Introduction

when COVID-19 strikes Japan,A high school girl has to try to adapt to the new living conditions, even though it is boring as heck.

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.(Pleased to meet you in Japanese)

Crystal Akira Zeus Mizujo is an eighteen year old Greco-Japanese girl who lives in Wakayama, Japan. Eldest out of the three siblings, she is mature minded and has a great sense of responsibility. When COVID-19 strikes her homeland, she has to find alternative ways to entertain herself as well as surviving in this grim moment.

Nice to meet you! (giggle)

Ruby Chiyo Zeus Mizujo is Crystal’s sister and a very mischievous girl. She is often seen playing pranks on people like her grandfather, the school custodian and even the teachers!

Um,hello…glad to meet you.

Michael Akisuke Zeus Mizujo is Crystal and Ruby’s younger brother. Unlike most boys,he’s very sensitive and a bit of a crybaby. Nevertheless, he has a heart of gold and deeply cares about his family.

Raisuke Mizujo is the grandfather of the three siblings. He is a bit of a playboy and loves to date other women even though he has his wife Mariko. Despite that, he is kind to his family and cares about their well-beings.

Kaito Mizujo is the great uncle of the three siblings and a fish seller in Kuroshio market. When the pandemic caused his fish stall to shut down temporarily, he spends his time at home teaching his great nieces and nephew to stay active.

Mariko Mizujo is the wife of Raisuke and the grandmother of the three siblings. She is usually caring to her family but she is sometimes grouchy and has a no nonsense attitude. If you try to provoke her, she’ll hit you with her infamous frying pan, which is why Raisuke is extremely afraid of her.

Mr. Ironwood is Crystal’s neighbour who lives in a very small bungalow with only a lovebird, a koi carp and a frog to accompany him. Crystal usually goes to his house to have tea but since the pandemic is threatening Japan, social distancing is a must. So how does she speak to him face to face? By climbing up a ladder!

Mr. Callows is probably the weirdest biology teacher in Showa High. He is a scorpion mutant and has a real scorpion’s tail. When all of the teachers are gone, he stays behind in the laboratory to work out the perfect formula so he could get rid of it, even it means it’s going to take loads of trial and error.

Chapter 1: Stuck indoors

14th March,2020             Sunny

It's the cherry blossom season, but it's too bad we can't go out and see em due to that annoying COVID-19 pandemic. Arrrgh! There's nothing to do but watch the telly, read books and play video games on Nintendo Switch. We can't go to the arcade, hike, go to the aquarium and whatnot. Although I am much of an introvert, I can't stand staying indoors for almost the whole day. It's like in jail. My grandfather, on the other hand, was having a blast. He was in the garden joking around with the koi, chatting with my Japanese bobtail cat Castella and tickling my blue tit Aoi. I wonder,do animals feel bored? Well, I think I might find out soon.

"Grandpa," I asked, "Will this pandemic ever end?"

He just smiled and patted my head. "Who knows? Life is full of surprises. Maybe one day the pandemic will end and everyone in the world will be back to their normal lives. But right now we'll just have to be patient and wait for the medics to do their business."

"Fine," I grumbled. "But don't expect me to have fun."

I tossed and turned around on the tatami while moaning and groaning like a depressed tanuki(raccoon dog in Japanese). Great uncle Kaito couldn't work at Kuroshio Market because it was closed to prevent the spread of the deadly disease, Uncle Daisuke couldn't go to the gym to work out, Great aunt Aiko was carrying out her duties at the hospital and Uncle Tadashi was in quarantine. So basically it's quite grim. Before all of this happened,we used to go out as a family, but now there's not a snowball's chance in hell we could do it.

Suddenly, we heard a sneeze from the kitchen.I jumped, had Grandma been infected? Grandpa stopped playing with Aoi and ran inside. It turned out that she had put too much pepper in the katsudon. We both heaved a sigh of relief and rolled on the floor laughing.

"Ok," said my Grandma with an unamused look on her face, "It's time for lunch."

Chapter 2: Dealing with boredom

15th March,2020      Cold

Normally after I finish my studies, I would go to my neighbour's house to have tea and a chat, but since the pandemic was here and we couldn't go out, I had to think of an alternate way to speak to him because he lived all by himself with only his pet lovebird, a koi carp and a frog to accompany him.

I paced back and forth for a few minutes to think of an option. Suddenly, I saw Grandpa's ladder in the store room and an idea popped into my brain:I could put the ladder up against the fence, then climb up and speak to him! Why haven't I thought of that before?

I heaved the ladder out of the store room, put it against the fence, and climbed to the top of it. I cleared my throat and called out, "Good morning, Mr. Ironwood!"

A fair skinned man with disheveled black hair and a well trimmed beard came out of the bungalow with an indigo roof. His cobalt blue eyes shone like sapphires in the sunlight. He was wearing a brown overcoat over a teal v-neck sweater, a pair of charcoal grey pants and a pair of loafers. A navy blue muffler was wrapped around his neck and a pair of driving gloves adorned his hands.

"Well, hello there, Crystal. What are you doing on a nippy day like this?"

"Um...I just got bored and I wanted to chat with you after I finished my studies."

“But you don't have to climb up a ladder to do that,it's too risky."

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Ironwood. Grandpa used this ladder for years and it's still good as ever! Besides, we can't go out during this pandemic and I thought you might be lonely if you have nobody to talk to."

At this moment, the ends of his mouth curved into a smile. "Your father wasn't wrong about you. You're a kind and understanding girl who cares about others. No, I have never felt lonely. I've got Corporal,my lovebird, Kin, my koi carp and Midori, my White's tree frog with me. Not to mention you and your two siblings as well."

“But don't you feel bored? You know.....like watching the same TV shows, reading the same old books and listening to the same classical music tapes? Don't you play video games or watch YouTube?"

"Back when I was little, we didn’t have much money to buy video games and YouTube wasn't even invented. Whenever we got bored, we used to play some old fashioned games like kick the can and rugby. Kids those days were much more active than Generation Z kids like you!"

Let me get this straight, I am NOT much of a sports person even though I practice karate, fencing and other martial arts. I prefer ballet dancing, playing the violin and reading rather than sweating out in the open. But actually I have to admit that kick the can sounded kind of fun. So I went back into my house and grabbed out an empty peach soda can. Then I asked my little sister Ruby to play this game with me to see what the big deal was. Only too bad for us, we didn't know the rules of kick the can,so we quit after kicking the can around for twelve seconds then went back inside the house to play Ninjala.

Maybe I should think of something else to ease my boredom besides video games, but I'll leave that to tomorrow.

Chapter 3: My first online lesson

16th March,2020   Cloudy

Back to school,again.

Except that we have to use our tablets or computers to attend our lessons since we have to maintain social distancing. It's kind of a pity that I couldn't chat with my friends face to face.Even though there's social media like Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger, we became a bit distant and we can't feel the warmth when we're together, especially during cold winters.

I got up at 7:30 a.m. in the morning, brushed my teeth, grabbed out my aquamarine tablet studded with blue gems while eating my slice of grilled saba(mackerel), then got into the online classroom.

Some of my classmates in class 6-A were here. The first to arrive was Akane Hyuga, the girl who resembles me except for the eyes(Mine are blue and hers are grey). She's a shy yet amiable girl who tends to faint over several occasions, yet she's still a good friend.

Then there was Manabu Yukimitsu, a fair skinned guy with spiky hair whom everyone in my class pairs me up with. Yukimitsu is a nice guy and all, but I just consider him as a friend. Besides, we're still studying and there's no time for romance or puppy love relationships. Sometimes I think of getting my classmates to STOP talking about him being my husband in future and stay focused on their studies.

A loud whistle echoed in the distance.It was Torajiro Asuka,my sister's partner in crime.Whenever these two are together,they are always up to some,no,a lot of mischief.Like pulling nasty pranks on teachers,or messing around with the computers,or drawing humiliating comics about the janitor.Grandpa and I had been using numerous ways to put an end to their tricks,but we still need more effort.

A LOUD whistle echoed in the distance.It was Torajiro Asuka, my sister's partner in crime. Whenever these two are together, they are always up to some, no, a lot of mischief. Like pulling nasty pranks on teachers, messing around with the computers, or drawing humiliating comics about the janitor. Grandpa and I had been using numerous ways to put an end to their tricks, but we still need more effort.

A few moments later, our biology teacher, Mr. Callows,entered the room. He's a scorpion mutant who was once human, but after being bitten by a scorpion of an unknown species, he grew a scorpion's tail and his eyes glow purple when he has strong emotions. Everyone thinks he's creepy because of his appearance but I am sure that they might understand him in future, hopefully.

"Alright, class, today we're going to talk about the structure of the cell membrane........"

"Sorry, sir! I'm late!"

Lilia Snowbell, who wasn't ready for the class, came in while brushing her teeth! Mr. Callows didn't look quite happy when he saw that. Nevertheless, he still kept his cool and went on with the lesson.

"So the cell membrane is made up of...."

Crunch,crunch......

"Mr. Asuka, will you please mute yourself while having your breakfast?"

"Um....sorry, Mr. Callows......"

I realised that one of my classmates was missing. Who could that be? Then suddenly it hit me, Dae-Hyun Kwon, who's always a sluggard.

"Dae-Hyun Kwon? Dae-Hyun Kwon? Has anyone contacted him? If you see him, tell him to enter the room immediately or else I'll have to call the discipline master to punish him."

"Let me do it, sir. I'll try to give him a call."

"Thank you, Miss Mizujo."

I quickly turned on my phone and called Dae-Hyun. Soon, he finally arrived.

"Mr. Kwon! How many times do I have to tell you that ghosting in class is NOT appropriate?!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I forgot to set my alarm…."

"Then why don't you do it earlier?"

"Uh......"

Mr. Callows grumbled and laid his right hand on his forehead. "Never mind, I'll deal with that later." Then he continued with his lesson.

"So the cell membrane is made of phospholipids, proteins and cholesterol. As you know, cholesterol may be a harmful substance to our body, but sometimes it might be useful, just like our personalities."

"Sir," Akane piped up, "What are proteins in the cell membrane used for?

"Well, Akane, it's a good question. Proteins are used for active transport in cells. As you all know, we need glucose for our body cells for respiration. But since glucose is a large and polar molecule, it can't squeeze through the cell membrane. So it has to depend on integral proteins to absorb into the cells."

FLUSH!

"Are you in the toilet, Ruby Chiyo Zeus Mizujo?"

"Heh heh.....I was doing my number two. Sorry......"

"You'd better mute yourself when going to the toilet! Nobody wants to know that you're relieving yourself at the moment!"

My sister's face turned red as a beetroot. "Ok...I'll do so next time."

Soon, the lesson was over.

"Ok, class, let's call it a day. Feel free to stay for a while if you have any questions."

Chapter 4: Saliva test

17th March,2020   Rainy

Today, the government announced that every citizen in Japan has to take the saliva test to make sure that they haven't got the disease. My grandfather, Ruby, Michael and I had registered for the test and we will be doing it tomorrow.

The next day, we arrived at the sports centre to take the test for Covid-19. I was a bit insecure about it at first since I had a huge phobia about cotton tips sticking into my nostrils and throat. When I was little I caught salmonella and I was stuck in the hospital for weeks. The nurses stuck a cotton tip into my nose to test for bacteria, which was very uncomfortable. And it wasn't pretty when an extremely sharp needle was jabbed into my left hand.

Even though I am now fit as a fiddle, I still get the chills when I think about it. I sat in the waiting room stiffly and shut my eyes tight, trying to forget about my trauma.

"Crystal, is something bothering you?"

I looked around and saw the caring blue eyes of my grandfather looking at me. "Uh...no," I lied, "I'm a bit tired, that's all."

"Are you thinking about that thing again?" Sometimes, I just don't understand how Grandpa reads my thoughts. Did he had mental telepathy or psychic powers?Well, I'll find out soon, hopefully.

He heaved a sigh and spoke to me. "Look, I know it's very uncomfortable when there's something in your nose and throat. But let me tell you one thing: This test is to make sure that you didn't catch the disease, not to test what type of disease you caught. And see, I am with you. We will endure this together."

Hearing his words, I felt much better yet still a bit unsure, so I gave him a small yet worried smile.

"Crystal Akira Zeus Mizujo."

I knew it was my turn. So I trudged towards the test station gloomily, knowing that this was the end of me.

I sat down in the chair, took several deep breaths and I was all set. I could feel a very small cotton tip rolling around in my nostril, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as before. Then that thing went in my throat, and it nearly made me barf, but not that extreme. I got up and coughed a bit, put on my surgical mask and left. Grandpa was right, maybe I have overreacted a little about the situation. You would never know if a test is good or bad if you don't test the waters.

Chapter 5: Staying active

18th March,2020  Cloudy

Today, Great uncle Kaito showed us a video named "When work from home ends". It showed a lot of animals putting on weight and having trouble with their lives such as drinking water, hunting and whatnot. Ruby, Michael and I laughed so hard that our stomachs hurt.

"Kids," he said with a stern look on his face, "Do you know what I am trying to tell you right now?"

"No," said Ruby while giggling, "All I know is that this video is hilarious."

He heaved a sigh of frustration and said, "No, I am trying to tell you even though we're stuck indoors, we have to stay active so as to maintain our health. Or else we'll put on weight and we'll have numerous health problems like diabetes mellitus, obesity, coronary heart disease and yada yada yada. You kids have studied about these deadly diseases during biology class, right?"

“Yeah," I replied, "And they greatly affect our normal lives in a negative way, like avoiding sweet foods to regulate the blood glucose level. I simply can't imagine my life without a hint of sweetness."

"Correct," said Great uncle Kaito, "And they have to undergo angioplasty, chemotherapy and....."

"Their hair falls out and they become bald," interrupted Ruby with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Yes, yes, Ruby. I know that you're smart but please let me finish my words. And they have to inject insulin into their pancreas so their blood glucose levels could be maintained at a normal rate."

"Ouch," said Michael, "That must be awful for them."

"Of course. So we must prevent those horrible things from happening to us. Now,who's ready to get pumped up?"

"We are!"

We rolled out a yoga mat and began to do the splits. Since I took ballet lessons every Saturday,it wasn't a problem for me. I saw that Great uncle Kaito was struggling to do it since he was getting old and his joints are getting stiff. I know that he was once a judo master but I am very sure that he's out of practice since his knees were quivering.

"You ok, Great uncle Kaito?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Crystal! Doing the splits is no problem for me since I was once an expert judo master....."

But before he could finish his words,his trousers split at the seam, revealing his undies. Ruby laughed when she saw this hilarious moment.

"I can't believe that you still wore a mawashi!Haha!"

"Stop it, Chiyo, it's not funny!"

My sister Ruby is crackers, she often thinks that someone having misfortune is a hilarious thing. I have told her a million times that it's not a kind act but she just wouldn't listen. I sighed with frustration and said to Great uncle Kaito, "I think you're doing pretty great."

That seemed to cheer him up a bit. "Thank you, Crystal, you are very kind."

A few hours later,we really worked up a sweat and it was really refreshing. I hoped that one day we can go out and do sports again.

Chapter 6: Grandpa takes the vaccine

19th March,2020    Sunny

Grandpa had registered for taking his first dose of BioNtech vaccine. I could see that even though he's not a big fan of those sharp needles, it's the only way to achieve herd immunity.

"Grandpa, are you sure you're ok to take the vaccine? You look kind of pale."

Grandpa turned red in the face and stuttered, "Pale? I don't know what you're talking about, darling. You know your grandpa is tough as a rock and a vaccine is just a tiny little pinch."

I know he was trying to be confident,but I saw that his blue eyes were twitching with fear and his whole body was quivering. Still, I didn't want to burst his bubble,so I replied, "Ok,break a leg."

We arrived at the Saiseikai Wakayama Hospital and filled out the forms. Then we sat in the waiting room while nearly dozing off (P.S. It took almost an hour, so it was kinda boring when there's nothing to do).

After a century later (just kidding,it was only forty minutes), the nurse called Grandpa's name and he was escorted into the consultation room. Ruby, Michael and I stood at the door, waiting for him to come out. Out of curiosity, I pressed my ear against the door to hear what was going on inside. Unfortunately, since the door was made of wood, most of the conversation between Grandpa and the nurse was muffled, so it wasn't very clear, but I could make a few guesses.

"Do you think that Grandpa is gonna be fine?"asked Ruby.

"No idea, but we all know that Grandpa is going to faint at the sight of the syringe. Ten to one he's going to YELL like a wounded peacock."

Speak of the devil, we heard shrieks of pain from the room, and I knew I was right about him freaking out.The screams got even louder after 5 seconds,which meant that the needle was prodded into his right arm. Let me get this straight, Grandpa's shrieks are as LOUD as a siren on a fire engine or an ambulance, so we had to cover our ears.

A few moments later, Grandpa trudged out of the consultation room looking even paler than before. His sky blue eyes had lost its spark and his mouth was wide open. I saw that his tracksuit jacket had slipped down from his shoulders as well.

"Grandpa?" I asked, "Are you ok? You look....."

But before I could finish my words, he collapsed to the ground like he was dead. Ruby gently nudged him with her foot to see if he was alive, but I reassured her that it might be because of the side effects of the vaccine. Sometimes Grandpa might be a bit of a braggart, but we still think he's a good guy and all.

Chapter 7: Video Chat

20th March,2020    Cloudy

Uncle Tadashi is back from quarantine and he looked even grumpier than ever. Even though half of his face was covered by a surgical mask, his eyes were ablaze with fury and frustration.

"Hi, Uncle Tadashi, how's it going......"

"DO I LOOK LIKE THAT I FEEL COMFORTABLE?" he yelled, "I WAS STUCK IN THE HOTEL FOR LIKE ALMOST A MILLENNIUM AND I HATE IT!"

"It's only a week, Uncle, you're exaggerating."

"DO YOU THINK THAT I CARE, CRYSTAL?" he hollered. He then walked away, slamming his bedroom door behind him.

I sighed with frustration. My uncle is a grumpy, no nonsense,and stubborn guy who doesn't really listen to others. So I went back to my studies.

Suddenly, my tablet vibrated. I picked it up and saw that my maternal grandparents were calling. Getting a call from them is quite rare because they live in Shikoku, which is a long,long way from Wakayama.So I was very excited to see them.

"Hi, Grandpa Izanagi and Grandma Izanami."

The bearded face of my maternal grandfather sprung into view. "Ah, Akira (my Japanese name) !Look how much you have grown! To be honest, I missed how you looked like when you were a baby, heh heh."

"Honey, please stop embarrassing her," said my maternal grandmother, "I know she looks lovely as an infant, but she is still pretty as a teenager."

"Yes,yes......sweetheart. You're right."

"There they go again!" hollered my paternal grandfather Raisuke, "Can't they STOP being overly romantic? It just makes me throw up!"

"Will you stop your grumbling, Raisuke?" asked my paternal grandmother Mariko, "You never showed much affection for me than they do! Did you give me any flowers or any jewellery on Valentine's Day or on my birthday?" I saw that she had a huge frying pan in her hand and I'm a hundred percent sure that she is going to hit him on the head with it.

"Yes,of course, sorry......." Then he went away with an awkward look on his face.

"So, where were we, Akira?"

"Uh.....you said that I was still cute as ever."

"Ah, yes. So...how's your studies going?"

"I'm doing fine so far. It's just that we don't have to go to school and we had our lessons via Zoom or Google Meet. And it's kinda boring since we're stuck indoors and we can't go out."

"I know, kiddo, but that's life. You can't expect everything to go your own way because we're not gods. I know you three could control lightning, fire and water respectively but you can't control everything in your life."

"I bet that you're right....."

"Hi, Grandpa Izanagi!!!" My sister chimed in.

"Chiyo (my sister's Japanese name)! It's so good to see you again. Have you played any pranks on people lately?"

"Uh...."

"So that means yes, isn't it?" said Grandpa Izanagi with a mischievous grin on his face.” Chiyo, how many times do I have to tell you that pulling pranks on people is a very nasty deed? You know, people won't love a naughty person even though she looks cute and adorable and wears pink with a lot of frills."

"Eh heh.....I guess you might be right......"

"You promise?"

"Mhm."

"It was nice talking to you girls, maybe we should......wait, where's Akisuke (my brother's Japanese name)?"

"Um.....h-hello." stammered my brother.

"You sure have gotten more handsome over the years," said Grandma Izanami. "But you still need to jerk up your courage because you're a big boy."

"Um....I guess I'll try."

"Well, I think it's getting late, maybe we should talk tomorrow."

"Bye, Grandma and Grandpa!"

Chapter 8: Gaming (the old fashioned way)

21st March,2020    Sunny

This afternoon, I was having a cup of peppermint

tea and a blueberry scone while reading my favourite book, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Suddenly, someone rang the doorbell. I quickly ran to the door and opened it. A tall, middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin was standing outside.

He had short black hair with gray accents as well as a thick mustache and eyebrows. His green eyes twinkled like emeralds in a jewellery box. He was wearing a grey overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt, and a black necktie. His legs were adorned with grey pants and his yellow-buttoned undercoat and fingerless gloves matched his cordovan shoes. He was carrying a chess set in his arms. I recognised him right away, he was my great aunt Aiko's old classmate Arnold Watts, the stinkin' rich British who lives in a huge manor next to Yukimitsu.

"Hello, Mr. Watts," I said politely, "What brings you here?"

"Crystal, dear," he said courteously, "Would you mind if we play a game of chess? I heard that you were bored during this pandemic and I think it would be fun."

"But what's so fun about playing chess?" I complained while rolling my eyes, "It's so boring and teenagers like us nowadays play video games like Super Mario Odyssey, Warioware:Get it together, Animal Crossing and......you name it. Maybe I should get you a Nintendo Switch or some other game console."

He shook his head and chuckled, "That's just how you think. However, playing chess requires a lot of qualities like patience and strategy. Besides, my close friend who's also your neighbour Ironwood once told you that staring at the blaring screen for prolonged periods really hurts your eyes and you may need to wear glasses.You know, those thick glasses are heavy as heck and acne might form on your nose whenever you wear them."

I couldn't say no to his kind request. "Fine," I groaned reluctantly, "I'll play it." I grabbed out a chair for him to sit and he laid out the chessboard. Then I offered him a cup of tea and a scone and we began to play.

"Which colour do you want to play as?" he kindly offered, "Black or white?"

"I prefer black, thank you very much." The reason I chose black was that white always plays first in chess. I wanted to see how Mr. Watts makes his move so I could figure out how to beat him. He moved his white pawn forward two spaces. I pondered for a while and moved a black pawn forward.

A few seconds later, his white knight captured one of my rooks.I was starting to feel anxious, Mr. Watts is a complete professional, and I was a hundred percent sure that he could checkmate me any minute now.

"What's the matter, Crystal? Giving up already?"

"No," I mumbled while wiping the sweat off my forehead, "I am not done yet, I still have a few special moves up my sleeve."

"Very well, I would love to see it."

I took hold of a bishop and moved three squares diagonally and captured one of his pawns. "See for yourself?"I chortled.

"Not bad," he complimented, "But you could do better." He moved his white rook in front of the king to protect it.

I was getting impatient. I have to checkmate Mr. Watts as soon as possible! So I moved my knight three spaces. Out of the blue, his queen moved forward eight spaces and captured my knight in three seconds! I chewed my fingernails nervously. I was going to lose and I will look like a complete idiot since I am the head of the chess club and I can't lose my dignity.

A few moments later, Mr. Watts used his queen to capture my king and I knew I was done. I fumed, I can't believe he defeated the chairwoman of the chess club! I stomped my feet in frustration and I almost flipped the table.

"I win, shall we call it quits?"

"Nope!" I yelled, "I have to be sure that my dignity is intact since I am the chairwoman of the chess club and I am NOT going to lose!"

"Your great aunt wasn't wrong about you.You sure are a determined girl who never gives up.Well,time for another round."

After a few rounds, it was 3 to 2. So I guess British people really do excel in chess. I sipped my cup of tea and breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess you're definitely better than me, Mr. Watts. I think I still have a lot to learn."

"You're not that bad yourself either," he replied with a smile, "I think it's your skills that make you the chairperson of the chess club."

I have to say that sometimes old-fashioned stuff isn't always that bad, maybe I should spend less time playing video games and try playing some traditional board games.

Chapter 9: Getting vaccinated

22nd March,2020      Cloudy

Today's the day I get vaccinated. Like Grandpa, I am not really a fan of those needles, but I NEVER chickened out when I see em. I changed myself, bought the densha tickets and set off for the Saiseikai Wakayama Hospital.

I knew that loads of my friends were going to take the vaccine, so I wasn't surprised that I saw some familiar faces, like Lilia Snowbell and her grandfather Nicholas, who's also the school supervisor, Haru Otani and her dad Yoshitsugu, and.....

"Crystal, you're here too?"

I turned around and saw a man with short brown hair and teal-green eyes. He was wearing a blue sports jacket over an emerald green basketball jersey, a pair of white jogger pants and a pair of navy blue sneakers with crimson lining. His face was obscured by a white surgical mask, yet his eyes glistened with positivity.

"Clover!" I cried, "What brings you here?"

"Well," he chortled while giving me a wink, "I just came to do my part time job at the hospital, you see! And one more thing, will you please fill out this form?"

"Thank you. Just a moment, please."