Maho, a second-year high school student in a small seaside town, lost her mother early and now cares for her little brother, Haruto, alone while her father is away for work. Every morning she makes bento, every afternoon she rushes to pick up Haruto, and her own needs always come last. She has loved her next-door neighbor and classmate, Sota, for as long as she can remember. He's the star of the basketball team and the most popular boy in school--bright, kind to everyone--but painfully oblivious
Next to You, Someday - The hospital at midnight, and shoulders trembling alone
Maho sat on the kitchen floor, still clutching the apron.
Outside the window, it was still dark.
The hydrangea leaves glistened black, soaked with night dew. The news had said the rainy season was almost upon them. Just as forecast, tonight's air was lukewarm and clammy, clinging to her skin.
(I should stop crying now.)
She thought it — but the tears wouldn't stop. The image of Souta and Misaki walking side by side was seared onto the backs of her eyelids, refusing to peel away. Their laughter echoed deep in her ears.
(I'm not someone who deserves to be by Souta's side.)
(I'd decided that. I had.)
Her fingers tightened around the apron. The floral pattern — her mother's keepsake — had faded from countless washes, the fabric soft and worn thin. And yet, when she held it close, she could almost smell her mother.
(Mom...)
A voiceless cry lodged itself in the back of her throat.
That was when it happened.
"Nee-chan... Nee-chan..."
A hoarse voice came from upstairs.
Maho's head snapped up. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and draped the apron over the back of a chair. Her heart began pounding at an unpleasant speed.
(Haruto?)
"Nee-chan... it hurts..."
The voice sounded like it was crying.
Maho sprinted up the stairs.
She threw open the door to Haruto's room. Her nine-year-old brother was curled up on his futon, breathing in shallow gasps. His small body trembled in tiny, fitful shudders.
"Haruto, what's wrong?"
Maho rushed to the bed and pressed her hand to his forehead.
— Burning.
Her palm felt like it was being seared.
"Nee-chan... my chest... it hurts..."
Haruto's voice broke off with every exhale. His face was flushed, his lips dry and cracked white. Beads of sweat stood out on his forehead beneath his close-cropped hair.
Maho felt her own hands trembling.
(No. This isn't just a cold.)
(It's the same as when Mom—)
No, she shook her head.
(No. Haruto will be fine. I have to pull myself together.)
She grabbed the thermometer from beside his pillow. She slipped it under his arm and pressed the button. The digital numbers climbed slowly.
Thirty-eight point seven.
Maho stopped breathing.
(Almost thirty-nine.)
(And he says his chest hurts.)
She touched Haruto's forehead again. Hot. Hotter than before, it seemed. His breathing had grown shallow and rapid.
"Nee-chan... I'm scared..."
Tears welled in Haruto's eyes.
Maho took his hand.
"It's okay. Nee-chan's right here. I'm going to take you to the hospital right now."
Her voice didn't waver. It was calm — calm enough to surprise even herself.
(If I panic, Haruto will only get more scared.)
(It's okay. I'm okay. So it's okay.)
Maho picked up her smartphone.
The time was 1:58 a.m.
She pulled up her father's number. The ring tone echoed in her ear.
One ring. Two. Three.
— The number you have dialed is either out of range or turned off, and cannot be connected.
The mechanical announcement plugged Maho's ears.
(Right. Dad's on the night shift tonight. He can't be reached.)
Maho gripped her phone.
(I have to do this alone.)
(Like always.)
She decided to call an ambulance. Haruto's symptoms were strange for a simple cold. Chest pain wasn't something you could just ignore.
She dialed 119.
"Hello, my little brother is suffering from a high fever. He says his chest hurts too..."
She gave the address and her name. The operator's voice was calm, matter-of-fact.
"Understood. We'll send an ambulance. How old is your brother?"
"He's nine."
"Is a guardian with you?"
Maho's words caught for a moment.
(Guardian.)
(I'm the guardian.)
"...Yes. I'm his sister."
That was how she answered.
"His older sister, then. Understood. Until the ambulance arrives, please keep your brother in a comfortable position."
She hung up.
Maho rubbed Haruto's back.
"The ambulance is coming soon. Just a little longer, okay?"
"Mm..."
Haruto's voice was wet with tears.
Still holding his hand, Maho looked out the window.
From far away, the sound of sirens drew closer.
Red lights crept slowly toward them along the dark seaside road.
(It was a night like this when Mom collapsed, too.)
Maho forced the memory she didn't want to recall deep into her chest.
(Right now, it's only about Haruto.)
The ambulance stopped in front of the house.
---
The paramedics moved briskly.
Haruto was placed on a stretcher and carried into the ambulance. Maho climbed in after him, clutching his insurance card, her wallet, her phone, and a small towel.
"Are you the only guardian?"
A young male paramedic asked her.
Maho hesitated for a moment.
(Dad can't come.)
(I have no choice but to go alone.)
"...Yes."
That single word sank heavily into the dark interior of the ambulance.
The ambulance pulled out onto the night road.
The sirens overlapped with Maho's heartbeat. Haruto lay on the stretcher, breathing in shallow gasps. Maho held his small hand.
"It's okay. We'll be there soon."
Haruto's eyes fluttered open and found her.
"Nee-chan... where's... Onii-chan...?"
Maho's chest tightened.
"Souta-nii is asleep at home. Right now, let's get you to the hospital."
"...Mm."
Haruto closed his eyes again.
Maho stared at the streetlights streaming past the window.
The night in Minatoha was quiet.
---
Minatoha General Hospital.
A large hospital with two hundred beds in the city center. It was also here that Maho's mother had died when Maho was small.
When the automatic doors of the emergency entrance slid open, the smell of antiseptic stung her nose.
Maho finished the paperwork at the reception desk and watched as Haruto was wheeled into the examination room.
"Family members, please wait here."
Led by a nurse, Maho sat on the long bench in front of the examination room.
The corridor was dead silent.
The white fluorescent light illuminated the cold linoleum floor. The clock on the wall read 2:40 a.m.
Maho sat at the edge of the bench, hands clasped in her lap.
(It's okay.)
(Haruto is okay.)
(I have to stay strong.)
But no matter how she told herself that, her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
(Mom was in this hospital too—)
Maho closed her eyes.
That day came back to her behind her eyelids.
Her mother had collapsed when Maho was in fifth grade. Maho had come home from school and found her mother lying on the kitchen floor.
Her mother had been rushed to this hospital by ambulance.
Maho had sat on this very bench with her father, waiting for the test results.
The corridor had been this cold back then, too.
The fluorescent light had been this white back then, too.
(And Mom—)
Maho bit her lip.
(Never came home.)
Maho squeezed her left wrist with her right hand. The old scar beneath her sleeve. A cut from a kitchen knife, from when she'd been caring for her mother.
(If I'd noticed sooner back then.)
(If I'd taken better care of her.)
(Would Mom have survived?)
Maho hugged her knees.
(No. Right now, I need to think about Haruto.)
(Haruto will survive. He'll be fine. I'm here.)
But her body kept trembling.
The hospital corridor at midnight was over-air-conditioned.
---
How much time had passed?
"Maho-san?"
Maho looked up at the voice.
"Yes."
"Your brother is in the middle of his tests right now. It'll be a while longer. Is there any other family member with you?"
Maho shook her head.
"...No. It's just me and my brother."
"I see. If anything comes up, please come to the nurses' station."
The nurse quietly walked away.
Maho was alone again.
(Just me and my brother.)
(Right. This house is already just me and Haruto.)
(Mom isn't here. Dad isn't here either — he's at work.)
(I have to protect him.)
Maho looked at her phone.
Several LINE messages from Souta had piled up.
"Hey, what's up with you lately?"
"Did I do something?"
"Maho, answer me."
Maho scrolled through the screen.
(Souta.)
(Right now, I want to hear your voice so badly.)
(But I can't lean on you.)
(I'm the one who put distance between us.)
(Souta should be with Misaki-san.)
Maho locked her phone.
The screen went dark.
(It's okay.)
(I'm okay.)
Maho hugged her knees and buried her face.
Only the sound of her own breathing echoed in the cold corridor.
---
Meanwhile, deeper inside the examination room.
Haruto drifted in and out of sleep, but he opened his eyes.
His vision blurred. A white ceiling. The smell of antiseptic. An unfamiliar place.
(Where's Nee-chan...?)
Haruto turned his head.
Maho wasn't beside him.
(Nee-chan, where are you...?)
Haruto grew frightened.
(I have to call Onii-chan.)
He searched for his smartphone on the pillow beside him.
Maho had put Haruto's phone in his bag before getting into the ambulance. It was now sitting on the small table by his pillow.
With trembling hands, Haruto picked up the phone.
He tapped the screen.
Souta's number.
(Onii-chan... help me.)
The ring tone echoed in his ear.
---
Souta was asleep.
Face-down on his bed in his room.
His phone buzzed by his pillow.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Souta opened his eyes.
(Who the hell is calling at this hour...)
He looked at the screen.
— Haruto.
Souta shot upright.
"Hello!? Haruto!?"
"Onii-chan..."
Haruto's voice was hoarse, on the verge of fading out.
"What's wrong!? Are you okay!?"
"Nee-chan is... in trouble..."
Haruto's voice was shaking.
"In trouble — what happened!?"
"I'm at the hospital... Nee-chan is alone... and she's crying..."
Haruto's words came in fragments.
"Hospital!? Which hospital!?"
"Minatoha... General Hospital..."
"Got it! I'm coming right now! You stay in bed!"
"Mm... Onii-chan... come..."
The call ended.
Souta leaped off his bed.
He checked the clock. 3:05 a.m.
(Maho, alone at the hospital?)
(Haruto collapsed?)
(Why didn't she contact me?)
Souta threw a tracksuit over his pajamas and shoved his phone and wallet into his pockets.
He raced down the stairs.
He pulled on his sneakers at the entryway and burst outside.
He yanked his trusty mountain bike out of the bicycle shed.
He swung onto the saddle and stomped on the pedals.
The night air hit his face.
A lukewarm wind flapped the hem of his pajamas.
(Maho...!)
Souta pedaled with everything he had, down the seaside road toward the hospital.
---
The night roads of Minatoha were sparsely lit.
When he reached the coastal road, the smell of the sea grew thick. The sound of waves came from beyond the darkness.
Souta kept pedaling.
His breath ran short. His thighs screamed.
But he didn't stop.
(Maho's always like this.)
(Carrying everything alone.)
(Smiling and saying she's fine.)
(Never telling me anything.)
Maho's face surfaced in Souta's mind.
The day of the sports festival — a lunchbox packed with nothing but small onigiri.
That fake smile as she said, "I'm eating."
The old scar on her left wrist.
That voice that shouted, "Don't look."
That back, disappearing into a side street to avoid him in the shopping arcade.
(Why won't you tell me?)
(Why won't you lean on me?)
Souta gritted his teeth.
Sweat dripped into his eyes.
The sea breeze plastered his sweat-soaked bangs to his forehead.
(What do I even know about you?)
(Living next door, together for over ten years.)
(I didn't know a thing about you.)
(Not even that you were crying alone.)
Souta stood on the pedals and picked up speed.
The lights of the hospital came into view in the distance.
---
He rode right up to the entrance of Minatoha General Hospital.
Souta parked his bike haphazardly and pushed through the automatic doors.
He ran down the emergency corridor.
"Excuse me! A kid named Haruto should have been brought in!"
The nurse at the reception desk looked at him in surprise.
"Um, are you a family member?"
"I live next door! His little brother called me!"
Souta said, out of breath.
"One moment, please. I'll check."
The nurse made an inquiry in the back.
Souta scanned the corridor.
— There she was.
A small, curled-up figure on the long bench in front of the examination room.
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