I Fell in Love with Hope

Sam, C, Sony, and Neo plan a grand gesture for Sam to tell Hikari how he feels about her and to apologize for running away. When C goes to retrieve her from her room, she isn’t there nor is she in any of the other places they usually hang out. Sam panics but realizes where she is—the cardiology unit where he and he first started to drift apart. He races through the hospital and reaches her, only to find she has self-harmed again. He tears apart his gown to make makeshift bandages, but she slowly fades and is closer to dying. In an episode of anger and depression, Sam cuts his own hair and attacks himself, which brings Hikari back to them.

The original Sam, the narrator’s love, was not a healthy child. He was born with no immune system and was very weak. His mother abandoned him after his first day alive, and he lived in the hospital from then on.

He and the narrator become closer, sharing parts of their lives that they don’t with others. One day, Sam is beaten up by other patients who are just as scared as he is; the narrator steps in to defend Sam.