The Book of Misfortune: Bleeding (Part Two)

[amsthedamned]

Title: Bleeding (Part Two)

Author: amsthedamned

Pairing/Subject: Yamada Ryosuke x OC

Rating: PG (to be safe)

Genre: Tragedy, Romance, slight comedy, Slice of Life, Friendship

Part One:   Bleeding Part One



The school year was ending, and soon, most of them were to graduate. That included Yamada Ryosuke who had successfully carried out his last year in high school by bringing a trophy in for the football team. Aside from that, was able to find someone who cares about him as much as he cares about her. Nakajima Yuto, who even though they weren’t able to make it to the finals still had the time of his life in their last year; grabbing the girl he had been admiring for almost three years (yes, that long). He felt he was already complete in his life as long as she was by her side.

Though, even though it may seem like a happy ending, as the story, was just unfolding.

The day had started like usual. Ryosuke arriving at school to be side greeted by his fan club; Even though they knew that Ryosuke was dating Amanda, they still had hopes and prayed that they would break up. Ryosuke walked over to his cubby hole and changed his shoes. He looked around, hoping to see Amanda around this time.

But the only people he saw were the usual faces he saw every day. He saw Yuto walking hand in hand with Mika. The two were a cute couple no doubt. There was the tall giant and a small petit girl. Yuto was being the sweet boyfriend he was, carrying the bag of Mika for her. He smiled when he saw Mika tip toe just to kiss his cheek while at the same time, he leaned down just for her to kiss him.

He looked around; still looking for the girl he loved. Oh where was she? He hadn’t seen her for a day or two already since she called in sick. And today he knew she was coming back, and he wanted to be the first one to welcome her back. Ryosuke had wanted to visit her though, but she still hadn’t told her parents they were dating and he didn’t want her to be stressing about it while she was sick. He had to admit, he himself was a good boyfriend as well.

Ryosuke started to walk to his classroom, she could be probably there already. He was getting excited to see her. He knew he was deeply in love with her. Odd how love would make you feel towards one person. After leaving  his bag in his classroom, he went over to her classroom, a few doors down the hall.

He slid the door open, Mika was already inside, sitting beside her best friend, who still had her head lowered and buried in her arms. Ryosuke made a signal towards Mika not to let her be aware of his presence.

“A-man-da-chan!” he playfully said, leaning down and wrapping his arms around her waist. The girl slowly sat up, smiling; obviously had just woken up from her slumber. Oh how Ryosuke loved the way she looked. The messy hair and the droopy eyes. He had missed her so much over the two days she was gone.

“Ryo-chan~” Amanda purred laying her head again on the desk, still sleepy. Ryosuke deep inside was starting to get worried. Lately she was getting tired real easily and she easily dozed off practically anywhere. Last week had been an example when they went out after school. On the train going home, she had dozed off in his arms and the strange part of it all, they were standing up. Good thing he was there that time or god knows what would’ve happened to her.

“Amanda, are you alright?” he asked. He eyed Mika, wondering what was wrong with her. Mika just gave off a shrug and started rubbing the girl’s back when Ryosuke released her from his embrace. Ryosuke looked at Amanda closely. She looked a bit paler and had gotten thinner for some reason. Heavy dark bags were under her eyes and…

Wait.

Ryosuke hooked his finger on her loose sleeve, slowly pulling it up. His eyes widened when he saw something that got him worried. Mika noticed his reaction and took a look at what he saw. She slightly gasped. Tattered on her arms were bruises, black and blue of different sizes and locations.

“W-Who did this to you?” Ryosuke sounded worried. The girl slowly sat up and looked at him puzzled. She gasped and covered her arm quickly, as if she didn’t want him to see the bruises. Ryosuke was puzzled by her actions. All he was doing was care for her. But why did she seem to act to defensive towards the bruises. The others even looked fresh to him.

“I-It’s nothing…” Amanda told him truthfully, buttoning the cuff of her sleeve. Ryosuke didn’t know what was going on with her, but he felt like she was hiding something and that she didn’t want anyone to know. Ryosuke glanced at Mika for a second to see what her reaction was. Even she looked genuinely surprised and puzzled by her friend’s actions.

“Amanda,” Ryosuke said, grabbing her wrist and started to pull her along with him. “I need to talk to you.” Amanda, puzzled just went along with him. But she swear she heard some girls starting to gossip about how he was already planning to break up with her. She knew that Ryosuke wouldn’t do that to her. But now that it did cross her mind, was he planning to break up with her?

Ryosuke brought her to the rooftop where both of them could be alone. The sky was clear with only a few traces of clouds floating by. It was a bright and the wind gently blew in the air. Ryosuke faced Amanda full view, a look of concern in his eyes that Amanda could swear that he was tearing up.

“Amanda,” he said, gently holding her arm and unbuttoning the cuff and rolling her sleeve up. Exposing the bruises he saw earlier on her arm. “… who did this to you?” he tried to say, but now It was in a more stern voice than before. Amanda stepped back a bit, pulling her arm back.

“R-Ryousuke…” she stuttered. She slightly felt sorry for him, for being too worried about her well being. She was just scared to tell him what the bruises really were. What if he didn’t believe her? She was scared to lose his trust. But then again, relationships are built on trust and she needed to learn how to trust him.

“Amanda…” Ryosuke said, gripping onto her hand and caressing her cheek protectively. Whoever did this to his girlfriend was going to get it whether he was a boy or a girl. No one had the right to hurt her and she didn’t deserve to get hurt. He loved her dearly and was willing to do anything for her behalf.

“… No one did this to me.” She said honestly. Whether he believes her or not was his problem. Ryosuke for the nth time looked a shocked and confused. How would bruises appear on their own unless they were hit hard? He seemed suspicious of her answer. “No one. They only appeared three days ago.” She explained further, unbuttoning her other sleeve and showing her arms.

Ryosuke felt pity for her. If it was someone else, they would immediately think that she was beat up by someone. He looked at her arms, covered with bruises of different sizes. Other looked like they were fresh and that she had just been beaten up recently.

“T-They only started showing up?” He questioned. That part still seemed questionable to him. He hadn’t heard of bruises just suddenly showing up. It was that or she was really beaten up but she didn’t want to tell him. However, Ryosuke knew that Amanda was open to him about most things and that if she really was beaten up, she’d come to him.

“I swear,” she smiled at him and cupped his cheek with her hand. “I would tell you immediately if something bad did happen.” She reassured him. Ryosuke held onto her hand that touched his cheek. Oh how soft and delicate she was. Even though she may have a tough act put up in front of her, she still had the gentle and vulnerable side. He hadn’t seen it yet but he knew it was there somewhere.

He smiled slightly and nodded accepting the truth, still not letting go of her hand.

“Fine.” He smiled, lightly kissing her on the lips. Amanda responded to that by kissing him back slightly. Ryosuke pulled back, holding both her hands in his, their foreheads against one another, and their noses touching. Ryosuke looked deep into her eyes, into a dark abyss that he knew he definitely loved. People may tell him that he was too young to tell, but he already knew that she was the one, despite the differences.

“Amanda,” he said her name, his lips leaning ho her ear as his arms wrapped around her waist, pressing her body lightly against his. How wonderful, that he fit right perfectly in his embrace. The bell rang, signalling the start of class but he didn’t care. All he cared was this moment and this moment alone.

“Hmm..?” Amanda said, shifting slightly in his arms, turning her head a little trying to face him.

“I promise,” he whispered in her ear, his breath brushing against her ear lobe and neck, making the female turn red even more. “… to make you the happiest woman alive when the time comes.” He started off. Amanda remained red at his words.

“Ryosuke…” she tried to say, but he continued on.

“… I promise to love you eternally, to stay by your side, to make you proud…” he said, moving one arm and holding her hand and looked at it. It was such a shame that hands like a princess were bruised up. “… to protect you at any costs, even if it costs my life to do that. I will adore you, care for you…” he kept on promising.

That moment alone between the two of them was spent with ongoing promises of love, hope and a future together. Amanda had broken out into tears sometime into his whispers of promises and lightly cried on his shoulder. At that precise moment, he held her close and kept on promising and promising.

He knew that promises are meant to be broken but he reassured himself that he would keep all his promises to her. Even down to the most ridiculous one just to hear her giggle a little from her crying. He felt her body relax in his arms.

“Amanda,” he whispered in her ear, making the female turn red from the softness of his voice. “Meeting you was fate,” she smiled at those words. Probably fate had decided them to meet and it was one of the best things that ever happened to either of them. “Being your friend was my choice,” the smile on her face grew wider with the words and how he said them. “But falling in love with you…” he trailed off, a pause in the atmosphere.  Even Amanda was a little anxious about what he was going to say.

“… falling in love with you was completely out of my control…” he smiled.

Nothing could have ruined this moment.

--X--

Tears were flowing freely from Niarra’s eyes. She didn’t want to believe it, she didn’t want to accept it, she even wished she had not heard it. She buried her face into her hands. But either way she tried to think of it, it was truth.

Amanda on the other hand sat right beside her, eyes wide and obviously trembling. Ryosuke had recommended that Niarra take her to the hospital to have her bruises checked up. Amanda resisted at first but because it was a two against one decision, Amanda had agreed to go with her sister. Though, the Sato sisters were not expecting this.

“No…” Niarra whispered In between sobs. “I don’t believe you!” she yelled standing up and trying to size up to the doctor, looking at him straight in the eye, her eyes intimidating towards his. “S-She can’t be…” he voice suddenly cracked and she burst out yet again into tears.

“Niarra…” Amanda slowly stood up and took her sister’s hand; tears too were rolling freely down her cheeks. Those tears were uncontrollable and unstoppable. Today was something neither one of them had expected to happen or even for them to find out.

“Are you sure…” the doctor sat down, looking through Amanda’s file. The two sisters sat beside one another Niarra, holding her sister’s hand in an act of support towards her sister. “… you never knew about you condition?” Amanda shook her head in response to the doctor.

“That’s odd.” The doctor commented, flipping through the pages of her check up. It had taken longer than anyone of them expected, even more surprised by the outcome of it. Who ever knew that Amanda has been this sick over the years? And what broke Niarra’s heart the most was that it had taken a turn for the worst.

“At first, it seemed ok.” He started to tell his prognosis. “If you had a check up then, I don’t think we could’ve even told you. Or maybe we couldn’t even identify it yet. Your records show that you’re a pretty healthy girl.”

“Damn right she is.” Niarra commented, wiping her tears away angrily. To Niarra, she was deeply hoping that the doctor had been wrong about her condition for the time being. The news was hard for her to take. Their parents were gone most of the time leaving only her and Amanda to fend for themselves. Niarra’s only family to her was Amanda (Ryosuke as well in the near future she had hoped.)

“Niarra.” Amanda held onto her sister’s hand. Niarra looked onto the person she had admired the most. The only role-model she looked up to. The person who had taken care of her at the same time was able too balance out her school life and studies. Niarra couldn’t bare it.

“…The bleeding started a few days ago. It was small but over time, it had been continuous, and non-stop.” The doctor told them. Amanda stayed strong, hearing the news. She had to be strong at times like this. “I’ll need to confine you within three days. We’ll try our best to stop the bleeding.”

“Please!” Niarra interrupted yet again. The doctor could understand why this girl had to put so much hope in for her sister. Even he himself felt pity for them. Cases like these were extremely rare. And fate had played it cruel for them.  “Please, I beg of you, please save my sister.” Niarra lowered her head. Amanda right now didn’t know if she was just acting up or maybe the news just got to her really bad and she was acting this way.

“I will do my best.” And with that answer, Niarra broke out into tears yet again. Amanda didn’t know how bad Niarra must’ve felt with the news but she just let her sister try and calm down for a while

“So Doctor,” Amanda spoke, really curious about what was happening. Even she herself couldn’t understand why this was happening or even how it was happening. “…how doe haemophiliacs actually… act or… what happens to them in these kinds of cases?” she asked.

Amanda had found out today that was a haemophiliac, someone with a genetic disorder that impairs the blood’s ability to clot wounds. Apparently when Amanda fell a few days ago in her basketball game and hit her head hard, it cause only a slight concussion, however there was internal bleeding to her head.

“They die, when the bleeding isn’t stopped immediately.” He told them. Amanda swore she felt a cold air that time. She didn’t know if it was the air conditioner just turning too cold at the precise moment or could it have been death greeting her as an acquaintance already.

Amanda suddenly felt some wetness to her cheeks. She realized she was crying again.

She was on the brink of death.

--X--

Amanda slowly walked to school that morning, taking her leisurely time. She knew she could do that since she was a bit earlier than usual. The day was bright; a perfect day for anyone. The sky was a clear blue though the weather was slowly starting to get cold. She didn’t know whether it was just really getting cold or Death was already coming after her. Over the past two days after her check up, she had been paranoid about how she would just suddenly drop dead.

Why was this happening to her?

She still had many plans in life and ambitions, dreams yet to be fulfilled. And here comes the worst news she could ever handle; she was dying. She didn’t know how long she had left. Who knew, she could possibly just drop right now. No one had known that she was a haemophiliac. Not even her parents. Her parents were still in Europe and she doesn’t think that the news had reached them yet despite how many times they had tried to contact them.

Over the past two days, she had slowly started to make peace with people she knew she wasn’t on good terms on. She made up with her friends, hung out with a few cousins and even talked to her coach about how wonderful it had been being part of the team and how honoured she was that she was even made captain. Today was her last day at school. So far the only people who knew about her condition was the school director; who she told because she had to drop out of school; Niarra who of course still wasn’t even talking to anyone since the news came out. She wouldn’t even talk to her which worried Amanda a little.

Another person who knew about the condition was Mika, and apparently Yuto had overheard. If there was one person Mika was restricted to tell it to, it was Ryosuke. Mika was her ultimate best friend and she wanted her to know the truth if ever she just suddenly died. Mika took it hard at first, crying nonstop in her room when Amanda broke the news to her. But later on, she had come to terms with it and decided to make her last days memorable.

Amanda couldn’t thank anyone for being so considerate.

But in her opinion, she felt like she had lived her life out already, it was just cut short. Now, she only had one more thing to do before she was going to end her school-life. She walked into the school.

“Nee-san! You must tell him!” Niarra said, putting her hands onto her hips. Amanda was sitting down on the couch, watching a football match. She was getting a little irritated because Niarra was standing in her way.

“Are you even listening to me?!” she demanded.

“Niarra, it isn’t simple to tell him” Amanda said, moving her said a little, trying to see what was happening. She didn’t like listening to the commentators because they had to add little side comments here and there from time to time. “It would be best if he didn’t know.”

“Idiot.” Niarra described her, hurling the book she was holding towards Amanda.  Amanda took this offensively, her eyes widening towards her sister when the book missed her. She had gotten scared there. She was warned that she should be careful because getting hit could mean more internal bleeding; a faster death.

“He loves you. And you aren’t going to come out with the truth? Are you insane?!” she yelled. Amanda knew it was going to be difficult telling him. At the same time it was difficult for her to tell to Niarra that sometimes it was for the best that he didn’t know. Amanda really wanted to tell him, but she just feared he might go into depression. She didn’t want that to happen.

“I love him too,” Amanda tried to explain herself, but got cut off by her sister.

“But what?” she said. Amanda noticed how Niarra was starting to look sorry for her. She didn’t need pity from her, or anyone. “You’re going to regret it.”

“I know Niarra, I know…”

She knew she was going to regret what she was about to do but she had no choice. Though, Niarra had told her to tell him. Their conversation the previous night remained in her head. Niarra had the strongest point between the both of them. It was better that he knew and all, probably make her last days the best. But she still didn’t have the heart. It was something she couldn’t just tell Ryosuke about.

She approached his classroom and peeked inside. There he was sitting on his seat, talking to his classmates happily like he didn’t have any problems. And Amanda wanted it to be kept that way; she didn’t want him to have any problems. Especially if she was going to be the problem in their case. She sighed, here comes the big blow.

--X--

Ryosuke sighed deeply.

Today had not been going good for him. Earlier that day, his heart was broken. He had cared for her for a long time and then here she comes and break up with him. What on earth was happening? All he wanted was to be happy with her and take care of her.

She had told him that she had disappointed him. She wasn’t good enough for him and that he should just move on and look for another girl he could truly love. Ryosuke had responded with a no and that he was sure that she was going to be the only girl he was going to love. He saw the regret in her eyes, and he had hoped that she would change her mind and remain with him. He didn’t want her to leave him. It was the hardest thing he went through in his entire life.

“Amanda,” he said, touching her cheek gently and pressing his forehead against hers. He kept on whispering her name, pleading for her not to break up. He had loved her dearly and promised his entire being to her. He loved her more than his football, even the world.

His heart sank when he felt her hand against his, for a minute there, thinking that she was going to stay. Not knowing that she was just feeling the touch of his hand one last time. Slowly, she pulled his hand off gently, her delicate fingers carefully removing it. And he swore, he saw tears come out of her eyes.

“I’m sorry Ryosuke.” She whispered a slight crack in her voice. “It’s over.” She said before turning around a leaving him for good. That was the most painful lost he had ever experienced. He wanted to chase after her, but to him, her happiness came first. And if she wasn’t happy with him, then he wanted her to be happy with someone else no matter how much it pained him.

Where was he going to find a girl like her?

She had been the only star in his night sky, and now it had grown dim and weary. Ryosuke ran a hand freely though his hair and let it fall into place. He glanced at his friend, Yuto.

Lucky bastard. His girlfriend didn’t break up with him.

Ryosuke just didn’t know what overcame Amanda to do this to him. Was it something he did? Was it something he said? Was it how he treated her? So many questions remained unanswered in his head. This was really hard for him. This wasn’t like her to do this to him. What had gone wrong in their relationship?

Ryosuke’s mind couldn’t get off that topic. He couldn’t concentrate in class right now and he would have to depend on Yuto to copy his notes. He wanted to talk to her, but he knew that he would need to give her sometime before he could actually approach her, for his mind to cool down and for her to become emotionally stable.

He wanted to know why she had broken up with him.

--X--

“Ssh!” Mika lightly hit Yuto on the head. Yet again, the tall lanky idiot was babbling all sorts of crazy ideas about how they could make Amanda’s last days worth her life. Along with the couple was none other than Niarra who was trying to talk both of them into telling Ryosuke about her sister. Currently, Amanda had already been admitted to the hospital the previous day and had immediately gone under treatment.

“Nandayo?!” Yuto exclaimed. He had to admit, Mika knew how to hit him or probably she was able to develop such a hit after going out with him for a few months. The three were meeting in secret at the moment. They didn’t want Ryosuke to find out about them meeting as it would definitely arouse suspicion between the three.

“You were supposed to keep quiet about that. You know Amanda doesn’t want Ryosuke to find out!” Mika said in a squeaky little voice. This normally happened when she got frustrated about something. Niarra could see why she was getting so frustrated about.

“I haven’t told him alright?” Yuto said, rubbing the back of his head lightly. “I’m avoiding him as much as I can so I can keep my mouth shut.”

“I still think we should tell him.” Niarra commented. Over the past few days she noticed Amanda getting weaker and weaker as if she was already succumbing to the illness and that she had lost the will to live already. It had sparked panic deep inside Niarra. It was too early to lose her just yet. She was hoping in her mind that the bleeding would last longer and make her live a few more months. But she knew she was already asking for too much with that. Amanda would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night crying out in pain crying out for the suffering to end.

At one point, she had begged Niarra to kill her already. Just the thought of it was unbearable to Niarra.

“Bad idea Niarra-chan.” Mika told her. It had been a while since Niarra had pressed the issue against them. Niarra didn’t want to just foolishly tell him out of the blue. Maybe he wouldn’t believe her or probably she could possibly hurt his feelings even more. But she wanted them to at least talk before her sister passed away.

“But, what if Amanda-chan dies and we didn’t tell Ryosuke?” Yuto asked. Niarra smirked. Now he was talking her language. Exactly what she meant. They needed to talk before anything turns for the worst. “We would be the ones feeling terrible from keeping it from him.” Yuto explained. Being Ryosuke’s best friend and all, it would be him that would be carrying the heaviest burden among the three of them. He was already having a hard time just trying to hide the fact that he knew about Amanda’s condition.

When Yuto first found out about it, he passed it off as a joke. He had been friends with Amanda ever since freshman year and they were close. She was a strong girl and them when someone comes along and tells him that she’s dying because she hit her head during the finals, he wanted to laugh about it. But it seemed like Mika wasn’t joking and was on the brink on crying when he dismissed it off. He then confronted Amanda about it personally and she did confirm it.

It was also hard news for him to take, knowing that his best friend had found so much happiness in her. He couldn’t even think about it if that had happened between him and Mika. He took her hand in his; the wish that she would stay by his side longer. He couldn’t imagine life without her.

“We need to tell him sometime.” Niarra concluded. Mika wanted to agree when Yuto said that. She cared for her friend dearly and Ryosuke was also a friend. Mika knew about Amanda’s little crush on Ryosuke ever since she had first met her during the early years. She was a fan of football and had found potential in him.

The only thing that held her feelings back was the fact that he had his own fan club and for the longest time Amanda was stuck with the mentality that it would never work out between the two of them. But now it looks like she was wrong; their feelings had only developed stronger.

And letting an obstacle like this stand in their way was going to break the bond the two shared.

“Fine.” Mika agreed. “But when?”

--X--

Niarra was violently crying, her heart out. Mika was right beside her rubbing her back lightly. Niarra’s loud voice echoed through the empty hallways of the hospital. Mika had rushed immediately over when she heard a muffling Niarra call her an hour before. Yuto, being worried for the safety of Mika had decide to meet her up in the hospital. At the same time check on his schoolmate. Niarra’s heart was beating fast and heard that it felt like it wanted to jump out of her chest.

There had been a scare an hour ago. Amanda was suddenly choking from the lack of oxygen. The continuous bleeding had lessened her blood supply and while they were giving her somemore blood, apparently, it had been too low and she almost suffered from asphyxia. She was rushed immediately into the emergency room and when that happened, Niarra had broken down and the first person she called was Mika.

“Ssh…” Mika rubbed her back and held the young girl close She could feel the heavy breathing of Niarra at the same time her heavy sobbing and whimpering. The fear that her sister might not come out alive was the scariest thing she could think of at the moment. Her world was succumbing into the fear that she was going to live alone wasn’t much a comforting idea.

“She’ll come out… She’ll come out…” Mika said, rubbing her back. Yuto was pacing back and forth down the hall; even he too was tensed up. He was already thinking of way on how to break it Ryosuke without being to frank or at the same time without Ryosuke hitting him about keeping it from him.

Niarra lifted her head, clamps of hair sticking onto her face, her face red from crying and her eyes as well. She was slightly hyperventilating. It had been almost an hour inside the room and there was still no word about how she was doing. She was panicking and it didn’t look good for her health.

“Nia-chan, daijobou desu ka?” Yuto asked, kneeling in front of the petit girl, taking her hand in his, trying to comfort her. Niarra rested her back onto the wall, her heart was still beating fast and she wanted it to be over with. She was hoping deep inside that her sister would-

The door swung open to reveal a doctor.

The three’s hearts dropped, especially Niarra’s when she saw that there were a few traces of blood on his sleeves. She was trying to stop herself from hyperventilating, gripping onto Mika and Yuto’s hands. What sort of news was he going to bring now?

“She’s alive and she’s doing well.” He told them with a light smile on his face. Niarra broke into tears yet again and hugged Mika tightly, whispering a million thanks that she was alive. She slightly relaxed in Mika’s arms. It was something she didn’t want to happen yet. She was getting more scared now though. She knew that her life span was shortening with each day. She needed to do something about it.

And in her mind, Niarra already made a decision.

--X--

“Yuto…” Mika whispered at the door way of his classroom, trying to be inconspicuous. However, it didn’t work out like they wanted to, Ryosuke, noticing their movements. For the past day or two he had noticed that Yuto and Mika were always going out somewhere, either carrying a box of pastries or a small bouquet of flowers. He was really curious what kind of dating technique Yuto was using but that was the least of his worries at the moment.

Over the past few days, Amanda had stopped coming to school. He had asked everyone who knew her where she was and he only got the same answer. No one knew. He had tried calling her mobile a few times but no one would pick up. He had tried asking Niarra but she always told him that Amanda didn’t want to talk to him anymore. Ryosuke knew from Niarra’s movements she was hiding something. But he didn’t know what. He had tried asking Yuto or Mika and they answered the same thing. She didn’t want to talk to him or see him anymore.

Hearing that coming from the closest three leads he had made his heart sink. It was impossible that Amanda didn’t want to see him anymore. Were they hiding her from him? They must be keeping something from him. And now he wanted to know what. Ryosuke noticed Mika was holding a small bouquet of flowers in her hand. Ryosuke had now planned on following them.

Yuto quickly grabbed his bag and went out of the room. Ryosuke slowly following after them. At first, the two seemed to be taking a leisurely walk; holding hands and being lover dovey like the couple they were. That is, until a few blocks from school where they seemed to take another route home. Ryosuke noticed they were going the opposite direction than where they usually took. Where were they going exactly?

Yuto noticed that he was following them and he needed to lose him quickly before he would find out where he and Mika were going. Amanda had told them not to let him know where she was and this was bad. Why was he following them all of a sudden? Yuto and Mika started to walk faster, in the hopes that they would lose him.

Yet to no avail, Ryosuke was still on their tail.

“Ryosuke-san!” a familiar voiced called out. Yuto knew that voice. He slightly turned his head to see Niarra running up to Ryosuke. He didn’t know what was going in his mind but he was thankful for her arrival at the moment.

Ryosuke on the other hand was torn between where he should go. Yuto and Mika seemed like they knew where they were going and they were making sure that he wasn’t going to follow them. On the other hand, here comes Niarra, running up to him, even after all the time that she was trying to shrug him off about Amanda. Yuto and Mika seemed like a more interesting lead.

“Ryosuke!” Niarra’s whining voice seemed to call out louder. But Ryosuke pretended that he wasn’t paying attention to her and kept on following Mika and Yuto. “I want to talk to you about onee-san!”

Ryosuke stopped in his tracks when he heard that. Yuto and Mika successfully getting away Ryosuk turned and looked at the younger Sato. Niarra walked up to him, a worried look on her face. Ryosuke wasn’t sure if it was a good thing she was telling him this or it was a bad thing. She looked up at him, her eyes tearing a little. Niarra suddenly bowed down.

“G-Gommen!” Niarra said, keeping her head low. Ryosuke was taken aback by what she was doing. She kept her head low at the same time tearing up. “I-I should’ve told you!” she added, her voice was cracking up. Ryosuke made Niarra stand up properly, worried when he heard her slightly cry.

“Niarra,” he placed his hands on her shoulders. She wasn’t Amanda but she was like a sister to him. “Niarra, what is it?” he asked.

“Nee-san, “ Niarra tried to be strong when she would break the news. And she was going to make it through this. She had accepted the fact and all she wanted now was to let her sister close the bridge to her last relationship. Ryosuke froze when she said nee-san. She was crying about her sister which didn’t sound like good news.

“… She’s dying.”

Those words were enough for Ryosuke’s heart to stop then and there. In a way, he didn’t want to believe her at first. Who knew what she could be possibly saying. But in a sense, someone’s life was no laughing matter and He knew Niarra wouldn’t be joking about her sister’s life.

“W-What do you mean she’s dying?” Ryosuke stuttered, unsure if what he heard was correct. Niarra shook her head a little.

“She’s really dying, Ryosuke.” Niarra started to explain to him. She shrugged his hands off her shoulders and started to walk towards the same direction Mika and Yuto were going. Niarra kept a straight face on for a moment. Probably just still trying to take in the news.

“Nee-san is a haemophiliac,”

“Heamo- what?”

“Haemophiliac.” Niarra corrected him, still walking. Ryosuke walked beside her, wanting to know every single detail of what had happened to Amanda. “She’s bleeding, internally in the head. And it’s not stopping.” Niarra started to tear up again, stopping in her tracks when the walk sign turned red.

Ryosuke wasn’t some medical expert but by the way Niarra was explaining it, it sounded horrible and deadly to him. And by the sound that she was internally bleeding did not sound good at all. The worst part to him was the fact that it wasn’t stopping. The walk sign had turned green and the two continued to walks.

“… She suffered from asphyxia yesterday.” Niarra gulped, her voice almost in a whispered tone. Ryosuke knew what asphyxia was at the very least and when he heard that he had a mini heart attack. Was her condition getting that bad? It was even sounding scary. Though he didn’t know how scary it was in reality. “She almost died and it scared me.” She said facing him, tears forming at the rim of her eyes. “I thought she was going to die last night.”

Ryosuke’s heart froze then and there. She already had a death scare the previous night. And where was he when all of this was happening? He should’ve been there the entire time. He should’ve been there to support her and be there at her darkest time. He didn’t’ even know she was dying until today and who knows how long she has left?

“W-Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” he questioned her. Ryosuke couldn’t compare the pain in his heart when she broke up with him. He couldn’t even find the correct words to describe how he was feeling. Were there even correct words for this moment?

“… the doctor says she has a month… but I don’t think she has much time left…” Niarra told him in all honesty. Ryosuke heart sank when he heard that. It was something that he wanted to change so badly but couldn’t.

The love of his life was dying.

--X--

Ryosuke stood outside her room, he was just a door away from everything he deemed precious. He was nervous at the same time. He knew she didn’t want him to see her in such a state but hearing about her condition from Niarra made him really scared about her condition. He braved himself and opened the door slowly, a wave of familiar voices greeted him. Once he fully opened the door, he saw Mika and Yuto, sitting on a chair and one on the bed laughing with the patient in it.

Amanda slowly turned her head to see who it was, her expression still seen as a smile However, the smile disappeared when she saw it was Ryosuke. A sharp pain shot through her chest; the feeling of guilt and deceit was there. What was he doing here? She had told him she never wanted to see his face again. Mika and Yuto also glanced at the door and were surprised to see him standing there. Yuto was panicking inside they were probably the ones that lead him there.

“R-Ryosuke…?” Mika looked at him panicked. He eyed the couple that was there, from the fact that they kept a secret from him. Yuto stood up and grabbed Mika’s hand. He didn’t know what or how Ryosuke was going to act about this.

“Ryosuke, we can explain.” Yuto tried to say but was stopped when Ryosuke held up his hand, telling him to shut up. Yuto kept quiet and held onto Mika’s hand, tugging it slightly. After being friends for a long time, Yuto could tell what Ryosuke wanted and at the moment he wanted a moment of silence with Amanda. Yuto pulled Mika along with him outside the room and slowly closed the door behind him.

“Ryosuke, let me explain-“ Amanda tried to say, gripping the covers of the bed she was on. Ryosuke was saddened to see her. She had gotten much paler than before, and he could see that there were slight bruises on her arms. How could she have fallen ill like this?

“Niarra told me, everything.” He said. Amanda’s eyes widened and she started to tear up. She had wanted to leave without him worrying or being sad during the last days of her life. It would be the one thing she couldn’t bear with herself even if she passed away.

“I..I…” Amanda still tried to say, trying to stop herself from crying but her words were still slurred.

“Is this why you broke up with me?” he questioned. Even though he knew the answer already, hearing it come from her straight was different. Amanda bit her lip and tears were running down her cheeks, slowly nodding. She was guilty of that crime. And all the harsh things she said to him when she ended the relationship a few days earlier.

In some way, Ryosuke felt relieved. She was only trying to make him happy, not knowing that his ultimate source of happiness was her; and that when she left he felt like his entire being was ripped out of him. What scared him the most was if she left him because she realized she didn’t love him. But Ryosuke knew from this moment the she still loved him. He walked over to her bedside and without a moment to lose, pulled her in a tight embrace.

“Don’t you ever, EVER do that to me again.” He whispered against her ear, not letting her go. Amanda started to sob and held onto him tightly. Niarra was right and she had been foolishly stupid. She wasn’t dead yet and all she wanted now was to remain in his arms.

“I-I’m sorry…” she said in between sobs. Telling him that he should move on was probably one of the hardest things she had done and she felt stupid about it. She wrapped her arms around him and cried onto his shoulder.

So this was love, eh? It had a nice feeling to it, a feeling neither one of them wanted to let go. The two stayed like that for a while, Amanda freely crying onto him and admitting to him how stupid and idiotic her actions have been towards him, about how it really had pained her deep inside that she was going to let him go. Ryosuke on the other hand kept on whispering in her ear the promises he made to her before. Every single one. He promised her that and more and that they were going to make it though.

They sounded like idiots in love with one another.

But that didn’t stop them. Ryosuke pulled back and pressed his forehead against hers, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

“Sshh…” he gently hushed her, not wanting to hear word broken by the tears. “I’m here now, and I will stay with you until the very end.” He promised. He was saddened by the fact that all their plans and his promises weren’t going to be fulfilled in the near future. He had promised to love her faithfully, something he had done successfully. He had promised not to leave her side; and through the break up he still kept that. And now he promised to remain with her until the very end, he was going to fulfil that no matter what.

Amanda took his hand and held onto it, as if she never wanted to let go of him. “P-Please stay…” she pleaded. She had been longing for him ever since she was confined in the hospital, and she needed him the most by her side when she went through the death scare. And now he was here, she couldn’t ask for anything more.

Ryosuke nodded and from then on, never left her side.

--X--

Amanda shot up eyes wide and tears coming down her cheeks freely. She was breathing heavily and was feeling uncontrollably cold. Shivers were running up her spine and for some reason, she felt like she had been gone for quite some time. She reached over and looked at her phone. The opened it to see it was only nearing 2 am. She kept her crying silent, not wanting to wake Ryosuke, who decided to spend the night watching over her to let Niarra have a night at home.

Amanda looked around the room, everything was dark and only the faint moonlight gave enough to dim the area. She took time to relax a little and get her mind cleared. She knew her time had come, and this was the last opportunity she was given. She wasn’t really prepared for it yet, but she knew she was going.

Unlocking her phone, she quickly scrolled through her contacts and called someone. She might get scolded at for calling that person so early in the morning but she didn’t care, this was going to be the last time she would ever hear their voice.

“Nn…” someone groaned after picking up at the other end. “Hello….?” They sleepily answered. Amanda’s heart broke hearing her voice. She braced herself, biting her lip before starting the conversation.

“N-Niarra…”

“Onee-san…? Nande?” Niarra’s voice still hoarse. Amanda smiled to herself when she heard her younger sister yawn on the other line.

“Ano,…” Amanda needed to think of an excuse at the moment. “… before you come in tomorrow, can you get me a strawberry cake?” she smiled, looking at the person asleep next to her.

“Strawberry cake? One slice?” Niarra asked, like she was taking an order.

“Yes please.” Amanda said.

“Ok, I’ll bring some tomorrow.” Niarra said, and it sounded like she was about to hang up.

“Niarra..” Amanda salvaged the moment for a while, getting a simple “huh” from Niarra. “I love you…” she told her.

“Nee-san, aishiteru, demo, it’s early.” Niarra said before hanging up. Amanda didn’t feel hurt when she did that. It was normal for Niarra to just hang up as a way of ending her conversation. Amanda locked her phone and put it away.

In her bed, Niarra was sitting up, her knees curled to her chest and sobbing uncontrollably. She wanted to tell her how much she meant to her, but she didn’t want her to worry about her. She knew Amanda’s moment has come and she wanted it to be memorable. However, she didn’t want to spark panic with Amanda and acted casually as if she had no care in the world. She had woken up a few minutes prior to the call, after she felt a pain stab through her chest and a cold aura coming. Niarra then knew it was going to be the last moments of her sister.

Amanda turned to the person sleeping beside her, caressing his face gently. Looking down onto him, she couldn’t bear she was going to leave him. His peaceful face asleep was such a sight to see and it pained her that he was here; it pained her in a good way. She took in a deep breath; she was noticing a slight change to her body just now. Her eyes were getting heavy and her body was weakening.

Amanda laid down beside him, and at that moment, he unconsciously wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, still asleep. What sort of cruelty was fate doing to her at this moment? Her heart sank as she watched that peaceful face breath in and out, dreaming deep.

She wondered what he was dreaming then, when she heard him mumble her name.

“… I love you… Please… don’t go…”

Amanda held back a giggle. He was sleep talking and he was begging for her to stay. Amanda gently traces her fingers along his features and the other grasping her chest. She felt her own heart beat slowing down. Even though she was in his embrace, she felt her surroundings getting colder and colder, her breathing slowing down. She was already having a difficult time taking in oxygen.

She shifted a little and brushed the hair off his face, gently tracing her fingers across his face. This was going to be the last time she was ever going to see him, but deep inside, she was glad they were only like this.

Slowly, she leaned in and kissed him for one last time, a single tear drop, rolled down her cheek and dropped on his cheek.

“In another life, maybe we could have that happy ending…” she whispered, resting her head and closing her eyes. “You were the best thing I ever had…” she choked up, gripping his hand. “I… love you…” were the last words she said before completely closing her eyes. Her heart beat dropped and she was already breathing slowly.

Without any further adieu, she greeted death as an old friend and succumbed to the darkness. .

--X--

Ryosuke shifted uncomfortably. He had been sleeping in the same position the entire night and it gave a slight pain the back. He didn’t move too much though when he saw her sleeping in his arms. He slowly pushed her off his arms, in order for him to stretch. When he moved her though, he noticed a small amount of dry blood on his sleeve and on the bed. He looked at her face and saw that her nose had been bleeding.

Taking a handkerchief, he gently wiped it away. Though what shocked him the most was when he touched her cheek, she was stone cold. He noticed she wasn’t breathing either.

“A-Amanda…?” he slowly shook her. There was no response from her. Was she still asleep and dreaming? Would she wake up? He started to panic; he needed her to wake up. He wanted her to wake up.

“Amanda!” he shook her, even harder. But still, there was no response from the girl. Ryosuke climbed out of the bed, looking down at her. Was she dead? She only looked like she was sleeping. She couldn’t be dead. No. He didn’t want to know. He touched her cheek yet again, only to have his worst fears confirmed.

Sato Amanda had already passed away.

--X--

Ryosuke was sitting on the bed in the empty room. This was the room where Amanda had died earlier. It had already been cleared out; her body was brought to the morgue. It had been at least an hour or two since the nurses found him crying by her side. He had sobbed uncontrollably, saying her name over and over again.

He heard familiar laughing voices approaching by the hallway. But he didn’t look up. All he did was stare at the single white rose in his hand. Mika and Yuto casually came into the room, laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world. Though, the smile on Mika’s face disappeared when she noticed the empty room.

“Where…” she first said, trying to process everything. “Where’s…” she trailed off when she realized what happened. Immediately, she turned to Yuto and started sobbing. Ryosuke still remained silent. Niarra came in, looking like as if she already knew what had happened.  Ryosuke just looked at them, and it didn’t take long before a single tear had rolled down his face.

--X--

Ryosuke just stood there, looking down at the grave. The characters of her name etched upon a cold piece of stone. In his hand he was holding a single white rose. Was it really his loss as well? He loved her dearly and he was never going to say good bye to her.

Even though she had already passed away, the memories he shared with her with remain with him in his heart forever. It was just a pain that their time together was spent so short. But even the shortest moment have the greatest impacts on life.

To him, she did have an impact. He was able to feel what it was truly like to love someone and at the same time, experience the most unbearable pain of losing a loved one. He wouldn’t have lived out life to the fullest if it wasn’t for her. She had showed him the meaning of love and despair, loneliness and company, happiness and sadness.

He was never going to find a girl like her again.

Perhaps, it was also his loss in a way. But even though she was gone, he needed to move forward. He lay the rose on the grave and smiled. He still had a life to look out to and happy moments he was going to live out.

But no happy moment would compare to the time spent with her.