her body.

"T-toru... Mommy..."

"What are you looking for, little girl?"

"I-I've lost Toru..."

"My name's Toru."

"Not you, my bunny friend."

"Oh, well, it's over there." The figure held out a handkerchief, pointing over to a bench.

She wiped her tears, looking towards where he was pointing. "Toru!!" She ran over there, hugged her bunny, and happily ran back to the boy. "I thank you, I thank you so much, mister Toru!"

The boy blushed, noting to himself how cute this girl was, "You're welcome,"

"I'm Erika~" She grinned, before running off again.

"Wait, my handkerchief-- ah, well. Let her keep it..."

(Act Four: Fainting)

"Hehe, yeah, I liked to play those too before I became sick..." I grinned, coughing a bit.

'You're just playing on my nerves, you're not sick.'

"I am! Er...heheh." I laughed embarassedly at how unsick I sounded. And I coughed again, this time my throat itching.

'Are you really okay?'

"Yeah, yeah." I smiled, but really, my head felt extremely heavy, and I felt my eyesight go black.

'Hey, wake up! It's no time to be sleepy!' I heard Kaiya call to me.

"Young master, are you okay?!" Toru was actually worried about me for once? Huh.

"Master!! Don't give in to that disease!!" The last voice I heard before I completely whited out was Erika.

(Act 5: Remember)

I smiled as I held hands with my friend, Kaiyu. We were watching the sunset together, now that I've "recovered" years later.

"Hey, are you okay? You seemed kinda spaced out."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just remembering things up to when we met."

"Oh, yeah? When did we meet? 'Cuz I forgot." She brushed her long dark blue hair away from her face.

I shook my head. We met at the hospital, Kaiyu. I woke up, and you were just...there. I didn't know you or anything, and you lost your memory after your own operation.

"...That's my special secret." I grinned, earning a slight punch on the shoulder.