<Started Recording at 19:48>
*beep*

Hi! I decided that I'm going to give this "diary" a name and act as if it's a friend of mine. In some of the books the hospital translated to brail for me to read, the girls usually treated their diaries as friends. So I'm going to call you Shiro! It means white and the app design is white in colour so it suits the diary!

Doctor Mitsuha just wanted to check on how I was feeling and coping with the goggles!

It's great to be able to see colours and light instead of perpetual darkness! I'm hoping that I can wear this forever! According to Doctor Taki, it's "just a prototype" but it'll get upgrades so I'm supposed to tell them if anything's wrong.

After that checkup, Doctor Taki came in to give me more details about the phone, goggles and controls.

Apparently, the phone is an iA (Aria) phone 9, one of the newest phones with the latest technology. I tried my best to understand what he was saying but it overwhelmed me- so much information that I didn't really understand.

But Doctor Taki talked about them so passionately that I could see a sparkle in his eyes.

Speaking of seeing, I've seen so many things that I couldn't without the goggles. To remember them, I took pictures. People were giving me weird stares when I shuffled past them. It's probably the goggles- it's not every day that you don't see someone stumbling past you, wearing goggles, right?

Wait, I got carried away.

Anyway, after Doctor Taki left, Doctor Mitsuha decided that she was going to continue her lessons as per normal after letting me off for lunch.

Doctor Mitsuha was not only my doctor, but also my teacher. When I was...no, scratch that. When I couldn't see, she taught me brail and simple things like how objects felt like and their existence. For a fourteen year old, I'm probably really out of the syllabus.

But that's just the life of a hospitalised girl who can't see.

The hospital was looking for a child who has my condition and I happened to be in an operation while my parents signed the papers that would allow the hospital to carry out tests on me and my condition.

I don't blame them, we didn't have much money to cover the operation fees and the hospital was willing to pay a sum of money if someone volunteered and signed the papers. I'm totally cool with that because if they didn't sign me up, I wouldn't be able to see colours like what I'm doing now.

But the thing is, they never visited.

I've asked Doctor Mitsuha about it but she just shrugs and replies that she doesn't know.

What if...they aren't here anymore?

Whether they're alive or not...I won't know.

I don't even remember how they look like. I was admitted into the hospital when I was three, according to Doctor Mitsuha.

〆

Well...that turned dark and serious really quickly.

Anyway, after lessons I shuffled to the cafeteria for dinner.

The cafeteria was noisy as usual but today felt different. Usually, Doctor Mitsuha or a nurse accompanied me during mealtimes to guide me. Today was the first day I was in the cafeteria on my own.

The food looked delicous- as usual. I heard a tray land on the spot beside me. I turned to look and caught sight of light-coloured, shoulder-length hair.

"Sora-chan, konbanwa."

That voice. It belonged to Yachi-chan!

Yachi-chan's a friend of mine who's also hospitalised as she got into an accident and is going through rehabilitation for her legs.

They say she's doing well and will be released in a month's time. She's my first friend here and the first one I actually had the courage to talk to.

How did that happen, anyway?

Oh yeah! I was a tad antisocial because I couldn't see anything so I didn't try to talk to anyone. Looking back, I guess I should've tried to talk to other patients or something. It didn't feel good beig lonely and having a doctor as your only friend.

That's...kinda weird?

Doctor Mitsuha was Yachi-chan's doctor for a while to help her cope with her feelings. She arranged for us to meet up and we just became friends after that.

Maybe it's because there aren't many people our age in the hospital so we kind of hit of off after that meeting, but it's nice to have a friend like her. Usually, we ate together and visited each other sometimes.

Yachi-chan's parents weren't around but apparently one of the doctors were adopting her. I'm happy for her. But I'm going to miss her...

Yachi-chan looked at me and inquired, "what's that?" She pointed at my goggles.

"Oh, that? It helps me see!"

"Souka. Omedeto, Sora-chan!" A smile was painted on Yachi-chan's face.

"Wait," Yachi-chan peered at my goggles. "Is that the new iA phone 9?!"

Did I mention that Yachi-chan has an interest in gadgets and animation? She may seem to be really quiet but once you mention about a gadget or animation, she turns into someone completely different! She can talk passionately about IT and animation for hours.

"Oh my god! iA's one of the leading IT brands! They have the latest technology..."

She kind of reminds me of someone but I just can't remember who...

Yachi-chan rambles on for a while before stopping with an apologetic look.

"Gomene, I probably bored you..."

"Daijobu! Oh yeah! Yachi-chan, there's this app in the phone called NicoStream. It looks interesting and I know I can watch videos there but I don't know what to watch!"

Yachi-chan's eyes seemed to light up.

"Oh! You can listen to music. I recommend 5cmP by the way, although it's old since he was a producer from 2008 to 2018. Or you can watch Anime!"

"Anime?"

I've heard of it. It's Japanese animation but I've never watched it since I needed to see what was happening.

"Yeah! I love the old ones! Let's watch some together on my tablet! Meet at my room tomorrow after rehab? The doctor wants to see me after dinner tonight."

"Sure!" I smile- Yachi-chan is really enthusiastic about what she loves.

I should probably find something that I love too.

Yachi-chan mentioned something about a 5cmP and music. Maybe I'll listen to it.

I think that's about it.

Mata ashita, Shiro!

*click*

<End of Recording>

<Ai Notes>
Read a book (Hq ff) about a doctor
adopting Yachi after she got caught
in a traffic accident.
Decided to make a reference to it?
It's quite a good book :D