Outside of this cold confinement that I am patiently sitting in is the warmth and glory of summer itself. With the sun's golden rays lighting up the blue sky decorated with white, fluffy clouds, to the sounds of birds chirping in the distance resting under the shade of the trees, and the children happily skipping along the sidewalk, the season is currently at full bloom.

I sat there, right next to the window, taking in the warm scenery before me.

It is because of these sights and experiences that I love life. For me, it is always a blessing to personally witness first-hand these things, and for that, I am very grateful for it.

Which is why I've decided to relish every second of my fragile life, and maximize the time that I currently have.

"Hisami. Hey, Hisami!" A hand touched my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am," I said, turning to her and giving a reassuring smile. "I'm just thinking, that's all."

"Well, if you say so..." She said with a concerned look.

The girl that touched me was Kaede, my classmate, and currently one of my best friends. We recently met this year, as soon as we started talking to each other during the first day of school. Ever since then, our tiny little circle of friends expanded, which made me happy because I would have more friends.

Our little friendship circle (which currently has four members) was spending our time after school chatting in a tea shop, our favorite place to hang out. It wasn't that far from our school, so it was easy for me to go there without getting tired.

While I was staring outside the window doing monologue with myself, the other three girls were happily chatting with each other, but now that the topic of their conversation turned to me, the mood suddenly changed.

"You know Hisami, we're currently worried about you," Aoi said. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's happening tomorrow, right?" There was a hint of worry in her voice. But, despite that, she was trying her best to smile. "I mean, we know that you will be okay during that time, but..."

"What are you saying, Aoi?!" Chisa exclaimed. "Hisami's a strong girl! There's no way she's going to give up that easily! She's going to be all right, one-hundred percent!"

Chisa was the bright lightbulb of our group. She was the most athletic and the most energetic among us, which sometimes could be a curse due to how loud she raises her voice every often but also a blessing since she can get rid of any tension that arises between us. We were lucky to have her as our friend.

I gave a small chuckle. "Yep. Chisa's right, Aoi. Believe it or not, I'm just showing you guys a tenth of my true strength. I'm not going to lose to it." I rolled out my sleeves and made a flexing motion on my left arm, which calmed down Aoi a bit.

"Sure, you say that, but what if..." Kaede still looked doubtful, seeing that my bare arm was not as healthy as it has once been. I gave her a warm smile, then placed both of my hands on hers.

I looked at her straight in the eyes and said, "Don't worry, Kaede. Even if something bad does happen, I'll always be your best friend."

I turned to the others as well. "You guys are all my best friends. You don't have to worry about me because I could guarantee you all that I'll be fighting with all I have. I enjoyed the time I spent with you together, so I'll fight with all I've got so that I could go back to you guys and make more memories with you all. So please, trust me. Trust me that I will give it my all."

It was then that I started tearing up.

I've never been a crybaby myself, yet the sudden overflow of emotions was too much for me to handle.

Kaede and Aoi were tearing up as well, while Chisa was trying desperately to stop her tears from flowing, but failing in the process. She then proceeded to stand up, walk over to my chair, and hug me from behind. The other two followed, wrapping their arms around me.

I closed my eyes and let the warmth of their embrace completely absorb me.

They were my friends. People who I could spend my whole life without a single complaint.

And because of that, they are now part of my colorful world.

That fact alone made me the happiest girl alive.

We stayed in that position for a couple of minutes, completely oblivious to the fact that we were in a public space. I could hear people passing by, yet none of us seemed to care about the gazes that the others were giving us.

We continued to chat merrily for another hour or two before we finally left the tea shop.

Chisa gently helped me get off my seat and onto my wheelchair, while Kaede gripped the handles. Together, we started to walk home.

It seemed that we spent a lot of time there since, by the time we were walking down the sidewalk, the sun was setting, its orange hue temporarily enveloping the formerly blue sky above us.

Of course, they were the ones who were walking. I was sitting in my wheelchair.

As much as I wanted to walk, my current health condition is preventing me from doing so. But it doesn't bother me a bit, since I was still spending time with my friends anyway.

"And get this. You won't believe what happened next," Chisa said. Aoi was listening intently. "I kid you not; he turned himself into a pickle!"

"Bwahahahahaha!" Aoi laughed loudly. "That has to be the funniest thing I've ever heard!"

All four of us were laughing at Chisa's joke. Although I wasn't sure about Chisa laughing at her quip, that's just how she is. She could practically laugh at anything if she wants to.

To others, we probably looked like a bunch of idiots.

After a long session of laughter, I calmed my air-deprived lungs and looked to the sky.

Tomorrow, everything might change.

If it ever does, I want them to be beside me, before I go into the battle for my life.

"Say, guys," I told everyone, "You'll all be there with me tomorrow, right?"

Everyone looked at me with bewilderment.

For a moment, nobody seemed to say a word. It was normal since I brought up the depressing topic that we were talking about a while ago.

But this time, compared to then, they were all smiling.

"Of course we'll be there, Hisami," Kaede said, patting my head.

"What kind of friends will we be if we weren't there to support a member of the Hisami Enatsu squad?" Chisa said with a thumbs-up.

"Don't worry, Hisami. We'll be there for as long as we can." Aoi said. "We'll spend the night there, if possible."

"You guys..."

It is by saying these words that kept me from falling apart. Without them, my world wouldn't be as colorful as it is now.

So with that, I renewed my determination to fight.

The next day finally came.

I was lying down in the hospital bed, with lots of various tubes and machines attached to my body. The room was colored white. White walls, bedsheets, tiles, doors. Practically everything was white.

I didn't know if some psychological effect is at play here, but whatever it is, it's doing its job by calming me down.

The clock on top of the mini table beside me displayed 7:54 AM, the current time. The operation would begin at 8 AM. From what I've heard, the doctors would operate on me for at least twelve hours, so what Aoi said yesterday could become true after all.

And, speaking of Aoi, somebody knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said, and the three of them went inside the room and sat down beside me.

"Good morning, Hisami," Kaede said. "How are you feeling?"

"Refreshed. Never felt this alive in ages."

"This hospital is big, isn't it?" Aoi said as she scanned the room. "You're lucky to be admitted here."

"Reinforcements have arrived!" Chisa said enthusiastically.

"What reinforcements?"

"We're here to give you moral support," Aoi said. "We know that you are going to dive head-first into battle, so we wanted to give you our support until the last minute."

"Thanks, guys," I said to them. "It means a lot to me."

"Well! To boost your fighting spirit, allow me to present to you a gift!" Chisa said it so loud one could mistake it as a yell.

"A gift?" Kaede looked surprised. "Oh, dear. Chisa managed to prepare you a gift, but I don't have anything to give to you at the moment..."

"Are you silly, Kaede?! I explained this to you guys a while ago! Don't tell me you forgot!"

"A while ago...?"

"It was during the train ride," Aoi interrupted. "She explained it while dancing, right?"

"Dancing?" I asked, looking for more information. She shrugged, as if to say, I didn't know why she did that, either.

"Oh, right. Now I remember." Kaede said.

"...?"

I had no idea what they were talking about, so all I could do is to tilt my head in confusion.

All of them stood above me and put their hands together, placing them on my chest, directly above my heart. It didn't hurt, though.

"Uhh, guys? What are you doing?"

"One, two, three!" Chisa counted down, and at the same time, they all shouted:

"Hisami, we love you! Do your best, because we'll be waiting for you!"

An intense burning sensation filled my whole body. I could feel my cheeks and ears turning red with embarrassment, but more importantly.

The three girls all looked at me with the warmest smiles in the world. They were the most precious human beings in existence, and for them, I will always remember them from the bottom of my heart.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'll do my best!"

Just then, the doctor came in, along with a bunch of nurses. "It's time, Ms. Enatsu. Are you ready?"

"Yes, I am," I answered.

He nodded and gave a signal to the nurses to proceed. They started to do something with the machines (I couldn't explain in detail what they were doing), and a nurse came up to me to put on a mask that was attached to it. "Good luck," she told me. I gave her a wink in response.

As she turned on the machine, smoke came from the mask. It was probably some sort of soporific chemical since as soon as I started inhaling it my consciousness was starting to drift away fast.

I guess they're just easing me of the pain since nobody likes to look at themselves being operated on.

But, just before everything went dark, I could feel something warm envelop my hands. With all the remaining strength I have, I looked at the source of it and found my friends holding them with their own, giving their biggest smiles.

I gently smiled back at them.

Then, with my mind at ease, I slowly closed my eyes.